I finally sat up on the bed and looked at the room with new eyes. The memories of a life that wasn't entirely mine were settling in my mind, organizing themselves little by little. I wasn't ungrateful; I knew the system had done me a huge favor with the transfer, but I still felt like a stranger wearing a suit that wasn't his size.
I looked at the alarm clock on the nightstand: 7:00 a.m. I had time to gather my thoughts and explore the system before breakfast.
"Status," I thought.
[Name: Daniel Vega Pierce
Age: 14 years
Earth: Gaia-1219
Global Level: 1
Merit Points (MP): 0
Strength: 6
Agility: 5
Resilience: 7
Intelligence: 14
Charisma: 8]
I didn't have a clear reference, but I assumed the human average was around 10. My intelligence at 14 explained why my mind felt so clear, but my physique... well, it was pathetic. A 5 in agility was embarrassing. I passed my hand through the holographic window; it was intangible, but the grey and bluish aesthetic unmistakably reminded me of Windows XP.
I switched to the Skills tab. Empty, as expected. Then I went to the Inventory. There were 12 slots in a simple grid. Eleven were empty, but in the first one, there was a flashing icon: a pixelated cardboard box with a red ribbon.
[Welcome Pack (Special)] [Do you wish to open it? Y/N]
"Yes," I thought, pressing the icon in the air.
The box opened with a small animation, and three items appeared in the list:
[500 Merit Points (MP)] – Universal currency.
[Skill: Metadata Scan (Level 1) (Passive)] – Allows viewing basic information of objects and entities.
[Item: Work Ring] – Support accessory for rookies.
My eyes widened. A ring? So soon? I selected it immediately and chose the "Materialize" option. A grey ring with a small turquoise gem appeared in my palm. It felt warm to the touch.
Curiosity got the better of me. I focused on the ring and instinctively activated my new skill: Metadata Scan.
A small bluish window floated over my hand, displaying the details:
[Work Ring]
[Type: Accessory
Rarity: Rare
Durability: Indestructible
Stats: +4 Resilience | +3 Intelligence
Passive: [Mental Clarity] Eliminates mild mental fatigue and improves prolonged concentration.
Active: [Second Wind] (Cooldown: 24h) Restores physical vitality and removes accumulated lactic acid.]
"It can't be..." I murmured, reading the description twice to make sure it wasn't a hallucination.
I didn't hesitate. I slid it onto the ring finger of my right hand. The moment the metal touched my skin, I felt an electric jolt shoot up my arm to the back of my neck. It was as if someone had turned on an air conditioner inside my brain. The lingering trace of the headache vanished instantly, replaced by a refreshing mental clarity.
I checked my status again to confirm the changes.
[Resilience: 7 (+4) → 11
Intelligence: 14 (+3) → 17]
"Incredible," I whispered. My body felt lighter, less fragile. With 11 resilience, I was already above the average for a boy my age, and the "Mental Clarity" passive was exactly what I needed to study or program without getting tired.
Motivated by the discovery, I checked the Quests tab.
[First Daily Quest!]
[Run 3 km (0/3000 m)]
[Perform 20 push-ups (0/20)]
[Perform 20 sit-ups (0/20)]
[Reward: 150 MP, +3 protein bars, +1 isotonic drink]
"Three kilometers..." I muttered. Before the ring, that would have sounded like medieval torture for a scrawny kid like me. Now, with my resilience at 11, it seemed like a reasonable warm-up.
I changed quickly, putting on some somewhat worn-out grey sweatpants and a white cotton T-shirt I found in the closet. I made sure the ring was firm on my finger and went down the stairs silently so as not to wake anyone.
As I stepped out into the patio, the fresh morning air hit my face. The street was quiet, interrupted only by the singing of some birds and the distant engine of a garbage truck.
I began to jog gently towards the neighborhood park. My legs responded well; I didn't feel the typical heaviness of a sedentary lifestyle. The "electric jolt" from the ring seemed to have awakened my muscles.
