Instinctively, I shouted out "Score!"
Status WindowNameAraretTitleNoneClassThe GamerEquipmentRaceHumanHead-Level1NeckHouse-keys on a lanyardHealth100TorsoWhite cotton t-shirtMana100Shoulders-Strength10Arms-Dexterity10WristsA silvery watchIntelligence10Hands-Wisdom10RingsEngineer's iron ringConstitution10WaistThin brown beltCharisma10LegsWorn-down blue jeansStanceRunningFeetAged running shoesEncumbranceLightRight Hand-EXP0%Left Hand-
I stared at the see-through table in front of me, and gave a large sigh. It would seem that I really have gone crazy, and now I have imagined my life as a game character. I gave another sigh before I gave-in to the absurdness, and studied the window before me. If life gives you lemons, then make hard lemonade. Get drunk on it, and never look back.
I nodded my head slowly, as I noticed that the status window is quite similar to Royal Road’s. The main difference is that it lacked the “Stamina” bar, while it also displayed the equipment or clothes on me.
“And here I’ve thought that I was a bit smarter and weaker than the average person… With a base stat of 10 for everything, I suppose I’m just about average in everything” I muttered to myself. “Well. Either that, or the initial calibration to my body is a base-10 for every stat?”
I sighed loudly as I slumped onto my bed. I contemplated several questions, while I muttered loudly to myself.
“Now, on the assumption that all of this is true, then I should be able to heal any injury to my body. My injured shoulder probably represented 20 damages to my health, and it healed perfectly after resting for a while”
“Then again, there’s really no way to test if I can regenerate a dismembered limb. Even if I am now a game character, I still can’t save and reset. If I die, then I die. If I lose an arm, then I’ll be a cripple for the rest of my life… Hah! It’d be way too OP if I can respawn after getting into a deadly car crash!!”
“Hrm… If I double my strength then theoretically I can lift twice as much… What would happen if I doubled my intelligence stat? Do I get double the IQ? And what about EQ? Would the Charisma stat equal to EQ increase? Able to more effectively speak, barter and manipulate other people should fall under the Charisma stat… But classical psychology would denote it as EQ… ”
“What does Wisdom really do? Intelligence is the ability to recognize patterns, but what is Wisdom? To learn from past mistakes? To know what to do in certain situations? Games would always make it such that a high WIS means easier time learning skills from repeated usage, or give spell-save rolls… But how does that affect me in real life?”
After I mulled over my options in the safety of my bed, I quickly realized that my life still needed to go on. Whether I have this ability doesn’t matter, as I still need to work and feed myself, and I’ll be damned if I lose my job due to being insane!
I gathered my gaming experience and shouted out a few other common in-game commands:
“Inventory! Chat! Options! Help!”
The only command that featured another pop-up window is inventory, which I saw a 5 x 10 grid-like table before me. Finally, I called out the command that I definitely knew was there: “Skills!”
The skill window popped up before me, yet it was quite sad that only a single skill is registered. I reached out with my hand and tapped the skill, and watched as the skill expanded into an explanation.
Innate Ability – Gamer’s Data (Passive Ability)Beginner - Lvl 1 – Exp: 0.00%Due to your class, you have gained the ability to analyze things, people and situations as if they belonged in a game. Allows you to use “Identify” on everything.
I chuckled as I read and reread the words describing the skill. At first glance, it seems that I have the ability to see descriptions of people and items, like the “Identify” skill in Royal Road. But with further examination, I could also see that the skill levels are exactly like Royal Road. An assumption would be that there are 5 stages of skills: Beginner / Intermediate / Advanced / Master / Grandmaster, and skill progression is arranged from Lvl 1 to 9 per stage, until maxing out at Grandmaster Lvl 10.
I quickly started using my
--------------
Everybody in the group cheered loudly as we gulped down our beer and laughed heartily. I made no significant discoveries during the next day, although I had quite a few ideas and experiments I wanted to conduct. Tonight, however, I had promised my best friend Thalo that we would go to a bar in celebration of his new job. Of course, my friend’s name is not Thalo, and neither my name is Araret, but as we had been using our avatar names for gaming since we were kids. “Thal” and “Ret” became our aliases, a secondary persona that existed in the world of gaming.
Thalo came from a poor family, and was later adopted by the monks that lived in the outskirts of the city. As I used to adventure and play in the forest or places outside of the city, I was one of the few kids that would play with Thalo. We are almost exactly opposite in personality: he was kind, open-minded and optimistic, while I was shy, sarcastically pessimistic, and always critically analyzed (judged) everybody. It was a real wonder how the two of us became such great friends, but as the years gone past, he became my brother.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
The monks of the city were not renowned for combat, yet they knew enough to teach Thalo the basics, such as the proper posture for exercise and basic self-defence. While I left the city for university, Thalo took the full-time job as a junior monk at the monastery. Although the monastery is his home, he still dutifully carried out his duties, and managed to gather enough money to learn from professional combat instructors. Northern and southern Shaolin styles, Sanda, Wingchun, Taichi, and Mongolian wrestling. In the five years that I left, he spent countless hours in learning traditional and nouveau combat styles of China.
