"Hey! Jee-Han," a voice calls my name and I turn to see my great friend Sun-Il coming towards me at great speeds. His awkward gait smoothed and his strides grew longer, in the blink of an eye he was walking besides me as I continue heading home..

"Yeah?" I ask, "What's up, did I leave something in class?"

"Yeah," he snorts, "Your brain man, I guess it can wait though since it's summer break."

For an instant, I feel insulted by his joke. "Well, unlike YOU. I happen to use this thing all day long; it's rather useful for my hobbies, I can't have boring school stuff floating around when I am trying to calculate the fastest way to win.."

A side glance from him is all the warning I get before he suddenly pokes me… We both stop talking and just continue walking down the road. A restaurant I know rather well is coming up on our left and I say, "Hey, Sun, want to get something to eat?"

He looks at May's café and smiles, "Sure, but you're paying."

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"So Sun, what are you going to be doing over summer break?" I ask as we wait for our food, the diner around us seemingly forgotten as we sit and become bored.

"I'm probably going to be doing a few tournaments and clan related stuff, such is the price of my eternal greatness." He poses, but he can't help dissolving into quiet laughter at his little joke.

"Your greatness? Indeed." I comment drily. "Alright though, I was just thinking that this year you would finally let me show you the awesomeness of videogames in a full week gaming binge. I mean, come on, we're about to be freshmen in high school. If we're going to have it, like, ever, we need to do it this summer!"

The waitress walked up to our table and a brief exchange had her patting me on the head and refilling our drinks. After she left, Sun Il spoke up, "I know Jee-Han … I know how much this means to you; I'll try some video games. I'll make sure to set some time away for it this summer." He sighed dejectedly, "But grandpa's not going to like it."

I smiled in satisfaction, after years of trying I finally convinced my friend to actually try to play some video games seriously with me. And for me, that amounts to a shining achievement.

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"Attention class! Today's the first day of your second year, and this means that any slacking will not be tolerated any longer." he then gestured to a stick on the board behind him. "This is the Rod of Love," he said. "In my desire to help you become better students, rule breaking will be met with punishment, any delinquency, tardiness? Punishment. Do you understand me?" I turned to look at Sun-Il; I could barely believe the words coming out of our teacher's mouth. The rumors had warned me of this, but I hadn't thought they were being literal.

A kid in the middle of the classroom stood and said, "Yes, mister Do Gi-Hyun, we understand."

He nodded his head before launching into his first set of many lessons revolving around the English language.

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Two weeks later

I awoke with a start, my eyes shot open as a sharp pain erupted from deep within and traveled through my body, leaving as soon as it came. I picked myself up off of the floor with a grunt, "Damn, I think I pulled something"

I crack my back and hug the wall as I make my way towards the bathroom, my eyes still blurry and refusing to focus as a lingering burning sensation fills them.

Reaching the bathroom, I burst inside and leaned over the sink. Rinsing off my face, I look in the mirror as my vision focuses… and am stunned.

The source of my confusion is the suitably unique and unusual phenomenon taking place above my head. Just sitting there are the words "Han Jee-Han" [The Gamer] plain as day. 'Wait a second, there's more.' Yep, there's also a bit of glowing blue lettering that spells out the last little bit of my problem,

Lvl 2

'Its official, I am dreaming… or… or…nope! I'm not going to think about my life being a game.

I promptly open the door and head back to my room, I have decided I need to get some rest before properly deciphering this…happening.

Just as I finish that thought, a window appears in front of me.

Through the application of sound logic to a troubling situation, you gain [+1 WIS]

"Indeed", I mutter as I close my eyes.

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The very first sight my ever so 'reliable' eyes see as they open, is two screens.

Sleeping in your bed has fully restored your HP & MP. All status effects cured. Status effect gained, I'm Ready +15% bonus to all XP gain for 1 hour.

Through the application of sound logic in a troubling situation, you gain

[+1 WIS]

'I remember that second one from last night, but that first one…' I sigh as I feel a headache start to form.

Exiting both windows, a cursory glance towards my clock sends a shiver down my spine as I realize something. "I'm late!"

Quest Alert:

Make it to school on time.

Time limit: 30/30 minutes

Reward: increased relations with Do Gi-Hyun and 100XP

Penalty: decreased relations with Do Gi-Hyun and possibly detention

Accept?

[YES/NO]

I hit yes as I rush to get dressed. Flying down the stairs, I grab a slice of toast and hold it in my mouth as I struggle with my backpack.

On my way to school, I notice that I am not the only person to have a little thing above my head. But other than that I make no stunning observations.

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I make it to school just in time, mister Do Gi-Hyun's hand on the door as I slip my way in and the last note rings. "Made it." I whisper, simultaneously dismissing the window for my quest completion. As I sit down in class though, it is all I can do to pay attention to mister Do Gi-Hyun drone on about the difference in sound between an e and ee and then it happened.

Through the efforts of a Master's teachings, you have gained the skill: [Bilingual Learning]

I check the description by tapping on the skill.

Bilingual Learning: (Passive/Active) Lvl 1

Languages:

Korean [Lvl Max]

English [Lvl 1(1.3%)]

Skill description:

Passively increases ability to learn new languages through listening and reading by 10%

Actively drains mana to double your brain's ability to process a new language. Higher levels may allow access to special languages.

(MP cost: 5 mp per minute.)

