Change of Plans

In the hotel lobby, I spotted the pink-haired girl engrossed in her phone. Despite my obvious struggle, she couldn't resist smirking, as if my pain was some sort of entertainment for her.

"Oh, just you wait," I thought to myself, my frustration boiling as I quickly passed her. She didn't bother stopping me, probably recalling that I had walked out earlier in the day.

Once inside my room, I practically collapsed onto the bed, my chest throbbing with discomfort. It seemed that forcing myself to walk had aggravated my condition further.

"Status," I managed to mutter, my voice barely audible.

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Name : Ji-Hoon Zyden

Age : 17 years old

Overall Stats : 13.5

Level (5) [15/1000]

Strength: 0.5

Agility: 5.3

Stamina: 0.5

Endurance: 4.1

Intelligence: 2.6

Charisma: 0.5

Mind Eye [Level 2]

Suggestion [Level 5]

Attribute Points: 4

Skill points: 2

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" I leveled up up?"

I almost forgot about the excruciating pain when I noticed my level had gone up. It was a glimmer of hope amidst my suffering. The number of attribute points I received was enough for my plans. I had feared that I'd wasted my previous points all on endurance, but now, I have more attribute points to work with.

However, something else caught my attention—the amount of XP I needed to level up from [5] to [6]. It had jumped to 1000 EXP, a substantial increase. But I decided to put that concern on hold for now.

My priority was to get some much-needed rest and hopefully recover from this ordeal.

The darkness enveloped me as I surrendered to my exhaustion . The pain and the turmoil of the day gradually faded into the background.

Hours passed, and as the last ray of the sundown painted the room with an orange glow, I slowly wake up from my slumber. My body felt heavier than usual, and I groggily shifted in bed, assessing my condition. The pain hadn't vanished entirely, but there was a subtle improvement, a sign that maybe, just maybe, my body was on the way to recovery.

Regardless , I still couldn't believe I had been knocked out cold until evening. I mumbled to myself as I got up from the bed, my body protesting with aches and discomfort.

Heading over to the desk, I grabbed a bottled water and took a long sip, trying to steady my breathing. The healing process was ongoing, but it was frustratingly slow. I needed to rely on medicine to expedite it. Thankfully, I still had some leftover food to nibble on.

"Ouch," I winced as a sharp pain shot through my mouth the moment I bit into the food.

Ignoring the discomfort, I pushed myself to eat, knowing that I needed to take my medicine and return to rest as soon as possible. The path to recovery was far from pleasant, but it was a necessary journey.

Ring Ring Ring !

The sound of my alarm blared, rudely waking me up. However, I didn't leap out of bed right away. Whoever said you'd feel pain the day after getting hurt was spot-on. I mean, come on, my body was swelled and in pain. Even those anti-inflammatory drugs were struggling to keep up. Imagine if I hadn't taken any.

I followed the same routine as yesterday: I ordered food from the hotel staff, eat it down as quickly as my battered body would allow , took my medicine, and promptly went back to sleep without a care.

I was fully aware that others would probably consider my actions crazy. They'd probably lecture me about heading to the hospital instead, and you know what? They'd be absolutely correct. I'd be snoozing away on a hospital bed right now if I wasn't afraid of my aunt coming to know about my current condition.

—

By afternoon, my body conditions had finally improved. The pain that had consumed my chest and back was no longer as agonizing. But a pressing issue still remained: my mission. I'd squandered so much time, and now I only had a single day left.

My original plan was to methodically execute my revenge strategy against that obnoxious pink-haired girl, but everything had been thrown into chaos. I needed to move quickly or risk failing the mission.

The idea of accessing a skill store after completing the mission had become crucial to me, a way to gain an upper hand since my system wasn't handing out plot armor like candy. I required a skill that could shield me from potential threats from a multiple people.

So with that in my mind , I allocated my stats to something that would aid me in completing my mission against that annoying pink-haired girl.

[+4 Charisma ]

That's right , I'd invested all my points in charisma because I'd come to understand that my appearance played a crucial role in improving the odds of my suggestion skill working. This epiphany struck me during the beating I took.

It seemed that suggestion relied on more than just my looks; it also took into account various factors, including the kind of request I'm trying to make others do.

I also noticed that my success rate was lower when dealing with someone who was already frustrated with me. On the flip side, those who had a neutral impression seemed to be more easily influenced by my skill, as I'd observed with the paramedics.

"Time for pain " I muttered to myself .

With the increase in my charisma points, I prepared myself in enduring another round of painful reformation.

But instead, I only experienced a brief warmth spreading through my face for a few seconds. It gave me the impression that things were improving.

However, as I reached up to touch my face, my fingers encountered a slippery sensation that made me break into a nervous sweat.

"What the hell is this sticky thing?" I exclaimed, rushing over to the mirror. My heart raced as I saw my reflection, witnessing my skin shedding like that of a snake.

I tentatively began peeling off the sticky, dead skin. To my astonishment, beneath it was smoother, fresher skin.

My previously dry and acne-prone complexion had vanished, replaced by a smooth skin. Excitement surged through me, and without hesitation, I continued to peel away the remaining layers of dead skin on my face.

"This is perfect for my plan!" A wicked smile spread across my face as I beheld my newly rejuvenated appearance in the mirror.