Muscles represent a lot of things.
They can be the reflection of effort, impeccable aesthetics, or even that the guy is strong as hell.
A gorilla, for example, has a lot of muscles, it could easily take down 10 humans without breaking a sweat. Now, 100? Hard to say. That discussion is better left to biology nerds.
Anyway, what matters is that that muscle mass isn't just for show. It supports the body and allows for carrying different levels of weight.
It's not an absolute rule — a skinny guy could definitely show more strength than a buff one — but this situation wasn't hypothetical, and there was no room for thoughts like that to interfere.
A chubby dude against a two-meter-tall strongman. In that situation, human instinct would react with proper caution and say, "I'm never beating that," and that's exactly what Luke believed.
Seeing him from a distance, he knew he'd never beat him in hand-to-hand combat. He'd have his face smashed before he even realized it… unless he had a sword in his hands.
"Right, punches are useless against a gunshot!"
His confidence partially returned, and he charged at the boss. A foolish choice, the worst of his life.
A fist flew at his face before he even realized it, his lenses cracked, and he was pushed back. The katana didn't even get close to the boss.
He rolled on the ground, lost his breath, but quickly got back up using his own weight as leverage. He was on his feet, and luckily hadn't dropped the weapon still clutched in his fingers.
His widened eyes stared at the opponent, whose stance showed an outstretched fist, demonstrating complete indifference to his enemy.
The pointed ears and shiny bald head of the buff goblin were a reflection of years of evolution designed to survive in a dense forest.
'I'm not fighting that shit!'
An extremely reasonable choice.
Remembering last time, he almost died due to his incompetence in reading the environment, so facing an enemy that could hit him in the blink of an eye was nothing short of suicide.
Luke turned his back and started running. He was confident he could create at least some distance before preparing to fight, only to glance back and find the monster sniffing the back of his neck.
The scare was so great he tried to elbow the monster, only for the goblin to grab his arm. Without any effort, the buff goblin lifted him and slammed him against the asphalt.
The impact echoed through the streets, knocking Luke unconscious. All the weight he had accumulated over the years from junk food made it hurt hundreds of times more.
Moreover, since he didn't know how to fall or mitigate the impact, his head and back took the full blow. Being alive was truly a blessing.
His vision blurred. The monster was still above him, ready to punch and end his misery.
Luke thought fast and kicked the goblin right in the jewels.
Goblin Hater.
Damage dealt increased by 25%.
Suffering from that kick was well deserved. He managed to escape the grip and crawled back to his feet again, dashing away, this time ducking into the first alley.
He shoved his hand into the backpack and pulled out the builder's hammer, simultaneously visualizing the wooden planks he saved to build a wall behind him.
This would slow his enemy down, but not for long. He only had three planks left. The trick could only be used one more time.
"How do I deal with this thing?! I don't have much time, it'll catch up if I take too long! Use your damn head, dammit!"
The adrenaline pumping through his bloodstream made his thoughts race, calculating probabilities and simultaneous action plans.
Then, a light bulb turned on.
"Status!"
Class: ?????
Level: 14
Fat melts in the sun's heat; your muscles threaten to bulge beneath the flab. You hate goblins.
"One level. I just need one level."
Luke methodically decapitated every goblin that appeared in his path. The first ones were from the Tutorial Area, so the amount of experience they gave was so small it almost wasn't worth it.
Even so, any experience would do, and there was a very specific reason to kill them even if they didn't mean much.
Goblin Loincloth
Rarity: None
A filthy goblin underwear. Super stinky. Its special odor repels any female creature from you.
He hated having to pick up the loincloths with his hands and stuff them into his bag, but his survival depended on it. He turned another corner, crossing to the other side.
Looking over his shoulder, the boss was at the entrance of the alley, about to match his pace.
Luke reached the orange line and crossed without fear. From there, he abruptly turned his body to the side, taking another shortcut and using the builder's hammer to put up another wall.
He just needed a little more time. His katana suddenly dropped onto the neck of a brown goblin. Another loincloth added to his collection.
He could hear the heavy footsteps of the boss, getting closer and closer as he killed each monster in his path.
Then, Luke swiped at a floating screen beside him and stopped. Behind him, the peak of goblin evolution stared at him, its face red with rage.
As if running the entire way wasn't enough, the human had the audacity to attack his most prized possessions: the balls!
However, he was frozen in the middle of the street. He looked exhausted, his body trembling with every breath.
Surely he caught his prey, who had given up running after so much fleeing. Now all that was left was to eat his heart and be free!
However, Luke had noticed a pattern over all these days of killing goblins: they were really dumb. Anything that moved could lure them in, and their reasoning wasn't great for recognizing traps.
It was expected that the boss would show a similar pattern of behavior. He spun around suddenly, holding what looked like a ball of old cloth.
Without hesitation, he hurled the thing at the boss, hitting him right on his shredded thigh.
"WAAAHHHH!"
Goblin Diaper
Rarity: Abominable
A mix of bodily fluids and filthy cloth, the stench is so strong it turned into a poison bomb.
