When I woke up, I was lying on the floor of a white room.
There was nothing inside except a bed and a letter.
I crawled onto the bed and opened the letter.
A holographic screen appeared.
[SYSTEM INITIATING]
[ REGISTERING USER]
[ PLAYER — APPROVED]
[DISPLAYING STATS]
[Name: Leon Margrim
Level: 1
Mana: 5
Strength: 8
Dexterity: 11
Charisma: 6
Wisdom: 11
Traits: HIDDEN
Titles: N/A]
I get the gist of this, It's like an RPG game window.
But where am I?
Everything in this place is pure white except for a door in the middle of the room.
Whatever.
That aside, my stats look pretty good… except for mana. Based on my looks, I should be above average.
Oh! There's an expansion for stats.
I clicked on the more information tab.
[Stats points are a visual representation of your capabilities.]
[For reference, eight points represent the average for a normal person.]
Well… I'm cooked.
[You can improve your stats through tasks inside and outside the waiting room, items, and leveling.]
"But I'm pretty handsome. Why is my charisma so low?"
The window flickered
[…]
Huh, why did it just change?
[NEW TITLE UNLOCKED]
[Face Only a Mother Can Love]
"Are you serious?"
"Can this thing hear me?"
[SYSTEM: Yes.]
[SYSTEM: Ugly bastard.]
"You fucking little—"
"JUST HAVE YOU KNOW I DIDN'T COME HERE TO BE JUDGED BY A DAMN SCREEN!"
My ranting was halted.
[SYSTEM: NEW QUEST AVAILABLE]
[Quest: Shed Your shell]
[ ▸ 700 Push-Ups▸ 700 Pull-Ups
▸ 700 Sit-Ups
▸ 700 Squats
▸ Run 12 km
Rewards:
▸ +6 Strength
▸ +4 Dexterity
▸ +5 Charisma
▸ 1 Coin
▸ minor healing potion]
[Time Limit: 5 Days]
"I'm not doing this shit."
[Penalty confirmed.]
[Death upon failure.]
Leon: *O_O* Ah….
Well, not like I exactly have a choice if I want to escape this place.
This is a such a fucked up joke, first they toy with my life, then make do stupid quest to survive.
The first day was easy, since before this I was pretty fit anyway.
I finished most of the quest by the third day. The meals here are interesting to say the least. I wonder if this is how inmates feel?
By the fourth day, the quest was complete.
Then my next problem started.
What do I do now?
There's no food—except a single plain loaf of bread.
No water—except the single given to me liter.
The bed and a larger room with training dummies I found I've been running in.
On day five, the time distortion began affecting me. The only thing grounding me was when food appeared, I estimated to be every twelve hours.
What if I start hitting the dummies in the training room, maybe I'll become like one of those murim master's in the manwha's I read or something.
Whatever, it's something to do at least. I flailed around for a few hours pretending to be a martial artist. I don't think I become a fighter, but I made a big discovery, working out was actually increasing my stats.
Day twelve—I started tracking days by meals.
Day ?—Working out isn't enough anymore.
It's so damn boring in here.
When is the next quest going to come?
[QUEST AVAILABLE!]
[ QUEST: Upgrade your waiting room]
[COST: 1 tower coin]
[PENALTY: none]
"What? Is that really it?"
"I don't really need this anyway. "
"Yeah sure take it"
[Quest Completed]
The room began to shake rapidly and cracks scaled the walls, etching into the floor beneath me.
[UPGRADE BEGINNING]
[TIME REMAINING: 60 SECONDS]
The floor fell from under me, I looked as the room I was once inside crumbled apart, leaving me in a boundless, void.
Then I looked again countless galaxies circled me in the distant, I watched as they formed and erupted in the nebulas. The dust suddenly came charging towards me, encircling me like a school of fish circling a predator.
It was the first time I had seen something so beautiful, the dance of the cloud was entrancing. The heat as it brushed past me, feeling oddly soft and warm like a blanket fresh out of a dryer, it slowly started to rebuild what was destroyed. Bricks were made one at a time, flying into their position.
The residual dust flew back into the now empty space forming new stars and galaxies, leaving behind a new room. The new structure sucking me into it and a floor crashing into place after me.
[UPGRADE COMPLETE]
[NEW FEATURES ACCESSIBLE]
The new room was about double the size. There was a bookcase and textured walls with a smooth deep brown wooden floor, it reminded me of home. Out the corner of my eye, I noticed a new door I didn't see before.
Though I knew I should be cautious, my curiosity got the better of me. I crept up to the door, slowly opening it door in case there was a bomb or some monster inside.
"WHAT'S THIS!?"
It was something completely unexpected. Not in a thousand, NO, not in a million years would I have expected this place to be so kind.
Inside was a shower. I haven't gotten to shower in so long, the smell was haunting me.
I ran inside with no second thoughts, the warm fresh water dripping down my skin felt so nice!
As I washed my fatigue and stench away.
I kinda wish there was soap, but this is enough for now.
I dried off with the towels that came with the room. Interesting enough, if I put dirty Landry in the bin it would clean itself instantly. It also repaired the holes in my clothing.
Walking out the bathroom, my meal was lying on the new table.
I also now get meat and salt instead of just the bread?
This was all too suspicious. Like a soldier getting steak and lobster before being deployed to the front lines. I ate while getting more and more skeptical. As I enjoyed the new-found pleasure of eating, I got comfortable. Maybe too comfortable for this place.
[Eight days have passed, trial will now begin.]
[ Objective: Reach the end ]
[Penalty: Death]
[Level Up 1 → 3
SYSTEM INITIATED
REGISTERING USER
PLAYER — APPROVED
DISPLAYING STATS
Name: Leon Margrim
Level: 3
Mana: 5
Strength: 14
Dexterity: 15
Charisma: 11
Wisdom: 11
Traits: HIDDEN
Title: Maybe He Has a Nice Personality]