A few days passed.
I kept training—steadily, stubbornly, without rushing.
My Endurance went up by a couple more levels.
Strength followed soon after.
My body was adapting.
Breathing became easier.
Muscles no longer screamed the way they did at the beginning.
And yet, every single day, I opened the same window.
Charisma.
And every single time—it was the same result.
Either tasks I physically couldn't complete.
Or ones I simply wasn't ready for mentally.
I started swearing at the System out loud.
At first, under my breath.
Later without even trying to hold back.
It felt like it was deliberately leading me in circles.
One evening, I came home earlier than usual.
Sat at the table.
Stared into the dark window for a long time.
And for the first time in a while, I truly thought about my father.
I had been avoiding those thoughts.
Suppressing them.
Replacing them with running, work, tasks.
Everything had happened too fast.
No goodbyes. No final words. No closure.
I never even had the chance to understand what I felt.
When Mom came home, it was already past eleven.
I didn't tell her about the underground city.
About the bets.
About the arenas.
Not because I was afraid—but because I knew it would only hurt her more.
She was tired.
What she needed wasn't the truth—it was the feeling that everything was under control.
We drank tea in silence.
Then I finally spoke.
"Mom… you said Dad was zeroed out before he died."
She froze.
"Do you know what his stats were back then?" I asked quietly.
"What exactly happened?"
She let out a heavy sigh.
"It doesn't matter," she said.
"It was an accident. Something like that… you just endure it and move on.
And you stay away from places where gambling can destroy you."
"I'm not planning to go there," I said.
"I just want to understand. So I don't repeat it."
She was silent for a long moment.
Then she said:
"You know what happens when a stat drops to zero, right?"
I nodded.
Everyone knew.
When a stat hits zero, a person stops being themselves.
The mind breaks. Thoughts twist. The System starts crushing you from the inside.
People lose their sanity.
"One of your father's stats dropped to zero," she said.
I swallowed.
"Intelligence?"
"No."
"His Intelligence was at nineteen. He even tried to push it to twenty, but failed.
He didn't obsess over it."
I frowned.
"Then… which one?"
"Strength."
I looked up sharply.
"What?
But his Strength was huge. He trained it his whole life."
She nodded.
"I couldn't believe it either.
He thought he had a buffer. That there was still plenty of room before level twenty.
He believed he'd have time to recover."
Her fingers tightened around the cup.
"He kept betting. Again and again.
And then, the last time… he bet everything."
The last twenty levels.
And lost.
"After that, he started drinking," she continued.
"Talking to himself. Shouting.
The officers said that on the bridge, he was arguing with someone—
we don't know if it was the System… or himself."
She stopped.
"He climbed over the railing and jumped."
The kitchen fell silent.
Mom straightened her back, as if forcing herself to stay strong.
"Please," she said.
"No matter what happens… never gamble with your levels."
"I won't," I replied.
"Those bets are illegal," she continued.
"If you're caught, you'll be arrested.
Forced to zero out.
Made to live with first-level stats… in prison."
She looked at me as if afraid I had already crossed that line.
"Live calmly," she said.
"Reach level twenty. Find a stable job.
That's how everyone lives."
She even smiled.
"You'll enroll in part-time education. We'll get a better apartment.
You'll get married.
We'll go out into nature on weekends."
"Everything will be fine," she added.
"The most important thing is not risking everything to zero."
I looked at her and understood—
she truly believed in that.
In stability.
In the correct way to live.
But I knew something else.
Even at level twenty, we'd still be trampled on.
Because we lived in the First Block.
And the ones who wiped their feet on us lived in the Second and Third.
Where crystals dropped from quests.
Where artifacts could be bought.
Where the System was open.
The next day, I went to work already on edge.
My thoughts wouldn't stop spinning.
I opened the Charisma window again.
Participate in a theatrical performance.
I closed it immediately.
"You've got that dark tension look," Mark said, riding up beside me.
"Trouble?"
"Charisma," I replied.
"Second month stuck at level four."
He nodded.
"Same here. But with Intelligence.
Tasks so absurd they're impossible to finish in a day."
He glanced around and lowered his voice.
"I think the System makes it hard on purpose.
Not everyone is meant to be strong."
"It's easier in the Second and Third Blocks," I said.
"Of course," Mark snorted.
"Parents can support their kids there.
Buy crystals.
Choose professions after level twenty-one."
He shook his head.
"Crystals aren't officially sold before level twenty.
Even illegal dealers don't risk it. The System tracks everything."
I sighed.
Mark was quiet for a moment, then suddenly said:
"Hey… come with me."
"Where?" I asked warily.
"Remember that girl?" he said.
"The one recruiting a team."
"Yeah."
"I want to talk to her.
Not about betting.
About a training mode."
I blinked.
"Training?"
"Yeah.
I don't want to rush into something I don't understand.
I want to see how it works first."
He hesitated, then added:
"Maybe there's a way to train a bit.
And then decide."
"And the bets?" I asked.
"I could risk a couple levels of Strength," he shrugged.
"I'm at level twenty. I've got some room."
I smiled faintly.
"I'm only at thirteen. I don't have much to gamble."
"All the more reason," Mark said.
"Let's just look."
I thought about it.
I didn't like violence.
Didn't like fighting.
But… just watching?
"Alright," I said at last.
"But only training mode.
No bets."
Mark grinned.
"Deal."
"When?"
"Tomorrow evening. Nine o'clock."
I nodded.
And realized—
the road back was slowly disappearing.