Upon reaching the corner, I activated the interface to check my progress.
[Run 3 km (0/3000 m)]
I stopped dead in my tracks, confused. I had jogged at least four hundred meters from the house. "What the hell?". I took a few more steps, jogging in place. The counter remained at zero.
I frowned. Run. The system said "Run," not "Jog." "Don't tell me you're that literal..." I grumbled.
I took a breath and started again, this time putting on real speed, a long and steady stride, no Sunday jogging. I watched the floating window out of the corner of my eye.
[Run 3 km (15/3000 m)]
"Damn it," I lucked, maintaining the pace. "You're a demanding system."
I picked up the pace, forcing my legs to move faster than they were used to. I felt the pull in my calves, that burning sensation indicating I was leaving my comfort zone.
Suddenly, a window flashed in front of me without stopping my run.
[Agility +1]
I almost tripped from the excitement. "That easy?" I thought, regaining my balance. My base Agility was 5. A single point meant a 20% increase in my movement capacity. And I felt it instantly: my feet hit the pavement with a bit more precision, my reflexes to dodge a crack in the sidewalk were sharper. That small notification was like gasoline. I ignored the incipient fatigue and kept running.
Upon reaching kilometer two, my breathing became heavy. Inhale two steps, exhale two steps. Keep your back straight. I adjusted my posture instinctively.
Ding.
[Skill Acquired: Aerobic Exercise Lv. 1]
[Aerobic Exercise Lv. 1 (Passive)] Performing cardiovascular activities increases metabolism speed and resilience recovery by 1%.
I read the description without stopping and a smile formed on my sweat-drenched face. "1%..." I calculated mentally between gasps. It seemed like little, but it was compound interest. If my body burned, say, 2000 calories at rest, this added a free extra. But the important thing was recovery. If I raised this to level 50, my rest time would be cut in half. I could train twice as much and live twice as long as any normal person.
When the counter marked (3000/3000 m), I let myself fall onto the park grass. I was exhausted, but the satisfaction outweighed the pain.
Without wasting time, I positioned myself for the push-ups. My arms were thin, almost fragile. My base strength of 6 was pathetic. "One, two, three..." I counted. By the tenth, my triceps were shaking. The ring helped with mental fatigue, it didn't let me give up, but the muscular failure was physical. "Fifteen... sixteen..." I grit my teeth. Come on, damn it. "Twenty."
I collapsed against the ground, and the reward arrived instantly.
[Strength +1]
[Resilience +1]
I felt a sudden heat in my shoulders and chest, as if the muscle fibers were weaving themselves again, denser and stronger in a matter of seconds. I went from 6 to 7 Strength and from 7 to 8 Resilience. A 16% increase in a single session. It was addictive.
I turned onto my back for the sit-ups. Compared to the push-ups, they were a piece of cake thanks to my Resilience improved by the ring. I finished them quickly.
Ding.
A window, larger than the previous ones, appeared in front of me.
[Daily Quest Completed!] [Rewards:]
+150 MP (Total: 650 MP)
+1 Isotonic Drink (Gatorade)
+3 protein bars
[Title Obtained: Disciplined Rookie]
[Title: Disciplined Rookie] Effect: Increases EXP gain from Quests/Milestones/Global Events by 5%.
"Perfect," I sighed, looking at the morning sky. I had one more point in Agility, one in Strength, one in Resilience, a scalable skill, and a title that would accelerate my future growth. All before breakfast.
I checked my inventory and there was the Gatorade next to the protein bars. I looked around to make sure no one was looking in my direction. The Gatorade materialized in my hand, cold and condensing water droplets. I uncapped it and took a long swig. It tasted like heaven.
"It's worth it," I said, wiping my mouth. "It's definitely worth it."
I sat on a bench to catch my breath before heading back. Now that I had 650 MP and a clear mind, it was a good time to check the Shop for the first time.
