"This guy is a piece of shit!", he wanted to yell out, but for now, he limited his outbursts to inside his head. But still, the more he looked into Aaron's memories, he understood Aaron was a upcoming gangster himself. Be it be mugging, tricking people into getting robbed, mob fights, he was getting into all of them. Regardless of what he was told to do, as long as he was paid, he would do it.
"This guy...", 'Aaron sighed. He understood why the original Aaron did this. It was out of desperation. To make ends meet while keeping his family safe. Butnin doing so, it was clear, things would get complicated for thr current Aaron.
Without thinking further, he decided to pay attention to something else that caught his attention.
[Pathway; Reader]
"Aaron is already a beyonder?", he thought to himself. But it didn't make any sense. From his memories, Aaron never consumed any Potions. Trying to find answers, Aaron clicked on the [Reader] displayed on the screen.
[Pathway: reader
Sequence: 9
Digestion: 40%
Description: A Reader trapped in the world of the book he loved.
Abilities:
Reading comprehension (passive):
Improves the ability to grasp knowledge.
Fourth Wall:
Passive: hides the Reader from the sights of great existences.
Active: can hide the presence of the characters.
Bookmark:
Use the abilities of a character. Higher the understanding of the characters, the better abilities you can use.
Slot(0/2)
Ability (0/1 per slot)
End]
That's it?
He wondered. The ability was not the same as what the white tower Pathway in Lotm. But it was more like Kim Dokja's ability. But even for Kim Dokja, he had more in his arsenal at the beginning, like his signature Skill, omniscient reader's View point, or Character profile.
"Did it make a new Pathway of its own in order to give me Fourth Wall?", he concluded. It implied that the story wanted him to stay alive. Which would mean whoever put him here needs him to do something. So much so, that they decided to make an entirely new Pathway.
But even with that conclusion, it only added to Aaron's doubts. Starting with why on Earth would they want him here to begin with?
With that thought, Aaron clicked on the [Quest] button on the left side of thr screen.
[Quest:
Daily Quest:
100 Push-Ups (0/100)
100 sit-ups (0/100)
10km run (0/10)
Reward: 0.5 stats+Fatigue recovery
Penalty: [Fourth Wall] weakens
Main Quest:
Subquest 1: Visit Tingen before the main story Begins (incomplete)
Reward: potion digestion +10%
Subquest 2: witness the story unfold
Reward: Potions Digestion +30%
Subquest 3: make your own change to the story
Reward: potion Digestion depending on the change
Caution: too much change could alter the storyline Drastically
Failure Penalty: Drastic weakening of [Fourth wall]
End]
Reading the Quest left him speechless. Not only was the daily Quest hard enough because of his low vitality, it even basically threatening to expose him to the dangers of this world if he fails.
And even more confusing was the Main Quest. It was telling him to witness the story and also interfere with it, while also telling him that it could cause drastic change to the plot. From what he understood, the system wanted him to do something without telling him what it was.
"This is gonna be more of a headache than I thought...", he sighed. Soon enough, his exhaustion and mental fatigue took over him, plunging him into slumber. Whatever this world held for him, it cab wait till the next day.
The next day, Aaron woke up early morning. When he looked around, his sister was already working in the make shift kitchen. While their usual food was hard bread, from his memories, Aaron knew his sister always insisted on making something to go with the bread, even if it was not really possible with how little money they make.
Because the Turners were believers of the Lord of Storms, Aria wasn't allowed to get basic education. All her life, she was the one who stayed and looked after the household work. Aaron himself didn't fair any better, since he had to drop out of his primary education around the age of 14 to support his mom with the income. It only got worse when his mom was met with an accident that made her completely bedridden. This gave him basic reading and writing skills for Loenese.
But even then, Aaron had no easy time because former "Aaron's" learning abilities were shit. Because of that, that, it was still difficult to read properly. "Damn it, Aaron", he cussed.
"Well that's that. Now I should do my daily quests", he muttered to himself, before setting out of the house.
Along the way, he decided to check out his Active Skill, [Fourth wall]. After giving it a thought, he decided to will the system to do it, instead of pressing on it.
[Activating Fourth Wall]
It worked!
He smiled in delight before sprinting off. His excitement to check out such a skill couldn't be hidden. And as he ran, he himself didn't feel any difference. In fact, it felt rather normal even with the Skill Active.
