Chapter 2

Riley’s eyes were fixated on the window. He read it once, closed his eyes and shook his head violently.

He opened them again, but nothing changed. The window was still there.

It faded after a half a minute, and Riley was left staring at his omelet. He started eating it, while mulling things over.

“Ok, so somehow, my life has turned into a game, and I can “Analyze” things like in games, huh? This is weird. Very, very weird.”

After finishing his meal, he brought his plate into the kitchen, where his mum was still washing dishes.

As he placed his plate in the sink, his mum said, “No games until you finish your homework!” Riley replied affirmatively as he started walking towards the stairs.

He made a promise, and he would fulfill it. Of course, one or two sidetracks along the way wouldn’t hurt anyone…

Once he entered his room, he shut the door and went to his desk. His room was that of an ordinary teenager’s. It had all the necessities: a bed, wardrobe, desk, bookshelf, computer and an ensuite bathroom; nothing more.

Of course, though bare, that does not mean his room is “ordinary”. His prize jewel, his computer, was where all the magic happened, at least, before today. Here, on his laptop, was where history was made. The slaying of the Great Lord Nashor, the Grand Exchange crash of ‘09 - this is where Riley witnessed first hand, and participated, in the biggest achievements of the century.

Since he also played baseball for his school’s team, he had a ball and glove resting on his bookshelf and a bat below the shelf resting against the wall.

He sat on his comfy cushion chair, turned his PC on, and pulled out his textbooks from the bag lying at the foot of the desk. As he flipped his notebook to a new page, he pulled out his pen and placed it on the desk.

“Now that I’ve got my facade and cover ready, I should start experimenting.”

Riley took a deep breath before uttering the word “Skills”.

A window appeared immediately. At the top of the window was the word “Skills” and below it were 3 icons. The first was a picture of a console controller. The one under it showed a muscular arm flexing. The last icon depicted a picture of a magnifying glass.

Without a moment of hesitation, Riley touched the controller. A new window popped out with the icon at the top left and the words [Roleplayer’s Mind] as its title.

Below, it was stated that it was a passive skill.

To put it simply, passive skills function just like your involuntary actions such as breathing and digestion - they provide bonuses to your character or skills, without needing to be "toggled", or switched on. Unlike active skills, which require the player to activate it to show its effects, passive skills are, to put it simply, “always on”.

Its description was “Just like a game character, no situation in the world throws you off. Simply because, well, it’s a game… right? You are now able to think logically under any circumstance. Reality as you know it has been converted into a video game”

Riley smiled and thought, “So that’s why I’ve been calm throughout this course of events.”

After reading this, he closed the window and touched the bicep icon.

The new window popped up, and he learnt the name of this skill, which was called [Virtual Body].

It was another passive skill, and its description was “Grants the user a body which allows the user to live in the real world like a game. After sleeping in a bed, HP and MP are restored, and all status ailments are cured. The user will be able to sleep even if his body does not require it.”

“Does that mean sleeping allows me to completely recover from any injuries, exhaustion, or fatigue? That should allow me to train more in baseball, without risking any muscle or bone injuries.”

Finally, he closed the [Virtual Body] window and proceeded to click on the last icon, the magnifying glass.

Although Riley didn’t know for sure, he could guess that it was the “Analyze” skill he gained just ten minutes ago. Sure enough, he was right.

Unlike the previous skills, was an active skill, and had a skill level. Active skills, unlike passive skills, are abilities used by characters in a game. These skills usually require the user to cast it, whether by clicking a button, or by enunciating the “trigger word”, or incantation.

Its description was “Through continuous observation, a skill to observe objects and people was created that allows for swift information gathering. The higher the skill, the better the quality of data obtained.”

Scratching his chin, Riley started thinking.

“Hmm… if used correctly, this could turn out to be a very useful skill. Since it has a level, does it increase the more I use it?”

Closing the window, Riley looked at his text book and said, .

A window soon popped out. The window said, “A history textbook owned by Riley Petesgeralt.”

Riley read the window before closing it. Picking up his pen, he looked at it and performed on it.

