Chapter 2 : PE Isekai: Reincarnated as a Sweaty Nerd

So what does a half-panicked, half-thrilled teenager do once he realizes he might have actual, game-like powers?

Easy.

He appraises everything.

I mean everything, classmates, teachers, chairs, the janitor's mop, the vending machine, even my ballpoint pen.

Result:

Blue Pen (0.5 ATK)

Durability: High when ignored. Low when chewed during tests.

Solid start.

The eraser? It showed up as:

Basic Eraser

Function: Erases pencil. Not mistakes in life.

Sassy system.

But then things got weird.

At the cafeteria, I aimed my appraisal skill at the plastic fork and knife on my tray.

Cafeteria Fork (Common)

Attack: +0.5

Durability: Slightly above pathetic.

Warning: Not a real weapon unless you're REALLY desperate.

So yeah—my school cutlery has stats now.

Which means two things:

The system is real.

I am now terrified of any student who dual-wields spoons.

It also turns out the teachers mostly clock in around level 5 to 10. Which is weirdly fitting.

Mr. Alge? Level 7.

Ms. Norma? Level 9, with a passive ability called "Guilt Beam" that she uses to make you do your reading homework.

Most of the students sit around Level 3 or 4.

The athletic types? Usually 4.5-ish.

But the nerds?

Some of them are Level 5.

I don't know if it's because of chess club or raw anime power, but it's enough to make you think twice before mocking someone's Magic: The Gathering deck.

So yeah.

The world officially has stats.

And I've got a front row seat.

After lunch, the universe decided I hadn't suffered enough.

Next up? Biology class.

And not the chill kind where you label diagrams and pretend to care. No, this was frog dissection day.

Which meant: scalpel, rubber gloves, formaldehyde, and the quiet horror of realizing your lab partner is way too into it.

I wasn't thrilled about becoming an amateur frog surgeon, but I got through it. Kinda. I even managed to do the slicing part without screaming.

That's when it happened.

Ding.

A small blue window blinked into my vision as I delivered the fatal poke.

You dissected a frog! +1 EXP

RIP, science lab Kermit.

Wait. What?!

I just earned experience points. For killing a frog.

I mean, yeah, technically it was already dead. But the system didn't seem to care. Apparently XP is XP, even if it comes from biology class.

Now, in the top-left corner of my vision, something new had appeared: a translucent green bar with the label:

EXP: 56%

Half full? Half empty? Depends on your outlook.

I tried willing it to show me more info, how much XP I needed, how many frogs I'd need to slay before I leveled up, but no luck. The system was stingy with details.

All I got was that progress bar. Sitting at 56%. Teasing me like, "Ooooh, almost there. Try stabbing something else!"

Kill to get EXP.

That thought echoed in my brain way longer than it should've.

And not in a "haha, I'll grind some goblins later" way.

No. I mean in a real world, real consequences kind of way.

I mean, the frog was already dead. It was a class assignment.

But still… the system gave me XP. It rewarded me.

Which made my brain whisper something I didn't want to hear:

What if you killed something bigger? Would you level up faster?

I almost puked right then and there.

No. Absolutely not.

This isn't a game. This is real life.

People aren't enemies. Frogs aren't loot boxes.

I'm not some chosen one grinding mobs to reach max level—I'm a high schooler who just disassembled Kermit in the name of science.

Still... the system didn't care.

It didn't see the difference.

And that's the part that scared me the most.

The last period of the day was PE (The Period Where Dreams (and Lungs) Go to Die), finally a class that didn't involve frogs, math traps, or erasers with existential crises.

I was actually kind of hopeful.

Maybe physical activity would give me more answers. Or at least a stat boost that didn't involve stabbing amphibians.

Our school compound isn't huge, but it's got the essentials: a football field, basketball court, and a tiny excuse of a running track that some sadist labeled a "runway." PE is usually a free period unless it's test day. Which, thankfully, it wasn't. Most of the time, I'd just chill with Jimmy and a couple other background characters like myself—we laugh, talk about games, and avoid actual sweating.

But not today.

Today, I had an experiment to run. Literally.

I changed into my PE kit, stretched (because that's what real runners do, right?), and headed for the track.

