Damn System

Episode 3

Chapter 1 Beta Test (2)

My whole body shuddered as I burned the blood-stained duvet, sheets, and clothes.

What if a fire report goes in? What if someone sees this blood?

I heard all sorts of thoughts, and I felt like I was going crazy with anxiety.

But can you show off in front of younger siblings?

I didn’t want to give the twins unnecessary worries.

So somehow I gritted my teeth and endured.

But as soon as I took the two guys to the library, my legs gave out.

“ha.”

It felt like all the gin was gone. It’s been a long time since I’ve been squatting outside the library and staring blankly at the floor.

I muttered in a shaky voice.

“System User Guide… … .”

A total of 35 pages of files were opened.

However, the content was not complete.

The manual was damaged here and there, just like the notice that first appeared.

‘Is this because of that virus or something… … .’

Fortunately, relatively little detail remained about how to use some of the features.

“Status window.”

Player Hyunwoo Kang (Beta tester)

mana: 35 (attribute mana: 5)

Affiliation: Earth

Race: Human (player)

Rating: Delta

property : –

Traits: ??????, assimilation, tenacity

I opened my mouth again before I could read all the letters that appeared in front of me.

“shop.”

“You cannot use shop services during the tutorial.”

“community.”

「Community services cannot be used during the tutorial.」

“Mission window.”

「There are currently no missions in progress.」

「Currently, there are no missions available.」

“Mission log.”

“MISSION – Tutorial (Beta Test 1/3)”

My gaze was fixed on one of the system windows filled with warnings.

‘1/3.’

Doesn’t this mean that there are 2/3 and 3/3 after all?

That alone would make me go crazy and jump, but even the content left in the message window fueled my anxiety.

“As a reward for success, you will receive 10 magic points. All injuries will be healed.”

The eyes staring at the sentence became increasingly ferocious.

Clearly success rewards and injury recovery are tied to the same square.

After seeing that, it is as if we have a more important task than solving the immediate question.

Even when the 2/3 point comes, the mission must be successful.

If you fail, you might have to go to the ER.

‘If it’s a reward for success, even recovering from injuries.’

If the mission fails, the scars may remain.

I couldn’t help thinking about what happened after that.

On days when my younger siblings see it. If you die before you get to the emergency room.

A ghastly sound leaked out from the teeth that had been bitten tightly.

“f*ck… … .”

I got up with strength on my wobbly legs.

I turned my back to the library and walked faster and faster.

The first time I robbed a pharmacy, the second time I got a kitchen knife and a baseball bat, and the third time I even got protective equipment used when training dogs.

While carrying all of them back home, things got more complicated in my head.

If you have a lot of luggage like this, you should feel some weight.

It wasn’t heavy. It felt like holding an empty paper bag.

‘what?’

The power has become so strong that it is difficult to compare it to before.

Even though he was trained in loading and unloading parcels, it was not to this extent.

It was unbelievable that it had changed overnight.

The walk back home became a rush.

It gets more confusing to him. I ran for a while, but I thought I could run more.

As soon as I got home, I threw out the luggage I was carrying.

Then, in a hurry, I ran into the bathroom.

Let’s stand in front of the mirror with our top off.

Things I couldn’t see when I washed away the blood came into my eyes one by one.

“It really varies… … .”

Due to the amount of activity, there were quite a few muscles from the beginning.

But I swear, it wasn’t like this.

I couldn’t have exercised while I didn’t know, but my body was even more toned.

It’s not an illusion, as the dim six-pack has become as clear as a washboard.

This was a body that only people who exercised for a long time could have.

To make matters worse, there were scars on his side and pelvis that he had never seen before.

It was bumpy, as if the skin had been torn and put back together.

I felt like I could see the blood that had been soaking through my body this morning.

‘blood… … .’

When I woke up, there were no wounds on my body.

But blood was evident.

That, along with the scars, was proof that I had been injured and then healed.

‘It only heals injuries.’

It does not do post-processing.

The holes in the clothes, the scars, and the blood were all there.

As if claiming that this is reality.

‘Should I sleep on a plastic bag?’

I never thought the day would come when I had to sleep on a vinyl sheet, not a blanket, on my bed.

“Tsk.”

I clicked my tongue briefly and left the bathroom.

After that, he stretched out his hand toward the living room.

“Suck!”

When I managed to lift the cheap sofa over my head, I was confused because I was embarrassed.

‘Than you think… … .’

It wasn’t heavy.

I was really excited when I supported the sofa with one arm just in case.

“under!”

My muscles were numb, but not to the extent that I couldn’t lift them.

It is difficult for ordinary people to imitate.

“Whoa… … .”

I sighed and carefully put the sofa down.

‘What the hell happened?’

I wandered around the living room for a while, struggling.

And it wasn’t long before I found a clue.

“Message window.”

As I murmured softly, I was able to check the remaining sentences in the message window.

“As a reward for success, you will receive 10 magic points. All injuries will be healed.”

‘mana… … .’

It was a very strange word.

Strangely, though, I thought I knew what this was.

What crawled into your body at the end of the mission.

‘Is that it?’

Is it because of the change in my body? It was a plausible guess.

‘They’re paying magic as a reward for success.’

In normal games, rewards are a means to becoming stronger.

The difficulty of the game increases as you progress, and you clear new stages by using the rewards you received from previous stages.