This time, two windows popped up. One of the windows said, “ has increased by one skill level.”

Smiling to himself, Riley closed the window, before reading the next window. “A pen owned by Riley Petesgeralt. Manufactured by Stabeeloh.”

Riley closed the window. This time, he was impressed.

“Okay, time to start using on everything I can fi-“.

Before he could complete his sentence, a notification came up.

The notification had the words “1 hour and 30 minutes left before the quest 'A promise to Mum' expires" written on it.

Riley looked at his alarm clock. It was exactly 10:30. Riley realized that his assignment would definitely take a long time.

Without a moment to lose, Riley began writing his essay.

While writing and researching on his computer, Riley felt that he was able to remain calm.

This helped Riley a lot, since he could easily focus. Normally, just working on his assignments stressed him out. Yet, even with the time ticking down, he was surprisingly calm for his predicament.

Not only that, he was able to focus better. Thoughts flowed across his mind so smoothly - it was as if he’d lived life with permanent writer’s block until today. Homework had never been this easy!

“This [Roleplayer’s Mind] ability is proving to be very beneficial.”

Riley smiled as he continued his essay with ease. Using his browser and textbook as reference, he zoomed past his essay, as if the universe had aligned - his flow was uninterrupted. He was able to find resources and immediately transcribe them into his own words, understanding each concept with ease.

Soon he had written enough to fulfill the essay’s word count. As he was concluding the essay, an idea struck his mind. Grinning to himself, he said, “Quest Log”.

As soon as he said it, a window appeared. The window had the title “Quest Log”. It had two tabs, “Progressing” and “Completed.”

“Completed” was empty, just as he thought.

As for “Progressing”, the only quest there was his current quest, “A promise to Mum”.

Closing the window, Riley fell deep in thought.

“Has my life really turned into a game? Only one way to find out. If it has really turned into a game…”

Riley placed his mechanical pencil down and took a deep breath.

He then uttered, “Status”.

A window appeared, with the title “Status”.

It had his picture, his name, his level, and his title. There were three bars: His health bar, his mana bar, and an empty bar, which was called EXP. His health had already regenerated the missing 1 point from the pinch he had inflicted on himself earlier.

As for the empty bar labelled EXP, Riley knew exactly what it was. It is the experience bar, a bar that tracks his progress and growth.

Normally, in games, repetitive action can help raise the level of a single skill. Just like in World of Legends, Riley spent 8 consecutive days just chopping trees down to reach level 99 in Woodcutting.

However, by completing quests, or training, one would be able to level up their character when the bar hits full. Leveling up would increase his overall stats, making him stronger. Having a higher level will also allow the character to access equipment and skills reserved only to high-level characters.

Below all these details, there was a box named “Attributes”. These stats showed his prowess in an itemised list of his physical and mental characteristics, quantified for ease of comparison.

The stats listed were:

Strength: 25

Dexterity: 23

Vitality: 25

Intelligence: 28

Wisdom: 20

Charisma: 24

Luck: 20

His stats surprised him. “Wow”, he thought, “My Strength is pretty high. All that sports and exercise really paid off!”

After seeing this window, any doubt in Riley’s mind had been demystified.

His life had really changed into a game. Biting on the end of his pen, he started thinking.

“I don’t know what happened or how I got these powers, but since I already have them, I might as well use it to the best of my abilities to help me out in my daily life. I wonder what other secrets lie within this power that can help me out? What are some common abilities in every MMORP-”

He suddenly shot up. Pointing his pen into the space in front of him, he grinned to himself and said, “Inventory!”

A new window appeared, with the title “Inventory”.

The window had multiple grids, presumably to store items. It was the standard blue, with the grids being dark grey. Right below the grids was a dollar sign with 0.00 next to it.

There was a full body picture of Riley next to the grids, with boxes beside the limbs. There was one box for each hand and feet, one for his torso, one for his legs, one for his head, and four above his head.

He assumed that the four empty grids above his head were for accessories. Unlike the rest of the empty boxes, the box on his right hand was filled. It had a picture of the pen he was holding in it.

