The level-up system

{It is not possible to force a living human into becoming a system user. They need to die and complete their time before they can become a system user}

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*Jingle*

The sound of a bell could be heard as someone entered a card store.

"Hey, Sky!"

A middle aged tanned man and woman entered the store. The tan man was tall, above average in looks, slightly buff, and had short brown hair. The woman was shorter than the man, she had long black, curly hair, and was slim and beautiful.

The clothes they wore were matching in color and design. The woman wore a mid sized skirt that barely revealed her skin but just enough to combat the intense heat of the sun. The man's chest was slightly exposed, and he wore shorts.

"Hi dad, mom."

Behind the counter is a happy, average looking tanned, younger man with brown, short curly hair. He was slim but had a well build body, he was around the same height as his dad, average

Sky went around the counter to bid them farewell.

Sky's mom hugged her son tightly, the father rustled his son's hair.

The store is owned by them as it is a family business. The reason Sky was so happy that he couldn't stop smiling is because his parents are leaving for their honeymoon, and Sky was more than happy that they are willing to trust him enough to run the store by himself for the first time.

"Now remember, we'll be gone for a week at most."

"Probably two." Sky's dad said with a slight grin as he nudged his wife.

"One week… Sky, remember, If there's a robbery, give the robber whatever he wants, your safety is top priority. We also left you with enough emergency money in the…"

Sky's mom looked around the store and saw some customers.

She leaned closer to whisper: "It's in the safe, you remember where the key is, right?"

"I do, mom. We went over this a bajillion times last night. The safe is in the basement, and the key is here." Sky waved a large metal key in front of her.

Sky honestly could not believe his mom agreed to leave him alone for an entire week, she doesn't even let Sky go to other shops by himself when the island they live on is peaceful and small. She was very protective of her son.

But after seeing her son grow up into a fine man, and after weeks of begging and pleading from her husband to have a week alone with his wife, she gave in.

Ever since Sky was born her mom has taken Sky everywhere with her including date nights with her husband. She was a very overprotective mom.

"And remember, in the safe there's the 'boat' in case something horrible happens and we are not here, use it to escape the island to Peeves."

"Yes, mom."

Peeves is a nearby island that Sky had been to many times.

"And don't worry if the store or house is caught in a fire or something, forget about it and just stay far away if that happens. The house and store are insured either way."

"Yes, mom."

"And also, if something were to happen, you can trust in Mr. and Mrs. J. They'll be keeping an eye out for you."

"Yes, mom." All Sky could do was smile, and nod.

"Hon, we have to go soon before the ship leaves." Sky's dad urged her or else she would be talking all day.

"Okay. Sky, if it gets to stressful you can close the shop early or until we get back, and also-"

"It's fine, mom. I'll be fine. Just go and have fun with dad." Sky hugged his mom. He felt that she needed a break.

"Okay, okay. I love you. Be safe." giving her son one last hug goodbye, she left with her husband.

Sky's dad rustled his son's hair one more time and said to his son: "In your room there's a bit of extra money for you that you can use to have some 'fun' but not 'too much fun' with girls or alcohol or your mom will kill us both if we become grandparents this early. Make friends. I love you, son."

Sky saw his parents run towards the ship. His mom ran as she waved her son goodbye. Sky waved back from the store.

He could faintly see his parents go to the port, get on a large boat and sail off moments later into the sea. Many of the people on the ship carried luggages, Sky's parents did not.

"YES!" Sky ran into his store, and jumped into his swivel chair and placed his feet on the counter. He ate some chips and he could already imagine the things he could do with his freedom after he closes the store.

The store, while it is small, was large with a variety of items on display. Many of the items on display were cards with various different pictures in them.

Each card was inside a plastic cage strapped to a thick wire that would make a sound if the wire was cut.

On top of each card had a piece of paper with a different number labeled that went from 0-672.

The cards on display had the exact same design from and back. The only difference was the photos on each card.

The store wasn't empty either, there were already four other people who were shopping.

Sky was quite happy in his store. It was peaceful, the customers were nice most of the time, and the store made good money.

An old, tanned woman came and placed down 2 red shells and a purple shell on top of the counter.

The woman is Mrs. J, a close friend of Sky's parents, Sky sees her like an old aunt even though they're not related by blood.

"The usual?" Sky asked as he dragged the money over to his side. Mrs. liked to buy the same thing most of the time.

"And a 102."

"A harpoon? Let me guess, husband lost his harpoon again?" Sky asked as he walked towards the room behind him.

"It was my idiot son this time. He lost it while teaching my grandchild how to hunt for fish."

"Bummer. How many times has Jake lost his harpoon already, five times these past two months?"

"More like 6. He's not the best at holding onto things, he takes after his father in that aspect."

Sky let out a chuckle.

The money in this world is a bunch of clear, crystal, coloured clam shells with exquisite details on each of them that made it impossible to duplicate. Their size is no bigger than a man's pinky.

Their color signifies their worth.

Green is worth 1 shell.

Blue is worth 5 shells.

Yellow is worth 10 shells.

Red is worth 20 shells.

Purple is worth 50 shells.

Orange is worth 100 shells.

Silver is worth 200 shells.

And finally gold is worth 300 shells.

(Authors note: Yes, this is like the legend of zelda game rupee currency but in the form of shells)

Sky entered a bright lit room with hundreds of different cards with different numbered labels in them. Taking out four cards he traded them for the shells the woman gave him.

Each of the 4 cards had the picture of 12 fish on top of ice cubes. The last card was a picture of a steel harpoon.

Holding one of the cards, the old woman said, "activate."

The card disappeared in a puff of smoke and in its place appeared a harpoon that was identical to the one in the picture of the card.

The old woman handled and inspected the harpoon carefully.

"So, your parents finally left?"

"Yeah."

"What are you planning to do? Tomorrow's a holiday so the store is going to be closed all day, right?"

"Yeah, I can't wait to eat some delicious food, play some games, earn prizes, and probably make some friends, or a girlfriend. It's gonna be fun." Sky smiled as he thought of that happening.

"You and your husband are still setting up the fried tentacle tent, right? They are always delicious." Sky asked.

"Of course we will."

"Awesome!"

Mrs. J thought it was weird that Sky didn't have any friends. He was a bright, young man, good looking, comes from a good family, well mannered, hard working, and shy. She did think he was a bit of an introvert but that is because he didn't have anyone to hang out with.

A few times she has seen him wanting to hang out with people his own age, sometimes she would think he tried too hard and frankly found it sad.

The next day Sky would be back in the store, with a sad look on his face. A few days later would go by and he would be smiling again.

She knows it's not because of his parents or because he helps out with the family business that he didn't have friends. In fact she knows for a fact his parents want their son to have friends to hang out with.

Perhaps Sky's parents, specifically his mom, despite being overprotective, thought if they left Sky alone he would make friends as they couldn't help but think that maybe they were the problem.

As Sky was about to hand her her change, she stretched her hand. "Keep the change."

"Cool. Thanks."

Sky waved her goodbye.

Sky held one of the red shells. With his mind, he transformed it into a card. The card had the picture of a red shell, nothing else.

"Activate." The card turned back into a red shell. The only way for it to turn back was by saying a certain word.

He turned all the shells into cards and placed them in a shell register according to their color much like handling cash.

Sky was not born with this ability that is also referred to as 'spells' rather it was given to him by his parents on his 15th birthday to help out the family business. He's 17 right now, and has not been given any new spells since then.

Sky wanted to learn more spells to help out the business flow better. But he understands why his parents didn't want to give him more spells, using spells costs mana, the stronger the spell the more mana it required, and since the spell he got was a low level spell he could use it to practice and increase his mana at almost no cost.

If he exerts himself by using too many spells he could die. And also buying spells is very expensive even for low tier spells. Not many adults get to have spells, much less a 15 year old.

It was also a very convenient spell to have. He also uses the spell to transform goods and has them delivered to other islands far away.

The entire day went by. After the sun has set Sky can close the shop for the day after counting and writing down the profits for the day.

