Chapter 8: Status
For several minutes, he sat motionless on the floor, leaning against the cold wall, listening to the distant wails echoing from beyond the balcony. Adam drew in a slow breath, as if trying to confirm this wasn’t a dream. And that’s when he realized something strange.
Despite everything he had just been through... his body didn’t hurt. His muscles didn’t burn, his wounds didn’t throb. He felt... fresh. Like he’d been reborn. The only trace of fatigue was a heaviness in his head, as if his brain had burned through every ounce of energy it had.
It was unnatural.
"It must be that damn... Essence Record again," he thought. He didn’t really know what it was. A system? A being? A mechanism of the universe? He didn’t understand. But ever since it appeared, everything had changed.
Maybe the Essence Record was the reason he didn’t feel pain. Maybe it was affecting his body, his regeneration, his vital functions. Or maybe it was all just an illusion? The thought wouldn’t leave him alone.
With a moment of genuine peace finally within reach, Adam knew it was time to check what he had actually gained. What changes had taken place in his body since that first kill. How those stats—glimpsed only briefly during life-or-death moments—actually worked.
"Status" he whispered, unsure if it would do anything.
The space before him trembled. The air thickened for a fraction of a second, and then a familiar, semi-transparent window of data appeared:
Name: Adam
Level: 3
Race: Human