Then, in order to succeed in the next mission, this magical power becomes important.

‘If this really changed my body, there should be many.’

There is no guarantee that the remaining two missions will be over.

The 3rd level mission is clearly marked as a tutorial.

It is usually classified as a practice phase before entering the game.

What’s more, what I’m doing right now is beta testing.

‘When this is over, the official service might start.’

My body shuddered even though I only assumed that this beggar situation would continue.

‘If it continues after the second and third times.’

The more magic you have, the higher your chances of surviving.

I sat down on the sofa and opened the status window again.

After that, my gaze was fixed on the column that said magic power.

‘Is it given only when the mission is successful?’

No, I saw a phrase saying that mana is absorbed even when you kill a dog.

‘When the target is removed or the mission is successful.’

In both cases, mana can be increased.

‘And I’m giving more according to grades.’

When it was the highest grade 5.

Are you giving it all to the ranks? up to what level?

If you pay differentially by rank… … .

‘Are they in the fifth place?’

If it was a reward that was provided with a differential, it seemed that it would give up to 5th place in terms of numbers.

If so, it is advantageous to stay at the top.

But is that possible?

‘I don’t even know how to use magic?’

I went through the manual step by step, but it didn’t say anything about how to use magic.

‘Is it just affecting the body to become stronger?’

Can’t you write separately?

Thinking over and over again, I glanced again and checked the status window.

‘but… … There are two types.’

Just mana and attribute mana. I don’t know the difference, but there are definitely two types.

Still, it ends with simply strengthening the body?

‘No way.’

Then there is no need to deliberately distinguish between types.

Mana can certainly be used in any way.

in a way that helps you clear the mission.

It’s just that I don’t know how to use it.

‘In normal games, it’s consumed when using skills.’

I stared at the status window and tried to think for a while, then I closed my eyes tightly.

Certainly, magical energy crawled into my body. So it will be somewhere.

I tried to feel the unfamiliar magic.

I’ve done all sorts of really arrogant things.

“Whoa.”

Like what I saw in Martial Arts, I also played the lotus position.

“Huap!”

I also tried to give strength to my whole body while putting in a spirit.

“Pa, fireball… … .”

At the risk of embarrassing myself, I tried reciting skill names I had seen in comics and movies.

However, effort and performance were not always proportional.

After several hours, there was no result.

“Hey, f*ck!”

What game is so unkind!

Does it make sense to ask you to play without even providing basic information?

I’m not asking you to do it on the bare ground, what the hell are you saying?!

“aaa!”

I let out a scream to relieve my soaring irritation.

It was a feeling of liberation after passing through the series of efforts and failures followed by anger.

‘I don’t know what those fairy tales and tenacity are.’

I clicked on the text in the status window just in case, but nothing popped up.

Lying on the sofa, I stared blankly at the status window.

Then, a thought suddenly came to my mind.

‘Could it be that I can’t feel it because my magic power is too small?’

If so, should I wait for the next mission without doing anything?

But what if the next mission is to pass if you can use magic power?

Then there is nothing I can do right now. It was dark before my eyes.

For the first time in a while, a feeling of helplessness began to overwhelm me.

How much time have you wasted like that?

‘8, 10, 5… … ?’

While examining the status window and message window alternately, something strange caught my eye.

The magical powers I received as a reward add up to 23.

‘But the total is 35?’

Instead of brooding over the different numbers, I called up the damaged manual.

[mana]

■△※!!【 The basis of life ▲〗ː¿#!*Wㅆ&^¿■◆•≫%(*$…….

The content itself was long, but the part I could read was limited.

“The basis of life… … ”

It was a really random and abstract word.

But when I saw it, I seemed to know what the empty number 12 meant.

‘Perhaps, me is the magical power inherent in living beings.’

If this assumption is correct, there may be a way to increase the mana before a new mission begins.

As the thought reached that far, the hand to flick through the message window became urgent.

It didn’t take long before I found the sentence I was looking for.

「The player training program (absorption and purification) is running.」

“The target has died. 8 magical power is absorbed.”

‘absorption… … .’

What if this game had a structure in which you kill something to steal the magic power of the opponent, and then become stronger based on that?

My eyes, which had been staring blankly at the empty space, turned toward the veranda.

Through the window, I could see some flower pots that Yeon-woo cherished.

When I was young, I sang about wanting to have a pet, but I said no, so I raised it instead.

I got up from my seat as if possessed and went out to the veranda.

And I picked up the smallest plant. The system was silent.

But it’s too early to give up.

I gulped, swallowed, and began stepping on the plant with my slippers.

When the blue creature trampled on by me was completely crushed.

「Absorbs 0.08 mana.」

‘done!’

The momentary surge of excitement was accompanied by an instinctive sense of rejection.

I could feel the magic creeping into my body.

“Big!”

Fortunately, the amount was really small this time, and it was over quickly.

I couldn’t get out of the spot for a while and just took a rough breath.

When the excitement gradually subsided.

I tried to calmly feel the magic again, but failed.

It must have crawled into my body, but I couldn’t figure out where it was.

But it was fine. It was after the helplessness that engulfed me had disappeared without a trace.

‘If I can’t feel it because I have too little mana.’

It’s just a matter of collecting it until you can feel that magical power.

I cleaned up the muddy plant debris and empty pots and ran to the warehouse.

My eyes burned as I packed some tools and a shovel there.