Jimmy blinked at me like I'd grown a second head.

"You're running?" he asked, suspicious.

"Yup."

"For fun?"

"For... science."

"Dude, are you okay? Did that frog do something to you?"

"Don't worry about it."

I smiled at him like I wasn't planning to launch a full-body system test. Then I started to run.

Now, here's the thing. I'm not exactly bad at running. But I'm also not good. I'm... forgettable. That's kind of my whole brand.

So I ran.

And just like every out-of-shape teenage boy trying to impress absolutely no one, I felt my lungs betray me by Lap 1. My stamina bar—which I'd learned to glance at in the top right corner—was dropping like Wi-Fi in the school basement.

50... 43... 35... 28...

And then at 25, my lungs officially filed for divorce.

I could barely breathe. My legs were crying. My soul was halfway out of my body.

Then it happened.

Ding!

You ran like a slightly confused NPC!

+1 Dexterity

I stopped and gasped like a fish on land, grinning like an idiot.

Jimmy ran over. "Are you okay?! Did you twist something? Are you... smiling?"

"Nope," I wheezed. "Just... leveling up."

After nearly coughing up my lungs on the runway, I found a spot under a tree to collapse and "recover." Translation: I laid on the grass like a broken action figure and stared at the clouds.

Stamina: 25/180

It crawled up slowly, like it was trying to mock me.

I told Jimmy I just needed thirty minutes to recharge.

"Recharge?" he repeated. "What are you, a smart phone."

"Yeah," I muttered. "Running on 5% battery and 95% existential dread."

We talked while I waited. Usual stuff, games, cheat codes, that one game-breaking boss fight. And girls, I guess. Though if I'm honest, girls and us go together like oil and water... if the oil had anxiety and the water thought the oil was weird.

After about half an hour, something weird happened again.

My stamina bar hit 180/180 and I felt... fine.

Like, really fine. Not just "not tired anymore" but "fresh out of bed on a Saturday morning" fine.

That's not normal. Teenagers don't bounce back like that.

Either I had become Wolverine, or my body had just respawned.

I filed that under "weird system thing I'll experiment with later."

But now, push-up time.

Jimmy stared at me like I'd lost my last brain cell.

"You're voluntarily doing push-ups now?"

"Shh....This is science."

And then I started.

I cranked out twenty push-ups before my arms decided to rebel.

Rested for a bit. Did another twenty. Then another.

Each push-up was a personal negotiation with gravity, and gravity was a very stubborn negotiator.

Burning. Shaking. Screaming muscles.

By the time I reached one hundred, I was ready to make a dramatic anime-style collapse.

And that's when it popped up.

Ding!

You have defied all logic and tortured your arms into submission!

+1 Strength

I flopped to the ground, sweat-drenched and victorious.

Jimmy leaned over. "Why do you look like you just won the Olympics?"

"I think I just leveled up my biceps," I gasped.

I lay flat on the grass, arms trembling, sweat dripping, and soul slightly detached from my body.

Jimmy plopped down next to me, still staring like I'd just grown a second head or started reciting Shakespeare backward.

"I think... something's happening to me," I said, half to him, half to the sky.

Jimmy didn't even hesitate.

"No jokes, bro. No jokes. You're really happening something."

He pointed a dramatic finger at me. "We don't do exercise. We're gaming otaku. We grind levels in dungeons, not in gym class."

I managed a weak grin. "Yeah, well... maybe I've been isekai'd into gym class."

Jimmy snorted. "Worst. Isekai. Ever."

After that, I squeezed out more push-ups, sit-ups, squats—basically anything my stamina bar would tolerate before it started yelling at me in exhaustion language. But nothing. No more stat boosts. No shiny new numbers. Nada.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Leveling up your stats isn't exactly like clicking "upgrade" in a mobile game. Even I, a proud gaming gremlin, know enough biology to realize human muscles don't just poof into existence like magic. This is supernatural. Or maybe super-insane. I haven't decided yet.

And just when I thought I'd hit peak crazy for the day... the world said, "Challenge accepted."

Across the field, I spotted this guy. Grade 9, like me, but from another class, A or B, I don't know. I'm from Class C, aka the background characters section.

