Gamer's Ability

As Jihan sat in class, his mind wandered away from the lesson at hand. Instead, he pondered the strange "ability" he possessed. All he had seen so far were the level up and skill creation screens, but he hadn't quite figured out how to access them on command.

"How do I bring up the skill list screen?" Jihan muttered under his breath, furrowing his brow in concentration. "If this were a game, there'd be a menu button, but this is real life."

"Maybe it's voice recognition?" he wondered aloud, remembering how he had activated the [TEAR OFF] skill by simply saying it. "I just said it without really thinking about it."

Taking a chance, he covered his face with a book and whispered, "STATUS SCREEN." Suddenly, a screen popped up in front of him, displaying his name, occupation, level, and various stats.

{~

  NAME: Jihan Han

 OCCUPATION: The Gamer

 LEVEL: LV 6

 HP : 200

 MP: 100

 POWER: 15

 STRENGTH: 9

 DEXTERITY: 11 

 INTELLIGENCE: 8

 WISDOM: 6

 LUCK: 9

 POINT: 10

 CASH: $3000

~}

"Sigh, so it was as I thought," Jihan murmured to himself, studying the information on the screen.

"By the way, can I use the inventory?" he whispered tentatively, then tried, "ITEM SCREEN." To his amazement, a screen appeared before him, showing a character and some empty slots.

"Can I put objects in here?" Jihan wondered aloud, holding up a pen and pressing it against the screen. With a swoosh, the pen disappeared into the inventory.

"Wow! My ability is greater than I thought!" Jihan exclaimed quietly, feeling a sense of excitement and wonder. "It's not just about solving quests and leveling up. My ability was..."

Thwack!

Jihan winced as a ruler smacked him on the head. "Jihan, what are you doing?" scolded the math teacher.

"M... Math teacher," Jihan stammered, rubbing his sore head.

"Didn't I tell you to focus during class?" the teacher continued sternly.

"I know..." Jihan muttered sheepishly, holding out his hands as instructed.

"For your strength, how about five hits?" the math teacher suggested, raising the ruler threateningly.

"One!" SLAM

"Ugh," Jihan groaned, feeling the sting in his hands. "It feels like my hands are burning!"

Beep

{~ The level of [PHYSICAL ENDURANCE] increased. ~}

"I don't need this kind of level up!" Jihan grumbled internally, frustrated by the unexpected increase in his skill.

Before he knew it, the school day had come to an end, and Jihan realized he hadn't paid attention to a single lesson. Instead, he had spent the entire day experimenting with his newfound abilities.

As Jihan returned home, his mind buzzed with thoughts about the extraordinary discoveries he had made that day. Sitting down at his desk, he reflected on the peculiar aspects of his newfound abilities.

"The first thing I noticed," Jihan mused to himself, "is that repeating a specific action seems to create a new skill. Like when I used the [TEAR OFF] skill to break free from the black slime's grasp."

"But there's something odd about my body," he continued, furrowing his brow in contemplation. "When I fell down during the fight with the slime, an ordinary person would have suffered broken bones. Yet, I only felt pain, and it quickly subsided."

"And today, when I was hit by the teacher, the pain vanished as well," Jihan recounted, wincing at the memory. "It's as if my body behaves like that of a game character. When my HP decreases from an injury, the pain and wounds disappear once my HP is restored."

"It's not an ordinary body," Jihan concluded, his thoughts swirling with intrigue.

Turning his attention to the skills he had discovered, Jihan opened the skill list on his phone. Alongside the skills he had obtained through specific actions were two new ones that caught his eye.

{~ [GAMER'S SPIRIT (Passive) LV. MAX]

Recognizes reality as a game and maintains

calmness.

Keeps the mind composed.

Immunity to Mental Disorders. ~}

{~ [GAMER'S BODY (Passive) LV. MAX]

Provides the body with the ability

to perceive reality as a game. ~}

"I see," Jihan murmured, the pieces of the puzzle falling into place. "This explains why I remained so calm during the fight with the slime and while conversing with Shiyeon Kwon."

"It's akin to playing an RPG game," he realized, a sense of understanding dawning upon him. "When selecting dialogue options for a character, there's no nervousness or fear."

Jihan pondered over the intriguing aspects of his newfound abilities, feeling like a character straight out of a game. As he examined himself in the mirror, thoughts of his potential resilience in the face of injury crossed his mind.

"I hope I don't have to test it out with a big accident," he murmured, a hint of uncertainty in his voice. "But if it's true, I could be instantly healed by consuming food, just like in a game."

His reflection stared back at him, prompting deeper contemplation. "The real problem is how to escape from that 'Protected Space'," Jihan mused aloud. "And even if I manage to, what should I do if I encounter people like them in the real world?"

As he looked in the mirror, same floating character dancing above his head.

<The Gamer>

LV 6 Jihan H.