Instead of going home, Sky headed straight towards his favorite restaurant. The restaurant is large enough to hold 60 customers at once.

Two young girls around Sky's age were working at the cashier talking about everyday stuff. One of them, the one with long black hair, noticed Sky coming, she turned around, rolled her eyes and whined to her friend, "The loner's back."

Without looking, the short blonde girl knew who she was talking about. "Oh, him, great." She didn't seem happy to see him again.

"Hi, Sky, what would it be?" The black haired woman looked at him with a natural smile.

"The usual. And to go, please."

Sky knows them. They are part of the same fishing club and see each other two times a week.

"Sure. Just sit on one of the chairs and we will deliver your food." The two women left Sky and went to make an order for him in the kitchen.

Minutes later, Sky went home with food in hand. It took no more than 5 minutes to reach his home from the store's location. Nobody was home but him. It was a 3 story house with 3 rooms 1 of which is a guest room, 3 bathrooms one on each floor, a living room, a dining room, and finally a basement.

After finishing his meal he cleans whatever mess he made, otherwise his mom will make him clean the dishes for a month.

Feeling bored with nothing better to do he headed to the basement. The basement was large, brightly lit. It contained many instruments that ranged from string, to woodwind, to brass, and there were many unfinished music pieces scattered everywhere.

His dad is a talented musician and can play nearly every instrument in the room perfectly. Both Sky and his father had the same favorite instrument, the violin.

Sky liked playing the violin since he was a kid. While he wasn't as talented or as good as his dad he enjoyed playing it, it also made the time go by faster.

"How much money did my parents leave me again?" Sky asked himself.

The safe was in the corner of the room. Sky grabbed the key and opened the safe. Inside the safe was a bunch of music paper. On top of the paper were 6 cards, 5 of which contained an orange shell in each card totalling a total of 1000 shells.

The sixth card is a picture of a motor boat, it was very expensive and enough to hold 5 people in it. Sky's father had shown him how to drive the motor boat for years.

*Whistle* Sky let out a whistle, seeing how much emergency money his parents left him.

Feeling tired he headed towards his room to sleep. On top of his bed is another card his dad left him, a card containing a gold shell for him.

"Thanks, dad." Sky muttered. He had great parents.

Sky hugged a pillow and slept soundly.

Sky woke up early, the sun hadn't even risen yet.

He did what he always did every time he woke up: he ran around the beach. Sky was in tip top shape, in fact the majority of the people on the island are physically in shape, the few rich people and their kids are out of shape.

Sky took off his clothes, leaving only his shorts on. He swam in the ocean making laps around the island. Swimming in the ocean made him feel refreshed and it was a great stress reliever for him.

Swimming and fishing is something most people learn to do when they're young, Sky was no exception.

After he was done all he had to do was go home, take a shower, eat some food and he could go to the event that was taking place today. The event was nothing special, it was basically a day where people could take a break from work and set up games, and food for everyone to enjoy.

That was the plan at least. Sky saw a group of Caribbean men arrive at the port and stood there, not letting anyone near them. There was also a large Caribbean ship docked.

Caribbean men, they are the law, they are the ones who protect and serve the people, they are everything.

One can easily recognize their ship by their design, a tidal wave.

Their uniforms, at least the ones in charge of land, are usually made of white polyester from neck to toe, and they also wear boonie caps. Their ranks are shown by their insignias located on their right shoulder which is a small wave. Their ranks depend on how many small waves they have, the more the higher the rank.

Sky ran around the Caribbean men so as to not get in trouble with them. A few of the people Sky knows were talking to the Caribbean men probably to pry information.

Sky went home to shower, taking his time, getting ready for the day at his own pace.

Sky left his home not before taking the money his parents gave him. A familiar sight appeared in front of him when he saw people were already setting up their stands to sell food and make their own games. It is an event that happens once every six months where people don't work, sell food outside, and have fun until midnight.

Sky walked around, bought some delicious food, and looked everywhere for a stall with a good game with good prizes. He does admit it felt weird not having his parents enjoy the event with him.

As he was looking around the island while eating some grilled squid, he saw the Caribbean ship was still in the dock, and the Caribbean men were still standing around the dock, motionless.

'Weird. Why are they still here?' Sky thought that they would have left already, otherwise what else could they be doing there for the past 45 minutes.

Before he turned away, he saw the Caribbean men were entering their ship and leaving the island. It seemed that they were leaving for good.

Ignoring them thinking of nothing else, Sky went to Mrs. J's house to see if they had set up their tent already.

"Sky, come here." The old woman signaled Sky. She was with her husband, who was a tall but old man. Between them was their grandchild, a boy wearing shorts and looked to be no older than 10.

"Hi, Mrs. J."

"How's the event going for you?" She asked.

"Great. Still waiting for the good games with good prizes."

"Are you still alone?"

The old couple were asked by Sky's parents to keep an eye on him. Being friends they naturally agreed.

"Hey, Sky, haven't you ever thought of joining the swim club?" The old man asked. Perhaps if Sky were to join a club and surround himself with people his age who share similar hobbies, he'll be able to make friends, that's how he met his current wife nearly five decades ago.

"I did. For two years. They disbanded it last year because there were not enough members."

"Right… I forgot about that… How about the fishing club?"

"Still a member, actually. I've been in that club for 3 years now."

The fishing club has many members from all ages.

"Didn't you want to invite anybody to hang out with you today?"

"I did, all of them said that they're gonna be busy with stuff."

"What about inviting them to hang out before or after?"

"They said that they were still gonna be super busy and can't hang out because of stuff."

"What 'stuff' are they talking about?"

"That's literally all they say."

"Do kids your age… are kids your age really that busy all the time?"

"Hm." Sky shrugged.

Sky appreciates that they care for him but he was fine enjoying the event by himself. He has a lot of money from his parents to spend on the event.

The old man looked at his wife, they both knew those people were avoiding Sky.

"How about some free fried tentacles?" feeling bad for him, Mrs. J offered him a bag full of fried tentacles.

"Seriously? Thanks!" Sky began eating and enjoying the tentacles.

"Guys! Guys!" A man whispered to the group. A tall, skinny man ran up to them, wet, out of breath, freaking out, and shirtless. It is Jake, the old couple's only son.

"Jake, what happened to you?" Mrs. J asked.

Jake was about to explain, but he noticed Sky was close enough to hear.

"Hey, Sky." Jake put up a fake smile for him.

"Hi, Jake."

"Can you, uh, leave us a second, I need to um, talk about something… private, family only."

"Sure." Sky left, but he wondered what was going on.

'Hm, he just came out of the water, what did he see that freaked him out?' Sky thought.

He saw the family from a distance. Seconds later he saw Mrs. J placed her hands on her mouth out of shock. Mr. J hurriedly placed his hands on his son and shook him slightly.

In order not to make a bigger scene, the family walked to their house, Jake carried his son.

Sky felt a bit worried seeing that happen. What was happening?

Having a horrible gut feeling, Sky speed walked back home. He noticed some of the stands were finally setting up his favorite games, but he ignored that.

Jake headed straight to the safe, and took out the emergency money and boat from his safe and placed it in his pocket. He had never seen Mrs. J, or Mr. J, or Jake act like that.

He knows it's a gut feeling, but if nothing were to happen he'll simply place the money and motor boat back in the safe. If something were to happen, he'll at least be ready to leave.

'Wait, shouldn't I also take the money from the shop, just in case? No, I can't.' Sky thought of an idea.

The shop had tens of thousands of shells kept in another safe. Problem was, his parents had the key, they trusted Sky with the money, but they brought the key with them in case of a robbery. Unfortunately Sky could not use his ability to turn the safe into a card as it was too big for him.

With enough practice, Sky could have turned a safe into a card. His dad is the one who managed to transform a motorboat into a card. Sky is merely in charge of transforming shells into cards since they're small.

Taking everything he had with him, which included a boat, and over 1,500 worth of shells, Sky was about to exit his house, but he was surprised when he saw Mrs. J standing in front of the door about to knock.

