Present Time.
DING!
Liam closed his eyes and began trying to fall asleep, but he immediately went up again and sat cross-legged on top of his bed the moment after hearing a familiar chime that echoed inside his mind. He thought that the intense pain in his head was about to happen again so he prepared for the worst to come.
But...
"What the hell do I do...?!"
He didn't have any preparations to deal with it anymore.
Liam panicked just by the thought of having to experience the extreme pain caused by headache again, when suddenly—
SHRNG!
Multiple game-like windows which also appeared earlier suddenly popped out of nowhere again and floated steadily in the air just in front of him.
『 The prerequisite condition [20 years of age] was met. 』
『 The host will gain five new skills which was imparted by the system. 』
『 The system detected a dilemma that will soon befall on the health of the host. 』
『 The skill [Immunity] was activated. 』
『 The severe migraine, cluster, sinus, and tension have been completely depleted due to the skill [Immunity]'s effect. 』
"Ha...hahaha... Unbelievable. I'm starting to love this system already."
Liam instantly forgot about having the headache as he excitedly waited for the five new skills the moment he read about it and was trembling in anticipation.
The young man was so eager to know if the skills he would get this time would even better the skills he received for the past few years.
A while later...
DING!
Once again, a chime rang in Liam's mind, and another floating window followed.
『 The 1st skill you have received is named [Appraisal]. The skill [Appraisal] can see through one's status and attributes. 』
"Ah, statistics...? Is this based upon an RPG leveling system like what I'm thinking of?" Liam questioned.
'Am I a player? Or am I a character getting played by a player from the other dimension or something?' He chuckled as he realized that all of his questions were nothing but senseless and delusional.
DING!
『 The 2nd skill you have received is named [Mental Boost]. The skill [Mental Boost] can increase the Intelligence of a person for a certain period. 』
Liam widened his eyes after a window appeared again.
"Ah, it came out immediately after. And... Intelligence? Like knowledge? Intellect? Is this some kind of mental power? If it's based on an RPG then it's gonna be somewhat connected to my mana, right?"
He asked but there was only an awkward silence since no one replied.
Uh...
'Is the system not able to answer questions given to it? It'll be good if it did but I have a feeling that it wouldn't, or at the very least, not yet.'
He scratched his chin when curiosity got up to him before stopping all of his movements as he suddenly realized something from the text he saw earlier.
"Project X? That was..."
Liam tried to recall something about the name "Project X" as it felt oddly familiar to him, but it was interrupted after hearing the chime from the system again.
『 The 3rd skill that has been given to you is named [???]. The skill [???] cannot be used until the host met the prerequisite condition. 』
"Huh– What's with this one? It didn't even tell the condition. How am I supposed to get this skill without knowing the required condition?"
Liam said his thoughts out loud in frustration as he was unexpectedly given a mysterious skill.
He had thought that the system would give him an overpowered skill, if not the most needed skill for him, right off the bat, but he realized he was being a bit greedy after just receiving a golden finger.
"Well... I could only hope that this'll at least be a decent skill."
He breathed out a sigh and waited before eventually glancing at the new window in front of him.
DING!
『 The 4th skill you have received is named [Discerning Eye]. The skill [Discerning Eye] is a buff that increases a person's perception. 』
"Hm? Ah, this would be useful in certain situations."
Liam was a bit glad to learn the fourth skill's effect since he at least could use it, unlike the 3rd skill.
'The skills I received today are not bad... The last skill. I don't I wouldn't mind anymore, whether it's better or worse anymore.'
DING! Another window appeared.
『 The last skill you have received is named [Hyperthymesia]. The skill [Hyperthymesia] is a passive skill that lets the user recall all the memories of their life vividly. 』
"What is this?"
Liam's eager look turned into confusion as he tried to read it for the second time. He couldn't know if this skill would be beneficial for him.
Amidst this, suddenly...
"Huh?"
His head started aching.
Urk!
Every memory he had, from the moment he could remember until today. All his memories were now lodging back in his present mind back-and-forth. It was a spectacle.
Hyperthymesia. It was normally a condition in which an individual possessed a superior autobiographical memory, meaning he or she can recall the vast majority of personal experience and events, but for Liam, it was different.
First of all, it was called a skill by the system, not a condition. Second, since the skill was added just now without any preparations whatsoever, the entire memories of events he had were currently surging through his mind to make him 'recall' them unwillingly. Lastly, since it was a skill 'made' by the system, it was sure to be buffed and have greater effects compared to how it normally was.