But then, he noticed the people around him. None of them were glancing at him. Even as he ran past them, they didn't seem to mind.
Another thing he noticed was,
[Fatigue: 60%]
"Fuck...", he panted, stopping by a cart selling cabbages. His exhaustion caught upto him faster than he imagined. In his previous world, he remembered the experience of pretty good when it came to stamina related activities. But right now, he was exhausted faster than he could have hoped for.
While he waited for his exhaustion to pass, he deactivated the Active state of the Fourth Wall. "Dear goddess!", a man yelled behind Aaron, making him turn around. To his surprise, it was an old man in green robe, holding his heart. His expression was a hint of fright and surprise. "When did you get here boy?!", yelled the cabbage merchant.
This surprised Aaron. But then hw soon realised what was happening. With a chuckle, Aaron ran forward once again. At least this [Fourth Wall] could be used as a Stealth Skill.
With a little joy he found from the moment, Aaron decided to check his daily question.
[10 km run (0.2/10).
"..."
"Damn it, Aaron..."
....
The onlookers were unaware of the what was happening around them. [Fourth Wall] made sure The ordinary people were unaware of the almost hilarious sight of the boy struggling to run.
Aaron's lungs burnt, before he even reached the end of the 3rd street. The smoke of the factories on the other side of Tussock river blew towards East Burrough in the morning wind. The smell of coal filled his lungs for each deep breathe he took.
"10 kilometers", he panted to himself. "I can... do this..."
[Fatigue:60%]
[All stats reduced by 30%]
The notification from the system felt like a cold water poured on his hope. "Fuck you...", he cursed at the system.
His body felt heavier. His legs dragged on as if they were filled with wet sand. Each step he took proved to be a struggle.
[10 km run (1.1/10)]
That was the one thing that made him smile. He was making progress. It was barely, but he was making progress.
From his memories, despite his low vitality, Aaron was still a hard worker for his family. There was no limit to the lengths he would go to them– a result of his rough childhood and the belief propagated by the Church of the Lord of Storm. And for someone who was working in hard labour as early as 15, his endurance was nothing to scoff at. His biggest hindrance, however, was the malnourished growth.
But Aaron was not built for this. The running was basically a death sentence to him.
But even then, he couldn't bring himself to stop. Each time he thought of resting a bit, a haunting imagine appeared in his mind– Aaron lying down by an alley, with a monocle on his right eye and a large bumb in his stomach.
[Fatigue:75%]
[Fourth Wall returned to Passive]
Soon enough, the people around him took notice of his pathetic state. Some where shocked, as they didnt notice this boy before. Others found it amusing.
"Trying to act like a dog, boy?"
Someone in the crowd shouted, eliciting a laugh from the onlookers.
Aaron's cheeks burnt, after turning into a joke in the early morning street. Using the last of his will power, he ran towards the alleys, away from the people laughing behind his back.
His destination shifted towards the riverbank.
....
By the banks of Tussock river, Aaron was panting, while laying down under the Bridge.
[Fatigue 80%]
[All stats reduced by 90%]
The message popped it. It explained why he could barely get up. The shade of the bridge was relaxing, and yet, the stench of the industrial waste dumped into the river ruined it.
[10km run (5.1/10)]
At least I finished half of the run– Aaron thought to himself. After struggling around an hour, he was able to make it half way through the requirement. But of course, that was only the first part.
He waited for his Fatigue to go down. He couldn't bring himself to continue until his Fatigue was below 10%.
"Now, push-up", he reminded himself. Rolling over to his chest, Aaron took the stance for a push up. It was one thing he was confident in, since Aaron's strength stat was more than good.
After around 3 minutes though, he was back on the ground, panting again, while staring at sreem before him.
[Push-up (30/100)]
He flipped over, trying to steady his ragged breathing. "Doing it in one go is definitely not possible yet", Aaron csme to his conclusion. His body was far too weak for exercises. Especially since he wasn't familiar to it.
He considered taking his time and dividing the work out for throughout the day. Since the requirement didn't say anything about doing it together.
"But I am curious about the stat increase..", he said, thoughtfully. It was the curiosity alone that was pushing him to go forward. Besides, it was just for today. After this, he can divide his daily Quest across the whole day.