"Oh! Mrs. J."

"Sky." She leaned a bit towards Sky, "please come with me, don't do or say anything that'll attract attention."

"Why?" Sky asked, obviously confused, scared, and curious.

Mrs. J looked around, nobody was close enough to hear her.

"Do you trust me, Sky?"

"Course I do. Mom and dad said to trust you."

"Then, please, follow us." she held onto Sky's wrist like a mother dragging her child.

Sky really had now idea what to think, but he knows he can trust her. Sky looked down on the ground not daring to look others in the eye.

She brought Sky to the opposite side of the dock. Mr J, Jake, Jake's son were there on the beach talking about something.

"Ready?" Mr. J asked his wife.

Mrs. J nodded.

Jake took out a card and said, "activate." and tossed the card on the ocean

A motor boat much identical to Sky's appeared. It could hold up to five people as well.

"Get in." Mrs. J gestured to Sky, who complied.

"What's going on?" Sky couldn't help but ask as he was getting on the boat.

"Sky, after we get off this island I'll tell you." Mrs. J said, worried.

At the same time on the other side of the island…

On top of the Caribbean ship, is wearing an all white sheet that covers every part of his body. Despite the sheet covering his body, one could see the deformities on his body. His right arm was as thick as his chest, and extremely long. Yet his left arm was short like a T-rex's. His legs were just as deformed as his arms.

The man was short and fat that made him appear like a round ball with deformed limbs. His chin was also long and stretched to the left side of his face. In many ways he appeared more like a monster than a man.

On the back of his clothes was his insignia. It was a picture of a real heart made of gold, with two bones sticking in it forming an 'x' across the gold heart.

What else stood up from this man is in his hands there was a bright glow as he was chanting.

The moment he stopped chanting, the bright glow in his hands turned into a ball of earth covered in fire that hovered over his hands.

"I'm done chanting the spell." The deformed man said to the captain of the ship. "Has anyone left the island?"

"No, sir."

The Caribbean men were hired handsomely by the deformed man in secret. In order not to attract too much attention he purposely hired Caribbean men that were incompetent, incapacitated, drunk, lazy, that way once he kills them no one will miss them.

"Good."

The deformed men launched the two balls of fire straight at the sky above the island, disappearing into the clouds.

The islanders merely saw two small, bright lights being launched into the sky from the Caribbean ship. Seconds later, two large shadows covered the entire island, it was two balls of fire, larger than the island itself, like giant meteors falling down on the island.

The islanders had no time to react. They couldn't escape even if they wanted to.

Mrs J, her family, and Sky could see from the distance two massive balls of fire about to hit the island.

Sky couldn't believe it.

"DAD NOW!" Jake yelled. Even at the distance that was already between them and the island, they are going to feel the impact.

"IT TAKES TIME TO CAST THE SPELL!"

*BOOOOOOOOM*

The entire island was gone in the blink of an eye, a giant mushroom cloud appeared in its place. Sky and everyone else could feel the sudden impact that nearly made the motor boat fall over.

Once they regained their balance, Jake continued driving the boat.

"Go, go, go, go, NOW!" Mr. J said he knew that it wasn't over.

"I know!"

The motorboat could only go so fast.

Mrs. J held on tightly to her grandchild who was crying a lot,

A giant shadow covered the area they were in a matter of seconds. They all turned around already knowing what it was, a tsunami and it was going to reach them.

The motorboat could never outrun a tsunami.

"Dad, it's now or never!" Jake said. If the tsunami catches up with them, they'll die.

"Hold on everybody! Don't let go of the boat!" Mr. J, took a breath to concentrate. He extended his right arm, a giant bubble formed that covered his entire hand, then arm, then body, then the boat.

Mr. J had created a massive bubble that would protect them from the wave, but it wouldn't protect them from what came next.

The tsunami engulfed the entire boat, and the entire boat was being jerked around by the pressure. Despite that, the bubble is what was keeping them from drowning and having their bodies and the boat being crushed by the pressure.

Everyone was doing their best to hold on to the boat, of course that didn't stop them from screaming uncontrollably.

