[System Initializing…]
The blue text floated in the center of my vision. It wasn't a reflection on my eye, it wasn't a trick of the light. It was just… there. As real as the bed I was lying on.
My heart started hammering against my ribs. I squeezed my eyes shut, then snapped them open. The text was still there, unwavering.
A brain tumor. That was the first logical thought. Stress-induced hallucination. All those hours staring at datapads, maybe my optic nerves were finally fried.
I shot out of bed, stumbling into my small bathroom. I didn't bother with the lights. I twisted the faucet and plunged my face into the cold, splashing water, trying to shock myself back to reality. The cold sting was real. The water running down my face was real.
I looked up at my reflection in the dark mirror. A skinny kid with messy black hair and wide, terrified eyes stared back. And floating right in front of his face was the same glowing blue text.
[Initialization Complete. Welcome, User.]
The words changed. My breath hitched. This wasn't a hallucination. It was happening. It was real.
Another wave of text replaced the welcome message. It was a clean, simple interface, like something out of a minimalist RPG menu.
STATUS
Name: Kai
Rank: Unranked
Level: 1
Core Attributes:
Strength: 9
Agility: 11
Stamina: 12
Reflexes: 14
Aether Control: 5
Resources:
Momentum Points (MP): 0/100
Skills: None
I stared at the list. Those were my stats, my pathetic, barely-double-digit stats. The public system showed everyone our Aether Control stat, and mine was a laughable 5. But this… this was everything. My whole worthless self, laid bare in a floating blue box.
A rank. Unranked. The word still stung, even here in this private little hell.
"What is this?" I whispered, my voice hoarse. "What are you?"
The interface flickered, as if responding to my voice. A new box of text appeared.
[This is the Momentum System. A personalized interface designed to quantify and enhance user potential through the principle of high-efficiency action.]
High-efficiency action? What did that even mean?
Another question formed in my mind. What are Momentum Points?
[Momentum Points (MP) are the System's primary resource. MP is generated by successfully executing and chaining together high-efficiency actions during periods of intense activity, such as competitive sport or combat. MP can be expended to analyze, replicate, or enhance skills and attributes.]
My mind flashed back to the game. To Elara, the Northwood forward. The way she moved, the perfect chain of passes. That was it. That was high-efficiency. Not Jax's brute force 'Hammer' shot, but the smart, clean, perfect plays.
The system wasn't like the public one. It didn't measure raw power output. It measured… precision. Strategy. Perfection.
It measured the exact things I could see, the things I lived for.
My heart, which had been pounding with fear, now started pounding with something else. Something I hadn't felt in a long, long time.
Hope.
Was this real? Could this be my chance? A system that played by my rules. A glitch in the world's logic that favored me.
I had to test it. I had to know.
I looked at my Strength stat. 9. Pathetic. If I wanted to survive the tryouts, I needed to raise it.
"Okay, System," I muttered, dropping to the floor of my room. "Let's see if this works."
My arms trembled as I lowered myself into a push-up. The floorboards were cool against my hands. I pushed up, my muscles screaming in protest. One. Two. My form was terrible, but I kept going. Three. Four. I managed ten before my arms gave out and I collapsed onto the floor, panting.
My whole body ached. I lay there for a minute, catching my breath, a stupid grin on my face. I'd done something. I'd taken action.
I waited, staring at the ceiling, expecting a notification. +1 Strength! or something. Anything.
Nothing happened.
I focused on the interface, which had remained patiently in the corner of my vision. "Status," I commanded with my thoughts.
The screen appeared again.
Strength: 9
My heart sank. It didn't change. It was all a joke. A hyper-realistic dream. Of course it was. Why would anything good ever happen to me?
Just as the despair started to set in, another notification blinked into existence.
[Physical conditioning provides negligible attribute returns. Attribute growth is primarily achieved through the allocation of earned Attribute Points. Current Attribute Points: 0]
I wasn't earning stats. I had to allocate them. And to do that, I needed points. Which I didn't have.
And how did I get those? By earning Momentum Points. And how did I earn Momentum Points? By playing. By executing perfect actions in a real game.
It was a loop. A perfect, beautiful loop. My progression was directly tied to playing the game.
I scrambled up from the floor and went to my desk. My datapad was still there, open to the page I'd been staring at before the game. The official announcement for the Westwood High Aetherball team tryouts. They were in one week.
One week.
Before today, that poster was a symbol of my failure. A party I wasn't invited to. I had zero chance of making the team. The coaches would look at my public rank and laugh me out of the arena.
But now…
Now I had a secret. A hidden back door into the world of power. A system that no one else could see. A glitch that was all mine.
I didn't know how it worked, not really. I didn't know what its limits were. But for the first time, looking at the tryout announcement, I didn't feel the crushing weight of despair.
I felt a spark.
A chance.