Damian sat at the kitchen table, his eyes fixed on the glass jar filled with glowing stones. The faint pulse of light from each one seemed to beckon him, as if urging him to uncover their secrets.
There has to be more to this, he thought, picking up one of the stones and holding it between his fingers. It was cool to the touch, the soft glow illuminating the lines of his palm. Despite its strange appearance, nothing about it seemed particularly special.
And then, it happened again.
A glowing blue window materialized in front of him, accompanied by the now-familiar sound of a soft chime.
“You have learned the Identify Skill.”
Damian blinked, his heart racing. “Identify Skill?” he muttered aloud, staring at the floating text.
The window shifted, revealing more information:
Identify LV1 - Displays standard information of items.
His pulse quickened. Maybe this can help, he thought, focusing on the stone in his hand.
“Identify,” he muttered.
The text shifted again, this time displaying the details of the stone:
Inferior Mana Stone - A Magic Stone filled with a minor amount of mana.
Damian’s jaw dropped. “A magic stone?” he whispered, the words feeling foreign yet thrilling on his tongue. The pieces were starting to come together—the strange creature, the healing ability, the crystals—it all made sense now.
That means I can use magic too.
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His thoughts raced back to the healing spell he’d learned earlier. At first, he thought it had been a hallucination, but now the evidence was undeniable. This was real.
He stared at the stone in his hand for a moment longer before a wild idea took root. Holding his breath, he gently placed the stone in his mouth. The cool surface dissolved almost instantly, leaving behind a faint, refreshing sensation as it vanished.
Nothing happened.
Undeterred, Damian picked up another stone and repeated the process. One by one, the stones disappeared into his mouth, their faint glow extinguishing with each swallow.
Then, after the twentieth stone, the now-familiar chime echoed in his ears.
Ding!
Another window appeared:
“Congratulations! You’ve leveled up!”
Damian sat back, his heart pounding in his chest. He stared at the notification, his mind racing. This isn’t a dream. This isn’t some trick.
A grin spread across his face, one that grew wider as he spoke the words he had only dreamed of saying. “Status.”
A new window appeared, listing information that made Damian’s stomach flip with excitement:
Damian Park
Race: Human
Strength: 6
Agility: 5
Dexterity: 9
Mana: 0
Status Points: 10
Skills: Minor Heal, Identify
Damian’s eyes widened as he absorbed the information. Strength, Agility, Dexterity, Mana… These were numbers he’d only ever seen in video games, but now they were real—his life was being measured and quantified like a character in an RPG.
“I’m… living the dream,” he whispered, his grin unwavering. But the thought was bittersweet. If this was happening to him, what was happening to the rest of the world? Those creatures, those strange rabbits—they weren’t natural. If they were roaming freely, this could be bigger than anything he could imagine.
His excitement gave way to determination. “I need to look into this more.”
Damian glanced back at the jar. He still had some stones left. Taking a deep breath, he continued consuming them, watching each one vanish in his mouth.
After finishing the last stone, he paused, waiting for another notification. But nothing came. He frowned. I guess leveling up gets harder each time. I probably need more stones now.
He leaned back in his chair, his mind buzzing with questions. If he could gain strength through these stones, others might be able to as well. Or worse, someone—or something—else might already know how to use them.
Pulling out his laptop, Damian opened a browser and began searching around. As he looked for any mention of strange animals, glowing stones, or anything that might explain what was happening