001 Starter

The year was 2027.

It happened on a regular day. A young, twenty-six-year-old African American named David Anderson woke up after a hard night's sleep at 1 p.m.

He had drunk beer with his friends until late last night and partied hard.

David's head throbbed with pain when he opened his eyes.

He groaned as he stood up from his bed and walked into the kitchen, trying to make coffee to cure his hangover.

"Ugh... I drank way too much yesterday..." David grumbled as he waited for his coffee machine to finish brewing. However, just then—

Ding!

David heard a bell chime out of nowhere inside his mind.

It sounded similar to notifications that he often heard in video games that he played frequently.

David stopped moving, confused by this strange phenomenon. After all, bells didn't normally ring out of nowhere inside people's minds.

'What the heck is going on?' David thought, startled by the sudden ringing sound. He focused on listening carefully to the bell without doing anything else.

Then—

"You have been granted the power of the System! You are now the first Player in your world."

Please choose your starting Gift.

Reward Selection Menu (RSR) —>

After hearing the voice resound inside his mind, David froze in shock.

The voice was neither male nor female. Instead, it sounded like a synthesized voice produced by machines.

David tried to calm himself down as he processed what he had just heard.

"Did I... just hear a computer's voice inside my head?" David muttered out loud, baffled by this bizarre occurrence.

However, before he could calm himself down, more notifications appeared in front of him once again—

Gift selection menu (GS).

Please choose one Gift among three options.

Attack Speed Lv 1 → Speed Boost Lv 1 → Abnormal Strength Lv 1 >>>

David stared blankly at three floating texts hovering in midair in front of him.

They looked like holograms that were common in sci-fi movies.

David's hungover state made it harder for him to think clearly right now.

But even so, he managed to quickly come up with an explanation for these texts appearing before him.

"Am I hallucinating? No, maybe I'm dreaming right now? This must be some kind of a dream!" David concluded.

He tried pinching his cheek hard, but he felt the pain. He then slapped himself across his face, but he felt it again either.

"W-what the hell? Am I really not dreaming?"

David couldn't believe what was happening right now.

Seeing three texts hover in midair right before his eyes was simply too bizarre for him to comprehend.

Nevertheless, David decided to check these texts floating before him since they might provide some clues regarding the situation he found himself in right now.

Thus—

Attack Speed Lv 1 — Increase Attack Speed by 1% →

Speed Boost Lv 1 — Increase Movement Speed by 1% →

Abnormal Strength Lv 1 — Increase Physical Strength by 1% >>>

David read through each text carefully. When he finished reading them—

System Notification: Please select one Gift within five seconds. Otherwise, Random Selection Mode will be activated.

David frowned at the new notification floating before him.

He started feeling irritated by this mysterious System that kept making noises inside his mind.

However, David calmed himself down before choosing one Gift among the three floating texts.

Since Attack Speed Lv 1 was the weakest Gift option, David decided to pick Abnormal Strength Lv 1 instead.

Immediately afterwards—

"You have chosen Abnormal Strength Lv 1 as your starting Gift!"

"Congratulations! You have obtained the Gift Abnormal Strength Lv 1!"

David's body began glowing brightly after receiving this notification.

He felt energy flowing throughout his entire being before concentrating around his abdomen. Soon afterward—

Your Stats have increased!

Currently known Stats: Strength Lv 5 → Abnormal Strength Lv 6 >>>

System Notification: You have obtained Stat Points (SP) x1! SPs can be spent to increase any existing Stats or obtain new Stats!

David observed how his muscles bulged slightly after obtaining Abnormal Strength Lv 1. His muscles became thicker, denser, and stronger than before.

Furthermore—

System Notification: Obtained Skill Points (SP)! SPs can be spent to learn Skills!

David saw a new notification appear before his eyes soon afterward. However—

System Warning: Gifts, Stats, and Skills cannot be seen by anyone except their respective owners. Do not show them to others under any circumstances.

"Huh?" David uttered dumbfoundedly when he read this warning notification. Soon afterward—

System Notification: Your Status Window (SW) is hidden from sight.

System Warning: You cannot remove any Gifts, Stats, and Skills that you have obtained. Doing so will result in punishment.

"Status window? Punishment? What the hell is going on here?!" David shouted out loud in bewilderment after seeing two more notifications appear before his eyes.

However—

System Notification: Your Status Window (SW) cannot be shown to anyone except its owner. Do not show them to others under any circumstances.

System Warning: Gifts, Stats, and Skills cannot be seen by anyone except their respective owners. Do not show them to others under any circumstances.

"Hey! System! Are you even listening to me?! Hey! Answer me!" David yelled angrily at this mysterious System that refused to give him proper explanations about itself.