Being a monk prohibited him from entering actual combat competitions, and thus he eventually left his home to pursue a career in mixed martial arts (MMA). His new job is at a local MMA gym, a young and new gym that is gaining momentum for both exercise/self-defence and training for combat athletes. He took on the job as a junior trainer, and essentially did anything and everything the seniors wanted him to do. This allowed him time to exercise, as well as gain the necessary experience to become a strong fighter himself.
“Let me buy you a drink!”
“…”
“Why not? Let’s get drunk and rearrange the alphabet! Put “U” and “I” together!”
“…”
“C’mon, don’t ignore me like that!”
“…”
“Damned bitch…”
A classic bar scene unfolded before me, as an older inebriated hooligan tried to chat and pick-up an attractive red-headed woman that sat by herself. The woman sat cross-legged on a tall bar stool, and stared emptily in front of her while she nursed her drink. An icy aura emanated from her, as she completely ignored the man beside her. In fact, she did not even acknowledge his presence!
After several failed attempts to elicit a reaction from the woman, the man quickly became angry. His face became swollen and purple, and visible veins popped from his temple. The man gave off a disgusting smirk, and soundly smacked the woman on her ass. The woman stared in front of her for a brief second, before she splashed her drink over the drunken man’s face in one smooth motion. Then, while the man sputtered like a fish out of water, she grabbed a cigarette lighter on the wooden bartop and throw the lit flame at the man’s face.
The drunken man shook and screamed in fear, as he tried to smother the expected flame on his head. Everybody in the bar turned their attention to the duo, and watched as the drunken man struggled and flapped his hands about his head. More than thirty-seconds later, the man stopped and realized that he was fine, that he was simply wet and was not on fire.
An icy yet attractive laugh came from the woman, as she sat cross-legged on her barstool, and looked down at the man before her. After a brief second, everybody else in the bar joined in, and a rowdy laugh erupted. Completely stunned, the man stood still and started to breathe more and more heavily.
At the top of his lungs, he screamed, “Bitch! Ima kill you!”
I smirked softly as I stood stationary and watched the entire situation before me. The woman was certainly attractive, and had an aura that could command a thousand men. Yet a drunkard is messy to deal with, no matter what tricks a woman like her use.
As the drunken man stepped up to her and raised his hand, I noticed that Thalo had stepped up and firmly grasped the raised arm. With a simple twist and fling, the drunkard fell onto the floor while Thalo stood beside the woman.
“Don’t be hitting woman now, you drunkard! She’s outta your league, and you know it!!”
Another round of laughter erupted from the bar, while the woman sat comfortably on her stool and enjoyed the situation. I sighed loudly as Thalo proceeded to lecture and intimidate the man, while the grin on the woman’s face grew larger and larger. I simply shook my head as I knew that there would be trouble ahead. After several minutes of lectures, I joined Thalo finally got him to release the drunkard. Scared yet relieved, the drunkard scurried back to a corner of the bar, and let out a flurry of angry hisses and mutters.
As Thalo and I turned back to face the woman, she had already stood up from her stool, and was ready to leave. She held a square piece of paper in her left hand, while her expensive red LV purse hung from her elbow. She approached Thalo, as she wore a vixen-like smile and batted her eyelash in a way that I knew Thalo would fall for. As she got closer, I could fully see her features, although I felt strange feeling in the pit of my stomach. Her passionate red hair was long, silky and smooth, reaching down her back. Flawless, white porcelain skin gave her a cool and regal aura, and matched well with her red hair and her sharp red lips. Strong eyeliner and eyeshadow, along with her seductive features, gave her eyes a mysterious shine. Her body is lithe and slim, yet cannot be seen as skinny or weak. Despite being a red-head, she had both Asian and Caucasian features, and I guessed that perhaps she is a mixed-blood - the rich daughter of an international business magnate.
I felt dizzy and nauseous as I continued to examine her. I squeezed and closed my eyes, as I tried not to fall over due to the dizziness. After a few minutes, I was able to calm myself and felt the illness pass. As I looked around, I noticed that everybody in the bar had a mindless stare.
Tiingg!
You have successfully guarded against the spell
I was shocked at the pop-up table before me, before I quickly returned my gaze toward her. I did not want her to notice that I was any different from the other people around her. I stood silently and tried to gaze past her, while my heartbeat raced and pounded.
Her attractiveness seems to increase as she circled and walked around Thalo. With a pale slender finger, she traced large circles on Thalo’s chest.
“Gimme a call when you get a chance, Hero”
The woman leaned closely as her lips almost touched Thalo’s, but suddenly pushed Thalo away like he was a dog and left him with the piece of paper. Her red high-heels echoed loudly as she walked toward the door. When she opened the door, she turned her head and gave me a mischievous grin and wink. I felt my blood suddenly freeze over, and I stared back at her in fear, afraid that she had found out about my ability. I am only a Lvl 1 newbie, and I have no idea what would happen if she wanted to kill me. I am seriously not confident that I can respawn like a true game character. I silently activated my “Identify” skill, and hoped that the information it gives me will let me survive this encounter.
AramiLvl 21The DruidessHealth100%Mana93%This attractive woman is a half-breed. Half-human and half-???