The Poorest System of Them All

Disease Resistance, toleration of illnesses and sickness.

This was the ability that Ashton had just acquired from his system, according to the notification floating in front of his face.

Now, it should be noted that ─ before now ─ Ashton didn't spend much time analyzing the system beyond giving it a passing glance. After all, he had more important things to worry about, like figuring out the nature of the planet he had just spawned into.

It also didn't help that the system was one of the least user-friendly systems he'd ever heard of, missing both a guide or tutorial of any kind.

But in the end, he could just explore its inner workings later on, undisturbed by people, noise, and potential issues in between…

…At least, that's how Ashton wanted to begin his new life in another world.

In this situation, there was absolutely nothing wrong with taking things slowly and calmly, after all.

However, it appeared that he needed to speed up the plan because, frankly, the fact that the first ability he gained was "Disease Resistance" was rather concerning.

Why?

Well, that would depend on the method the system used to develop this new skill.

According to his knowledge on this type of cliché, a typical system may distribute skills in many ways:

As a reward from a specific quest, similarly to RPG games; as a part of a giveout of some kind, like a daily gift event or a sign-up system; as a prize for satisfying certain requirements or reaching achievements; or…

…Context-wise, the worst of them all, as a reaction toward a certain situation or threat.

If Ashton received this ability to resist diseases under any of the former circumstances, then there was nothing to worry about. But if it happened because of the last reason…

Things might get problematic.

Most of the novels Ashton had read which implemented this methodology allowed their protagonists to obtain abilities such as "Poison Resistance" by letting their body build immunity to it by taking repetitive dosages.

So, by following that logic, didn't it mean that Ashton got sick?

When that thought appeared in his mind, Ashton opened the screen showing his stats.

______________________________________________________

[IDENTITY]

(Name: Ashton)

(Surname: Cobb)

(Species: Human)

(Gender: Male)

(Age: 19 Years)

[STATUS]

(Level: 1)

(Strength: 158 H)

(Endurance: 164 H)

(Dexterity: 87 I)

(Agility: 136 H)

(Magic: 313 F)

[MAGIC]

(N/A)

[SKILLS]

(N/A)

[ABILITIES]

(Disease Resistance: Level 1)

______________________________________________________

With the projection in front of him, Ashton's gaze traversed the entire screen, passing through his normal identifying record and unchanged physical parameters before resting straight at the bottom, at his new ability.

There was no progress bar, no display of experience points, or any kind of infotip that may have provided more information. It just stood there, accompanied only by its set level.

Yet, as simple and uncomplicated as the ability appeared on the screen, its mere presence provoked dread into Ashton.

Was he feeling ill right now? And, if so, what type of sickness did he catch? Was it something minor, like a cold? Or perhaps something more serious? What were the symptoms? Was it treatable? Was it lethal?

No, wait… Why was he assuming the worst? There was nothing saying for certain that the skill was acquired because his immune system was currently combating an illness.

The chances were slim, but it was possible that everything was just a big coincidence! Maybe he got a random ability as part of a starter perk of some kind, and it just happened to be "Disease Resistance". Most of the systems he read about also included some sort of gift bundle to assist the protagonists.

Yes, he just had to find out if that was the case! Like… Maybe finding his inventory?

The system seemed to answer to his wishes, whether spoken or thought. So, if he wished for his system to show him the inventory…

…

…

…It wasn't coming out.

"..." Ashton stared at the void with a focused expression, imagining himself delivering a command to his system; but, even after dismissing the previous screen, the system didn't respond.

Inventory, bag, storage, dimensional space... It didn't matter which name he used or what type of catalog he envisioned, there was no trace of anything resembling an inventory.

As if it didn't exist to begin with.

Ashton clenched his hands unconsciously at such a thought, yet he still didn't deny the possibility of the source of his ability. Even if there was no inventory, surely there must be something else?

Like a Quest List, perhaps?

But…

'...Nothing…' Ashton silently noted the lack of reaction from the system before he attempted to do the same with all the other functions a system was supposed to have, whether they were fundamental or exclusive to certain systems.

If there was no inventory or quest list… Then, what about an in-game store?

…No?

What about an Achievement List? Party System? Equipment? Friend List? Settings? Save and Load? Forge? Synthesize? World Map? Heads-Up Display? Quit the fucking "game" and stop existing?

"What the fuck?" The young man couldn't help but mutter in genuine surprise as the system didn't answer him at all.

He was certain that it wasn't broken, because he still had access to the screen he had initially summoned; neither did he have to use specific terms, considering that whether he called it "Status Screen", "Information List", or even "Parameters", it would sound the same as long as he knew that he was referring to that screen in particular.

But that was all, that "Status Screen" was the sole screen that appeared when wished for, as if it was the only thing the system actually had…

The earlier issue related to the dubious origin of his new ability was quickly brushed aside as it got replaced by another, more evident problem.

Wasn't this system lacking a lot of things?!

There weren't even the bare bones of a typical system! This was more like… half a skeleton? One-third?

Whoever or whatever handed him this thing really didn't seem to care at all…

"At the very least, it still works…" Ashton couldn't help but mumble that out, even though his true opinion about the underdeveloped system betrayed the words coming from his mouth.

Still, there was no inventory, no quest list, no pre-programmed event… Did it mean that the ability to resist diseases he gained from the system was the result of an actual sickness that was now growing within his body?

Well, there were a couple of ways to confirm it…