191 The Unfortunate Tragedy (1/2)
\”What, are you disappointed that you didn't suddenly transform to a blonde like a certain anime character?\”
\”...no, that's not what I meant.\”
Sheila couldn't help but laugh at Luke and his wild imagination, thinking that his imagination was very similar to those with an eighth-grade syndrome. Well, it was mostly her fault for wording it as if he would suddenly acquire a newfound superpower once he agreed to the deal. With a smile on her face, Sheila pulled a blue card out of her pocket before giving it to the confused Luke.
\”What is this? Your business card?\”
\”Hmm, in a way, you can consider it one, but that's not it. Don't look down on it just because there's nothing on its surface because that very card, will be the key to your power.\”
\”The key to my power? This card?\”
Luke asked with a doubtful tone. No matter how many times he analyzes the card in his hand, there doesn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary. It was just a card colored in blue with nothing on either of the surface or the back. It looks too ordinary.
\”That's right! This adventure-experimental-test-card Mk 6-, Cough, I mean, this amazing card will start showing its prowess the moment you drop your blood on it. If you don't believe me, you can give it a try. Seeing it with your own two eyes is more convincing, after all.\”
Although he was skeptical about it, Luke couldn't hold his curiosity and decided to give it a try. It only needs a single drop of his blood, so there's no harm to him. With that thought in mind, Luke bit his thumb until it started bleeding before stamping it onto the surface of the card without flinching at the fact that he has just injured himself. After what he had experienced, this small piercing pain must have felt nothing in comparison. Just as the masked guy said, the moment he stamped his bleeding thumb onto the card, a hologram-like window along with messages on it, suddenly appeared above the card. Luke was visibly stunned.
『 A drop of unknown blood has been detected! 』
『 Analyzing... 』
『 Analyzing completed! 』
『 Process to binding... 』
『 Binding Successful! 』
『 Welcome, O' Awaken One! 』
During the wall of texts, Luke couldn't be sure but, he offhandedly heard a monotone-like voice whispering inside his mind of the latter part. With so many questions that suddenly arose in his mind, he twisted his neck toward the masked guy like a robot that hasn't been oil for years.
What he saw, however, was nothing but a teasing smile directing toward him as if making fun of him, or at least, that's how it felt to him. If it wasn't for him being stunned at this very moment, he would surely punch the masked guy right in the face, simply wanting to erase that teasing smile off latter's face.
Not knowing what to respond to his remark, Luke decided to listen to the masked guy and turned his head back to the hologram-like window. It seemed that the wall of texts from before has long disappeared, which now replaced with a whole new interface, and from what he saw and examine, he wisely judges that the interface looks almost identical to a character status of what one would see in the roleplay games.
He also couldn't help but began to question whether the reality he saw might be a false one, and the real him is actually asleep within a pod filled with nutritious liquid, watched over by an A.I. Just by thinking about it gives him chills. Luke shook his head to remove the scary thought off his mind. 'If that is true, I'd rather stay ignorant my whole life!'
『 Name: Luke
Level: 1
EXP: 0%
HP: 25/25
MP: 15/15
Strength: 4
Intelligent: 3
Agility: 3
Vitality: 5
Attribute Points: 0 』
As a high school student that loves to spend his time playing games more than anything, Luke quickly got the gist of everything shown on the hologram-like interface. 'Is this the legendary, leveling system, that the nerds has been talking about excitingly in the class back then?' thought Luke while at the same time, he noticed his heart start racing, which is a clear sign of his excitement.
\”Amazing, right?\”