Chapter 3

"Ding!" 

[You have been afflicted with the negative effect "Hunger", Your health and energy recovery speed reduced by five times]

Instead of a cheerful "good morning," that was the message I received upon waking. 

Health: 450/800. 

Clearly, I had missed something while I was sleeping and recovering. Therefore, I needed to check the "message log" for the time I had missed.

The first unread message was as follows.

"Ding"

[You have been granted the beneficial effect of "Sleep." This can double the speed of health and energy recovery.]

Interestingly, I got a notification while I was asleep. 

Thankfully, they didn't wake me up with sound effects to draw my attention to such an important event. 

With the starting point found, I continued scrolling through the log.

"Ding!" 

[Achievement Unlocked: "Iron Balls"]

[Achievement Unlocked: "Extremist"]

[Stamina +3]

[Endurance +3]

[Skill acquired: Running]

It's not much, but Stamina and Endurance were nice boosts. 

What were those achievements? 

I wondered how I could check for more details…

[Name: Thomas Blank]

[Race: Human]

[Character Class: Jolly Fat Man]

[Level: 5 (500/1000)]

[Health: 451/800 (recovery 0.8 per minute)]

[Explosive Energy – 300/300 (recovery 30 per minute)]

[Potential Energy – 3000/3000 (recovery 6 per minute)]

[Strength: 5]

[Agility: 4]

[Endurance: 6]

[Vitality: 8]

[Intelligence: 5]

[Wisdom: 1]

[Will: 12]

[Attribute Points: 25]

[Traits: Player Body, Player Mind.]

[Skills:]

[Poison Resistance: 5]

[Run: 1]

[Achievements:]

[Iron Balls]

[Extremist]

[Pain Level 110%]

[+25% to experience gain and stat growth speed]

[Debuff:]

[Hunger: slows down health and energy recovery by 5x]

Not bad.

After that, I call up the achievement guide.

[Iron Balls: +1% chance of accomplishing the impossible.]

[Note: You managed to consciously bring yourself to a state where you were just one hit point away from death while having twenty-five unspent attribute points. It takes truly Iron Balls… and the same amount of brains. The next level of achievement is "Steel Balls": +1% chance of accomplishing the unthinkable.]

After reading the pop-up message, I rolled over in my bed and hit my head on the pillow three times, feeling like the biggest idiot. 

Who was stopping me from just putting a dozen points into vitality when I was dying from too much work, writhing on the ground in front of that bench?! 

It would have been a thousand life points for every 10 points in vitality! There is no "Stroke" that could stop such a quick boost!

By the way, I only just thought that "Stroke" cuts recovery speed in half, while "Hunger" reduces it by five times! 

What the hell? 

[Extremist: +10% to the growth rate of attributes in situations with a high risk to life.]

Note: The next level of achievement is "Suicidal": +25% to the growth rate of attributes in life-threatening danger.]

I stopped banging my head on the pillow and slowly got up from the unmade bed, where I was lying in my sports suit and shoes. 

This is unacceptable! 

Why am I even wearing shoes in the apartment?!

I stood up and walked to the door, immediately removing my shoes. 

After that, I grabbed a bucket and a rag and thoroughly washed the floors throughout my apartment. 

Then I took a shower, changed into some comfortable clothes, and began a deep cleaning of my home, which turned out to be a solid three-room apartment under a roof with a balcony overlooking the courtyard. 

I washed the dishes, put things in their places, and started a load of laundry with the accumulated clothes. 

I noticed that the faucet in the shower was leaking. 

I remembered that my uncle had shown me where he kept tools in the house while still alive. 

I went to the necessary storage room in the basement, and along the way, I discovered an elevator in the building. 

I found that the tools were intact. 

There was a small supply of spare parts in that same storage room for plumbing, electrical work, and many other useful things. 

I dragged my multi-kilogram ass back up to the fourth floor via the stairs, stubbornly ignoring the perfectly functional elevator. 

I fixed the faucet in my shower, and then I started sorting through the accumulated papers and bills.

[+1 Will]

"Ding"

[The negative effect "Hunger" has evolved into the negative effect "Wild Hunger": health and energy regeneration stopped]

The line from the system message didn't please me. 

It was not good news, but I was determined to go on a diet to get rid of my fat belly, which meant I wouldn't eat for at least another hour!

Although I was being tormented by a very real and wild hunger, I wanted to eat so badly—not just eat, but devour! 

I wanted to shove food into my mouth with both hands, choking on fat and ketchup… Horrible!

However, I'm on a diet and went back to the papers.

The deeper I dug, the more complicated it became: taxes, electricity bills, heating, water supply, sewage, garbage disposal, and more repairs...

Still, I had to avoid being left with nothing.

This is just the paperwork! 

I still have to face all that is written there in practice. 

Homeownership is no easy task!

[Intelligence +1]

Nice. 

I rubbed my face with my hands. 

At that moment, the doorbell rang.

I opened the door, and my lips broke into a silly smile because standing in front of me was a pretty blonde about my age.

"Hello, Mr. Blank!"

She began with a frown.

"I still don't have hot water! The third time this week!"

"Um…" 

I hesitated.

"Sharon." 

She prompted. 

"I didn't think you would forget my name so quickly."

"Second floor, right?"

I clarified.

"It's good that you at least remember that."

"Lead the way, show me, Sharon."

I decided not to engage in debate, simply picking up the plumbing toolbox I had previously forgotten in the hallway.

Sharon's eyes widened in surprise, and she silently turned towards the elevator.