"I can’t believe this power comes with an inventory space too! This must be one of the best parts of my ability, literally transcending into the realms of magic. Now, to see if it works like I think it does."

Riley moved his right hand so that it would be right in front of the window and jabbed his pen into it.

Upon coming in contact with the box, the pen soon phased through the screen, and slowly dissipated into nothing. After its sudden disappearance, one of the grids in the inventory box had the icon of the pen in it.

"W-wow! It worked, just like magic! Having an inventory in the real world is life-changing! Now I can carry as many things as I want anywhere I want! No more limiting my clothing during camps! No more getting mugged!"

He then clicked on the icon of his pen and his pen soon appeared into his hands again. This new window was what made him the happiest about his ability so far.

He then fumbled in his drawers for his wallet. Pulling out the wallet, he took out $10 and pushed it into the window.

The numbers beside the dollar sign changed from 0 to 10, and he knew the transfer was a success.

He then clicked on the dollar sign to try and withdraw his money. A new, smaller window appeared. It had a number scroller, a button that said “All”, and a button that said “Ok”.

Riley proceeded to click on the “All” button. His ten-dollar note came out, and he rejoiced.

As he continued stuffing his inventory with cash, a notification popped out.

It was a notification from the Quest system. It was currently 11:45, and he had 15 minutes remaining before the quest ended.

“Okay, time to get back to work. No more fooling around!”

Closing the inventory menu, he went back to his desk and continued with the conclusion of his essay.

The second he wrote the final period for the last sentence of his conclusion, a notification popped up right before him.

“Congratulations, you’ve completed the quest “A promise to Mum!”

A new window popped up after the initial one, with the texts: “Quest Rewards: +10 EXP, +1 Charisma, Double Smash Burgers with Cheese with no pickle”

Below the text was a short animation of his Experience Bar filling up a tenth of a way, and his Charisma skill point transitioning from its previous 24 to a 25.

A smaller, rectangular window popped up, saying, “Due to studying diligently, your intelligence went up by 1 point!”

Just like the previous window, below the announcement was a smaller text showing his Intelligence’s stat going up from 28 to 29.

The amount of windows that popped up simultaneously brought with them a surge of information that overwhelmed Riley. Studying and completing homework could increase his stats too regardless of the quests?

It seemed odd… this was too easy and way too quick.

“Did my new ability also make improving and growing easier? I’ve been diligently completing my homeworks every day for the past 16 years of my life, but my Intelligence is only 28. Just from this menial task of my daily routine, I’ve essentially grown 5%? How does that even make sense?”

“Congratulations! Due to deep thinking and analysis on your newfound abilities, your Wisdom went up by 1 point by understanding the system better!”

A new window popped up, showing that his Wisdom had increased once again. Riley felt a sarcastic smirk from the gods.

“Hah! It’s as if my power, or the system, is alive. And has a sense of humor too, at that.”

“Congratulations! Due to identifying the livingness and humor of the system, your Wisdom went up by 1 point by understanding the system better!”

“LOL.”

After this revelation, he knew the severity and impact of this power. The power was definitely supernatural, and that would make him now a supernatural too. His normal teenage life was over. His life, the world, as he knew it, had been flipped upside down.

Standing up, he decided to take advantage of this gift he received - he decided to spend the rest of the day training his physical form - strength and dexterity. Being a baseball player, strength, stamina, and dexterity was very important to him.

He changed into sportswear with a baseball cap. He picked up his baseball bat and left his room.

As he walked down the stairs, his mum called out to him,

“Riley? Have you completed your homework?”

Riley smiled and said, “Yup! I’ll be heading out for some baseball training.”

“Don’t leave just yet! I’ve prepared lunch! Guess what I made?”

Riley smirked.

“Hmm, let me guess. Is it my favorite smashed burger?”

Name: Riley Petesgeralt

Age: 16

Job: The Roleplayer

Strength: 25

Dexterity: 23

Vitality: 25

Intelligence: 29 (+1)

Wisdom: 22 (+2)

Charisma: 25 (+1)

Luck: 20

Skills:

Roleplayer’s Mind

Virtual Body

Analyze (Level 2) (+1)