“Welcome Ryan Anderson!
Age: 17
Height: 170 cm
Strength: E
Endurance: D
Speed: E
Potential: S
Intelligence: B”
A translucent blue screen appeared before his eyes. It glimmered as it hovered in front of his face. He slowly looked around to see if anybody could see it. All he saw were people feeling pity for him—pity for his sorry state. Ryan rubbed his eyes to see if he was hallucinating. It was real. This thing was real.
"W-what’s happening?" he thought.
He slowly stood up, his legs trembling. He groaned in pain; he had really taken a beating. He leaned on the wall for support. His breathing was shallow, he was tired, he needed to go home, he didn’t bother going to school. Not after this. He glanced back at the translucent screen.
"I should…I should go home and sort this out."
He stumbled through the busy streets, avoiding people walking by. He felt their stares; he knew he looked pathetic, but he didn’t care. He had a weird supernatural thing in front of him that no one seemed to know or see.
"How the hell do I close out of this thing?"
He thought, his brows furrowing in irritation. It was getting annoying. It kept hovering in front of him, blocking his view. He needed answers, and fast. He slowly raised his hand and touched the screen. It rippled like water. His eyes widened in disbelief. It was so fascinating and cool. He snapped out of his thoughts as he looked around and saw people staring at him as if he were crazy. To be fair, he was standing with his hand raised, touching seemingly nothing. His cheeks turned a little red, and he slowly lowered his hand to his side. He started running—or rather, stumbling faster. After a few minutes, he finally reached his home. He took out his keys and entered.
The screen was still hovering in front of him. He looked around for his mom, but of course, she was nowhere to be found. He let out a long, weary sigh and headed back to his room. He sat on his bed and stared at the translucent screen. He analyzed it and saw many different things, but the one that intrigued him was his stats.
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“Ryan Anderson
Age: 17
Height: 170 cm
Strength: E
Endurance: D
Speed: E
Potential: S
Intelligence: B”
Strength? He was weak as hell! Ryan glanced at his body; he was rather skinny. His eyes wandered to the “Endurance” stat.
“A D?”
Ryan pondered why his endurance was a bit higher. After a few moments, he realized it was probably due to all the beatings he had endured. Ryan ruffled his hair; this was so confusing and weird. His eyes wandered to the screen again. His speed was as pathetic as his strength—go figure—but his potential. Ryan wondered what the hell “Potential” meant. He stared at the “Potential” stat for a while. He had an idea and slowly raised his hand to touch the “Potential” stat. As he did, the screen rippled from his touch.
“Would you like to view this stat?”
A text popped up with buttons labeled “Yes” and “No.” Ryan read the text and the buttons and clicked the “Yes” button.
“Potential is the innate fighting ability. Potential can also determine your average rate of growth. Please note that potential cannot be changed! Potential is determined when a person is born.”
Ryan’s eyes widened. Innate fighting ability? Does that mean he was born a fighter? Ryan had so many questions racing through his mind. He started to reflect; he had never really tried to get stronger or improve himself; he had always been weak. That’s what he had always thought. However, what’s the purpose of this? Why be shown this if he can’t do anything with it except view his stats? He began analyzing the screen once more and clicked the “Back” button. He was once again faced with his pathetic stats. The first thing he wanted to know was how to exit the system. He started thinking about it.
“Close system?”
He questioned. That’s when he saw the translucent blue screen disappear.
“Open system”
He said.
The screen reappeared. Ryan nodded to himself. The second thing he wanted to know was how to get stronger. He started analyzing the screen when he was interrupted.
“Ryan! I’m home!”
Ryan’s head snapped towards the door. He stood up and opened it. He saw his mom in the kitchen, putting away dirty food containers. His mom turned around and greeted him with a smile until she noticed his bruises.
“Ryan? What happened to you?”
She walked over to him, her voice laced with concern. She gently touched his cheek and one of the bruises. Ryan gritted his teeth.
“Ryan, what happened?”
His mother asked gently.
“N-nothing, Mom…I just fell down.”
Ryan looked at the floor. He didn’t want to burden his mom with his problems; she had already dealt with enough.
“Ryan, I know when you’re lying to me.”
His mother said in a gently stern voice, her worried expression evident. She kept pressuring him to answer honestly.
“Ryan, tell me what happened.”
She repeated the same question. Ryan couldn’t do anything but remain quiet. His mom kept pressing him, and Ryan suddenly snapped.
“It’s nothing, Mom! I just fell down!”
Ryan yelled at her, irritated by her persistence.
“Why don’t you believe me?!”
Ryan turned around and marched to his room, slamming the door behind him. His mother stood there in shock, her eyes widened; she had never seen him snap like this. Ryan flopped onto his bed, feeling guilty. Something twisted and turned in his stomach. He had never yelled at his mom before. He felt like a jerk. He started to think about what he could have done differently when—
Beep!
“New Quest!”
“Quest: Apologize to your mom (0/1)”
“Reward: Bronze Card”
He jolted out of bed and looked at the now blue translucent screen hovering in front of him.