186 Fiction is truthier than strange

With a groan, Ben rose from his bed. The experience of drinking a second potion for the same attribute was just as terrible as the last time. Yet, despite how awful it was, he soon shook it off... 

Exhaling, he reminded himself of the stakes. "No pain, no hoes slain…" 

By now, Ben recognized this truth; Too few were born privileged enough they didn't have to struggle to get ahead. He wasn't special either. So he'd have to eat some discomfort if he wanted to make progress. At least for him, the efforts showed benefits that he could quantify. 'Let's check the effect of the potion.' 

He changed into some running clothes and left his dorm room…

A while later…

Back in his room, Ben was wiping his face with a towel after returning from a jog. "20% boost in stamina again." The boost was consistent with his expectations, which was one point the system proved reliable on. If he had to give one characteristic to describe the system, it would be b*tch.