My eyes fluttered open, irritating as usual. These damned dirt always get into my eyes when I fall asleep. I wiped it away with my hands that were a bit bloodstained at the sides.

“Oh, come on… Seriously?” I said groggily, my mind still in a haze from just waking up. Apparently, mosquitoes once again graced my hand trying to suck my blood, then got squashed when I tossed and turned in my sleep.

I got my bearings after a few seconds of complaining and swearing in my head about irritating dirt and bugs. Then I saw it.

Congratulations!

You have been selected for a special prize by some moderators.

You’re now a video game character, enjoy!

[Tutorial Quest: Tutorial, duh.]

As a video game character, you have special abilities! To view them, follow the tutorial.

[] Open Status – say/think ‘Status’

[] Open Skills – say/think ‘Skills’

[] Open Magic – say/think ‘Magic’

[] Open Perks – say/think ‘Perks’

[] Open Inventory – say/think Inventory

Reward: Class, Job, 1000 credits, Identify Magic

I blinked, then again, then again.

‘Weird… Very weird… I know this isn’t a prank. Nobody does pranks here…’ I thought in confusion. I waved my hand on the holographic window. It passed through it without resistance. ‘I know I’m not dreaming. No dream feels this lucid… Did I really get that ability from that manga?’

Shrugging my shoulders while lying down, I followed the quest since I had nothing to do.

‘Status.’

Name: Sethsamm

Title: N/A

Age: 19

Male

Human

Level:

1

Class:

N/A

Job:

N/A

HP:

190

190

MP:

340

340

SP:

235

235

Strength:

3

3.6

Vitality:

3

3.6

Endurance:

4

5.4

Agility:

3

3.6

Dexterity:

3

4.5

Intelligence:

8

9.6

Wisdom:

5

3.5

This is your status. In here, your physical and mental capabilities are valued by numbers. You can also view your name, age, gender, and race. Here is a brief description of how your stats are defined.

Title – A moniker you can equip for extra benefits. Do note that gaining a title requires doing an achievement synonymous to the title.

HP/Health Points – Your Health, being hit by attacks will reduce this value. If this reaches 0, you will enter a state called [Death’s Door]

MP/Mana Points – Your Mana, using spells and magic consumes MP. If this reaches 0, you will enter a state called [Mind Down]

SP/Stamina Points – Your Stamina, using skills consumes SP. If this reaches 0, you will enter a state called [Exhaustion]

Strength – Your capability to exert force.

Vitality – Your capability to resist diseases, sickness, and is directly tied to your HP. For each point in Vitality, gain 25 HP.

Endurance – Your capability to endure incoming damage, and is directly tied to SP. For each point in Endurance, gain 25 SP.

Agility – Your capability to move quickly.

Dexterity – Your capability to control your body in inhuman ways. Also increases precision, reaction time and hand-eye coordination.

Intelligence – Your capability to store knowledge, and is directly tied to MP. For each point in Intelligence, gain 25 MP.

Wisdom – Your capability to use your stored knowledge to make decisions. Also increases critical thinking, analysis, and mind games.

Death’s Door – In this state, your body can be harmed, blood can be spilled, and you can die via normal means.

Mind Down – In this state, you are easily susceptible to mental attacks, and have a high chance to faint.

Exhaustion – In this state, you move slowly and attack weaker. Also have a high chance to faint.

You may notice there are two bars in your stats, the first column is the base, while the second column is the base + all status modifiers.

[Tutorial Quest: Tutorial, duh.]

As a video game character, you have special abilities! To view them, follow the tutorial.

[X] Open Status – say/think ‘Status’

[] Open Skills – say/think ‘Skills’

[] Open Magic – say/think ‘Magic’

[] Open Perks – say/think ‘Perks’

[] Open Inventory – say/think Inventory

Reward: Class, Job, 1000 credits, Identify Magic

… Holy fuck… It’s official, I’m either deranged, or I really am a video game character… I’m leaning towards the latter though. My total Wisdom is lower than the base and I have a feeling why. Anyway, after having my draw dropped for a moment, I continued on with the quest.

‘Skills.’

Skills

Programming Lv 1

Gaming Lv 3

Performer Lv 4

This is your skills tab. All of your skills, passive or active will be displayed here. You can also get the description of the skills here if you want to.

[Tutorial Quest: Tutorial, duh.]

As a video game character, you have special abilities! To view them, follow the tutorial.

[X] Open Status – say/think ‘Status’

[X] Open Skills – say/think ‘Skills’

[] Open Magic – say/think ‘Magic’

[] Open Perks – say/think ‘Perks’

[] Open Inventory – say/think Inventory

Reward: Class, Job, 1000 credits, Identify Magic

… Hmm… Understandable… I’m an IT student, I play games, and I perform on stage, mostly dancing, but I can act, or present if needed… But I need more information to know how that affects me now as a video game character.

Programming (Passive) – Your knowledge in Coding system software. Increases knowledge on how to program system software. Increases Intelligence by 5%, and Wisdom by 5% every level.

Gaming (Passive) – Your skills in playing games, mental, physical, or even mundane ones. Increases gaming skills. Increases Intelligence by 5%, Dexterity by 10%, Wisdom by 5%, and Endurance by 5% per level.

Performer (Passive) – Your skills in performing in front of an audience. This ranges from dancing and singing, to even presenting powerpoints in front of teachers. Increases all stats by 5% per level.

So that’s why my stats were modified. I guess my [Performer] skill increased from me dancing in front of audience, sometimes in front of class reciting, or that one time in defense… Worst day of my life, my brain literally went poof after the stressful defense…

Time to continue.

‘Magic.’

Magic

N/A

This is where all your magic can be viewed, although it’s currently empty since you have no magic spells.

[Tutorial Quest: Tutorial, duh.]

As a video game character, you have special abilities! To view them, follow the tutorial.

[X] Open Status – say/think ‘Status’

[X] Open Skills – say/think ‘Skills’

[X] Open Magic – say/think ‘Magic’

[] Open Perks – say/think ‘Perks’

[] Open Inventory – say/think Inventory

Reward: Class, Job, 1000 credits, Identify Magic

I can garner a guess why, but really, is it so confusing why I have no magic? There is no magic in this world. Unless the videos on TubeYou depicting real magic are actually real. And since I am now a video game character, maybe those videos are actually real, even if the comments don’t agree.

Now, the next one.

‘Perks.’

Perks

Video Game Body

Depressed

This is where your perks are located. Perks may contain negative, and positive effects on the bearer.

… And there it is… Didn’t think my depression could be shown… Heh, at least I know and accept I am depressed… Fuck…

Video Game Body – Your body is like that of a game character. All damage you sustain will instead transfer to your HP instead of your real body. You still the full pain though. Deactivated during [Death’s Door].

Depression – You are depressed, you have no purpose, and you feel like crap. You don’t want to do anything yet want to do something. You are conflicted in what you want to do, and you feel like you don’t care. Decrease total Wisdom by 50%. (Applies after all positive stat modifiers)

Yep… Looks like my depression even affects my game. Heh, it affecting Wisdom makes more sense since the past few weeks, I’ve been doing nothing. My online class is almost ending its term and I still haven’t done anything. Fucking pandemic.

Ugh, now I’m all sad. I got up on my bed, my semi-naked body rising under the afternoon sun shining through the windows.

“Ugh, its noon already?” I yawned as I checked the other bed at the opposite side of the room. Empty, looks like my brother and mother went down while I was asleep.

[Tutorial Quest: Tutorial, duh.]

As a video game character, you have special abilities! To view them, follow the tutorial.

[X] Open Status – say/think ‘Status’

[X] Open Skills – say/think ‘Skills’

[X] Open Magic – say/think ‘Magic’

[X] Open Perks – say/think ‘Perks’

[] Open Inventory – say/think Inventory

Reward: Class, Job, 1000 credits, Identify Magic

Oh right… I’ve been too deep in my thoughts that I forgot about this thing. Whatever, let’s just get this over with.

‘Inventory.’

Inventory

Credits: 0

Heh, empty like my life. I closed the tab before the quest complete window smashed into my face.

[Tutorial Quest: Tutorial, duh.]

As a video game character, you have special abilities! To view them, follow the tutorial.

[X] Open Status – say/think ‘Status’

[X] Open Skills – say/think ‘Skills’

[X] Open Magic – say/think ‘Magic’

[X] Open Perks – say/think ‘Perks’

[X] Open Inventory – say/think Inventory

Reward: Class, Job, 1000 credits, Identify Magic

Congratulations on completing the tutorial! You have been awarded the Class and Job system, 1000 credits, and the Magic that all, if not most novel and fanfiction writers let the MC have as a starting magic.

Before you continue with your life, please choose a Class and Job to start your new video game life! A brief explanation on the Class and Job system. Class is the parent, and Job is the subclass. Basically, Class is the major, and Job is the minor. Under Class, there are various jobs that you may undergo, although most of them are currently locked. A class cannot be changed until you finish about four Jobs, and a Job cannot be changed until it reaches Level 25.

Classes Available:

[Warrior], [Rogue], [Magician]

… So the basic three makes their appearance. The staple of all RPG games, the Warrior, Rogue, and Magician. If this wasn’t cliché, then I don’t know what was. Anyway, since I have the love for the sneaky Rogue character (even if I was a chunky boy), it was a no-brainer on what I chose.

‘Rogue, gimme that class.’

Jobs Available:

[Thief], [Assassin], [Archer], [Hunter], [Tracker]

Now that I have the class that I have a love for, I need to pick the job most suited for my environment, which is none at all! Damn it, my depression makes me choose impulsively since I want an escape from reality so bad. Fuck!

I rubbed the bridge of my nose and hoped that I could reverse my choice, but it turns out, the game is not letting me.

“… Ughhh… Damn it…” I groaned and continued to ponder what to choose. [Assassin] is out since who the hell am I going to kill? [Thief] has a chance. I could steal some stuff, and cover my tracks if possible, and boom, insta-cash. [Archer] is out since there are no bow competitions in this region. [Hunter] is the same since I don’t live near a forest where I can hunt game, and [Tracker]… I don’t know what I could learn from the job that could help me in this age of modern devices.

I should’ve chosen Magician! Fuck! I could’ve also made a career of doing petty tricks in the street for some cash! Wow the audience and pair that with my [Performer] and I have a trick to fall on if ever I need some urgent money. That, and if this pandemic ever goes away, I can join some talent shows and get more money to live!

But what’s the point? Can I even be happy that way? Sure, I can get money, I can even find a girlfriend and say goodbye to my cherry… But is it really worth it? Fame? I don’t care about that. The only time I feel happy is when I play games with my friends.

“… Ugh, all this thinking making my brain smoke,” I groaned once again and just chose [Thief] without too much thinking.

Thief – A job under the Class Rogue. Increases Str by 2, Vit by 1, End by 1, Agi by 5, Dex by 4, Int by 3, and Wis by 2 every level. Gains the skills [Pickpocket], [Backstab], and [Stealth].

Name: Sethsamm

Title: N/A

Age: 19

Male

Human

Level:

1

Class:

Rogue

0

Job:

Thief

1

HP:

220

220

MP:

430

430

SP:

268.75

268.75

Strength:

5

6

Vitality:

4

4.8

Endurance:

5

6.75

Agility:

8

9.6

Dexterity:

7

10.5

Intelligence:

11

13.2

Wisdom:

7

4.9

Skills

Programming Lv 1

Gaming Lv 3

Performer Lv 4

Pickpocket Lv 1

Backstab Lv 1

Stealth Lv 1

Pickpocket (Passive/Active) – Pickpockets a target. Success depends on Dexterity and Agility. Increases Dexterity and Agility by 20% per level. 25 SP/Cast

Backstab (Active) – Backstabs an enemy with current held weapon. Deal [(Weapon Damage + Agi + Dex) x 2]. Increase damage by 200% when in [Stealth]. Increase multiplier damage by .5 and SP cost by 5 every level. 45 SP/Cast

Stealth (Passive/Active) – Attempts to hide from the area using natural means. Obscures body when under the dark by 25%. Use SP to increase effect by 200%. Increases Agility by 10% each level. 25 SP/min.

Those are actually some useful skills. Backstab in case someone wants to mug me, and stealth if I want to hide. Pickpocket in case I need some money. Pair that with inventory, then they won’t suspect a thing. I’ll need to level performer though so I can lie myself through the suspicion, that is, if it ever happens.

Not that I’ll be doing it anytime soon. I’m too lazy, and what’s the point?

“Sethsamm!” a voice from downstairs broke me out of my stupor.

“What!?” I called back in return. This was the regular, I stay cooped up in my room with my laptop, and someone calls me in case they want me to run some errands.

“Errands!” the voice shouted back. I sighed and got up from my bed and got dressed since I was just in my boxers. I sleep like that alright? It’s too hot in this place.

Getting dressed in brown khaki shorts and a plain black t-shirt, I went out of my room and downstairs. Once there, I saw the origin of the voice.

My uncle, about a head taller than me. I’m short alright, about 5’3. He gave me some money and told me to go to the market and buy some chicken.

Quest received!

[Quest: Chicken for Burgers]

Your uncle asked you to buy chicken breasts to restock their café reserves.

[] Buy 2 Kg of chicken breast

Bonus Objective:

[] Return in less than 5 minutes.

Rewards: 100 xp; 250 pesos

Bonus Rewards: [Dungeon Tracker], Iron Dagger.

Failure: Your uncle gets angry at you, no EXP and money

Refusal: Your uncle hides your slippers, again.

Y/N

… Dang, this is one detailed game. And who can say no to free money? That, and that Dungeon Tracker piqued my curiosity. I pressed Y and took off to a run after wearing my mask, don’t want to get caught by the police since wearing mask was now a law after the pandemic spread. The market here was about a 30 sec walk, but the fish and chicken market were a bit further. I just hoped that there was no line, I hate lines.

While running, I noticed that I was faster than I was before, and I was not running out of breath quicker. Probably from the stats, and boy did it feel good. I may be a chunky boy, but that didn’t mean I can’t run. I jogged before daily, and a graduate of ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Course), but when my depression and laziness hit, I stopped. But still, it was calming when I just ran without a care in the world.

While running though, I didn’t forget to use [Identify] on other people.

Identify (Active) – Use on a target to get a brief view on their status. 25 MP/Cast

Name: Darwin

Age: 25

Gender: Male

Name: Alexis

Age: 15

Gender: Male

Name: Joanne

Age: 18

Gender: Female

Name: May

Age: 34

Gender: Female

Identify has levelled up!

Identify (Active) – Use on a target to get a brief view on their status. 20 MP/Cast

Huh… it levelled up after 4 uses. 4 uses… Is it exponential? If so, this is going to be hard to get it to max level. At least I get reduced Mana cost. I wonder if it could get more stats?

Name: Maria

Age: 14

Gender: Female

Str: 2

Agi: 5

Int: 4

It did increase. Cool. Wonder what would happen if this got to max level, although I have an idea judging on how the manga and some novels do.

I held off on using Identify for the moment since my MP was reduced by 120. Quick observation, my MP doesn’t regenerate after using Identify. Is this only with Identify or is it with all my resource bars?

Great Observation! Take some 1 Wisdom and 1 Intelligence!

… Welp, looks like I’ll have to manage my resource bars carefully. Looks like the Game doesn’t want me to be too OP unlike those in the fanfictions and the manga. It has a point though, this is reality, not a book.

I arrived at the chicken vendor after 1 minute of running. My body wasn’t that tired, I’ll have to thank the game for increasing my stats.

After a good run, you gain 1 Endurance and 1 Agility!

So, I can get stats for working out? Looks like I have new motivation to work-out… Nah, I’ll just play on my laptop later. What’s the use of strength in this world of peace? This world full of snakes in the pits known as politics? I’ll just keep a low profile and continue with playing games until I grow old and die. Maybe make a career of playing esports with my new stats.

After the brief transaction, I ran back and arrived at the house after another minute of running.

[Quest: Chicken for Burgers]

Your uncle asked you to buy chicken breasts to restock their café reserves.

[X] Buy 2 Kg of chicken breast

Bonus Objective:

[X] Return in less than 5 minutes.

Rewards: 100 xp; 250 pesos

Bonus Rewards: [Dungeon Tracker], Iron Dagger.

Failure: Your uncle gets angry at you, no EXP and money

Items Received!

250 pesos

[Dungeon Tracker]

[Iron Dagger]

Level up! Thief Lv 1 -> 2

Name: Sethsamm

Title: N/A

Age: 19

Male

Human

Level:

2

Class:

Rogue

0

Job:

Thief

2

HP:

250

250

MP:

550

550

SP:

336.25

336.25

HP Regen

21.5

/min

MP Regen

54.5

/min

SP Regen

30.9875

/min

EXP

0

200

Strength:

7

8.4

Vitality:

5

6

Endurance:

7

9.45

Agility:

14

21

Dexterity:

11

18.7

Intelligence:

15

18

Wisdom:

10

7

My stats are actually going along well, and looks like the status updated since I can now see my regeneration rate. After handing over the chicken, I washed my hands and feet and went back upstairs. I then opened my inventory.

Inventory

Credits:

1000

Pesos:

250

Dungeon Tracker

Iron Dagger

I withdraw the pesos and in my hand two 100-peso bills and one 50-peso bill lied on the top of my palms. I checked to see they were real, and tried checked it through the sun.

“… Holy shit…” I quickly hid it back in my inventory. If they saw the money, they would accuse me of stealing, again. Look, I stole your money 8 years ago. I was young and so I didn’t know jack squat, but I’m old now, so stop accusing me for money that vanish.

Next, I took out the Dungeon Tracker. When it popped out of thin air, what I saw looked like some kind of smartphone. Actually, it is a smartphone, with a bit of an RPG theme as its case. I’ll need to hide this as well. I booted it up and surprisingly, it wasn’t from the company that made mobile devices, instead, it just showed the logo of… A guava…?

Is it really mimicking my online name? Actually, nevermind. I just realized that the game is connected to me, so yeah, it should know, even my extremely private mind.

Take 1 Intelligence for coming up with that answer.

The game’s trolling me, isn’t it? Anyway, after the Dungeon Tracker booted up, the first thing I did was search its settings menu and checked the (About Phone) tab. I tapped on more tabs until… HOLY FUCKING SHIT! This phone is great!

32 Gb ram, dodecacore, 10 TB storage… Yes, me likey this phoney… And it has built in Wi-fi that doesn’t need load to access the internet!

A huge grin appeared on my face, and the first thing I did, was download a rhythm game known as Kytus. The Download Speed was great too! 500 mbps download speed for the win! After waiting for about 5 seconds for the installment, I played the hardest song that was Prison Rise. Then my stats made kicked in. Before, I could only reach about 800K score, but now, I can reach 950K.

For playing a high intensity, reaction game, Dex and Agi increase by 1.

So, playing games is also good for increasing my stats, good to know. After having my fun for about half an hour, and increasing my Dex and Agi by 3, I checked the pre-installed app that came with this Dungeon Tracker.

When I opened it, it took me to… Moogle maps? I guess, since it is called a tracker, must be a GPS thing. Then I saw the house I was currently in (in incredible detail I may add), then the whole rural area. A bit further away, I saw a red dot and tapped it. An icon appeared with a green blob as its logo. The text under it read [Slime Dungeon, Required Level 1-3]

Checking the time, it said 2:00 PM, so I guess I have time. I took my laptop and went downstairs. The laptop was a disguise since when they saw me bringing that outside, they would assume I would go to the area with free public Wi-fi.

For making a wise decision, increase Wis by 1!

Gee, thanks, even if I know it’s halved with my depression. But who cares, I haven’t been this excited since the day I got my laptop, which was, I might add, a year ago. I made my way towards the area with public wi-fi and saw a lot of people sharing said internet.

Heh, sucks to be you, I have 500 mbps and you have to settle with 100 kbps. I suffered that 100 kbps for so long, glad to be able to break free from that crappy internet.

Laptop in hand, I continued on my walk, my stats making it seem that my laptop weighed less, and boy did it do wonders for my shoulder. A few minutes of walking and I found myself in front of a destroyed house by the side of the highway nearby the house I lived in.

“… Damn, this is still here? This should be about 8 years old right about now,” I muttered under my breath. Since no one was around, I place my laptop in my inventory and entered the house. I’ll admit, I was a bit nervous entering this dilapidated house without nobody in sight, plus, it was dark inside.

The Dungeon Tracker led me to a door on the first floor. When I got close to it, a window prompt entered my vision.

Enter [Slime Dungeon]?

Y/N

Without too much thought, I pressed Y and the door creaked open.