03 - The System

(You've acquired a system. Congratulations. You are the second person in the history of man to have this system)

(You'll have access to limited things at the beginning, but as you progress, the system's unlimited possibilities will be open to you! Work hard.)

(Ding! You've acquired the system. An initial reward of 1000x experience points will be awarded to the host! Congratulations!)

(Ding! You've acquired the system. An initial reward of 10 status points will be awarded to the host! Congratulations!)

(Ding! You've acquired the system. A reward "Welcoming Package" has been placed in your inventory!)

The sounds of the system were loud and obtrusive. Danny was quickly startled awake as he heard all the notifications and wondered if he was still dreaming. The mess that he had made earlier was all gone, with the book, now intact back in its unassuming position in the library.

He definitely dreamed of all of that. What did he dream about again? Something about a status?

Name - Daniel Velantis II

Age - 14

Status points - 10

Status - (Hidden)

Experience points - (1000/2000)

Condition - "You've been depressed for far too long."

Inventory - (1)

As soon as Danny thought about the word status, a strange interface appeared in front of his eyes. Almost like he was in a virtual reality game. He tried to touch the status page in front of him, but his hands passed through it. He tried turning his head quickly to try and get rid of it, but it stayed in front of him at all times. He tried closing his eyes to see if it would go away, but it was still there.

Danny calmed down and tried to figure out what was happening to him. He knew that he wasn't hallucinating because everything seemed normal. The hardwood familiar to his sock-covered feet. The air slightly colder than usual, but explained by the open window next to his chair. He opened his eyes again, and tried to take it all in.

He remembered what he heard while he was sleeping. Something about a system. The numbers that he saw in front of him are definitely explained by the robotic voice he heard. He decided to suspend his disbelief for a second, and trust the voice in his head. He took it all at face value and came to the conclusion that he has now obtained a system that would open up the world for him.

He thought of the word inventory for a second, and the scene in front of him changed.

All of a sudden, there was a ten by ten grid with separated with squares. In that first square, an icon of a gift was displayed. He quickly remembered what the supposed object was called, and, suddenly, the gift materialised in front of his eyes.

Shock cannot begin to explain what he felt, but the excitement coursing through his veins was greater. If this is what he thought it was, then Danny Velantis' name could finally be remembered.

When the gift suddenly appeared before him, he jumped back in surprise. The "Welcoming Package" almost fell with his sudden movement, but he quickly regained his balance and gripped on the gift harder.

If this is my one opportunity to change my destiny, then I will seize it, thought Danny. He opened the newly materialised object and found a pair of glasses, a small notebook, and two vials of some rainbow coloured liquid. The vials looked interesting, but the other items looked quite ordinary.

He looked back to the ordinary-looking book that probably caused all of this and thought that he should probably not judge things by their appearance anymore.

(Ding! Host has gained insight into A Guide to Happiness written by -information restricted- ! You've gained 10 experience points!)

What an ungodly sound, thought Danny. I suppose it's a small price to pay for what this system has promised me.

Danny started to inspect the items wrapped inside the gift package until he heard Larry knock.

"Young Lord, please, it's time for bed. You'll never be able to get rid those dark circles under your eyes if you don't sleep" said Larry.

"Yes Larry, I'll be heading to bed now", responded Danny as he grabbed everything from the study and took it with him to his room. There was no way he'd be able to go to sleep before finding out what these items were.

He snuck everything into his room and started inspecting them under his covers. He brought his lamp from his desk and opened the notebook. It was empty, but it came with an exquisite ball-point pen. The pen was made of some sort of wooden material with gold outlines. It was heavy in his hand and perfectly balanced. It was a nice pen, but it was still a pen. Slightly disappointed with this "Welcoming Package", he moved onto the glasses. The glasses were clearly of similar quality. They were light and flexible. He'd always suspected he needed glasses, the fact that the system knew about his weakening eyesight raised his hopes about the abilities of the system.

He put the glasses on, but instead of clearer sight, he felt as if he was inheriting a mountain of information. His mind could no longer bear the influx of information, and he quickly took the glasses off. Barely a second had passed, but Danny felt as if a year had passed. He had absorbed more information in that mere second than he had in his whole life, and he had read at least two thousand books. What the heck was that? I thought the system was trying to make me see better, not overload me with information. I guess the system doesn't care if my eyesight is getting worse.

The information that he absorbed felt like absolute mastery. He had insights into subjects that does not come from reading books as if he had experienced history first hand or developed the Pythagorean Theorem himself. It was incredible.

Danny knew that he had only absorbed a fraction of the information stored within those miraculous glasses, but it had already allowed him to figure out what these two rainbow-colored vials were. The slightly darker hued one was meant to help him absorb the information stored within the glasses. It allowed for his neurons to make quicker connections and facilitate all learning.

The second vial was meant to cure him of any illnesses, physical or otherwise. He quickly gulped down the first vial, not caring for its rancid smell and mucous texture. The second vial, however, he decided to store in a little hiding spot behind his bed. He thought about using the vial to cure his depression but concluded that a wonder vial could not cure something he has lived with for the past six years. And even if it could, how could he climb to unparalleled heights when he can't climb out of a hole he dug himself.

(Ding! Host has gained insight into A Guide to Happiness written by -information restricted- ! You've gained 100 experience points!)

Danny disregarded the notification he received from the system and fell asleep. Depression be damned, I'm gonna beat this thing myself.