Gradually, Peter's eyes began to open.
With it, his blurry vision from just waking up started to clear, revealing the roof of his bedroom.
Peter began picking himself up, wanting to escape the cold floor, so he sat on his bed, rubbing his head in vain, hoping to alleviate his headache.
Checking the time, he sees it's nearly 9 a.m. and prepares for the day ahead.
After having a shower, which helps soothe his throbbing head, he walks past the bathroom mirror, and though it's foggy, he notices a profound change.
He walks towards it, thinking it's the trick of a foggy mirror and clears away the condensation, revealing a body that can't be his.
Muscles now define his once thin, underdeveloped frame, holding strength he didn't previously have.
He looked down to check for himself, and what he saw in the mirror was reflected in his body.
Peter wondered how he had missed that when he showered, but he remembered how his headache distracted him.
Peter wondered how this change happened and began investigating whether it was a dream in all the ways he knew.
Eventually, he realised that this change was real, as no matter the test he used, everything pointed to him being awake.
After that, he remembered parts of what had happened just before he fell unconscious and began to look for the book that had suddenly appeared in his room.
After ten minutes of fruitless searching under every nook and cranny in his room, Peter realised the book had somehow disappeared.
Knowing he wouldn't get an answer, at least from the book, he left his room and went into the kitchen, needing to satiate his weirdly great hunger.
He opened the well-stocked fridge and took out the ingredients for an English breakfast, minus the mushrooms he intensely hated.
He made a hearty meal for himself, as no one else would do it for him.
When he sat down at the single-occupant table in his apartment with the breakfast he had finished cooking, Peter took out his phone and was shocked when he saw the screen.
His phone said it was Sunday, a day and a half after he fell unconscious, and he realised why he was so hungry.
He spent the entirety of yesterday without eating a single ounce of food.
With his body's changes, his hunger made sense, as the muscles and power within him needed to come from somewhere.
His thoughts, stunned and empty with the shock about his unconsciousness, remembered another detail from a day and a half ago.
In a calm, robotic voice unmistakably female, he heard, He didn't hear the final part of that announcement, as that was when he fell unconscious, but maybe the message meant he was given a system.
The minute that thought crossed his mind, a screen appeared before his eyes.
[User: Peter McCall]
[Race: Halfling]
[Level 2]
[0/200 exp]
[HP: 15/15]
[Stamina: 100/100]
[Strength: 10]
[Agility: 10]
[Endurance: 10]
[Stat Points Available: 4]
[Skills]
[Shop]
[Inventory]
[Quests]
Internally, Peter was gobsmacked as the screen reminded him of a novel he had once read.
He closed the system, not wanting to walk into anything before he hesitatingly began to walk towards his apartment's balcony.
The sun was high in the sky, bathing it in its splendid warmth.
If he were correct, he would never again enjoy the sun's glorious heat, so he slowly and carefully walked out onto the balcony.
As he did, he ensured the door remained open in case he needed to get back inside quickly.
When the sun hit him, he expected to feel his strength leave him or his skin begin to sizzle and burn, but thankfully, that didn't happen.
Instead, it felt like he was sleeping in the warmest, comfiest bed he could ever find as his body was bathed in the sun's light.
What made it even better than knowing he wasn't a sun allergic monster was a system notification ringing in his ears.
Seeing this feeling was due to a passive skill, he decided to sit on his balcony and again opened the system.
To see if he had any other skills, he went to the skill screen and was disappointed by what he saw.
[Passive Skills: Sun Bathing Lvl 1]
[Active Skills: Draconic Transformation Lvl 1]
He only had two skills, though the active one had promise if he was even partially accurate in his assumption.
When he tried to see its description by focusing on the skill, Peter thanked the system for being so user-friendly as the skill description appeared.
[Skill: Draconic Transformation Lvl 1; 0/30 Full uses]
[The skill "Draconic Transformation" allows the user to transform his hands into clawed weapons while enhancing his eyes to draconic proportions. This skill costs five stamina per minute. Improve level to increase the depth of the transformation]
To Peter's undying thanks, his assumption was right, as he knew the skill had great potential.
He hoped that the skill would end where he thought it would as his imagination began to run wild.
After a few minutes of living inside the fantasy he created, he wondered what "0/30 Full Uses" meant, and the system thankfully responded.
["Full Uses" is the term designated by the system to indicate how many times the skill must be used before it levels up. It means the skill must be used until all stamina is exhausted or reaches 0]
[Warning! Warning! Complete stamina exhaustion will cause the user to fall unconscious. Please only perform this action when you are in a safe environment]
[System Advice: Perform straight before bed. The user will wake the following day perfectly rested]
Annoyed by this but thankful for the system's warning and suggestion, Peter decides to explore the rest of the system, curious what he'll find.
He tried to open the [Shop] icon to see what he could buy, but a system notification told him to check the [Quests] section.
Initially wanting an answer, he decides to save that for last and heads into the [Inventory].
Thankfully, the system didn't block him this time, and the screen changed into a grid.
It was four rows by ten columns of space, and despite wanting to experiment, Peter didn't want to leave the sunlight, as he was slowly growing addicted.
Happy to now have an answer despite the very short amount of time that has passed, he heads into the [Quests] section.
Only two quests are there, but both promise a path to greater power.
[Main Quest: level 10]
[Daily Quest 1: Sun Bathing]
When he focused on each of them, it thankfully gave more detail.
[Level 10]
[Description: Reach level 10 through any means you want]
[Reward: Evolution & access to the "Shop"]
[Sun Bathing (Repeatable)]
[Description: Spend 4 hours bathing, sitting or standing in the light of the sun]
[Reward: 5 exp]
Seeing the "Sun Bathing" quest, he didn't know why the system would reward him for practically doing nothing, but he wouldn't say no to the free exp.