Broken System

Lucas slowly opened his eyes, only to be met with a blinding light that forced them shut again. A soft groan escaped his lips as warmth washed over his face, his throat dry like sandpaper. He smacked his lips, trying to summon moisture, and as his mouth moved, his eyes fluttered open once more. 

"HNNN…!"

The warm sunlight filtering through the wooden window made him squint.

"What the hell…?" 

He muttered in a hoarse voice. 

"Where am I…?"

His head turned, taking in his surroundings. 

A medieval-style room. 

Wooden chairs. 

Ragged clothes. 

Spears and sheathed swords stacked in a corner. 

The air smelled of aged wood and faint herbs, the kind you'd expect from some old-world healer's hut.

Lucas pushed himself up against the headrest as his aching back pressed into the rough wood. He raised his hands—and immediately noticed the tattered bandages wrapped around them. They didn't look clean. His brows furrowed as he flexed his fingers and winced at the dull pain that traveled up his arms.

Then it all came rushing back.

That strange voice. The randomized stats. The goblins.

His hands shot to his head as the memories clawed their way into his mind. 

The rocks smashing against his skull. 

The screams. 

The flames. 

The sadistic grins of those heartless, green devils as they tore through the village, butchering, violating, and reveling in their own carnage.

A shudder ran down his spine.

He had always admired how Ethereon Online depicted goblins — the GMs had made them some of the most brutal, horrifying creatures in gaming history, and he used to love the lore accuracy. But after experiencing it firsthand? He wanted to strangle and spit on the faces of every single one of those sick bastards who designed them.

But he couldn't dwell on that now.

Lucas pulled back the blanket covering him to notice he was dressed differently. 

Gone was his white dress shirt and black pants. 

Instead, he wore something rougher, more fitting for a medieval world. 

He sighed as his expression darkened.

"I'm still here, huh…?"

For a brief moment, he had clung to the hope that dying in this nightmare would send him back to reality. 

But that was nothing more than wishful thinking.

His dull eyes fell to his bandaged hands. 

He flexed them again, opening and closing his palms in slow, painful movements—just testing if they still worked. 

The ache was sharp, but they moved. 

He let out a small, relieved breath.

"Phew… at least I'm not disabled."

Just then—

Ding!

A blue notification board appeared before him, startling him so badly that he jerked back against the bed.

[YAY! You have achieved: "Slumber of the Ancients!"]

[You have slept for 144 hours straight. Only the truly lazy or the most dedicated cultivators of sleep can achieve this feat!]

Lucas blinked. "… Huh?"

More notifications appeared in rapid succession:

—[Rewards Earned!]—

▸ 3,000 EXP (500 EXP per day of uninterrupted sleep)

▸ Level Up! (Lv.1 → Lv.5)

▸ +12 Stat Points (2 per day slept)

▸ +300 Max HP (Regeneration boosted during sleep state)

▸ +50 Max MP (Mind refreshed from long slumber)

▸ New Passive Unlocked: [Hibernation Mode] Sleeping now recovers 10x more HP/MP and temporarily boosts the host's Regeneration Speed by 50% for 1 hour after waking! 

—Additional Effect: Sleeping for more than 3 days gives you a 2% boost to all stats for 6 hours upon awakening—

▸ +5 END (Endurance) — The body has adapted to extreme inactivity, making the host more resistant to fatigue-based debuffs.

▸ +3 VIT (Vitality) — The host's organs have entered a near-hibernation state, reducing hunger and thirst penalties by 4%.

･･･

Lucas stared at the glowing notifications as his brain struggled to process what he was looking at.

"What… the hell is all this?" he mumbled.

He wanted to tap something, but hesitation rooted him in place. He had already suffered enough from this insane world—what if a wrong move screwed him over again?

"Why… can these things talk?" 

Lucas muttered. 

"Status boards aren't supposed to talk. And even if they could, it wouldn't be these basic blue ones…"

The System chimed in again:

— [Would you like to allocate your 20 Stat Points? 

— [You acquired 12 from "Slumber of the Ancients" and the other 8 from leveling up!]

Lucas didn't respond right away. 

His eyes flickered across the stats displayed before him. 

Despite how weird all of this was… it seemed like a huge advantage.

He nodded once. 

With a swipe of his index, his Status Board opened up.

Then—

"WHAT—?!"

