———「System」———
「Tutorial Quest」
◆ Killing A Slime !
「Completed」
———「Rewards」———
「Calculating Rewards :」
◆ Calculation Completed !
———「Rewards Acquired」———
「Silent Step」
◆ Allows a person to walks or run without making a single frequency of noise
————————————
Zhao Yu froze mid-air, his eyes widening for a split second. He wasn't shocked though, more like pleasantly blindsided.
His lips twitched into a crooked grin.
"Oh… kay?"
He muttered, blinking at the glowing interface floating in front of him.
"What the hell? A system? Like… a real actual system? No way…"
He hovered there for a moment, staring at it, before bursting into a half-laugh, half-scoff.
"Pft, hah! I knew it! I knew it didn't make sense for Roswell to get one and not me. Like, c'mon,bthat guy? He's the main character, sure, but me? I literally got smacked by the same wave of energy as him! What kind of crap protagonist plot would it be if I just got left out?!"
He suddenly leaned forward, staring into the floating window like it was the best thing he'd ever seen in his life.
Then his lips curled into a downright villainous grin.
"Hehehehe… so it's true. I really have a system. Thank god."
He rubbed his hands together, the grin stretching even wider, almost cartoonishly evil.
"I was about to lose my damn mind thinking I'd gotten isekai'd empty-handed. Like, imagine? Getting dumped into a death world with no cheats? Hah! Not me, bro. Not me."
He scrolled through the panel with glittering eyes, his voice dropping into a smug chuckle.
"And look at this… rewards. Hehe… so killing that slime wasn't a waste after all, huh? Guess I really am built different. Got myself an ability too… Silent Step, huh?"
He tilted his head, whispering the name like he was savoring it.
"Silent… Step. Damn, that even sounds cool. Like some ninja assassin sh*t. Hehe!"
Zhao Yu pressed his hands against his cheeks and kicked his feet like a giddy maniac before suddenly snapping back to his usual cocky demeanor.
"Alright, system. You and me, we're gonna make history. Screw Roswell and his chosen-one protagonist aura. I've got my own damn script now."
The screen shimmered again as he clicks on the skill information, letters lining up like they were carved out of neon crystal.
———「Silent Step」———
「Active Skill, Lv. 1」
◆ Experience: 0%
◆ The Skill makes the user run at inhumane speed.
◆ The Skill will be in used for 10 seconds.
———「Note」———
◆ The Skill Will be in cooldown for 30 seconds after using.
◆ Can be enhance through practice and combat usage.
◆ Understanding: 0%
————————————
Zhao Yu tilted his head, reading every line twice.
Then, slowly, he let out a low whistle.
"…Ten seconds of silence? Hah. That's shorter than my excuses when my mom finds my browser history."
He scratched his chin, grinning wider and wider.
"Cool down for thirty seconds though… so basically I get to be a ninja for ten seconds, then a screaming target for half a minute. Balance, huh? Balance my ass."
He pointed at the glowing text with a smirk.
———「Silent Step」———
「Active Skill, Lv. 1」
————————————
"Level one, huh? So I gotta grind this baby until it evolves. From silent baby to silent killer. Nah, screw that, silent baby to silent death. Yeah, that's badass. Imagine someone trembling in fear after hearing, Beware the Silent Baby."
He started laughing to himself, almost wheezing.
Finally, he shook his head and puffed out his chest.
"Alright, fine. This ain't half bad. If Roswell's the big flashy main character with explosions, then I'll be the hidden side boss. The dude people only whisper about in forums:Watch out, there's a Silent Baby roaming the fields."
He mimed tiptoeing like a cartoon burglar, then cut himself off and coughed.
"Okay, enough clowning. Time to test this thing."
Zhao Yu gulped down a thick knot of saliva, his chest rising and falling like he was about to face a boss fight.
"Huuuuh…"
He exhaled dramatically, closing his eyes as if meditation would suddenly unlock hidden ninja bloodlines.