What was the other effect you wonder? He could recall everything crystal clear and it was not an exaggeration.
Liam could remember the name, gender, skin color, clothes, and the face of every person that he met in the past.
He could remember what he wrote, draw, sang, and everything he did in his life.
He could remember the emotion he felt, the physical contact he had, and the conversation he did with everyone in the past.
The pain and the pleasure.
He remembered all the best and worst things that happened in his life even without his own will.
The memories of events of Liam's life kept spinning around in his mind.
"Wha, what is happening..."
He couldn't even talk or think properly as his thoughts were constantly being disturbed by the currently progressing memories.
But suddenly, out of nowhere, It felt like time had stopped for him as he remembered the day when his mother and father took him out in the park. He was still so happy back then.
And not even a second later, a memory of him crying for a long time at his Mother and Father's funeral overlapped with any other memories he was currently having.
Liam could recall that painful day just like watching a video in a slow-motion.
He remembered the time when he saw his father's body on the alley's floor lifeless and his mother's descending tears after being shot.
Liam had his eyes filled with tears after recalling that day, five years ago, but he held it and decided to endure it. He thought he already forget about it all, but he just didn't want to realize it himself that up until now all the sorrow, the anger, and the vengefulness he felt that day were only just being kept inside him as he tried hard to forget about it.
Liam closed his teary eyes as he bit his lips.
'...Today, just like last time, I vow to destroy the organization that made my life miserable. I will make sure to avenge my parents...'
Inwardly, he declared, that he would use every single bit of his strength and his skills to trample and crush those sons of bitches with a vengeful plan that he just needed came up within a flash.
But...
"Ah... Shit."
The determination-filled student turned back to his usual self as he snapped back to reality and realized that he was still just living in the real world and not in a fantasy one.
"I got too full of myself, didn't I?"
And so, he released a dismayed sigh as he lied down and merged with his bed.
"I don't know even know what they do or where they are so I couldn't even get myself to plan something. I just vowed but I am still quite a useless student who received a little boost from a system... Just how am I supposed to destroy a whole organization?"
Liam closed his eyes again to try and fall asleep while also doing his habit of talking to himself which somehow makes him calm down most of the time...
'I don't even have an overpowered skill...'
With a rather complaining tone, he began talking in the empty air...
"Hey, system. Where are the godly skills that I've always wanted and needed? Will you give me a martial art special ultra ultimate skill or something like that sometime in the future...?"
Liam asked some nonsensical stuffs to the system itself. although he wasn't expecting a reply. He rested his mind until a sudden appearance of a light source made him open his eyes. And what he saw was—
"Huh? Ah. Oh! This is amazing..."
"An actual stat window!" Liam unconsciously shouted before he chuckled.
He was surprised by the stat window that suddenly appeared in front of him.
﹏﹏ ﹏﹏ ﹏﹏ ﹏﹏ ﹏﹏ ﹏﹏
Stat Window
Name: Liam Keene
Level: 10
???: none
HP: 100
MP: 20 (Automatically replenishes 1 Mana every minute and 30 seconds.)
Stamina: 100% (If the Stamina is low, the host's HP would start decreasing and nausea would settle in.)
[Attributes]
Strength: 9
Dexterity: 12
Intelligence: 9
Endurance: 11
Perception: 15
(Note: The exact stats of an average human adult varies in each attribute; STR - 12 • DEX - 14 • INT - 10 • END - 13 • PER - 5)
ATTR Distribution Points: 0
[Skills]
Passive Skills:
> Health Recovery
> Firmness
> Regeneration
> Immunity
> Hyperthymesia
Active Skills:
> Athletic Lv. 2
> Crystal Vision Lv. 1
> Accurate throw Lv. 2
> Appraisal Lv. 1
> Mental Boost Lv. 1
> Discerning Eye Lv. 1
> ??? Lv.1
Skill Distribution Points: 0
[Tasks]
Task remaining: 50
﹏﹏ ﹏﹏ ﹏﹏ ﹏﹏ ﹏﹏ ﹏﹏
"Haha... I don't know why but this makes me thrilled." Liam excitingly read all the things written in the stat window with a big smile carved on his face.
He was pleased with this. Once more, it made him realize that he was extremely lucky by having the system itself.
'There are also these attributes that I can potentially increase.'