If my mental defense against this absurd ability had weakened upon completing a Quest this pretty much destroyed it. I can blame last night on absurd sleeping policies and spoiled food. The Quest could be a subconscious attempt to interpret last night's occurrences in my daily life, and the headers could be the same, but adding THIS to it? No, I can't explain it all away. Finally giving in, I reason, 'if I am going insane, I might as well get it over with.'

With a shaky voice I whisper, "Character screen," and am spectacularly let down. Nothing happens, I growl. "Pause." Comes out a bit louder than before, feeling like an idiot I hit the desk… hard.

"OH?" my teacher's voice breaks through my thoughts. "Han Jee-Han, correct?" he asks. I nod, "Well then mister Jee-Han, thank you for volunteering to attempt this statement. Read what I have written on the board. First in English, then in Korean."

I stand and peer at the board, I see in both Korean and English, a small paragraph on it. "bilingual learning." I whisper as I read it silently. I then state what it says, "The feudal state of ancient Korea led to… a stagnant era that was broken only 130 years ago. It was a significant change to our Status-" I stop, sitting right in front of me, is my Status screen. 'Of course!' I think excitedly. I close it and finish my assignment. I resolve to test my power out after school; somewhere I can do so in private and undistracted.

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After school, I walked to a small forest I remembered from my childhood. It was little more than an abandoned park, but it had grown over time to be a decently secluded area. Sitting on an old creaky bench, I look at the sky for a moment and just watch the clouds drifting around. Moseying around, uncaring of the world beneath them, and I feel at peace.

"Status" I say, and a screen pops up in front of me.

Name: Han Jee-Han

Class: [The Gamer]

Level: Lv2 [147/1,000]

HP: [150/150]

MP: [120/120]

STR: 9

VIT: 5

DEX: 7

INT: 7

WIS: 7

LUK : 8

Cha: 3

POINT: 0

MONEY: W 10,000

"Okay, so I have low stats, but I can raise them if my WIS raising wasn't a coincidence. I gained a skill in class and used it until it drained me dry. So, Skills"

Another window pops up with three words on it.

Domestic

Combat

Miscellaneous

I click on each in turn.

Domestic

Skills that fall under the realm of average living and non-extreme disputes including debates and political skills.

Current skills

1: Bilingual Learning

Combat

Skills developed to aid the player through combative situations. Includes defense, offense, offensive spells, defensive spells, weapon masteries, armor masteries, etc.

Current skills

1: Unarmed mastery

I click it.

Unarmed Mastery (Passive) Lv1 (0.00%)

An affinity for unarmed fighting leads to an additional 10% damage to all unarmed attacks.

Stacks with other Skills.

Miscellaneous

Skills neither suited for everyday life nor most combat situations, but useful nonetheless.

Current skills

Gamer's Mind

Gamer's Body

I read the description for them both as quickly as I could; a nervous tingling ran through my body as I realize it was the sudden change in my body's characteristics that woke me up in pain last night, the pain behind my eyes must have been the added defenses to my mind.

I closed all the windows and approached one of the many trees that had overgrown since being abandoned, flexing my hand I fall into what I can only think of as being a 'ready' stance and with all my courage, I punched the tree… and it hurt.

The knuckles in my hand felt like they were dislocated, and I briefly thought that I may have gone insane. But, just like last night, it faded away leaving no marks or damage. The tree however, was a different situation all together. The bark was cracked and peeling from the point of impact and though the underlying wood seemed untouched, I was still proud of myself.

"That's cool," I whisper. Standing back up, I focus on my fist and think of something. 'Back in school, I proved that I had actual mana and that it could affect me. So, I should be able to empower my fist and hit harder!'

That feeling that I had when using Bilingual Learning was slowly dredged out of me and I saw a light blue glow travel towards my arm as I worked on forcing it into my fist. I looked at the tree once more and aimed for the same spot as my first attack. I punched it as hard as I could, my empowered strike cracked through two rings of the tree and a few finger sized splinters fell from it when I removed my hand. Simultaneously I noticed a pop up that congratulated me on making a new skill and asked me if I wanted to name it.

Mana Strike (Active) Lv1 Exp[ 3% ]

Through the application of energy, the Gamer can seal a harder blow than normal. Damage scales according to Str, Int, and Skill Level

Effects:

+10% penetration damage

+10% physical damage

+10% magical damage

+10 magical damage

Cost: 50 mana

'Wow!' I thought, 'That's a doozy of a cost, almost half of my mana for one hit… how fast is my mana regen anyways?'

I looked at my status screen and saw that clicking words can give me more in depth information.

According to what I found, I regain 1.4 mana per minute.

Str involves any physical obstacle I may encounter, from lifting weight to inventory space.

Vit is my ability to conserve energy and take damage

Dex deals with my reflexes, senses, and ability to move efficiently/ control over my body.

Int affects my ability to comprehend new material, retain information, calculate solutions, memorize, Mana regen and capacity, and miscellaneous mental facilities.

Wis is my ability to assimilate data and construct good decisions, the higher it gets, the more I can do with what I know.

Luk is involved in everything, raising it makes me a little better in everything and increases the rarity levels and quantity of item drops I get.

Cha is literally my charisma; it affects my ability to interact with other people civilly.

Checking my phone, I see I have hours before mother gets home. Knowing I have time, I start my training…