Zachary pushed himself up from the hospital bed, his muscles still stiff from whatever had happened inside the dungeon.
The moment his body lifted, a sharp pain shot through his abdomen like a blade twisting inside him.
"—!" he winced, his body curling slightly as he grabbed his side.
But just as quickly as it came—
It vanished.
Zachary froze.
Slowly, he removed his hand from his abdomen and patted it cautiously, expecting the pain to return. Nothing. Not even a dull ache remained.
"What…?" he muttered under his breath, confusion creeping in.
Then—
The system flickered.
-[Recovery successful, points spent: 8]-
-[Increasing 'Recovery' by 2 points]-
Zachary's eyes widened slightly as the rest of the panel updated in front of him.
-[Stats]-
-[Strength: 29 points]-
-[Agility: 16 points]-
-[Recovery: 25 points]-
-[Durability: 10 points]-
-[Mana: 29 points]-
-[Casting speed: 35 points]-
"Wait, wait, wait," Zachary said quickly, raising a hand as if he could physically stop the screen. "How do these 'points' even work?"
The system responded instantly.
-[Points are used to determine the user's usage of these stats. Example: the more strength in an attack, the more points you use…]-
Zachary narrowed his eyes, reading carefully.
-[To increase these stats, you must perform specific actions]-
One by one, the conditions appeared.
-[Strength: training for an increase in points by 10]-
-[Agility: running for an increase in points by 10]-
-[Recovery: injure Yourself]-
-[Durability: get hit by any form of attacks for an increase in points by 10]-
-[Mana and casting speed: enter dungeons for an increase in points by 10]-
Zachary blinked.
Then blinked again.
"…Injure myself?" he repeated slowly, his tone flat.
"And durability is just…
getting attacked?" he added, staring at the screen like it had personally offended him.
The system didn't respond emotionally.
It simply continued.
-[Warning! Each time your points increase, the points you gain will decrease by 0.10]-
Zachary exhaled slowly, rubbing the back of his neck.
"So it gets harder over time… great," he muttered.
Still, his eyes sharpened slightly.
Because despite how insane it sounded—
It was clear.
Simple.
A path forward.
Then—
He noticed something.
A small arrow.
Pointing downward.
"…What now?" he whispered, his curiosity getting the better of him.
His finger hovered for a second.
Then—
Click.
The screen shifted.
A single line appeared.
-[Kairoth also gifted you an 'Undead' as a parting gift]-
Zachary blinked.
"Gift…? Undead?" he repeated, confused.
Then—
It clicked.
His mind flashed back to the dungeon.
The skeletal mage.
The overwhelming presence.
"Ohhh… the skeleton mage," he said, realization hitting him. "That was an undead…"
His gaze dropped back to the screen.
A new line appeared beneath it.
-[Unnamed Undead, name this undead to summon]-
Zachary stared at it.
For a moment, he didn't speak.
His finger hovered again.
A name.
That's all it needed.