Chapter Three: Miracles

I calmly read the screen before me in an absolutely calm manner.

‘Difficulty: Death is Certain?’

I am calm.

Negative seven as a status ailment?

Did I mention I am calm?

Condition… ‘Tarnished Body’…

I am infinitely calm- okay, that one hurt a bit.

I’m no expert at these kinds of things, but it seems that wherever I am is some sort of game world.

Maybe it is a simulation? Perhaps I am dead and this is my personal Hell? I guess I never took this whole thing being a dream off of the table just yet.

My feeble mi- wait. I peep at the screen once again and revise my thoughts. My adequately valued mind is swirling with all of the possibilities that could explain my current situation. I feel my breath quicken as my heart feels like it is confined in a tiny cage of bone. Cool sweat trickles down my back and I force myself to close my eyes and hold my breath. My hands bury themselves in Pawl’s soft fur, and I release a shaky breath.

In: 1…2…3…Good.

Out: 1…2…3…Good.

I repeat this process until my mind can overcome the plights of my body.

Panic attacks, crying, screaming, praying- they do nothing. I learned this fact a long time ago.

< Cogitation Lvl. 1 -> Cogitation Lvl. 2 >

Releasing my grip on Pawl, I open my eyes. My thoughts are smooth and I re-read the screen in front of me, my breath now an even rhythm.

If I am reading the screen correctly, it looks like I have been here for over two days now. The fact I already had a skill at level 2 is surprising, but the fact I am also at Level 3 just proves that I’ve been here for a while. I’m not exactly sure what the ‘Time Left’ line is supposed to mean. Is that my death timer or something?

My attention trails down to my stats. From what I can tell, I have a negative BDY value due to one of my conditions. I try to command the screen to tell me more, but nothing happens. I even try to touch it again, seeing if I can tap the words like a link. Once again, no luck.

This interface is legitimately useless. I mean, how can someone create such a detailed dream, hallucination, game, or whatever this is, but can’t even provide a help desk or anything. For a moment, I think that maybe it is associated with another command word like I used earlier, but if I am being honest, I would rather mess around with my Status blind than begin guessing what command causes the help desk to appear, if it even exists at all.

Turning my attention back at the screen, I look at my conditions and hazard a guess that the temporary ‘Tarnished Body’ condition must be what is causing my negative BDY value. My main reason for this logic is the fact it has ‘body’ in the name.

I know. I’m a genius.

Also, I severely hope that the ailment isn’t from ‘Mana Mutation,’ because whatever that is, is permanent. Finally putting it off long enough, I clear my throat.

“Use unallocated points on Body.”

I close my eyes and relax my body, waiting for pain to come. A dull pressure works its way through my body, but it only lasts a few seconds and nothing else happens.

I’m almost disappointed.

When I open my eyes, I am shocked to find that my vision is no longer blurry and poor. Secondarily, due to the discovery of my newfound 20/20 vision, my toes twitch in shock. Focusing my attention on my legs, I watch them do a little jig. I quickly stop though when Pawl’s ear flicks in an annoyed manner. Making sure to pet him with extra care, I look back at the screen to see if anything has changed.

[Status of Sebastian Bet]

Pillar Difficulty: Death is Certain

Floor 1: The Last Tribe

Time Used: 02:11:26:13

Time Left: 2187:12:33:47

Level: 3

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it’s taken without the author’s consent. Report it.

Body (BDY): 3

Mind (MND): 6

Agility (AGI): 4

Power (PWR): 3

[Unallocated Points: 0]

Class: Undecided

Form Association: Undecided

Skills: