Should be worth noting that the reason the chapters are coming out slower than previously, is because I have a lot more going on.

I can't finish writing it in the morning so I'm finishing the draft later in the day. Because I'm finishing it later in the day, I'm not able to catch all my mistakes.

You can see how it effected the last chapter. Instead of waiting until the morning as I should have so I could check it again, I released it.

The original draft of this chapter was so bad, I ended up rewriting the entire thing. This is partly because as someone pointed out, I was spamming the enter button for my sentences. Which had me writing the story in stilted lines, the story didn't flow like it should have.

The setting of the story has now been defined, so the pace will start to pickup.

Its only for me to know.

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Over the next week, I attended school, went to my job at the supermarket and when I came home, I whacked the log.

Strangely enough, after I hit 20 WIS and INT, the gains in those stats were pretty low. Shortly after, my STR hit 20 and the next day, my END also hit 20. However I didn't gain any new skills from either achievements. It looked to be WIS and INT only.

My gamer skill leveled up, and I was making decent pay from my job. A couple more weeks of this, and I would be able to get myself a new computer. I guess you would be interested to know that when my gamer skill leveled up to 4, it unlocked a new ability. Statuses.

It was useful enough in its own way, everytime I entered a area a popup window would appear.

"You have entered Stein Highschool", "You have entered Stein Supermarket", "You have entered Cliff's Family Home" and the like. As a experiment, I tried a few locations I didn't know the names of.

Asian shop with some sign I couldn't translate = 'Chinese Foods Shop'

Another asian shop = 'Original Korean Food Shop'

Lawn of random house = 'Arther's Family Home'

Another lawn = 'Lewis's Family Home'

When I asked the asian lady at the shop, she told me that the name of the store was exactly that. 'Chinese Foods'. It wasn't some kind of racist description that my power came up with. The 'Shop' part was tacked on however.

The other way it assisted me was telling me when my stamina was depleted, fairly useless in itself. But it indicated that it could display more information, one example being 'Health Lost' or 'Damage Dealt'. However I was unable to check either of those. Previously in the past I had lost health while training on the wooden log, but my shock resistance had since then leveled up to 6 and I no longer took enough damage while training to lose a single health point. I was also unwilling to hurt myself deliberately.

A few days after David failed to show up at school, I finally visited him at his house. He had shut himself in his room and refused to come out and he originally didn't want to see me, but I refused to leave. Eventually, he opened up and talked to me. After Balizen went, he just couldn't find it to do anything. His mother tried to get him to go to school, but eventually she gave up. I started visiting him regularly when I had free time, and when I was there we often talked. He didn't blame me for what happened. The entire group was for the plan, and I was the one chosen to smash the crystal. But I could tell me was beating himself up over it, wishing it never happened. Wishing the plan failed.

Everytime I talked to him, he liked to obsess over the final raid. I didn't like to talk about it much myself, so I would often try to change the subject. Such as the time we took on the entire clan of beasts, or the Fossil Beach Quest. But he would always draw the subject back to the raid. It made me feel on edge. Lately, he had started giving me suspicious looks, and the way he talked. It felt like he was trying to interrogate me.

I eventually stopped visiting.

After a week of training, the log had big dents in the sides from where I was hitting it, I was pounding away at the log when I heard a sharp crack and the bat splintered into two. I was grinding my club skill then, my STR and END were barely increasing from the training I was doing. I didn't have anything else I could use to whack the log with, and pushups and situps and the like were not going to work. I just didn't lose my stamina fast enough.. Ah yes, the miraculous effect of my stats..

My stamina regeneration has increased a bit, I estimate it at about 8 per 10 seconds. But as mentioned by the problems earlier, I could no longer time my health regeneration.

I looked around and eventually attended a trial membership of a nearby gym, and for a short time attended it regularly when I had free time. I gained another STR while I was there, along with the sprinting skill and a few AGI while I was on the treadmills. But being skinny, it looks weird to be pressing more weight than the strongest man there. While I was there, I attracted weird looks and even became a local celebrity. I didn't overly mind it, but eventually the attention would escape the gym. So I had to stop attending.

I would have liked to be able to say that I then started training at a dojo, learned some killer martial art skills, gained the black-belt and was recognised as the heir of the dojo by the old master.

But seriously, when is the last time you've seen one of those?

So having determined I would have to train alone again, I decided to make myself a new bat, it was a great way to train up my club skill until my previous bat broke. We had a pine forest nearby, which was accessible to the public. There was also barely any undergrowth so it was easy enough to walk through. However, when I looked around the ground for a thick piece of wood. I realised my error.

The pine trees were high off the ground, and the closest branches were more like trunks. They were far too thick. There were a few trees that had fallen down, and so I could access their branches. But the ones I wanted were either rotten, or I was unable to rip them off.

Eventually, I gave up and had to return home, inside our garage we had a lot of tools. More on that in a moment. While I was there, I grabbed a saw and spotting a knife, I grabbed it and slipped it inside my pocket. Returning to the forest and approaching a fallen tree, I set about sawing off a branch as thick as my arm. After cutting it down to size, I used my knife to slice off the thin protrusions and smooth the surface down. I gave it a experimental swing. In my hands, it felt solid and heavy.

I then learned a new skill.

You have learned the skill Carpentry

mm. Nice enough. However I didn't care enough to look at the description. It was obvious enough.

However, my new found club was a bit too thick for me to grasp it properly, and it would take me far too long to cut it down to size with the tools I currently had. So I had to return home.

You would probably be surprised to learn we had a fair amount of tools in our garage, but it was to be expected. My father works as a builder and often stores his tools there. Time passes and as he gets new tools, the old tools are left behind or lost. So we had a fairly decent collection going. I already knew how to use most of the tools in here; my father had insisted on it. You can't just leave a growing boy around with dangerous tools in the garage..

The garage was originally built for two cars, but one side was completely devoted to his junk. Amidst that junk was a workbench that had two clamps attached. I put the tools I was using away and clamped the club. I then hunted around until I found a small saw, carefully I cut the bark off the end of the smaller end of the club until the wood was exposed. I then sawed it down to a manageable size and trimmed the uneven bits off with a sharp knife. With the result, I then sanded it down until it felt smooth to the grip. Unclamping it, I hefted it and gave it a experimental swing. It felt good, heavy and solid on my hand. Like I could wreck serious damage with it. However, it didn't look great. Aside from the handle, it was still a thick branch with the bark attached. It looked like a club some kind of ogre would use.

I then heard the ever familiar *tring*

You have learned the subskill Carpentry: Carving

Not so useful a skill, what am I supposed to make? Clubs and bows? A staff?

I had also received another stat.

DEX +1

My club complete, I put the tools away and cleaned up the small mess I had created. Returning to the backyard, I then resumed my training with the bat.

I could feel the difference straight away.

Where my bat thunked against the log, my new club slammed into the log. I could feel pity for the log..

It was harder to wield my new club than the bat was, and I was now receiving damage again. As if to confirm it, every so often I would receive a message

HP -1

However my club skills were gaining experience faster and my shock resistance was also gaining experience again. My STR should also increase faster.

The holidays started and the manager was pleased with me, she made me fulltime and my schedule was changed. I now worked in the mornings and had my afternoons free. I was making more money than ever, and eventually had enough to afford myself a computer. Unlike my last computer, I didn't want to get another second hand computer. Instead I wanted to get something new, something I could call mine from the very beginning.

I had time off on the weekends, so two weeks into the holidays I went to the bank. I didn't have a card as I simply didn't spend my money, after 4 weeks of working, I now had $1200 in my bank which should be able to net me a decent computer. I asked to withdraw $1100 in cash. You would normally think that's pretty stupid to do, like I'm just asking to be mugged.

But you forget my stats. I was abnormally strong. Not that I looked like it however, I still looked like a computer geek.

But after placing the loose bundle of notes in my pockets, I heard the *tring*.

Wait. What did I do this time?

You have learned the skill Banker

Interesting..

Nodding at the teller, I left the bank. The money in my pocket had disappeared, and if I was right, this could be very interesting.

Moving to a secluded area, I then checked the description.

SkillBankerLevel1 [21%]Your carried money is now stored inside the system

Inside my character window, a new entry appeared.

NameJonathan CliffTitlesGamerLevel9 [95%]Balance$1100Health288/288Stamina274/274VIT26STR28END25AGI21DEX17INT27WIS29LUK17

Skills

Gamer lv.4 [97%]

Cooking lv.7 [55%]

Cooking: Frying lv.8 [32%]

Cooking: Boiling lv.3 [84%]

Jogging lv.5 [74%]

Blunt Weapons lv.18 [4%]

Blunt Weapons: Clubs lv.24 [12%]

Shock Resistance lv.13 [42%]

Physical Exercise lv.15 [21%]

Reading lv.14 [64%]

Memorization lv.8 [56%]

Storytelling lv.7 [4%]

Dodge lv.4 [71%]

Footwork lv.5 [63%]

Listen lv.5 [7%]

Walking lv.9 [67%]

Medication lv.1 [76%]

Sprinting lv.4 [35%]

Carpentry lv.1 [87%]

Carpentry: Carving lv.1 [89%]

Banker lv.1 [21%]

When I touched it, a small window appeared.

[table]td100]Define currency and amount[/td100[table]

I thought of the money I had originally. As if by magic, a tight bundle of notes appeared just blinked into my hand. Unlike the notes I had originally, these were crisp, fresh, and professionally arrayed. With a small grin on my face, I looked at the bundle of cash in my hand. This was pretty cool. I did a few small experiemts, this new ability even allowed me to take out money in different denominations. However I had one thought.

The way this money thing worked, it could be very inconvenient. Imagine having to pay someone, but you need to be carrying the money in your hand before you even talk to them else they would see the money appear in your hand.

I needed to try find some kind of alternative for this. The first thing I tried was putting the money in my pocket while imagining it staying, I didn't feel the money disappear, and when I checked my pocket the money remained. Depositing it back into my balance, I then tried summoning the money inside my pocket. I could feel it immediately. This was very convenient. More-so than I originally thought.

However when I tried to summon the money outside my body, it didn't work very well. It looked to have a limited range and some criteria that I need to meet.

Depositing the money back into my balance, I walked to the nearby electronics shop. The shop assistant was helping someone else across the store and noticed me come in. He nodded and I took a quick look around. Upon spotting the computer section, I quickly strolled over and started looking over the listings. But when I looked through what was on offer, I was dismayed. Most of the prices were higher than my budget.

The assistant finished up with their customer and walked over. Dressed in a blue shirt and black pants, he looked to be a little older than me. I idly wondered how long he had been working here.

I took a quick look at the box over his head.

Daniel Cray lv.3

Reaching me, he started talking "Hi there! You interested in getting a computer?" he brightly asked.

I shrugged, "Yeah, but these seem a bit expensive.."

"Ah.." he nodded. "Well, you are probably looking at getting one of the cheaper ones then"

I grimaced. Noticing my expression, he asked me "What do you intend to use it for?"

I couldn't very well say porn.

I looked at him in the eye as I said

"Browsing on the internet and talking with my friends"

He swallowed the lie.

"Hmm. I would advise you use a laptop then. You looked at them yet?" I shook my head. He smiled "Well they are generally cheaper than the computers, but a tad slower. You can also take them around with you on trips"

Eventually he sold me on the idea. Moving to the shop till he rung me up for $799. But the look on his face when I pulled that exact amount from my pocket.. It was priceless.

My ability even allowed me to summon coins.

Catching the bus home, I clung tightly to my laptop. This was the most expensive thing I had ever owned. Even my computer only set me back $200. The CRT being the bulkiest thing to lug around. When purchasing the computer, I had been given a steep discount by David.

I made it home safely and soon had my laptop plugged in. As it was charging, I started it up. Then I grimaced.

Less than a hour later, I finished reinstalling the OS. With all the unwanted programs gone, I hooked it up with wireless. It took me some time to catchup to everything I was behind on. My email and a few communities had a lot of things that I was behind on.

Starting up Ciype, I had a huge backlog of messages. Most of them were from players of Balizen, everyone wanted to talk to me. As I started scrolling through them, one of our group members noticed I was online.

[Cranked] dude. wat happened to u?

[Cranked] Talos said ur computer went bust right after u hit the gem

[Cranked] u there?

[JohnSmith] Yeah sorry. Reading the chatlogs

[Cranked] no worries. tell me when u r done.

It took ages to read through them all, there was the predictable "Omg what just happened" from my group to "Omg what's happening to the game" from a variety of people to the "I want Balizen!" in chats to a general "God this sucks" from everyone. And then my Ciype just exploded once that video was leaked. A lot of messages were hate, I just removed them from my contacts, along with a few people who wanted to hear what happened from me. I found it impossible to read all of the messages. After the first thousand, I just skimmed through them. There was no real news.

I turned my attention back towards the chat.

[Petar] John's finally on?

[Cranked] yeah. after like a month lol

[Petar] What's he been doing...

[Cranked] maybe?

[Petar] lol. Wouldn't be too surprised :P

[JohnSmith] ..

[JohnSmith] I'm here you know

[Yind] Welcome back!

[Yind] What happened to you?

[JohnSmith] Like I told Talos. I smashed that cystal then my computer exploded

[Yind] Seriously? You mean overheated?

[JohnSmith] Nope. I mean it just exploded. The speakers also went boom

[JohnSmith] I literally couldn't hear anything after it

[Cranked] Shoulda recorded it

[JohnSmith] Oh its pretty easy to replicate. Just smash a giant crystal.

[Cranked] har har

[Petar] But still. Why'd you not come on for a long time?

[JohnSmith] I'm not rich. It took me ages to save up to get a new pc

[Yind] Couldn't you borrow your mums computer or something?

[JohnSmith] Not that desperate to see you guys. Talos kept me up to date

[Petar] Oh right. You guys know each other irl

[Petar] Btw, know why he hasn't talked lately?

[Cranked] yeah. tbh its kinda freaky. he posted the most out of us bout balizen then suddenly he was quiet

[JohnSmith] Its not really my thing to say

[Yind] Well anyways, its great to see you back.

There wasn't really that much to talk to them about. If it wasn't obvious, Cranked was the guy who leaked the video. He never did treat things as seriously as he should.

Everyone in the group was shown in the video, and they had all been flamed, and had long since fled the forums. Those unlucky enough to use the same name for other games and communities had to switch to new identities.

I spent most of my time browsing the internet and catching up to everything that I had missed doing. A few people on Ciype often noticed I was on and messaged me. Of course, everyone who wanted to say something offensive just got removed. I didn't feel a obligation to pander to them. But to everyone that asked, I just gave them the story that I gave everybody. My computer went bust. No, I don't know why it happened either. None of them were told about my gamer ability.

Bored and nothing left that I wanted to do, I closed my laptop and stretched.

Yawning, I looked outside at the growing darkness. The streetlights flickered on as I watched and a car quietly drove past.

Today had been pretty chaotic, Yawning again, I grabbed a fantasy book.

I was really getting to like those.