Things like attributes or even just the state window alone only existed in games or some fantasy novels and a person like Liam, who enjoys reading books or playing games, would've had wish at least once in his life just for him to see it.
[Perception: 15]
"The Perception attribute is higher than the average. I suppose that it signifies the instinct of a person, this means that the system records even your natural 'attribute'."
Liam, who learned and was aware that he had a natural ability a long time ago which is having a higher instinct compared to normal people, accumulated a piece of information from the system.
After revealing his thoughts, Liam tried to check the skill menu by touching it.
"Huh? Wha–?" Liam made a confused expression.
'I can't touch it? Perhaps, I can do it with...'
"Speaking?"
Liam thought of another way to make the system work after he realized touching doesn't work.
'Can I open it by saying certain words?'
"Open?"
"Open skill menu!"
"Open system's skill menu...!"
"Open skill?!"
"Open menu!?"
"Skill Menu...?"
SHNG!
"Oh, it worked."
﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏
Skill Menu
[A skill can be leveled up by using it in repetition or by expending Skill Distribution Points (which increases in each level). A skill can be upgraded when it reaches level 3 and level 5.]
Passive Skills:
> Health Recovery - A beneficial side-effect of having the Project-X's System. The user's HP will randomly recover by 2-4 points every minute of being inactive.
> Firmness - The damage taken by the user will be reduced by 40% and the Health Recovery of the user will be activated unconditionally for 20 minutes. {Activates when the user's HP is below 40}
> Regeneration - The natural regeneration ability of the user's body will be amplified to a certain extent, completely healing their injury in the shortest amount of time possible. {Activates 3 minutes after being in an unconscious state.}
> Immunity - Diseases, poisons, drug effects, or side-effects that can affect the user's body will be completely nullified.
> Hyperthymesia - Lets the user recall all the memories of their life vividly.
Active Skills:
> Athletic Lv. 2
- Raises the Dexterity and Endurance attributes of the user by 8(+3) points for 10(+5) mins. {5 MP}
> Crystal Vision Lv. 1
- Dramatically improves the sight of the user within 3 minutes. {5 MP}
> Accurate Throw Lv. 2
- Lets the user throw one object more accurately. {1 MP}
> Appraisal Lv. 1
- Lets the user see through another person's statistics/attributes. {0 MP}
> Mental Boost Lv. 1
- Raises the Intelligence attribute of a person by 5 for 3 minutes. {5 MP}
> Discerning Eye Lv. 1 - Increases the Perception of a person by 5 for 3 mins. {5 MP}
> ??? Lv.1 - ??? {??? MP}
﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏
"I'm genuinely amazed... This system might be my life-saver, or uh life-changer?"
After seeing each skill's description and effect, even the ones he had not read till now, he couldn't possibly have even a bit of dissatisfaction from it.
"There's a lot of useful skills in this, but the problem is, where and how can I use or even test them?"
Liam knew that it will be troublesome if he just carelessly tried to show his skills in public as even now he still thinks that it was too unbelievable.
'Also, how does the leveling system work in my case?'
While he was in deep thought, a sound was heard coming from downstairs of the house.
Knock, knock!
Liam heard the sudden knock from downstairs but he sensed a bad feeling coming from the other side of the door.
'What's this... Why now...?'
At first, he was conflicted about whether to open it or just leave it but soon hurriedly ran downstairs and quickly grabbed a kitchen knife since curiosity got over him.
"Athletic," Liam mumbled the word to activate the Athletic skill thinking it will help him protect himself when a bad situation comes down.
He walked slowly towards the door. With a tense expression, he slowly twisted the doorknob with his left hand while the other hand was holding the knife pointed forward.
Liam, even in this situation, imagined himself as an assassin preparing to slice someone in the neck just like the one he sees in the movies.
The moment he opened the door, his right hand was now moving forward at an incredible speed, whether it was due to the fear of who or what was coming to him or something else, he didn't care as long as he could get rid of the 'danger' right outside the door.
Halt.
His movement was smooth enough to accurately aim for his target's neck, but as soon as he saw the person's face that he was trying to stab, his hand came to an abrupt stop.
Liam instantly pulled the knife behind his back as if to hide it from someone.
Including him, the two people in the doorway made an awkward silence before one of them started shouting.
"Why the hell are you doing here in the middle of the night, Ian!"
"Jesus fucking Christ— What the fu–! W-Was that a knife?! You almost just killed me! Holy shit, Liam!"
Both then began exchanging words in panic, as the night continued to rise.