[Name: Lucas Ellsworth]

[Race: Human]

[Gender: Male] 

[Class: Hybrid (Subclass = Red Mage)] 

[Level: 5] 

[HP: 585/585]

[MP: 172/172] 

[Strength: 6/120]

[Intelligence: 0]

[Stamina: 0]

[Dexterity: 0]

[Agility: 0]

[Constitution: 0]

[Wisdom: 0]

[Luck: 5/120]

[Charisma: 0]

[Perception: 0] 

[Spirit: 0]

[Accuracy: 0]

[Endurance: 20/120] 

[Skills: Stat Inflation (SSS+), Exploit Mechanics (SSS+)]

･･･

His stats had skyrocketed.

"Wait, wait, wait… How did my stats get this high?! That doesn't make any friggin' sense!"

But before he could even try to wrap his head around it, he shook his head. 

No… questioning it wouldn't help. Using it would.

His fingers hovered over the stat allocation menu.

"Alright… for now, I don't have any magic spells or anything like that, so I better avoid putting points into Intelligence and Wisdom. I need to focus on survival stats first…"

His eyes scanned the list. 

Strength? Just in case. 

[You've added +5 stat points to STR!] 

Endurance? Definitely. 

[You've added +5 stat points to END!] 

In a game where pain was real and death was final, he didn't want to risk having low endurance. 

Luck? Tempting, but mostly useful for crits, item drops, and random encounters. 

Not what he needed right now.

He leaned back, rubbing his chin. 

"Maybe I should add it to my—"

COUGH!

His chest tightened painfully. 

Lucas winced, clutching his throat. 

His lips were cracked, his tongue dry as hell. 

He let out a wheezy breath.

"Shit… I need water. I haven't had anything to drink in—"

His gaze darkened.

His body ached, but at least he was still breathing. 

That was a good start. 

As he looked around, his eyes fell on a small wooden table nearby. On it sat a plain bowl of water and a large lantern as its flame flickered gently in the bright room.

He let out a small, amused huff. 

"The NPCs here still seem to be as helpful as ever…" 

He murmured to himself, piecing things together. 

"So I probably managed to survive, and they brought me here… and left this lantern so I wouldn't die from the cold nights or something." 

He shook his head slightly as a small, appreciative smile formed on his lips. 

"Oh, yeah! I should probably turn it off. No need to waste their lamp oil, after all."

Reaching out, he gently placed his fingers on the lantern, intending to snuff it out.

Fzzzzt!

"Gah!"

A sharp sting of pain shot up his finger as the flame suddenly flared and licked his skin like a mischievous imp. He jerked his hand back instinctively, shoving the burned finger into his mouth without a second thought. His brows furrowed in irritation as he glared at the seemingly innocent lantern, now looking more like a smug bastard that had just played a prank on him.

Then—

Ding!

[Congrats! You have unlocked another achievement — Fool's Fireproof Trial!]

—[Rewards Earned!]—

▸ [New Magic Type Unlocked!] — Fire Magic! (Currently Rank F, but using Exploit Mechanics… upgraded to Rank C!)

▸ [New Skill Unlocked!] — Fire Resistance! (Currently Rank F, but using Exploit Mechanics… upgraded to Rank C! The adverse effects of Rank C fire spells and below cannot harm you to a certain degree!)

▸ [New Sub-Fire Skill Unlocked!] — Candleflame Kiss! (Next time you touch a flame, you can absorb 10% of its heat and convert it into a tiny heal [1 HP]. Stacks up to 3 times per hour. Using Exploit Mechanics… upgraded to Rank C! Now absorbs 10 times more HP in half an hour!)

Lucas stared, utterly dumbfounded. 

His burnt index finger was still in his mouth, but he hardly noticed now. 

"Wait a minute… so…"

Slowly, he lowered his hand, his mind racing. 

If what he just read was real… then…

He took a deep breath and hesitantly raised his right hand as he opened his palm. 

A second passed. Then another. Nothing happened.

Then—

Fzzzt.

A tiny spark flickered in his palm. 

His heart skipped a beat. 

He focused, feeling something shift inside him, like a dormant part of himself waking up. The spark grew, twisting and swirling, until a small ball of fire floated gently above his skin and flickered like a newborn star.

Lucas' lips parted in sheer disbelief. 

He stared at the flame as his mind struggled to process what had just happened.

"I… can get abilities by basically doing nothing?"

He let out a slow breath and the fire in his hand danced like an obedient pet.

A grin spread across his face. 

"This system… is completely broken."