The label hung in the air, a reminder of the extraordinary circumstances he found himself in.

The following day, a Sunday, Jihan rummaged through a box, his fingers grazing over the familiar texture of a baseball bat. "Found it," he exclaimed, a hint of satisfaction in his voice.

"OBSERVATION," he muttered, prompting a detailed description of the item in his hand to materialize before him.

{~ Matstar Aluminium Baseball Bat

 Made By Realtec

 An Aluminium Bat made by

 Realtec, a middle-sized company.

 It is more durable and lighter

 than the Bat made of wood. ~}

"It doesn't show attack power. That's weird," Jihan remarked, furrowing his brow in confusion as he stowed the bat away in his inventory.

In games, such crucial details were always provided. Was it because this was reality?

Opening a cupboard, Jihan's gaze fell upon a collection of medicines neatly arranged inside.

"OBSERVATION," he commanded once more, eliciting information about the contents of the bottles.

{~ Oramandi

 Made by Pharmaceuticals

 Alaphum co., ltd.

 Used when wounded

 inside the mouth.

 Cures oral cavity. ~}

{~ Fosidine

 Made by Pharmaceuticals

 Kwangmyeong co., ltd.

 Fosidine is for wounds

 +HP 5

 Cures Bleeding.

 Cures Infection. ~}

{~ Bakhas

 Made by Pharmaceuticals

 Aeins co., ltd.

 Bakhas for Fatigue!

 Cures Sleepiness.

 Forced Awakening for 1 hr.

 50% decrease when taken in a row.  ~}

"Hmm..." Jihan murmured, his mind buzzing with possibilities. "I thought it might, but I didn't really expect it for real."

Examining the Fosidine bottle, he couldn't help but feel underwhelmed. "Only increases 5 HP? How many of those do I need to make it useful?"

Shrugging off his disappointment, Jihan reasoned, "Well, anyway, my HP is just 200. This is too little..."

"I'll still take this with me, but I'll need better things for a cure," he decided, tucking away the medicines in his inventory.

Reflecting on his experiences in games, Jihan contemplated the potential for manufacturing skills. "Usually in games, there is manufacturing," he mused. "Game characters make some of the items for themselves. And I get skills by specific actions. That means I might be able to get a Manufacturing Skill."

Stepping out of his home and onto a nearby hill, Jihan resolved to focus on preparation first. "I could die if I don't get ready... And I don't wanna die."

With a resolute swing, he struck a nearby trunk with the full force of the bat he had picked up.

slam

beep

{~ A new SKILL is created with a Specific Action. ~}

beep

{~ [STRONG HIT] is created that gives a strong damage. ~}

beep

{~ [STRONG HIT (Active) Lv 1 EXP: 0.0%]

An Action to hit the Enemy Hard.

The Critical increases 15%.

The Attack increases 50%. ~}

beep

{~ A new SKILL is created with a Specific Action. ~}

beep

{~ [SKILLED WEAPON] is created that gives a strong damage. ~}

beep

{~ [SKILLED WEAPON (Passive) LV 1 EXP: 0.0%]

A skill to use blunt weapon freely.

The Attack increases 10% when using a blunt weapon.

The Attack speed increases 5% when using a blunt weapon. ~}

"Yes!" Jihan exclaimed, a grin spreading across his face.

"It was worth coming all the way here and doing stuff! I got two skills, [SKILLED WEAPON] and [STRONG HIT]. Okay," he continued, determination evident in his voice. "Now there's only one thing to do."

He clenched his bat tightly in his hand. "REPETITION."

"STRONG HIT!" Jihan swung the bat at the trunk with all his might, the metal gleaming in a golden hue as it connected.

Thwack.

"STRONGHITSTRONGHITSTRONGHIT."

Slam. Slam. Slam.

beep

{~ The Level of [STRONG HIT] increased. ~}

"Only one level increased after 30 times!" Jihan exclaimed. "That's quite fast. Should I gain more levels since I'm here?"

"STRONG HIT."

But as he prepared to strike the trunk again, a disheartening sound, "Pshh," emanated from the bat. "Huh? What's wrong?" The bat didn't glow like before when he used [STRONG HIT]. "Oh."

"STATUS SCREEN." With a swift motion, the screen appeared:

HP: 200/200

MP: 0/100

"I knew it. I need more MP," Jihan realized. "I guess I can use the skills about 30 times. Let's see. How fast does the MP recover..."

MP, short for Mana Points, is the energy required to use skills. He pressed on the MP on the screen, and another pop-up appeared:

[MANA Recovery Rate: 1 per 1 Minute]

"One per minute...?" Jihan muttered to himself. "My Mana is 100, so to be full, I have to wait 100 minutes? This is not good..."

Should he increase the recovery rate, or should he focus on gaining passive skills rather than active ones?

"What do I have to do to survive? I have to be stronger to survive."