[Congratulations!!! You have beaten the Boss of the 1st Floor]

[LEVEL UP]

[LEVEL UP]

[LEVEL UP]

[LEVEL UP]

I felt all my physical fatigue disappear as I levelled up, I gained 4 levels and with this I could adapt to the fear I will feel down the line.

[Passive Skill Learned: Sharpshooting 10%]

[Passive Skill Learned: Spear Mastery 5%]

[Passive Skill Learned: Blade Mastery 7%]

[Power Strike is now Level 2]

[Berserk is now Level 2]

[Status Resistance is now Level 2]

[Opening Rewards For Defeating Floor 1]

[Player has earned:

500 coins

10 Skill Tokens

New Passive Skill: Laplace Authority Lv 1

Unlocked New Status: Intelligence]

[Laplace Authority Lv 1: User can now predict the outcome of actions by instantly calculating the probability]

[Berserk Lv2: The user’s status is tripled for 10 minutes but afterwards the user’s status is halved for 5 minutes]

[Power Strike Lv2: The user’s next attack possesses 5 times the power.

MP Cost: 100]

[Status Opened]

{ James,

Health 300 Mana 150

Job: Player Lv 10 Exp 9%

Base Status

Strength: 17

Stamina: 15

Agility: 17

Endurance: 15

Intelligence: 10

Allocatable Stat Points: 36

Active Skills: Stealth Lv 3, Navigation Lv 3, Analysis Lv 3, Power Strike Lv 2, Berserk Lv 2

Mastery Skills: Beginner Blunt Weapon Mastery 100% , Beginner Martial Arts 19%, Spear Mastery 5%, Blade Mastery 7%, Sharpshooting 10%

Passive Skills: Status Resistance Lv 2, Laplace Authority Lv 1, Parallel Thinking Lv1, Speed Processing Lv1 }

This was the most growth I’d experienced since hitting level 5. It looked like I gained the skill that boss was using to predict my actions too. The best part though is that I gained an extra status, and with that I got a new allocatable point for each of the 4 levels raising my strength even further.

“Hey System, did that boss monster actually use magic or was that a skill?”

[Answer: The Undead King’s Avatar has the capabilities of using magic just like the original although much weaker.]

“Would I be able to learn magic too?”

[Answer: Unknown, user’s does not currently contain any magical essence]

“So that means this really was a different world, and from the description for the boss, it looked like this might also be a prison of sorts.”

[Error! Cannot Answer]

“As I thought...”

✶✶✶

After getting my inventory sorted I finally noticed a chalk drawing at the end of the room. It looked like those magic circles I’d seen in comic books and games before so I decided to use my Analysis on it.

[Analysis Activated. Retrieving Information]

{Dungeon Gate: Allows you to reach the next floor}

“So that’s what it was, guess I’ll test it out….there’s no other way out”

I stepped on the circle and all of a sudden, a blue light flashed outwards and my surroundings changed. Instead of the dark and dim “labyrinth” I was in, I was now in the middle of a much vaster desert .

[Player has unlocked the second floor, the next time the player enters the dungeon they may start from here]

[Exit the Dungeon? Y/N]

I selected “Yes.” While my physical fatigue was gone, my mental fatigue was building up quickly. I needed to challenge this dungeon again later.

[Exiting Dungeon….]

*****

My scenery changed yet again and now I was standing in front of the building again. Surprisingly, it looked like time passed quicker inside the dungeon than outside of it because only a few minutes seemed to pass in reality even with me staying for what felt like hours in there.

Since I had a lot of free time unexpectedly (I told mom I’d be back at the end of the day) I decided to take a stroll around the neighbourhood to relieve some of this mental fatigue. As I started to walk, I sensed a pair of eyes on me that seemed to be watching my every move. I used my navigation skill to find an isolated place. I kept walking forward then turned a corner into a dead end….

*****

Mysterious Follower POV

As I kept following him, he suddenly started turning into a dead end. I tried to be as hidden as possible, but when I turned the same way, there was nobody there. I looked frantically around in search of where he went, but alas, the search bore no fruits. I started to leave the alley while wondering where he went, until I bumped into a wall I didn’t see and fell down….

….

….

….

….

Correction, I didn’t bump into a wall, I bumped into a person. Not just any person either, it was who I was following, the person who had the same “feel” from that day with the loan sharks. His body was unexpectedly sturdy, completely different from his unassuming stance. He had dark hair peeking through his hood with an angled chin. His oak brown eyes stared at me as if looking into my very core. That’s when I noticed, I was staring without saying anything.

