[Main Quest: Survive the Poison (Completed)]
[Rewards: +150 EXP | Poison Resistance | Tier 2 System Functions]
[Ding!]
[LEVEL UP!]
[Level 1 → Level 2]
[+5 Stat Points Awarded]
I blinked at the notifications, pushed myself up from the floor.
I needed to get back to my room before someone discovered me here.
Dawn couldn't be more than a few hours away, and the kitchen staff would arrive early to start breakfast preparations.
Moving carefully, I did one final sweep of the kitchen. Checked the cups—clean and dry, returned to their shelf.
The mortar and pestle washed and sitting exactly where Agnes had left it this morning. The hearth... nothing but ash and dying embers, no trace of the moonflower petals.
Perfect.
I slipped out of the kitchen and made my way back to the stairs. The manor remained silent around me, everyone still deep in sleep.
My room was exactly as I'd left it, door slightly ajar, darkness pressing in from all sides.
I entered and closed the door behind me with a soft click, then locked it from the inside. The spare key went back into its hiding spot in the doorframe.
Only then did I let myself relax slightly.
I stumbled to the bed and collapsed onto it.
"Status," I whispered into the darkness.
Then the familiar cyan panel materialized in front of me.
[Status]
Name: Jin Raith
Age: 15
Class: Debugger (??)
Level: 2
Exp: 50/250
Rank: F
MC (Mana Capacity): 1/50
HP: 97/200
MP: 15/48
STR: 3 (+1)
VIT: -1 (+1)
INT: 45
WIS: 38
AGI: 3 (+1)
LUK: 15
Allocation Points: 5
Active Skill: Debug Vision
Passive Skill: Poison Resistance (Basic)
I stared at the numbers, my brain immediately parsing through the changes.
HP total had jumped from 180 to 200. Good.
MP had increased slightly too.
And my STR, VIT and AGI had gone 1 stat increase too.
The penalties from the poison were gone. Still pathetically low, but not negative anymore. Except one though.
Then my eyes moved to the new skill I got.
[Poison Resistance (Basic)]
[Description: Reduces effectiveness of ingested poisons by 25%. User's body naturally filters and breaks down toxins more efficiently. Does not provide immunity, only resistance.]
[Note: Higher resistance levels can be acquired through repeated exposure or skill upgrades]
So if Vivienne tried to poison me again, it would be 25% less effective. Not immunity, but it would buy me more time and reduce the damage rate.
Better than nothing.
And I still had five unallocated stat points from the level up.
I was tempted to immediately dump them into VIT to get it positive, but I needed to think strategically. Rushing decisions in game design always led to suboptimal builds.
Later. I'll decide later when I'm not half-dead from exhaustion.
I was about to dismiss the status window when I remembered the third reward.
"System," I muttered. "What are Tier 2 System Functions?"
The panel flickered, text reformatting.
[Tier 2 System Functions - UNLOCKED]
[Enhanced Capabilities:]
[Advanced Entity Analysis!]
View detailed information about other people (stats, status effects).
[Expanded System Knowledge!]
Access to broader database of world information Crafting recipes, skill descriptions, material properties Query system for specific information (cooldown: 1 hour).
[Minor String Editing!]
Ability to make small modifications to non-living objects.
Restrictions: Cannot alter magical items above user level.
WARNING: Improper editing may cause system instability.
[Additional functions will unlock at higher tiers!]
I read through the list, my heart rate picking up despite the exhaustion.
Minor String Editing?
I could actually edit things now. Not just view their properties, but change them.
The failed attempt from days ago—when I'd tried to change the silver coins in the chest and gotten a splitting headache—that should work now.
My eyes drifted to the nightstand beside my bed. A simple wooden cup sat there, left over from Agnes's last visit.
Should I test it?
The smart part of my brain—the part that had kept me alive in crunch hell for years—said no. I was exhausted, running on fumes, and needed sleep more than I needed to experiment with new system functions.
But the programmer part of my brain—the part that couldn't leave a new feature untested—was already reaching for the cup.
"Debug Vision."
The familiar interface activated.
[Object Analysis - Wooden Cup]
object_id: "cup_common_03"
type: "container"
material: "oak_wood"
condition: 78/100
capacity: "250ml"
value: 2_copper
I focused on the value field, thinking about editing it.
The text flickered, and suddenly I could see it differently, not just as information, but as something I could manipulate. Like highlighting a variable in code.
I concentrated, trying to change the value from 2_copper to 3_copper.
The number wavered, started to shift.
But—
Pain exploded behind my eyes.
"Argh!"
My hand flew to my face, and when I pulled it away, my fingers were wet.
Red.
Blood was streaming from my nose, dripping onto the blanket.
"What the—"
[WARNING: Insufficient Mana Capacity]
[Edit attempt failed]
[MP: 15/48 → 3/48]
[Mana depletion detected]
I grabbed the edge of the blanket and pressed it to my nose, tilting my head back.
The headache pulsed behind my eyes, sharp, worse than any migraine I'd had from staring at monitors for eighteen hours straight.
"System," I gasped through the pain. "Why did that happen? I have MP left."
The panel flickered again.
[It's because of the insufficient Mana Capacity, Not Mana Pool!]
"What?"
[Your current MC (Mana Capacity) is 1/50 This represents your maximum processing power for magical operations.]
[Host, think of it like this!]
Mana Pool (MP) is the fuel you consume to use skills and Mana Capacity (MC) is the engine that processes that fuel.
It's like a computer system.
MP = RAM (temporary working memory)
MC = CPU (processing power)
Increasing RAM won't make a slow processor faster. You need a better processor to handle complex operations.
[Example:]
If person A with MC 50 casts fireball it will deal damage of 50 HP.
But if person B with MC 25 casts fireball the damage will be 25 HP.
[Your MC of 1 is critically low. Any editing exceeds your processing capacity, causing physical backlash.]
I stared at the explanation, blood still trickling from my nose.
So my mana capacity is basically my CPU speed, and I am running on the equivalent of a potato processor from 90's.
Great. Just great.
"How do I increase MC?" I asked, my voice muffled by the blanket pressed to my face.
[Mana Capacity can be increased through leveling up, specific training exercises (meditation, mana circulation), consuming rare materials that enhance magical channels, class upgrades at certain level thresholds.]
So I couldn't use the editing function for now.
Ah fuck!
The new shiny feature was locked behind a paywall.
Tch.
Typical game design. Give the player a taste of power, then make them work for it.
I sighed.
My head still throbbed with a dull ache, and my MP was down to 3 out of 45.
[MP Regeneration is 1 point per hour during rest]
So I'd be back to full in about forty-two hours. Fantastic.
I dismissed the status window and lay back against the pillow, exhaustion finally winning the war against curiosity.