The world stopped spinning about four hours after the forge let me go.
The pain came in waves — not sharp, just heavy, like the world had parked itself on my shoulders and forgot to leave a note. My left hand still ached where the cut had been. Absolute Regeneration had patched it halfway, but I could tell the skill was tired. Even cheats need naps.
I sat on the edge of my bed with the kind of quiet that hums, breathing through the leftover ache until it stopped trying to be poetry. The band on my wrist pulsed once — slow, content — and a faint shimmer tugged at the edge of my vision.
The system wanted attention.
"Yeah, yeah," I muttered. "Daddy's home."
The window opened.
[Status Window]
Name: Ethan Cross Level: 20
HP: 180 / 180
MP: 0 / 0
Strength: 50
Agility: 46
Endurance: 14
Intelligence: 6
Wisdom: 5
Luck: ???
Unassigned Stat Points: 75
Seventy-five.