“H-H-HelloO”

My voice suddenly went up when he gave me a stern gaze, he suddenly opened his mouth to speak.

“Who are you, and why were you following me?”

“I-I-I’m….m-my n-name is….Mathew. I was following you to thank you for saving me the other day….”

He gave me a puzzled look as if not understanding what I was saying, but after a few moments, his eyes lit up as if remembering.

“You’re the kid from that alleyway, how did you spot me?”

I thought I heard him also mention something about “stealth” under his breath but I didn’t mind it. Ever since I was young, my parents had told me that I had something of a special sense that helped me get through difficult situations. The day I was surrounded by those loan sharks I thought it had failed me, until I was saved by this person. I really wanted to thank him for helping me, and after coincidentally spotting him while walking around, I figured it was my chance.

“Sorry for being very panicky, let me introduce myself again. My name is Mathew, thank you for saving me from those loan sharks, I appreciate it”

He gave me a look, then for a second he opened his eyes in surprise but returned to normal again.

“My name is James, no need to thank me, I just happened to be nearby and spotted a person in trouble, that’s all.”

He said, while giving an expression filled with confidence. When I looked closer, I realised that he stood in a perfect stance for quick movement. I had done some martial arts in my past to protect myself from unsavoury people, giving me some insight on others’ fighting abilities . I really wished I could be more like him and beat up all those bullying me. After lamenting in an awkward silence for a few seconds, I got an idea! I dragged out as much confidence as I could, and the next words that came out of my mouth were….

***

James’ POV

“Can you be m-my f-friend?”

I looked at this kid who was still sitting on the ground, with round blue eyes staring straight at me while speaking, teeth gritted as if expecting a bad reaction. He had seemed anxious to say something, but I really didn’t expect this…it was kinda refreshing.

“Ahahahahahah”

“Why are you laughing?!!?”

“I’m sorry I’m sorry, you just seemed like you had something very important to tell me, but this was very unexpected.”

I hadn’t laughed like this in a while, this kid didn’t seem like a bad person, and I didn’t really have many friends in school, maybe I should make some (?)

“Yeah, I’ll be your friend, as I said before, my name is James, looking forward to getting to know you Mathew.”

“REALLY?!?!”

He was surprisingly loud for his small stature, but otherwise he seemed like a good person to be around.

“So if we have nothing more to say, I’ll see you tomorrow at school then, goodbye”

“B-Byeee” He said while waving his arms around.

✶✶✶

I returned home and greeted my mom. Only the both of us lived in this house together, my sister was studying overseas while my dad was out on a business trip.

“Hey mom, how are you?”

“I’m doing great, how are you honey?”

“I’m feeling a bit tired mom, but I actually made a new friend today-”

“WHAAAAAAAT?!?!?!”

My mom suddenly turned around and rushed at me, no amount of agility stats could’ve allowed me to avoid her iron grip.

“Tell. Me. All. The. Details.”

I then proceeded to explain to my mom what happened today, other than the events in the dungeon of course, somehow this took me until bedtime, and after getting scolded over jumping into a dangerous situation with loan sharks I was finally released. All in all, it was quite an enjoyable way to spend time with my mom.

I went to bed feeling refreshed and looking forward to what would happen in school the next day, since I’d just learned he went to the same school I did.

✶✶✶

I woke up from what felt like my first good rest in forever, and got ready for school. This time I wasn’t late, if anything, I managed to get to school quite early today, early enough to spot my new friend stumbling across the road. I might as well have some fun, I activated my stealth skill and approached him from behind. To my surprise though, he actually turned around in my direction, but he couldn’t actually see me. This kid is surprisingly sharp for his clumsiness….

“H-Hiiii?!?!”

“Hey there Mathew, how are you feeling today?”

“I’m feeling great, thank you for a-asking James!”

We proceeded to walk until I realised that we were both in the same class, and that he sat at the desk behind me….am I really this unaware of my surroundings….?

As I was proceeding through classes, I realised that my skills were quite useful in my everyday life as well. For example my parallel thinking and speed processing skills helped me with calculations and thinking up of new ideas. I was learning that there wasn’t just one way to use my skills, so I shouldn’t lock myself up in preconceived thoughts.