What was also very helpful are the seat belts that they were wearing.

"HOLD ON!" Mr. J kept reminding them.

As fate would have it, Sky's seat belt would break from all the intense movements the boat was going through.

Sky didn't even notice or feel it because his eyes were closed tightly, the boat being thrown around as if it were a ragdoll made everyone not pay attention to their surroundings.

"AAAAAHHH!" Sky was flung off the boat but managed to hold onto the rails with his hand. He could feel his body floating, and his feet were sticking out of the bubble.

"SKY!" Jake, Mr. J, and Mrs. J screamed at the same time. They didn't know what to do to save him, they could only hope that Sky could hold on long enough.

But the boat kept being pushed around violently and Sky couldn't hold on anymore, and he was swallowed by the tsunami.

The family could only watch and scream in terror to see Sky die in front of their eyes. There was nothing they could do to save him.

As luck would have it, the boat made it safely to the surface after what felt like an eternity.

"Julien!" Jake turned around, he saw his son was still safe. He held his son in his arms tightly, he was glad they were safe.

"He's fine. Sky, we need to go back for him." Mrs. J started to cry.

Mr. J and Jake looked at her. They all knew Sky could never survive that, no human could. They did feel for Sky, but they weren't as close to him as Mrs. J was.

"He's gone. There's nothing we can do about it." Mr. J said what he she needs to hear.

The only sound that could be heard on the boat is Mrs. J's scream echoing…

Hours later, when it was dark already, Sky's lifeless body appeared on an uncharted island.

A man appeared on top of Sky's body, flying, and dragging his body.

The man is a bald, old man, with a long white beard, lots of wrinkles on his forehead, and a purple/ black robe that appeared to be of the stars and space.

"About time. And this island is perfect for you." He said as if he had been waiting for this moment.

The man placed his hand on Sky's body, and he took out a small white flame. It's Sky's soul.

"I know you can't hear me, but I don't usually give my powers to humans that are not of the main universe, but I really hope you make it, Sky."

The man held out a finger and a small blue flame appeared. He merged the blue flame with Sky's soul, the blue flame appeared to be absorbed by the white flame and was nowhere to be seen anymore.

With a flick of his hand, Sky's lifeless body was reduced to ash.

And in its place he took out another body from nowhere that looked identical to Sky. He took a good look at the soul in hand and held it firmly and gently.

"Sky, make me proud, and please live long enough until the end. Good luck." With a voice that was filled with hope, he placed the soul in the body. And just like that the old man was gone.

Sky woke up. He stood up feeling refreshed.

He took a look at his body, feeling and looking for any serious injuries, he found nothing wrong with his body, his clothes weren't even wet.

'I remember I was with Mrs. J, then the boat was engulfed in a tsunami, then I died… I died.'

Sky felt that he should be freaking out like any sane person would be, but he was calm.

He took a look at his surroundings. He was on an island he did not recognize, there was no sign of human life, there was only a large jungle as far as he could tell.

{!}

A symbol he had never seen before appeared in front of him. It looked to be inside a blue glass that was floating in front of him.

Sky didn't know what to think about that a screen appeared in front of him. Nonetheless, he touched it.

{Commencing guide for host}

{Say "stats"}

"Stats?"

{Character stats}

A different screen appeared this time, it was wider and longer. On the right side were two words sticking out {Skills} {Inventory} and {Quests}

There was a figure on the screen, it was him, he could see himself on the screen staring back, motionless. He even had the same clothes that he was wearing. On each of his limbs, head, ears, neck, torso, and legs there was an empty slot. He had no idea what that was about.

On top of the screen the words {Character stats} were written in bold letters. The other letters were sticking out on the right side of the screen, they all had the {!} symbol beside them that glowed brightly.

"What?" While Sky didn't freak out he didn't understand what was happening either.

The {Character stats} is where he could see his own stats which are, strength, dexterity, speed, intelligence, mind, and vigor.

