The pain woke him. It wasn't the gentle ache of a good workout; it was a deep, structural protest. His pectorals felt like shattered glass, his thighs screamed with every minor shift, and his abdominal muscles, which he hadn't been aware he possessed, were now making their presence known with a fiery, unrelenting agony.
The System interface, however, was bright and cheerful in the corner of his vision.
<< Good Morning, Leo Mears. >>
A new day brings new opportunities for growth.
Proactive Energy (PE): 30/100
Daily Development Quests Refreshed.
Leo groaned, rolling onto his side. The movement was a mistake. A fresh wave of pain lanced through his upper body. "Oh, god," he mumbled into his pillow.
Last night, the 30 PE and the microscopic stat increases had felt like a victory. Now, in the brutal clarity of the morning, it felt like a catastrophic miscalculation. He had traded a manageable, background hum of depression for an acute, all-consuming physical misery.
He tried to will the status screen away. It remained, a persistent, translucent overlay on the dreary reality of his messy bedroom. He focused on the quests.
<< Daily Development Quests >>
1. {Sustained Momentum}: Engage in sustained cardiovascular activity for a minimum of 25 minutes. [Reward: 12 PE, +0.1 to Vitality]
2. {Progressive Overload}: Complete 4 sets of 10 push-ups. [Reward: 12 PE, +0.1 to Strength]
3. {Metabolic Primer}: Consume 30g of protein within one hour of waking. [Reward: 5 PE]
4. {Cognitive Warm-up}: Solve five logic puzzles of increasing difficulty. [Reward: 5 PE, +0.1 to Intellect]
5. {Social Catalyst}: Initiate and maintain a verbal conversation with a stranger for a minimum of two minutes. [Reward: 15 PE, +0.1 to Charisma]
Leo's blood ran cold. "No," he whispered. "No, no, no."
They were harder. Already. The cardio was longer. The push-ups demanded an extra set from his ruined muscles. And the last one... {Social Catalyst}. His eyes locked onto it. Fifteen Energy. The biggest reward by far. It might as well have been a quest to wrestle a bear.
The familiar, comforting urge to roll over and go back to sleep washed over him. He could call in sick. He could just... stop.
As if sensing his surrender, the pressure began to build behind his eyes. The System's signature "wrongness" seeped into his skull, a psychic toxin of disapproval. It was fainter than yesterday, a dull throb instead of a sharp spike, but it was undeniably there. A promise of a headache that would cripple him if he chose inaction.
"Fine," he hissed, the word gritted out between clenched teeth. He wasn't talking to the empty room anymore. He was talking to the thing in his head.
He stumbled to the kitchen, his body moving with the stiff, awkward gait of a marionette. He needed protein. Thirty grams. The quest, {Metabolic Primer}, glowed insistently. He stared into his nearly empty fridge. A half-empty jar of pickles, a stick of butter, a bottle of sugary soda.
The pressure behind his eyes intensified.
Panic began to set in. He had to complete this. He had to eat. Now. He rifled through the cupboards, his movements frantic. He found a dusty can of tuna and a half-empty bag of almonds. It wasn't a meal; it was a desperate act of compliance. He choked the unappetizing mix down, washing it back with tap water. The can of tuna had 15 grams of protein. The handful of almonds, maybe 6. It wasn't enough.
The pressure was building to a migraine level. Tears of frustration welled in his eyes. He was going to fail. On the second day.
His gaze fell on the container of cheap protein powder he'd bought on a whim years ago and never used. It was probably expired. He didn't care. He scooped a heaping portion into a glass of water, stirred it into a lumpy, chalky slurry, and chugged it.
The relief was instantaneous. The pressure vanished, replaced by the soft, approving hum. A chime sounded.
{Metabolic Primer} Completed.
Reward: 5 Proactive Energy Gained.
Proactive Energy (PE): 35/100
He slumped against the counter, breathing heavily. He felt nauseous, but he was 5 PE richer. The victory felt hollow and disgusting.
The logic puzzles were next. The System provided them directly into his interface—a series of pattern recognition and deductive reasoning problems. His Intellect of 11 made them challenging but solvable. The focus required was a different kind of pain, a mental strain that made his head throb, but it was a welcome distraction from the physical agony. He solved the fifth one, and the chime came, a clean, satisfying sound.
{Cognitive Warm-up} Completed.
Reward: 5 Proactive Energy Gained.
Intellect +0.1
Proactive Energy (PE): 40/100
Then, it was time for the run. {Sustained Momentum}.