Then, with all the seriousness of a martial arts master, he bent his knees and dashed forward.
A beat passed.
Leaves crunched under his sneakers. Birds flapped away noisily.
"…Huh?"
His eyes popped open.
"Why the hell am I still running like a normal idiot?! Where's the silence? Where's the ninja vanishing into the shadows crap?!"
He tried again, this time pumping his arms harder. More leaf crunch. Louder this time.
"Damn it! Still normal speed!"
Zhao Yu stopped, panting, looking around as if the system was trolling him.
"Wait… do I gotta… say something? Like System! Enable Silent Step!"
He threw his arms wide, shouting to the trees.
Nothing.
Only a bird cawing in the distance, mocking him.
"Alright… okay… maybe a gesture? Like pressing an invisible button, or—"
He jabbed at the air, swiping and poking like a lost kid trying VR for the first time. Still nothing.
Finally, he dropped to his knees, gripping his hair.
"This ain't helping at all! Bro, I'm supposed to be Silent Death, not Loud Dumbass!"
Zhao Yu pressed both hands on his temple, groaning like a kid struggling with math homework.
"Oh, come on! How the hell am I supposed to pull this off? In the game I just had to tap a damn keyboard key and boom, skill activated. But here? Using it directly is like trying to order takeout without a phone!"
He rubbed his forehead, pacing in little circles.
"Okay, okay… think, Zhao Yu. What would Roswell do if he were in my situation?"
He clicked his tongue.
"Tch, I know that guy, he'd get all broody, remember all his childhood trauma, and then, bam, skill activated like some edgy emo protagonist."
Zhao Yu rolled his eyes, but as he said it, memories of his own childhood crept in, the times he was laughed at, the isolation in class, the sting of words he pretended didn't hurt.
His chest tightened, his breath faltered.
Then,
Crackle—!
A faint spark of electricity flickered in his eyes, just for an instant.
"Huh? Wha, what the fuck?!"
The world around him shifted.
The leaves drifting down from the trees froze mid-air like confetti stuck in syrup.
The birds overhead, wings spread, flapped in slow motion, each beat stretching for eternity.
His own heartbeat thumped in his ears like a war drum.
"Why… why is everything in slow motion? And why do I feel like… like I'm on steroids mixed with five Red Bulls?!"
His voice shook, half terrified, half thrilled.
On instinct, he started running.
At first, it was exhilarating, his steps light, the world crawling around him.
"Holy shit, I'm the Flash! I'm Barry Alle—"
Smack—!
He slammed headfirst into a tree trunk he hadn't even noticed.
The impact was so hard it rattled his teeth.
"UWAGGGHHHHHHHH?!"
Zhao Yu gagged, stumbling back and clutching his stomach.
His entire body convulsed as he vomited bile and whatever scraps of breakfast were left.
He dropped to his knees, face pale, gasping between coughs.
"Oh god… I'm not the Flash… I'm just a fucking dumbass with a concussion…"
The world around him slowly snapped back into motion, the leaves resumed falling, the birds flapped away, and the buzzing in his ears finally quieted.
Zhao Yu lay on the ground, wheezing, his face pressed against the dirt.
"Huff… haah… so this is what it feels like to be a superhero, huh? Smack into a tree, puke your guts out, and nearly die. Yep… exactly what I wanted!."
Ding—!
A faint chime echoed in his head, followed by a translucent panel hovering before his eyes:
———「Silent Step」———
◆ Skill in Cooldown: 29s
◆ Congratulations! Your understanding of the skill has increased by 2%.
◆ Understanding: 2% ↑
————————————
Zhao Yu squinted at the glowing letters, still wiping spit from his mouth.
Then, despite his misery, his lips curled into a crooked grin.
"Hehe… so it did work, huh? Look at that, Silent Step level one, baby. From silent baby to… silent dumbass smashing into trees."
He chuckled weakly, holding his ribs.
