Lucas snorted, eyes still locked on the transparent panel floating in front of him.
"What the hell are you, anyway?"
New words appeared instantly, typed out in rapid strokes.
[I am your assistant. The System that will accompany you.]
Lucas shot back without missing a beat. "Accompany me… until when?"
The panel flickered briefly before answering with a short line.
[Cannot be answered.]
Lucas raised his hand, almost ready to punch the damn thing. "Goddamn it… a generic answer. Just pissing me off."
He sat back down, rubbing his face. His head was crammed with question marks.
"So what the hell am I supposed to do here? Seriously, I'm just getting more confused the longer this goes on."
The panel suddenly trembled.
[If you allow it, the System can remove that confusion. And turn on the Progression Mode.]
Lucas blinked. "Mode… progression? The fuck is that supposed to be?"
New text appeared.
[Like leveling. You level up, gain ski
lls, follow a clear path.]
Lucas frowned, still not getting it. "Leveling… leveling like what exactly?"
The panel wrote again, this time longer, unnecessarily detailed.
[Well, similar to… you know, like in that anime, which was adapted from that manhwa… which in turn was adapted from a webnovel.]
Lucas stared blankly for a few seconds, then snapped his fingers. "Oh! That one! Okay, I get it."
But his expression immediately twisted back into confusion. "Wait, hold on. Why the hell did you explain it that detailed? Even down to the whole adaptation chain?"
The panel flashed an emoticon: (¬_¬)
Lucas burst out laughing, half-annoyed.
"Holy shit… my System's just meta cringe."
Lucas leaned back against the bed, eyes narrowing. "Okay… what if I don't activate this progression mode? Then what?"
The panel blinked calmly.
[Then just live. Live as Lucian.]
Lucas shot up, nearly punching the air. "Bullshit! That's the same as telling me to live as trash!!"
The panel stayed silent. Only an emoticon appeared: ┐(￣ヘ￣)┌
Lucas stomped his foot. "Fine! Activate progression mode right now!"
[Installing Progression Mode…]
The words flashed, blinking like a loading bar. After a few seconds, the panel bounced lightly.
[Progression Mode installed.]
[Would you like to view your stats?]
Lucas snorted. "Hell yeah, show me!"
The panel widened, lines of text unfolding before his eyes.
[Host: Lucian Voss]
Strength: 2
Agility: 3
Stamina: 2
Mana: 4
---
Lucas's jaw dropped. "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS? Strength only 2?! This isn't a noble's physique, this is a goddamn chess player's physique!"
His eyes jumped to the next line. "Agility 3? Stamina 2? Mana 4? Jesus—back on Earth, drinking coffee gave me more energy than these numbers!"
But then his gaze stopped at the very bottom.
[RP: -9,999,999]
Lucas froze. Slowly, he closed his eyes. "Fuck… what the hell is RP supposed to be?"
The panel answered flatly.
[Reputation Point.]
Lucas threw himself onto the bed, face buried in the pillow. "GODDAMN IT… minus nine million nine hundred ninety-nine thousand nine hundred ninety-nine reputation points?!"
The panel popped up a cheeky emoticon: (☞ﾟヮﾟ)☞
[Yes, Host is quite famous… in all the worst ways.]
"FUUUCKKK!!!" Lucas screamed in despair.
Lucas sat up, still clutching the pillow he'd been screaming into. His eyes narrowed at the floating panel.
"Alright then… how the hell does this leveling thing even work?"
The panel flickered, new text spilling out.
[Simple. Live a better life. Do better than the trash you are now. Rewards: EXP, Skills, etc. You know the format. You've read those system novels flooding every online reading platform.]
Lucas let out a long sigh, rubbing his temple. "Why the fuck do you always talk like some meta joke?"
The panel buzzed, then more words appeared.
[Because I was literally built based on those fictional systems. The Absolute Being didn't know what else to do. They tried sending an angel, but none of them wanted the job.]
Lucas blinked. "Wait… the angels refused?"
The panel gave a little bounce before answering.
[Correct. They said your new body is a disgrace. A humiliation to the heavenly will.]
Lucas's face twisted, a mix of disbelief and rage. "HUHH?? Even angels don't wanna deal with me?!"
An emoticon appeared, mocking him:
(＾▽＾)
[Yes. Congratulations, Host. You've hit rock bottom in your second life.]
Lucas buried his face back into the pillow.
Lucas finally pushed himself off the bed, still panting, his face twisted with exhaustion. But then he stopped, eyes narrowing at the panel floating before him.
"…Anything, huh? To become better…" he muttered, voice raspy.
His fist clenched—though in that scrawny body, the gesture looked pitifully weak. "Then I need to… compounding little shit. Same as in my old life."
Flashes of memory cut across his mind: waking up early, sticking to a workout routine, grinding skills little by little, never relying on instant results. He remembered how discipline had kept him alive in the modern city—even when life there felt like a constant chokehold.
Lucas looked back at the panel, his expression calmer now. "Fine. If this system's gonna show me the road to upgrade, then I'll use it my way. Slowly, steadily, compounding little shit…"
The panel flickered, as if nodding in agreement.
[Correct. Progression = accumulation. Tiny steps, compounded.]