"System," I called mentally. "Open the Shop."
The interface flickered and changed shape. The minimalist Windows XP design expanded, showing a commercial window with two clearly differentiated tabs at the top:
[System Market] and [Global Market].
By default, the first one opened.
[System Market] Standardized supplies and tools.
[Minor Recovery Potion – Eliminates mild fatigue. | Price: 100 MP]
[Emergency Nutritional Bar – Covers a day's caloric needs. | Price: 10 MP]
[Skill Lottery Ticket (Common) – Grants a random low-rank skill. | Price: 1,000 MP]
"Useful, but a bit expensive," I thought, analyzing the prices. With my 650 MP I could buy several potions, but the skill ticket was out of my reach. It looked like a standard RPG shop.
Curiosity led me to select the second tab: [Global Market].
A text warning appeared briefly: [Connecting to Interdimensional Trade Node... Synchronizing offers from active users...]
When the list loaded, I froze. They weren't objects generated by an AI. Each item had a seller, an origin, and a manually written description.
[Item: Blueprint: Carbon Water Filter]
[Seller: Daniel Vega Pierce (Gaia-404: Fallout)]
[Description: Functional design to purify water contaminated by low radiation. I need antibiotics or MP urgently.]
[Price: 400 MP (or direct exchange)]
[Item: Diagram: Arc Reactor (Theoretical Prototype v.1)]
[Seller: D. Stark (Earth-199999: Marvel)]
[Description: Sketches based on technology observed from Stark Industries. Incomplete. Requires advanced knowledge of particle physics.]
[Price: 50,000 MP]
[Item: Device: External Acceleration Unit "Overclock" (USB)]
[Seller: Dan (Gaia-2077: CyberPunk 2077)]
[Description: Plug & Play. Connect this USB to any 21st-century junk terminal and it will force the hardware to run at 300% capacity without overheating. Ideal for hacking with old equipment.]
[Price: 1,200 MP]
I felt a chill run down my spine. They weren't NPCs generated by the system. There were others like me, literally. I continued exploring the shop with excitement, my eyes scanning every post and auction as if they were the most interesting thing in the world—they probably were.
I looked at the description of the USB. My current computer was an old coffee maker with Windows XP. If I tried to program anything good there, render graphics, or compile heavy code, the machine was going to explode or take hours to process. But that USB... "Force the hardware to run at 300%." That would turn my old PC into a decent workstation, enough to develop something without lag or crashes.
I dismissed the windows and let myself sink against the bench with a sigh; it was a lot to process, but I was happy to know I wasn't alone in this situation. There were others like me out there, possibly in a universe that wasn't theirs and with this strange system.
Once I had rested enough, I stood up and began walking back home. That sense of achievement inside me was more than enough to tell me I had something great within my reach and I was definitely not going to let the opportunity pass.
On the way home, I took the opportunity to think about my goals for these days. The fourteen-year-old Daniel I saw in the mirror seemed like an invisible boy, someone who was just 'there'. With my current intelligence, high school would be child's play, but I couldn't just get straight A's and that's it. I had to rebuild my social circle. I remembered the blurred faces of friends I lost and opportunities I didn't take out of fear. My immediate goal was to observe: understand who this Daniel was to my parents and my peers, and start molding that image into someone no one could ignore. The system would give me the power, but I would have to put on the face.
But charisma doesn't pay the bills. My sights were also set on the 'Overclock' USB from the Night City seller. Costing 1,200 MP and with my current 650, I was less than a week of daily quests away from getting it. If I could get my old PC to run at 300% of its capacity without exploding, I could start programming applications that in this 2008 were still fever dreams.
Uber? Rappi? Perhaps it was too early for mobile infrastructure, but not for a more efficient search engine or more addictive social networks. I needed real money, not just merit points, if I wanted to help my parents avoid the economic crises I vaguely remembered from my other life.