The forest had fallen into deep silence. The dying embers of Pramit's fire cast flickering shadows, painting the moss and roots in uneven light. He shifted slightly, stretching his limbs, when a strange warmth prickled along his chest, faint yet insistent.
At first, he ignored it. But then — a ripple of light flickered in the air before him. Subtle, like sunlight scattering on water, yet unnatural, deliberate. Shapes began to coalesce, forming a translucent panel floating before his eyes.
Pramit froze, heart thudding. "…what is this?"
The panel displayed details he hadn't consciously known anyone could see:
Name: Pramit Chakma
Age: 18
Height: 172 cm
Weight: 62 kg
Charm: Average
Below these, a list of skills shimmered faintly. Two glowed softly:
Fire Manipulation — Unknown Rank
Luck — Unknown Rank
The rest hovered in shadow, marked only as ???, pulsing faintly like something breathing just out of reach.
His fingers twitched toward it. A soft pulse echoed through the air, almost like a heartbeat — or a warning. "A system… given by God?" he whispered, disbelief and curiosity warring in his mind.
Somewhere deep inside, he felt a faint tug, a subtle hint that the hidden skills were watching him, waiting, but their purpose remained a mystery.
Pramit leaned back, firelight flickering across his face, eyes wide but cautious. He didn't touch it again — not yet. For now, it existed, hovering, alive, and watching.
Scene 9 — Experimenting with the System
The forest remained quiet, but Pramit could feel the presence of the panel lingering, even as he shifted in his seat. A soft tingle brushed his fingertips when he reached toward it, though nothing happened at first.
Then the air pulsed, gentle yet insistent. The two revealed skills — Fire Manipulation and Luck — shimmered like trapped flames, as if teasing him. The hidden skills — ??? — emitted a faint hum, subtle but persistent, like whispers in a forgotten language.
Pramit frowned, leaning closer. He moved his hand slowly over the floating interface, and for a fleeting moment, one of the shadowed skills flickered, almost acknowledging his touch. He recoiled instinctively, blinking.
"Okay… that's… weird," he muttered, pressing himself back against the tree. "It's like… it's alive. Watching. Waiting…"
A warmth spread through him from the panel, soft, almost comforting, yet charged with something he couldn't name. Every instinct in his body told him that the forest — and the system — were linked, somehow. The hidden skills whispered possibilities he didn't yet understand.
Pramit exhaled slowly, watching the faint glow of the panel hover in the firelight. For now, he didn't need answers. He only knew one thing: this world, and the gifts it had given him, were far stranger than he could have imagined.