My school was kind of unique, it wasn’t like other schools in most of its aspects. While there were regular classes in the morning such as Math, English, and Science, in the afternoon, students got to pick a sort of “passion” to pursue with many different facilities to help them do that. I personally didn’t have such passions, but today, Mathew came up to me and asked if I could come with him. Now I’d found myself in a “dojo” with Mathew standing in front of me with a training uniform of sorts.

“So….what are we doing here?”

“James, please teach me how to fight!!” He said while sitting on his knees and making some “puppy dog eyes” at me.

….This kid is very….eager.

“Why do you want to know how to fight?”

“When you saved me that day, I wanted to know how to protect myself, I knew the basics, but I wasn’t anywhere near as capale of what you did that day. I was hoping you would be kind enough to teach me….if you don’t mind…”

“Sigh...well, you won’t always have help nearby so I understand where you’re coming from. I’ll teach you some of what I knew then.”

Although it was all with help from the system

******

Matthew POV

I couldn’t believe James accepted my request and agreed to teach me. He came out of the changing room in another outfit that was easier to move in, it was quite basic, with a simple black and white colour scheme.

“Well, to start, I want you to throw your hardest punch straight at me.”

I got ready in a stance to do as he said. I threw a punch with all my power behind it, not that that was much power though… James easily deflects my punch to the side without even having to move.

“When throwing a punch, you should use your whole body, not just your arms. Try doing it this way while stepping forward.”

He adjusted my stance, and this time when I threw the punch, I felt a stark difference. It felt as if power was travelling from the bottom of my feet to the tip of my fist. I hit James’ palm straight on. He gave me a surprised look and grinned.

“Are you sure you haven’t fought before? That fist contained quite a lot of power behind it.”

For some reason, James squinted his eyes suspiciously then opened them wide in surprise, only for a second though before returning to a normal expression. I wondered what he was thinking….

✶✶✶

James POV

I finished teaching Mathew the basics of fighting that afternoon and then had to spend a while accepting his thanks before he finally agreed that we had to go home. Although, I did find something quite interesting. I tried testing if appraisal worked on humans before but it wasn’t fruitful. I wasn’t able to see their status at all, most likely because they didn’t have one. However, for some reason I thought I’d try using it on Mathew, and got an unexpected surprise.

{Mathew

Health 1000 Mana 0

Job: None Lv 1 Exp 0%

Base Status

Strength: 3

Stamina: 5

Agility: 3

Endurance: 6

Skills:

Active Skills: None

Passive Skills: Sixth Sense Lv1}

Although it was weaker than a regular zombie, he did have a status! What was even weirder was that he had a skill too! When I analysed the skill the following showed up:

[Sixth Sense: Separated from the five senses, alerts the user to danger and can “sense” people’s aura, the higher the level the more functions unlocked]

I think that “aura sensing” was how Mathew found me, he might’ve been using it unconsciously. The thing is, this might mean that Mathew was like me… I never thought of such a possibility, but I wonder if he also had a {System}. Although there was a stark difference from my status. After all, his job was written as “none” instead of “player” so he might be different from me after all…

Either way, he was now my friend so I should at least look out for him, but to do that I’ll need to be strong enough so that I didn’t have the need for someone to look out for me.

As I was walking and thinking, I felt the hairs on my arms rise. My instinct kicked in and I jumped to the side, but no one was nearby. Although I couldn’t find anyone in the area, the sweat didn’t stop drenching my back. Why did I keep sensing that something was wrong?

I couldn’t find any signs of danger so I kept walking while making sure my navigation skill was fully activated. Eventually my sense of danger decreased and I managed to reach my house safely. Mom was sound asleep so I made sure to quietly enter and change before also going to bed. Mom always tried so hard to make sure I didn’t feel lonely, with both my dad and sister having to be away from home, I didn’t know how I could ever repay her love and kindness to me. All I could do for now was make sure she was safe and sound from the dangers of my life.

We had a free work day at school tomorrow. I think I might go and explore the second floor instead, I want to experiment a bit then. For now though, I need….to sleep.

✶✶✶

In the silence of the night, a being which could only be described as a living shadow stood over the roofs as if looking down on all living beings. An abyssal hole opened from said creature’s “face” followed by a bunch of incomprehensible noises, naturally that was its mouth. Whatever it said wasn’t meant for the human ear, but its malice and anger could be felt as if trying to intimidate the very air. The target of its malice seemed to have sensed it and jumped away. Realising this, the creature calmed down again and continued to observe silently, as it was told to…..