Seeing the skin corrode before his eyes brought a smile to his face. Whatever area was affected, it would still be enough to continue the second part of his plan.
However, to do that, he needed to run a bit more.
He put an Alchemical Energy Drink to his lips and drank, his body feel like it would explode from excitement as part of his stamina was restored.
Once again, he kept killing goblins, still being chased by the boss. Now, however, the pace was manageable, as the injured leg was making him walk slower along the path.
Monster after monster died to his sword, until finally what he so badly wanted appeared.
You leveled up.
You gained 1 SP.
A sigh of relief came when the screen popped up. Luke took the opportunity to once again draw the enemy's attention, only to use the moment to hide inside a trash container.
He didn't hesitate for a second; the smell of rot was nothing compared to the feeling of almost dying.
He peeked through a tiny crack in the lid and saw the silhouette of the big guy pass by. It only took a second and... he jumped out of hiding, throwing all the Goblin Diapers crafted.
The monster's back and shoulder were hit, though the last one missed after the monster quickly ducked and dodged it.
Luke then extended his hand forward. Static gathered around his fingers and joined at the center of his palm, forming a small yellow circle.
This was the reason he needed to level up: to unlock a perk that could save his life.
Random Gift from the Wizard 0/5
The wizard who hid in a tower for years died of old age, and now you're the only one left to inherit his knowledge.
You gain one random level 1 spell.
Electric Sphere
Level 1 Spell
Fires a ball of electricity that electrocutes the first object it hits.
A yellow orb flew from the hand, his feet dragging backward from the force of it, but seeing that monster take a shot to the chest and tremble from the shock was far too satisfying to ignore.
Goblin Hater
Damage dealt increased by 25%.
The boss, however, was still alive.
"Not for long, buddy. There's no way I'm letting you kill me!"
Without hesitation, he conjured a second electric orb. The moment he unlocked the skill, his mind was automatically filled with a series of mental commands to cast the spell, what was missing was just a trigger to activate it.
Once again, the attack landed. With the goblin weakened due to its burned leg and now further debilitated by the surprise strike, what followed was a battle of endurance.
By the second cast, Luke felt his body tremble. He ignored the signal, overtaken by adrenaline. A third orb launched, then a fourth, a fifth, and...!
The monster collapsed. Its body was nearly blackened from the repeated electrocution. It didn't take long before it disintegrated into digital data.
Luke's eyes widened and his knees hit the concrete. The emotions passed like a breeze, but along with them came the heavy consequence of pushing his luck too far.
A cough burst from his lungs. He covered his mouth to contain it, only to find blood between his fingers.
'Wait, what…?'
Before he could finish the thought, the coughing worsened. Droplets splattered all over the alley as Luke collapsed sideways. His body wasn't responding properly.
'Is this it? No… No! I'm not dying like this! Move, dammit!'
The world around him darkened. For some reason, he was slowly dying, his heart pounding like it was about to burst.
Then, amid the darkness, something shimmered. It was the boss's body, vanishing and leaving several items behind, yet they were all copies of the same thing.
Morning Herb
Rarity: Common
A peculiar medicinal plant used in all societies as a basic treatment for wounds. Said to be blessed by mana, hence the blue tones.
Luke gritted his teeth and dragged himself toward the pile, pulling energy from every part of his body just to move one more meter.
He grabbed one of the herbs and chewed it. If it was truly medicinal like the description claimed, then it had to work! He bit into it eagerly, swallowing while shoving another into his mouth.
Your body is regenerating...
The ingestion of substances has triggered a mutation in your organism.
The player has no mana. Adaptation initiated. Applying changes.
The physical exhaustion and pain seemed to fade as his teeth tore through the leaves. His desperation was so great, he didn't even notice the floating window beside him.
Eventually, the blood stopped dripping from his mouth, and Luke was left on all fours in the middle of the alley. Recovered, he stood up, leaning his back against the wall.
"Damn, that was intense... I never wanna fight a boss again!"
The hands rested on his knees as his breathing slowly returned to normal. He was happy it worked out, though he hadn't expected things to go this far.
A new skill has appeared in the Magic tab.
"System, I'm in pretty bad shape, could you shut up for a moment?"
Magic Core
Your body now contains a central point that allows you to control magic and the world's life force, mana.
Mastery: 0.01%
His eyes widened; the box was colored differently from the others, yet it was impossible to assign any skill points.
Along with that, he also received another reward.
You killed the area boss!
You gained 1 SP.
"I could've gotten more goodies for almost dying… Ah, whatever! Next time a boss shows up, I'm just running away!"
Luke was only lying to ease his conscience. The truth was, he intended to make his life easier by killing bosses to avoid going through the same experience again.
And for that, he needed some preventive measures. One of them was magic. The other…
"Alright, let's go pump these stats like crazy!"
I've Got Talent! 1/5
Let's be honest—you suck at everything. So here's a way to at least be good at something.
Choose one attribute. It gains 20% more experience during training.
Chosen Attribute: Strength.