Screaming my head off in a monster-infested forest was the dumbest thing in all the system worlds. But when someone goes to town on your body with a hot poker, you try to keep it down.

  Eventually, after an eternity of suffering, the misery ended. I found myself prone on the ground, the wet grass cool against my face, my breath ragged. I felt spent and was coming down from the greatest pain I had ever experienced.

  There I lay, vulnerable to any wandering monster to devour. A tasty meal sprawled across the wet ground. But through the tender mercies of the Gaming Gods TM, nothing ate me. It was a while until I was well enough to stand, but I reclaimed some dignity and stature. Wheezing and with a killer headache, I sent a mental command to find out if it was all worth it.

  [Level: 1]

  [Health: 50/50]

  [Stamina: 50/50]

  [Attributes:]

  [Force: 12]

  The sweet voice of Jenny as she detailed my status was music to my ears. All that pain was worth it; all that work paid off. I had done it, me and Jenny had done it. We had integrated an entirely new system.

  The idea sent a thrill down my spine as the truth of the situation unfolded. I was a system-integrated being, capable of levelling up, getting classes and skills.

  Lost in this glory, another truth soured it. I wasn't truly system integrated; this was just some ad hoc, kludged together program me and Jenny cooked up. There were no classes, no skills, no magic. By the system, I didn't even have mana circuits. Dejected, I sank into despair. That was before I realised that my force attribute was way higher.

  "It was twelve now, does that mean I am stronger?" I questioned someone.

  Jenny gave the good old yes, from some movie I had forgotten, but the actor was very enthusiastic. Eager to test my new power, I wondered why I didn't feel stronger. There were no visible changes on brief inspection. But I supposed that made sense. This new attribute didn't make me physically stronger, just made it so I could exert more strength than normal.

  "So who shall be my first victim and feel the full power of twelve points in force?" Naturally, no one volunteered since this part of the forest seemed devoid. "Fine then, these poor trees shall face my wrath."

  Giddy and with a little pep in my step, I approached a medium-sized tree. Pondering how to destroy my wooden foe, I decided on the old boxer's jab. Warming up for the strike, I felt like Ali ready for a knockout punch. Ducking and weaving phantom strikes, I readied my destructive jab.

  Fist clenched, power radiating throughout my body, or at least I imagined that. I ducked another phantom strike and let loose the dogs of war. The blow was magnificent. It shook the tree like a shockwave of carnage, punching a hole deep into the bark. Sadly, not enough to topple the great oak, but enough that good old bark was down for the count.

  The adrenaline coursing through my veins set my heart racing. But as my heart slowly descended, and the thrill waned, the pain came back in full force. Nothing like the suffering I endured to attain this power, but something more concentrated.

  The throbbing in my fist told me exactly what had happened. I felt a scream coming on again, but quickly slammed my mouth closed, biting my lip. Getting a good look at the mangled and fractured fist. It became clear what had occurred.

  "I broke my hand." I squealed as softly as I could.

  What followed was a bit of a blur. It was mostly cursing, some more cursing, some first aid, and me sulking inside a hollowed tree. Cradling my hand like it's a little bird with a broken wing. I was sure Jenny was pitying me, and Jeremy probably found my antics funny.

  "I guess the first test was both a success and a failure. No matter, just need to work the problem." Sadly, the abysmal lack of any remaining XP meant I couldn't integrate any new attributes to fix this. "I need some constitution attribute, something that reinforces the body and maybe heals my hand."

  Making such an attribute would be tricky; it interacts with way too many physical processes. Oh, I wish I had a medical degree and a fully charged divinity dynamo. But alas, I had to work with what I got.

  "But I am in luck, my feline and female anthropomorphised artificial construct friends. I come prepared, or at least the home office's first aid kits do."

  Withdrawing the kit from my bag, the generic red cross logo, which showed just how much Earth culture affected the home office. Sometimes I wondered why the office had adopted such a mana-low world's way of doing things. It was probably the movies and anime. By the Gaming Gods TM, did those earthers make a lot of entertainment.

  Opening the kit, there were the typical articles: bandages, antiseptic, painkillers. Oh, damn, I forgot about those. Without thinking, I took out several of the pills. I would probably go over the recommended dose, but who cares? Besides that didn't matter; only the compartment labelled emergency potion in bold capital letters really mattered.

  Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

  Unlatching the seal, I withdrew one of the glass vials. There were two, and I marvelled at the crimson liquid sloshing around inside. The pain in my hand and wrist made my decision for me. Uncorking the vial, I plopped the painkillers in my mouth and had the potion as a chaser.

  The experience was wonderful; the warm feeling descended from my chest and filtered throughout my body. It was a bit tingly, especially in my hand. And in real time, I saw my shattered wrist slowly knit back together. The jagged bones beneath the flesh were pushed back into place.

  It felt weird, but the pain was receding. Not completely gone but much less. Hopefully, the pills would help ease the rest. Suddenly, a thought occurred to me as I watched the healing process.

  "Jenny, scan my body. I want to see if you can reproduce whatever this healing crap is." I ordered.

  She gave me an affirmative, and I assume scanned my body. Lucky I thought of that as an idea took shape. Perhaps I could create a new attribute to compensate, maybe based on the constitution stat. I guess it was time for another bit of programming.

  Thankfully, it didn't take long for the healing to finish, and my hand was good as new. Again marvelling at the utility of magic, I coveted the last remaining bottle. Sealing it away in the first aid kit and carefully placing it in my bag.

  Needing to recuperate, I leaned back and furiously thought of a solution. But then again I recovered, so I decided I needed some fresh air. I got up and out of my tree and paced back and forth in the grass. It always helped in the thinking process.

  "I would need some sort of healing stat or endurance stat." Thinking about the problem, I spent a little too much time trying to name it. "Resilience — that's a cool attribute name. Just need to mix in a few features to get it working."

  And like clockwork, Jenny completed her scan and detailed a bunch of stuff that made no sense to me. But I got the gist of all the medical, magical mumbo jumbo. It seems the healing potion stimulates and augments the natural healing process. That would explain why I was bloody hungry.

  Withdrawing some stolen jerky from my bag, I began chewing on the meat for a good ten minutes. That sort of helped and made the hunger pangs receded, somewhat. Partially satiated, I had Jenny work up potential solutions, incorporating sped-up healing. If I could get some decent regeneration, I could probably survive the damage.

  But that's just repairing the damage. If the insane newtons are too high, I would die before finishing a punch. My bones, muscles, and organs require some sort of reinforcement. I stopped in my tracks and realised something. I was still under the effects of the coffee. That was a magic tailor-made to increase human speed and would likely have an additional effect on strengthening the body.

  But probably not enough to handle a full-on punch of crazy newtons of force. Before the enhancement ended, I had Jenny scan my body again and take every single drop of data. She would find everything that coffee was doing and turn it into something useful. By the Gaming Gods TM, do I love Jenny.

  [Scan Complete.]

  [Enhanced Reflexes. Effects: Reflex and response times are boosted to support accelerated speeds.]

  [Enhanced Coordination. Effects: Improves finesse, limbs move in sync and with greater fluidity.]

  [Muscle and Bone Densification. Effects: Muscles and bones have enhanced density to support greater speeds.]

  [Vascular Reinforcement. Effects: Strengthens veins and arteries so they can handle rapid pressure.]

  The list went on and on, with so many modifications that I wondered how anyone could make such an effect and stay sane. So much needed to be augmented just to move a little faster.

  "Moment of truth, which of these can be integrated into a Resilience attribute?" I asked.

  She showed Muscle and Bone Densification, Vascular Reinforcement and a slew of others it would take a while to get into. I also had her add in the healing effects of the health potion. By the system I needed regen.

  "Okay, Jenny, what's the damage? How much will that set me back in XP?" I questioned like I had any left.

  [Resilience Attribute. Cost: 100xp]

  The cost was double the strength attribute. Which makes sense, this attribute will need to modify several physical attributes just to even have an effect. The sheer magnitude of the augmentations it performed was staggering. I tasked Jenny with copying and incorporating as many as possible.

  "Well crap, how am I going to get a hundred?" I wondered aloud.

  rating or review to strengthen my story with motivation!

  early access and support the author at .

  Discord — we’ve got snacks and chaos.