His name? Michael Something. He's kind of a big deal. Handsome, state-level judo champion, probably drinks protein shakes for fun. Basically, he's the cheat code version of a high schooler.

Out of habit, I squinted and used Appraisal—leveled up after biology, probably because I stared at a dead frog like it owed me money.

And that's when my eyeballs almost short-circuited.

Michael (???) – Lv. 27

Successor of Jade Fist

HP: ??? / MP: ??? / SP: ???

I froze. My brain slammed on the emergency brakes, sending my thoughts scattering like startled pigeons. Level 27? That wasn't a level; that was a phone number with too many digits.

What... the heck?

Twenty seven?! Twenty seven?!

That's not a level. That's a boss fight.

And his stats? Just question marks. Like my system couldn't even handle how strong this dude was. It was like trying to read a spoiler from a game you haven't unlocked yet.

He jogged past me without even glancing my way. Meanwhile, I stood there like a stunned NPC who just found the main character.

So yeah. Either I just spotted the Final Boss of Ninth Grade... or the first clue to whatever world I've been dumped into.

I know what you're thinking. Kyle, don't follow the guy who might be a hidden martial arts demigod. Yeah, well, I thought that too. For about three seconds.

But curiosity is a powerful stat. Mine must've hit 99.

So, I started tailing Michael.

I didn't exactly blend into the shadows like a ninja. More like... a confused duck pretending to be a ninja. But still, I kept my distance—ducking behind benches, pretending to tie my shoes, suddenly becoming very interested in a vending machine I didn't even use.

He walked toward the equipment shed at the far end of the field—alone. Jackpot.

I crept closer. My SP dropped just from the anxiety alone. But then, to my horror, he stopped. Turned around.

"You good?" he asked, like he'd known I was there the whole time.

Smooth, Kyle. Real stealthy.

I froze mid-step.

"Uh… yeah. Totally. Just... stretching my legs."

"In that one spot? For five minutes?"

"I stretch slow." I coughed. "I, uh, saw you are strong "

Awkward… That's definitely not how you introduce yourself to the strongest guy in school. I mean, the dude's level 27. He's not even a miniboss—more like a secret optional raid boss who could snap me in half like a breadstick.

Still, I blurted out, "Hi, I'm Kyle… from Class C. Nice to meet you."

The Level 27 boss actually smiled and extended a hand like he wasn't casually packing more power than a high-level RPG character.

"Hey. I'm Michael. Nice to meet you too."

And because my brain was on autopilot, I added, "Uhh… I just wanted to know how you train your body."

Michael shrugged. "That's easy. I can show you while I do my cooldown stretches. You good with that?"

"Haha. Of course!" I said, like I wasn't dying inside.

So, yeah. I spent the next 45 minutes following the real-life anime protagonist through a workout that would make a gym coach cry tears of joy. Meanwhile, Jimmy watched from across the field, shaking his head like I'd officially lost it.

Maybe I had. But hey—investigating the school's final boss might not be the smartest move…

Still, my stupid investigation somehow earned me another +1 Stamina. So, totally worth it.

[New Quest Acquired!]

Daily Stamina Building Routine

Suggested by: Michael (Lv. 27 – Human Dumbbell)

Approved by : Almighty System Sama!

Requirements:

100 Pushups

100 Squats

5 km Run

Reward:

+1 Free Stat Point and +1 Free Skill Point (Spend it however you want, genius.)

Bonus EXP

Hidden Reward (???)

Failure Consequences:

Crippling Muscle Pain

Emotional Damage

Public Humiliation

Possibly crawling home

Time Limit: Complete before sunset

Kyle – Level 3

Grade 9 Student (Probably not hallucinating... probably)

STATS

STR: 8 (Earned through 100 pushups and a lot of regret)

INT: 8 (Math miniboss defeated!)

WIS: 7 (Still questioning existence)

DEX: 11 (Banana saves and nimble snack thefts included)

VIT: 8 (Holds up under teenage chaos)

LUK: 10

HP: 180/180

MP: 180/180

SP: 180/180

Titles

Savior of School Belle from Banana

(+1 DEX when equipped — currently equipped)

Skills

Appraisal Lv.1 – Peek into the hidden stats of people and things. May cause envy or confusion.