"Woah... it's actually real."
Kenzo stared at the transparent screen floating in front of him.
"I can see my stats."
He slowly raised his hand and touched the screen.
A ripple spread across its surface.
"Hmm?"
Kenzo moved his finger across the interface.
The screen responded to his touch.
"I can actually interact with it too."
A grin slowly appeared on his face.
"This is insane."
He had seen systems like this countless times in manga and novels.
But seeing one in real life was completely different.
Kenzo opened his status once again.
[Name: Kenzo Hasegawa]
[Race: Human]
[Age: 25]
[Level: 1]
[Strength: 9]
[Agility: 8]
[Stamina: 9]
[Vitality: 8]
[Intelligence: 7]
[Willpower: 8]
[Perception: 9]
[Dexterity: 8]
[Magic Points: 10]
[Undistributed Stat Points: 0]
He stared at the numbers for several seconds.
"Now I'm curious."
Kenzo clenched his fist.
"How strong am I compared to an ordinary human?"
He looked around the dungeon.
There was nobody around to compare himself with.
"Guess I'll have to test it myself."
He closed the status window and looked around.
The dungeon passage stretched farther than he could see.
Stone walls surrounded him on both sides, while several small flames floated near the ceiling, providing just enough light for him to see.
Kenzo walked toward one of the walls.
He raised his fist.
"Let's try something simple."
He punched the wall.
BAM!
Kenzo immediately pulled his hand back.
"OW!"
He shook his hand violently.
"Fuck!"
He examined his knuckles.
Thankfully, there wasn't any blood.
He stared at the stone wall.
"Okay... bad idea."
He sighed.
"Maybe I'll just use something that isn't made of solid rock."
His eyes eventually landed on a smaller stone lying on the ground.
Kenzo picked it up.
It was roughly the size of a baseball.
He squeezed it.
Nothing happened.
He squeezed harder.
Still nothing.
"Yeah... can't exactly crush a rock."
He tossed it aside.
"Maybe these numbers aren't as impressive as I thought."
Kenzo sat down against the wall.
For a moment, he simply stared at the dungeon floor.
Then another thought crossed his mind.
"Wait."
He opened the status screen again.
"What's this?"
His eyes moved toward the race information.
[Race: Human]
He touched it.
The information immediately expanded.
[Race Evolution Available]
[Current Race: Human]
[Possible Evolution Paths:]
[Human → Peak Human → Great Human → Elder Human → Arch Human]
Kenzo's eyes widened.
"Evolution?"
He stared at the screen.
"So humans can evolve?"
He scrolled through the information.
The system displayed no additional requirements.
Only the names.
"Peak Human... Great Human... Elder Human... Arch Human."
Kenzo smiled.
"So that's the evolution path."
He imagined what an Arch Human would be like.
"If the stats increase every time I evolve..."
His smile grew wider.
"I wonder how strong I'll become."
Kenzo closed the window.
He stood up and stretched his body.
"First things first."
He glanced down the dungeon passage.
"I need to figure out where I am."
He started walking.
His footsteps echoed softly through the empty corridor.
For several minutes, nothing happened.
No monsters.
No traps.
Nothing.
Kenzo almost began to relax.
Then—
slip.
He stopped.
"...What was that?"
Something slimy had landed on the floor a few meters in front of him.
Kenzo stared at it.
A small, translucent creature slowly bounced toward him.
It was round.
It was blue.
And it looked completely harmless.
"...A slime?"
Kenzo blinked.
He looked around.
Nothing else appeared to be nearby.
"So this is my first monster?"
The slime bounced once.
Boing.
Kenzo's lips twitched.
"That thing is kinda cute."
The slime suddenly launched itself toward him.
Kenzo instinctively moved to the side.
The slime flew past him and landed on the floor.
"Whoa!"
He jumped backward.
"Okay, definitely not harmless."
The slime turned around and bounced toward him again.
Kenzo grabbed the rusty sword from his inventory.
"Alright."
He tightened his grip.
"Let's see what Level 1 can do."
The slime jumped.
Kenzo swung his sword.
SLASH!
The rusty blade struck the slime directly.
The creature split apart and dissolved into a puddle.
A mechanical voice immediately rang inside his head.
Ding!
[You have defeated a Level 1 Slime.]
[Base Experience Gained: 10]
[Experience Multiplier activated.]
[Experience Gained: 20]
[Current Experience: 20/100]
Kenzo froze.
His eyes widened.
"Twenty EXP..."
He stared at the notification.
"So that's how it works."
He immediately opened his status.
[Name: Kenzo Hasegawa]
[Race: Human]
[Level: 1]
[Experience: 20/100]
Kenzo smiled.
"Finally."
He looked at the puddle where the slime had disappeared.
"Now I can actually start leveling."
He glanced toward the darkness ahead.
The rusty sword rested firmly in his hand.
His expression became excited.
"If one Level 1 slime gives me twenty EXP..."
He smiled.
"Then I only need four more."
Kenzo started walking deeper into the dungeon.
For the first time since arriving in this strange world, he finally had a goal.
Level up.
And become stronger.
No matter how long it took.