"Still, progress is progress. Two percent understanding? At this rate, by the time I master this skill, I'll probably be 90 years old."
He tilted his head back, laughing in exhaustion.
"Roswell gets cool scenes with badass music and glowing powers. Me? I get motion sickness and a cooldown timer. Life's fair, huh?"
Zhao Yu wiped the last bit of vomit off his chin, still groaning, but then his eyes widened as another screen shimmered into existence before him.
———「System」———
◆ Would you like to view your User Stat?
◆ Yes / No
————————————
For a moment, Zhao Yu just stared, blinking, his mouth hanging slightly open.
Then his lips curled up like he'd just been handed the keys to the universe.
"..."
"Now that's what I'm talking about!"
His voice cracked with excitement as he pumped a fist into the air.
"Finally! The legendary stat screen! The dream of every gamer, the holy grail, the one thing that separates us from peasants with no UI!"
He jabbed his finger at the glowing panel like a kid pressing an elevator button.
"Yes, I want to! Open that shit up right now, System!"
He leaned closer, whispering to himself, eyes glinting with anticipation.
"Hehe… let's see… Am I gonna be some overpowered protagonist with godlike stats, or am I about to cry because I'm weaker than a slime? Place your bets, ladies and gentlemen."
Zhao Yu clenched his fists dramatically, whispering under his breath like a pro gamer about to pull a 5-star roll.
"Although… let's be real, I already know my stats are gonna be ass. Like, grade-A premium ass. Still, show me the damage, System. Hit me with the truth!"
The glowing panel expanded, numbers and words materializing line by line like some cosmic loading screen:
———「System」———
◆ Name: Xie Zhao Yu
◆ Level: 1
◆ Exp: 0/100
◆ Qi Capacity: 10/??
∟ Can be increased through completing system quests or through breathing training.
◆ Class: Half-Solarian / Human
◆ Profession: None
∟ Profession can be changed based on your skills, abilities, and stats.
◆ Passive
∟ None
◆ Skills
∟ Silent Step: Allows a person to walk or run without making a single frequency of noise.
◆ Stats:
∟ STR: F
∟ MP: F
∟ DEF: F
∟ AGI: F
∟ INT: F
∟ CHARM: G
◆ System Shop
◆ System Inventory
◆ System Coins: 0
◆ Quests Available: 0
————————————
Zhao Yu froze.
His eyes scanned the stats once.
Then twice.
Then three more times, like maybe the system was trolling him.
"…F. F. F. F. F."
He jabbed at the screen with each letter.
"And a G. A literal G, for Charm. G as in Go die alone, loser."
He dropped to his knees, clutching his chest in mock pain.
"System, you savage piece of junk. Why even bother giving me stats at this point? I'm literally weaker than tutorial mobs. Even the slime I killed probably had higher charm than me!"
He tilted his head back and let out a dramatic scream toward the heavens.
"ROSWEELLLL! Why do you get the cheat stats while I get rejected by the alphabet?!"
Then, after a pause, he squinted back at the glowing words.
"…Half-Solarian? Wait, what the hell does that mean? Is that like half-price clearance rack protagonist bloodline?"
Zhao Yu stared at the glowing panel a little longer, then leaned back against the nearest tree, rubbing his chin.
"...Right. Of course. I'm not in my world anymore. Not Earth, not my messy bedroom with my PC and my mom yelling at me to eat breakfast."
He dragged out a sigh, his voice turning oddly calm.
"This is Solar-3… the third closest planet to the sun in this universe."
He tilted his head, looking up at the unfamiliar sky with its faint shimmer of colors, different from Earth's blue.
"Kinda similar to home if you squint hard enough. Trees, rivers, annoying monsters trying to kill me. But… it's not Earth. And the people here aren't humans… they're Solarians."
A crooked grin tugged at his lips, though his eyes flickered with unease.
"Half-Solarian, huh? So I'm not even a full member of the species in this world. I'm basically the budget version of an alien. Great. Just great."