Chapter 3 - Leveling Up In Reality?

"Wait, how does Leveling Up In Reality even work?"

Mercedes woke up from her amazement and instantly realized the implications of leveling up in reality. Such a concept only exists in games. And through games, amongst the many ways of leveling up, one of them stands out the most.

It was known as leveling through mass genocide of mobs. If a player executes a mob, they will receive the currency of leveling, known as experience. Only through experience can one level up.

With this in mind, Mercedes couldn't help but wonder if this was what she needed to do for leveling. She gulped as she waited for an answer. She hoped to not murder anyone just to gain experience. That would be too much for her.

[𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝐮𝐩 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐄𝐆𝐈𝐒.]

[𝐀𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬.]

[𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬.]

[𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐡 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞. 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐋𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐀𝐄𝐆𝐈𝐒 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐯𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐬𝐭'𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡.]

"I see... Quest leveling, huh. I guess it's good that I don't have to do anything heinous." Mercedes sighed in relief as if she had been freed from a weight pressuring her shoulders.

Her worry was understandable. Depending on the ways AEGIS gave her, she would have to accept them no matter what. And if it was leveling through slaughter, Mercedes didn't know how she would act in such a situation.

'There also seems to be many ways of leveling. I wonder what they are. Leveling through killing seems inefficient but straightforward. I don't know if it is cost-effective, but even if it was...'

'No way would I try killing someone.' Mercedes shook her head in denial. She didn't want to deal with the implications of it. So deciding to throw it at the back of her head, she continued on the ones in front of her.

"Anyway, Spade. I'm sure you already know what I want." Mercedes uttered with confidence before Spade replied with its usual monotone voice.

[𝐔𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐝. 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐬𝐭…]

Mercedes calmly waited while standing still on the cold wooden floor. Along with the silence enveloping Mercedes was the ticking clock reminding her how much time had passed. She kept gazing through the darkness before something materialized in front of her.

It was a silver light gleaming through the deep black of darkness. It hovered before Mercedes's perception and slowly formed into something that resembled a digital window.

What Mercedes saw before her was akin to the windows from the comics she had read.

A surge of thrill flooded her heart as it soon utterly materialized in front of her. Mercedes's limbs couldn't help but tremble in excitement as she intensely gazed upon the AEGIS's digital window.

―<▼>―

[𝐑𝐞𝐡𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧 𝐋𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐫 𝟏(𝐌𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭)]

●[𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞: 𝐄𝐚𝐬𝐲]

●[𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐡𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐮𝐫𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐠𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐡𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐡𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭'𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧. 𝐎𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠-𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐫.]

➤[𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝: 𝐂𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠(𝐄), +𝟎.𝟏 𝐀𝐭𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭, +𝟓 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞]

―<▲>―

Reading through the quest window given by Spade, Mercedes was perplexed. She didn't know what to feel after reading the entirety of it. It was as if the quest was written by someone mocking her. Heck, even the way the quest was written resembles typical RPG quests.

The quest was like a professionally-made document of someone mocking her.

"Well, It's not like I can do much about it." Mercedes lightly chuckled as she salvaged a bit of her confidence. The quest wanted her to clean the room that hadn't been cleansed of filth for months.

The creatures hiding in its depths would be terrifying. But as the quest had said, the room was Mercedes's domain. It was her duty to cleanse it of whatever evil burrows within its depths. To be honest, she was afraid and annoyed. Yet, she was also excited.

"Completing this quest will give me a skill at its lowest rank, a tiny attribute of spirit, and finally, 5 experience."

"It might not be much, and the experience will probably not be enough for me to level up."

"But it is a step for me," Mercedes assured herself with a smile on her face. She didn't notice it, but she was slowly building what she lacked the most. Confidence. Sluggish for sure, though she was steadily gaining some ground for herself.

While she didn't notice what she was building, Mercedes did see how strange she was acting compared to before. She could only describe it as being more positive than usual. Her current actions would be a far cry from her former self, which made her a bit suspicious.

[𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐀𝐄𝐆𝐈𝐒 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐬𝐭'𝐬 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐞.]

Out of nowhere, Spade answered Mercedes's suspicions with the same monotone voice as before.

"Temporarily increasing my attribute? What does that mean? Other than the positivity, I don't feel that much different from before." Mercedes wasn't aware of any change, with the exception of positivity. She didn't feel neither strong or smart. Heck, her body still looks the same as before.

So what gives?

[𝐃𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐄𝐆𝐈𝐒'𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐢𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲 𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐬𝐭'𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲.]

[𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐬𝐭'𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝟎.𝟒, 𝟓𝟎% 𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐥.]

[𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐞, 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐨 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐀𝐄𝐆𝐈𝐒.]

[𝐀𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐬.]

"Okay, okay... No need to bombard me with that much reasoning."

Mercedes didn't want to hear more about it anymore. Her spirit must have been extremely low for the AEGIS to intervene just to make her move. And she knew that her past self would have done nothing but complain to AEGIS.

'Damn, never did I think that I would be problematic.'

'Wait, is this the effect of a higher spirit attribute? Being aware of how much of a problem you are?' Mercedes couldn't help but question herself. She soon shook her head, thinking this shouldn't be the thoughts passing through his head.

"I guess it's time to turn the lights on." Mercedes ruffled her disheveled hair before walking to the light switch. She didn't waste time and turned the switch. In an instant, a gleaming radiance enveloped the entirety of her body.

It has been a long time since her room got entirely illuminated by light. And seeing it for herself, Mercedes realized how much she had messed up. She could only describe the room as one thing. A Landfill. The result of not throwing out rubbish for months was this.

"Oh, god."

Mercedes wondered if this was what the pandemonium looked like. Though, enough jokes. It was time for her to start cleaning the room for the sake of the quest reward. She went out of her abode for the first time with the opening of the creaking door.

"It still looks the same, huh," Mercedes uttered while gazing at the familiar hallway of her house. Unlike her room, everywhere in the house was clean. Her mother must have worked hard.

Mercedes's home resided near the district's downtown, where they, fortunately, managed to own some land. They had a cafe as a business which was operated by their mother. The Cafe was how they had been sustaining themselves despite their mother being a single mom.

Even Mercedes herself hadn't seen a single photo of her father. Since her birth, it had been her and her mother. They worked through hardships to establish the Cafe. So it made her wonder what made her like this, for someone who's supposed to be a hard worker.

What happened?

"No use in asking such a question." Mercedes had her own problems. She had her reasons for becoming a disappointment and a failure. Whether they'd be good or bad doesn't matter, though.

She walked down the stairs and finally saw sceneries she could faintly remember. The Cafe of her mother was as beautiful as ever. She couldn't help but smile while continuing to climb down.

Arriving at the ground floor, Mercedes walked to the kitchen. Most lights were turned off, as it might have been early in the morning. The golden sun hasn't risen from the lines of the boundless horizon. It was the perfect time for taking out the trash.

"What I need is a trash bag." Searching through the kitchen, Mercedes went through every cabinet until she found the trash bag she needed. Gazing at it, Mercedes couldn't help but wonder. "How many trash bags do I need to take all of them out."

"Hmm... Perhaps three to five trash bags."

Mercedes did a calculation by remembering how much of a landfill her room was. She couldn't calculate the exact amount of trash bags needed. But she would rather not go back down for more simply because her trash bags were lacking.

'I'll take five of them out.' Mercedes concluded within her mind.

Meanwhile, at the Cafe's front door, a somewhat gorgeous lady dropped her groceries. Exhausted from dragging the baggage of groceries from the market, the beautiful lady left them at the front door and continued on.

While walking into the Cafe, she noticed the lights in the kitchen turned on. The lady furrowed her eyebrows before slowly treading to the kitchen. And upon her arrival, she was met with an unexpected sight.

It was so hard to believe she had to rub her eyes just to be sure.

"Mercedes?" The stunning lady questioned while squinting her eyes. It was hard to believe, but her oldest daughter was in front of her. After locking up for over a year while rarely going out, her daughter finally left the dirty abode.

"Oh... Hey, Mom." Mercedes avoided her mother's gaze in instinct. She couldn't look her mother in the eye as she wasn't ready for what her mother had to say.

"What are you doing here?" Mercedes's mother, also known as Regine Reed, wondered why her oldest daughter had left the room. It was too good to be true that Regine's head wasn't thinking straight.

"Oh, nothing. I'm taking out the trashes in my room." Mercedes walked up the stairs without waiting for a reply. Regine, on the other hand, wanted to talk more. But she stopped herself and simply smiled at Mercedes.

"It's good to see you again, Mercedes." Regine silently muttered though Mercedes, who was climbing the stairs, clearly heard it with her own ears.

Mercedes didn't know what to feel. She couldn't find the perfect reaction to the words she had heard escape from her mother's supple lips. But even without a response, Mercedes was happy.

From the looks of it, her preconceptions of what a failure and a disappointment were. Distorted what she thought their familial relationship was about. In reality, remembering who her mother was, Mercedes knew that her mother would never consider her a failure.

"It's good to see you, Mom."