The girl's sword stopped exactly an inch from the training dummy's throat. She turned, her chest heaving, sweat matting her silver-blue hair to her forehead. Her combat suit, once a sleek 'Diamond-Tier' obsidian weave, was now frayed at the edges, held together by stubbornness and patches of kinetic tape.
"Optimize my energy?" she repeated, her voice trembling with a mix of exhaustion and rage. "Do you have any idea where you are, Level Zero? This isn't the Academy's pampered garden. This is Dorm 44. If you don't grind here, you get eaten."
Leo didn't even sit up. He actually leaned further back against the rusted fence, his eyes tracking a notification that popped up near her shoulder.
[Scanning Target...] Name: Elena Frost
Class: Lunar Valkyrie
(Corrupted/Burnout status)
Level: 22 (Descending)
Condition: System Fatigue 98%.
Note: This user is 'Try-Harding' so hard she is literally breaking her own code.
Leo sighed. He hated seeing people work this hard. It made his own joints ache just looking at her. "You've been swinging that piece of metal for at least four hours," Leo said, checking his cracked phone. "Your Level is dropping because your body can't keep up with the System's demands. You're not training; you're just vibrating."
Elena froze. Her eyes widened. "How did you... how can you see my Level status?"
In this world, unless you had a high-level 'Appraisal' skill, you could only see someone's public Badge. Leo's badge said 0. He shouldn't be able to see her descending stats.
"I have a very good eye for people who need a nap," Leo lied smoothly.
He patted the space on the concrete next to his suitcase. "Sit down. If you keep going, you're going to 'Short-Circuit.' And if you explode, it's going to ruin my quiet afternoon."
Elena looked at him like he was an alien. She was the "Fallen Genius" of the Frost Family, once the top-ranked student in the North, now exiled to the Shadow Zone because her System began to fail. Everyone told her to work harder to fix it. This sleepy boy in a hoodie was the first person to tell her to stop.
"I can't stop," she whispered, her grip tightening on her sword. "If I don't reach Level 25 by the end of the month, the Aegis System will mark me as 'Decommissioned.' I'll lose my citizenship."
Leo felt a ping in his mind.
[Detected: A high-tier beauty in distress.]
[System Mission: 'The Nap Propagandist']
Objective: Force Elena Frost to rest for 10 minutes.
Reward: Skill: 'Shared Slumber' (You gain 50% of the XP she would have gained from training, while she recovers 200% faster).
Leo's eyes lit up. Wait. I can leech XP from other people's training just by making them rest? This is the best system ever.
"Fine," Leo said, standing up with a groan. "If you won't sit, I'll make you."
Elena raised her sword, a blue glow flickering around the blade. "Don't come closer, Zero. Even at my worst, I can—"
She didn't finish. Leo didn't charge her. He didn't use a flashy spell. He simply activated his new skill:[Doze and Deflect].
He walked toward her with his hands in his pockets, looking like he was walking to a fridge for a midnight snack. Elena swung—a horizontal slash meant to stop him in his tracks.
Leo didn't even look at the blade. He just... stumbled. It looked like a clumsy trip, but his body moved with the uncanny fluidity of a falling leaf. The blade whistled over his head, missing by a hair's breadth.
"What—?"
She swung again, a vertical strike. Leo leaned to the left, yawning, his eyes closed for a split second. The sword hit the ground next to his foot, the shockwave cracking the pavement, but Leo didn't even feel the vibration.
He was now inside her guard. Before she could pull back, he reached out and gently tapped her forehead with two fingers.
[Skill Activated: Forced Hibernation (Temporary)]
Elena's eyes glazed over. The overwhelming stress, the weeks of no sleep, and the sudden "calm" radiating from Leo hit her like a physical wall. Her knees buckled.
Leo caught her before she hit the concrete. She was surprisingly light, smelling like ozone and cold jasmine.
"There we go," Leo muttered, guiding her to lean against his oversized pillow. "The world isn't going to end in ten minutes, Valkyrie."
[Quest Complete!]
[Rewards Granted: 'Shared Slumber' Passive Unlocked.]
[Notification: Elena Frost is now 'Resting'. You are gaining 120 XP per minute from her 'Residual Ambition'.]
Leo sat down next to her, satisfied. As she slept, the chaotic blue aura around her body began to smooth out, turning into a soft, steady glow. Her breathing slowed.
Suddenly, a loud, heavy footsteps echoed from the entrance of the dorm. A group of three thugs, wearing spiked leather and glowing 'Thug' class badges, walked into the courtyard.
"Well, well," the leader sneered, pointing a vibrating mace at Leo. "Look what we found. A new Level 0 meat-sack and the Ice Queen, finally passed out. Hand over your System-phones and her sword, and maybe we'll let you stay in the basement."
Leo didn't move. He looked at the thugs, then at the sleeping Elena.
"Could you guys keep it down?" Leo whispered, his voice dangerously calm. "She's finally quiet. If you wake her up, I'm going to have to actually... do something. And I really, really don't want to do something."
The thugs laughed, stepping forward.
[Warning: Peace Disturbed.]
[Activating Slacker's Rage: 'The Heavy Blanket' Field.]