It was worse than yesterday. Every step was a fresh jolt of pain. His muscles, already damaged, screamed in outright rebellion. He made it five minutes before he had to stop, bending over and dry-heaving on the sidewalk. The System's pressure returned, not as a threat, but as a persistent, nagging weight, pushing him forward.
He wasn't running. He was lurching. A zombie chasing the ghost of a better self. He focused on the timer in his vision, watching the seconds tick down with a glacial slowness. When the final chime came, he didn't collapse onto a bench; he simply folded onto the grass of a small park, lying on his back and staring at the gray morning sky.
{Sustained Momentum} Completed.
Reward: 12 Proactive Energy Gained.
Vitality +0.1
Proactive Energy (PE): 52/100
Back home, the push-ups were a form of torture. His arms buckled on the seventh rep of the first set. The System didn't punish him for failure, only for quitting. He rested, his face pressed against the coarse carpet, and tried again. And again. It took him over an hour, but he completed the four sets, his final push-up ending with him collapsing face-first, his entire body trembling.
{Progressive Overload} Completed.
Reward: 12 Proactive Energy Gained.
Strength +0.1
Proactive Energy (PE): 64/100
He was broken. But he was 64 PE strong. And one, terrifying quest remained.
{Social Catalyst}.
All day, it loomed in his vision. At the grocery store, where he had to buy real food, he stood frozen in the aisle, watching people. An old woman comparing soup cans. A young couple arguing over cereal. His heart hammered against his ribs. His Charisma of 7 felt like a lie. He couldn't do it. He paid for his groceries and fled.
The pressure began to build again, a low, insistent thrum of wrongness. It wasn't the sharp spike of refusing a quest outright, but the chronic discomfort of delaying an inevitable task.
The day wore on. The pressure grew, amplifying his physical pain and mental fatigue. By late afternoon, it was a constant, debilitating presence. He was trapped between his own deep-seated fear and the System's unyielding will.
Finally, as he sat on a bench in the same park he'd collapsed in that morning, he broke. The pressure was too much. The quest glowed, a golden taunt.
An elderly man was sitting on the far end of the bench, feeding pigeons.
Target acquired.
Leo's mouth was dry. His hands were sweating. This was worse than the run. Worse than the push-ups. He stood up, his legs feeling weak, and walked the ten feet to the other end of the bench. The man glanced up, his expression neutral.
"Uh," Leo began, his voice a croak. "The, uh... the pigeons. They're... fat."
The old man raised an eyebrow.
The pressure in Leo's skull spiked. Pathetic. Try again.
"They get a lot of food, I suppose," Leo managed, forcing a smile that felt like a grimace.
The man nodded slowly. "They do. From folks like me. Gets me out of the house."
"Right. Out of the house. Good." Leo's mind was blank. The two-minute timer in his vision felt like an eternity. He grasped for anything. "Do you... come here often?"
As soon as he said it, he wanted to die. It was the most cliché, pathetic line imaginable.
But the old man just chuckled. "Every day, son. Rain or shine. Name's Arthur."
"Leo," he replied, the introduction feeling strangely formal.
And somehow, that broke the dam. Arthur started talking about the different pigeons, giving them names. Leo listened, interjecting with a "really?" or "uh-huh" when appropriate. He wasn't charming or witty. He was just... present. The two-minute timer expired, but the conversation, awkward as it was, continued for another thirty seconds before naturally winding down.
"Well, better be getting back," Arthur said, standing up. "The wife'll worry. Nice talking to you, Leo."
"You too, Arthur."
As the old man walked away, the most glorious, resonant chime Leo had ever heard sounded in his mind. It was layered, almost musical.
{Social Catalyst} Completed.
Reward: 15 Proactive Energy Gained.
Charisma +0.1
Proactive Energy (PE): 79/100
The relief was euphoric. The oppressive pressure vanished completely, replaced by a warm, buzzing sensation that momentarily eclipsed his physical pain. He had done it. He had faced the thing he feared most, and he had survived.
That night, as he lay in bed, he looked at his updated status.
Vitality: 4.2
Strength: 5.2
Intellect: 11.1
Charisma: 7.1
Proactive Energy (PE): 79/100
The Awaken Essence Core project was still locked, but it felt closer. The Dedicate PE to Attribute Growth option pulsed softly. He could spend his energy to grow passively, but it was pitifully slow. He decided to save it. He wanted to see what happened at 100.
The grind was still terrible. But as he drifted off to sleep, a new thought emerged, fragile but persistent.
He had talked to a stranger today. And it hadn't killed him.
For a man with a Charisma of 7, that was a stat increase worth more than any number on a screen.