He didn't sleep that night.
Not for lack of trying because he lay in bed for hours staring at the ceiling replaying everything, the alien's teeth, the way glass felt going into flesh, the sound it made dying, none of it seemed real but his torn shirt and the scratches on his back said otherwise.
Around three in the morning he gave up and just sat there in the dark watching the notifications in his vision.
[Level: 2]
[XP: 50/200]
[Skill Points: 1]
'Status.'
The word came without thinking and suddenly the air in front of him lit up with a display only he could see.
[User: Rell]
[Age: 16]
[Level: 2]
[XP: 50/200]
[Stats]
[STR: 8 (+2)]
[AGI: 10 (+2)]
[VIT: 7 (+1)]
[INT: 12]
[PER: 9]
[Skills]
[Absorb - Locked, Requires Level 5]
[Scan - Active, Detects non-human entities within range]
[Skill Points: 1]
[Store: Locked, Requires Level 3]
'This is insane.'
He waved his hand through the display, it didn't react and just floated there anchored to his vision, stats like a video game, a level system, skills to unlock.
His father built this, somehow, with alien technology he apparently collected for thirty years.
'What the hell were you doing down there, Dad?'
No answer, the System gave information not conversation.
He looked at his stats for Strength, Agility, Vitality, Intelligence, Perception, the bonuses must come from leveling up and yeah he did feel stronger and faster, the emergency boost wore off but something stayed.
'Skill Points. What do I do with those?'
[Skill Points can be used to unlock new abilities or enhance existing ones. View available skills?]
'Yeah.'
[Available Skills]
[Combat]
[Enhanced Reflexes - Passive, +15% reaction speed. Cost: 1 SP]
[Pain Resistance - Passive, Reduces pain perception by 20%. Cost: 1 SP]
[Combat Analysis - Active, Provides real-time tactical feedback. Cost: 2 SP]
[Utility]
[Night Vision - Passive, See clearly in low light. Cost: 1 SP]
[Language Processing - Passive, Understand non-human languages. Cost: 2 SP]
[Inventory - Active, Store items in dimensional pocket. Cost: 3 SP]
[Locked - Higher Level Required]
[Absorb - Level 5]
[Store Access - Level 3]
[???]
'Enhanced Reflexes.'
He selected it without much debate, faster reactions meant dodging claws and considering six more of those things were out there somewhere dodging seemed important.
[Skill Acquired: Enhanced Reflexes (Passive) - +15% reaction speed]
[Skill Points: 0]
Something shifted in his brain, not painful just present, like suddenly knowing how to do something he never learned.
He moved his arm experimentally, faster, he could feel the difference.
'This is so messed up.'
---
Morning came with sunlight through the blinds and the smell of something burning.
He found his mom in the kitchen staring at a pan of eggs that turned to charcoal, she didn't seem to notice and just stood there holding the spatula with eyes somewhere else.
"Mom?"
She flinched, "Oh. Honey. I was just... the eggs..."
"I got it," he took the pan from her, scraped the mess into the trash, started over, "Go sit down. I'll handle breakfast."
"I should be the one taking care of you. You're the one who, last night, with your father..."
"I'm fine."
She wasn't, her hands were shaking and her eyes were red from crying she tried to hide, the funeral didn't even happen yet and she was already falling apart.
'And I can't tell her any of this. The alien. The fight. The six more on the way.'
He made eggs properly and toast, set a plate in front of her, she picked at it without really eating.
"The school called," she said eventually, "They said you can take as much time as you need."
"I'll go back tomorrow."
"You don't have to..."
"I know," he didn't want to actually, but sitting around the house waiting for aliens to show up seemed worse, "Being normal might help. Isn't that what they say?"
She almost smiled, "When did you grow up so fast?"
'Probably around the time I killed something with broken glass.'
"Just trying to help."
She reached across the table and squeezed his hand, "I don't know what I'd do without you."
'You almost found out last night.'
He squeezed back and didn't say anything.
---
After breakfast his mom went to lie down and he went outside.
[Daily Mission: Physical Training]
[Requirements: 50 pushups, 50 situps, 2km run]
[Reward: 20 XP, +1 VIT]
'Of course there's a daily mission. Because this is apparently a video game now.'
He found a spot behind the house and got started, fifty pushups with terrible form but he pushed through, fifty situps that were easier than expected with the stat boost, then the run, two kilometers through the neighborhood until his lungs burned.
[Daily Mission Complete]
[Reward: 20 XP]
[VIT +1 (Permanent)]
The difference was immediate, less winded, recovering faster, his body was actually improving from exercise in measurable ways.
'This is cheating. This has to be cheating.'
Not that he was going to complain.
---
The rest of the day blurred together, neighbors stopping by with casseroles and condolences, the funeral home calling about arrangements, his mom crying then apologizing for crying then crying again.
He handled what he could and stayed out of the way otherwise all while tracking the six blips at the edge of his Scan.
They didn't get closer, just sitting there, watching.
[Query: Analyze hostile entities?]
'Yeah.'
[Analysis: Hostile entities maintain distance. Behavior suggests reconnaissance phase. Awaiting confirmation of target status before engagement.]
'They're trying to figure out what happened to their friend.'
[Correct. Estimated time before active engagement: 12-48 hours.]
Twelve to forty-eight hours, not a lot of time.
'How do I get stronger fast?'
[Recommendations: Complete daily missions for stat accumulation. Engage in combat for XP and potential skill acquisition. Reach Level 3 to unlock Store function for equipment and ability purchases.]
The Store, he saw that in the skill menu locked until Level 3, weapons, gear, maybe things that would keep him alive.
Right now he had a broken piece of glass and muscles that ached from situps.
'How much XP to get to Level 3?'
[Current XP: 70/200. Required for Level 3: 200 XP. Deficit: 130 XP.]
A hundred thirty more XP, daily missions gave twenty, killing that alien gave fifty.
'So I need to kill more of them.'
The System didn't respond, it didn't need to, the math was obvious.
---
That night he sat on his bed watching the Scan display, six dots scattered across the city, the closest one was 2.3 kilometers away.
His mom was downstairs staring at the TV without seeing it, the funeral was in two days, school started tomorrow.
And somewhere out there six things that wanted him dead were waiting.
[Alert: Entity approaching residence. Estimated arrival: 6 hours.]
His stomach dropped, one of the dots was moving.
Six hours before it got here.
He looked at his stats, Level 2, Enhanced Reflexes, a Scan ability that told him something was coming but not how to stop it.
[Recommendation: Intercept hostile entity before arrival at residence. Protect biological parent. Eliminate threat.]
'I have to do this. If it gets here, it'll find Mom.'
He grabbed a hoodie, checked on his mom who was asleep on the couch with the TV still on, and slipped out the back door.
Six hours, that's all he had to figure out how to not die.