'She is definitely upset with me. Normally, we would be walking home together, but she left before I could even say goodbye.'
Max muttered to himself as he stood at the side of the school building, his gaze fixed on the empty courtyard and track where the sports clubs were usually active at this hour.
Then again, it was no surprise that the entire place was deserted. Most students had already gone home by now.
The few who remained on school grounds either lived in the boarding house or were putting in extra hours, which would include those serving on the student council.
Either way, it was perfect.
From where he stood, Max scanned the courtyard one more time. Not a single soul in sight.
It took him a while to get his mind ready, but eventually, he decided to go through with it.
With slow, uncertain steps, he approached the school track, planting himself at the starting line with his bag tossed off to the side.
'Just run one mile. Yeah, that is easy enough. How hard can it possibly be?'
He lowered himself to his knees, took a deep breath, and braced himself to take off from there.
Bam!
Or at least, that was the plan.
Just two steps in was all it took for him to go plummeting face first into the ground.
He did not say anything at first. Instead, he slowly pushed himself up, one knee raised while he stared at the fresh bruise forming on the other.
His eyes began to swell as though he were about to cry. And sure enough, he was. A minor injury like this was enough to send his emotions spiraling out of control.
That was how weak he truly was.
'Dammit!'
Max cursed under his breath, biting down hard on his lower lip.
'Damn it, damn it!'
He hated himself even more in that moment.
Just a few seconds ago, he had been so sure he could run a mile. Anyone could run a mile, right? So why not him? Why was he always the one embarrassing the entire human race with his existence?
Max managed to drag himself back to his feet, willing to give it another go with whatever scrap of motivation he could find within himself.
Even if this entire thing was something his brain had made up out of desperation...
Even if this entire thing was nothing more than a dream, and there was no such thing as a system that rewarded people for completing ridiculous quests...
Even if none of it was real...
This battle was against himself and no one else.
'I can run a mile. I know I can.'
He steadied himself on both feet, panting heavily as his chest heaved in and out.
'I can run!'
With that, he took off once more, his legs struggling to keep pace with his overweight body as every step sent a jolt of pain through his knees.
Still, he did not give up.
He kept at it.
Running as far as his body would allow, stumbling and crashing to the ground only to force himself back onto his feet and do it all over again.
At some point, he was certain he could see an angel reaching down from the heavens, extending a pale hand toward him as if offering him peace.
He did consider taking it, but something deep within his instincts screamed that if he were to reach for that hand, he would be dying for a second time.
And so he kept going.
For a long while, pushing through the agony, up until the sun began settling behind the horizon and the only sound he could hear was the constant echo of birds crying out across the darkening sky.
Then--
[You have run one mile. Congratulations on completing your first quest.]
[You are one step closer to becoming a better human.]
Max was lying flat on the ground when the notification appeared before him.
He could barely make out the words written across the glowing screen and could only rely on the voice of the system to confirm what it said.
His clothes were completely drenched in sweat, and his mouth refused to close, constantly pulling air in and pushing it back out just to keep his body alive.
'I-- I did it! Haha, hahaha! God, I want to die.'
[The following rewards have been issued for your first quest.]
[A Legend Box has been received.]
[Would you like to open it?]
He was actually going to receive a reward? That revelation alone was enough to breathe a bit of stamina back into his exhausted frame.
Slowly sitting upright, Max watched as a purple box materialized before him, hovering just within arm's reach.
He was a bit hesitant at first, but eventually, he reached forward and took hold of the small box, feeling a warm sensation flood through his palm the moment his fingers made contact.
'O-pen...'
To his surprise, the box fluttered open on command, and a cascade of glowing icons began to appear one after the other.
[500 dollars has been added to your account.]
[A new skill card has been obtained.]
[Fast Feet: For a split second, after landing three consecutive hits, you can move faster than the eye can see, dealing all accumulated damage to the enemy at once. This skill has a cooldown of five minutes.]
[10 stat points have been received.]
'It really is like a game. Wait-- five hundred dollars?'
He stared at the amount, his breath catching in his throat.
Then he gulped, knowing full well that this was the moment of truth.
The moment that would determine whether everything he had experienced was real or just the fantasy of a broken mind.
There was an option displayed right beside the sum of money, one that would allow him to withdraw the funds directly into his bank account through an untraceable network.
If it actually worked...
Then this entire thing would make it undeniably clear that he had stumbled upon the power of a god.
Click!
[500 dollars has been withdrawn into your account.]
Without a second of hesitation, Max pulled out his phone to check if the deposit had gone through. And sure enough, right there on his screen, was the confirmation.
{You have received a new payment.
$500. Congrats.}
His face dropped in shock.
It actually worked.
That also meant the skills, the stats, the system itself... all of it was real.
'No way...'
He slowly rose to his feet, his legs trembling beneath him as his eyes darted around to make sure no one else was anywhere near him.
This was the kind of thing that even the government would hunt him down for if they ever caught wind of it.
He looked at his phone one more time, just to be absolutely sure.
'This is actually real.'
A heavy breath left his chest as the weight of that realization settled in.
As much as he wanted to dig deeper into the system and figure out everything there was to know about it, there was something he wanted to do more than anything else in that moment.
After all, this was the first time he had ever seen a sum of money that large sitting in his account. Not in tens.
Not in spare change. Five hundred actual dollars.
Max swiped his hand to the side to dismiss the remaining system notifications, grabbed his bag from the ground, and immediately took off running.
The sun was already sinking below the horizon, and he knew without a doubt that he was late.
His mother was definitely worried.
And looking at his phone to see all the miscalls, he was most definitely right.