{Level 2}

{Exp: 26/40}

{Health: 170/170}

{Mana: 25/25}

{Strength: 6}

{Strength: Influences player physical attack}

{Dexterity: 7}

{Dexterity: Influences players casting time, accuracy, reload speed, and handling weapons}

{Speed: 6}

{Speed: Influences player overall movement speed}

{Intelligence: 5}

{Intelligence: Influences player ability at storing information. Increases max mana points}

{Mind: 6}

{Mind: Influences player speed to think. Increases natural mana regeneration rate}

{Vigor: 7}

{Vigor: Influences players health}

{Stat points: 10}

Sky read through everything. He doesn't fully understand but he has a rough idea about what it's saying.

What he did find weird is that every single stat had a {+} symbol beside it, what did it mean?

Sky is from a world that has no video games, or books that contain such information.

Mana is something he is quite familiar with. Everyone in the world has a tiny bit of mana that can be increased with enough practice and dedication. It's how Sky is able to use his ability to store objects in cards.

He clicked on one of the words that were sticking out of the screen on the right side.

{Inventory}

The word on the right side of screen was replaced by {Character stats}

It was another huge screen but in a brown color. There were approximately 50 dark squares. On a few of the squares on the upper left side were a few items, most of them were cards with colored shells. One is a card with a motorboat.

On the bottom side of the screen are four pictures with the number '0' beside them. The pictures are of copper, silver, gold, and platinum coins.

"What?" Sky searched his pocket, and the cards weren't with him anymore, it would be weird if they were still there after going through the tsunami.

Sky reached out for the card, his hand disappeared as he reached for the screen. He retracted his hand quickly thinking it was going to be cut off, he managed to pull out a card as well.

Sky looked at the card. He just pulled the item out of thin air.

"Activate?"

The card disappeared and in its place a red shell appeared.

"It's… I don't even know what to think."

Sky places the red shell in the inventory, but it didn't appear in any of the boxes. A new message did appear.

{!!!}

{Identified a new type of currency}

{Updating…}

{Update complete}

That took seconds.

Sky still didn't see the red shell he placed in his inventory, instead something changed on the bottom of the screen.

There was a picture of a green shell with a number '20' beside it.

Sky pulled out the red shell from the inventory again, only this time the number beside the green shell had a '0' instead.

"Okay, I see how it is."

Sky left it like that for the time being. He wanted to see what the last word {Skills} is about. Clicking it a new, blue screen appeared.

The screen was divided into two groups: passive, and active skills.

{Passive skills: Does not consume mana. Passive skills activate on their own. Passive skills can be learned and improve through repeated specific actions}

{Swimming: level 2}

{Static apnea: level 2} (ability to hold your breath underwater)

{Fishing: level 2}

{Sprinting: level 2}

{Spear throwing: level 1}

{Cooking: level 2}

{Music: level 2}

{Power of the mind: Max: Player is calm and collected at all times. Player is immune to mind attacks. Player can stay calm even under confusing or dangerous situations}

{Power of the body: Max: Player's body was forged with the help of the {Crafting system} Player's body can learn any skill without backlash as long as the player can meet the requirements to learn a skill} {System note: user is not immortal or immune to diseases or poisons.}

{Active skills: Consumes mana. Active skills require the player's focus to activate. Active skills can be learned through other sources}

{Card transformation: level 2: can turn tiny objects into cards}

Sky read through everything. He wondered what the {crafting system} is exactly.

'Maybe it's because of the power of the mind that I'm not freaking out right now. And the power of the body is the reason why I'm not injured?' Sky knew even if he had survived the tsunami, there is no way he wouldn't come out unscathed like he is right now.

And he clicked the last button: {Quests}

Unlike the other buttons, the screen was smaller in comparison.

{The system will generate quests for the player under the right circumstances. If the player completes a quest, the player will be rewarded. The higher the difficulty the greater the reward. Some quests have punishments if the player fails}

{No quests available}

Before Sky could do anything, the screen disappeared and another screen appeared instead.

{Guide complete}

{You now understand the basics of the level-up system}

{Good luck, player Sky Rouge}

The screen disappeared

"Understand what? I don't even know what to do." Sky still had no idea what to do with this system.