Skill Overdose

Present Time

SMACK

Liam face-palmed.

"I just realized..." Liam mumbled as he recalled his memories three years ago.

"...I've gone f*cking mad that day." He then shaked his head aimlessly to clear his memories forget his memories of that day.

'I think my skills... Everything started four years ago. I don't think that I received my regeneration at that time,'

Liam started to think about his regeneration skill again then continued to strip the bandages that is wrapped on his torso.

'But it's still a good thing to try recalling something with my Hyperthymesia skill 'cause it's really vivid.'

He was really pleased that he had received a good skill from the system that he can use for great things. Afterwards, He started recall his memories from four years ago.

_______

Four Years Ago

11:20

"Huwaaaah..."

Liam was finally sleeping after his hard time studying and finishing his homeworks.

"Finally getting to sleep and relax." He lied down on top of his bed and while looking at the ceiling, he was thinking of something that happened to him and then he let out a heavy sigh.

'It's been a year since mom and dad died. I already accepted their death but... I still feel a bit of sorrow lingering inside my heart... Or something worse than sorrow.'

He then closed his eyes to be relaxed and be freed from the negative thoughts.

12:00

DING

Liam was sleeping peacefully when a loud chime suddenly sounded.

He immediately got up and looked at his surroundings. He felt an eerie feeling that made him a bit frightened.

'What the hell is that sound. I think it came from my mind but... It was really loud.'

"You will be given a random skill. Be prepared for the side effects later."

Liam trembled for a moment the instance he heard a female robotic voice inside his mind.

"Imparting the skill."

"What the f-" Before he even continue his curse an intense pain is surging through his head.

"HUWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!! GYAAAARGH!"

THUD!

Liam fell over to the floor. He is screaming in agony and clutching his head tight.

"Keuk! F*ck! Shiiiit! AAAAAAAARGG! AAAH! F*ck! F*ck! F*CK!!"

After a minute of suffering, the pain is still active and surging all over his head that his blood is starting to leak from his nose.

Liam stood up even though he is still experiencing the intense pain in his head. The pain is also the reason of why he stood up. He looked around his room and stared at a plain wall.

He took one step towards the wall. Then another step. And after another step he started to run with his head bent down and pointing at the wall.

"NO F*CKING PAIN! NO GAIN!"

SLAM!

A loud sound was made by a solid thing that hit the wall hard.

It was the head of Liam that had hit the wall.

And now his whole face was soaked in blood. With the headache starting to fade away, his consciousness is also dissipating.

His body is slowly bending backwards and his feet is trembling that is showing a sign that it will collapse in any moment. But before he fell to the ground, the voice earlier spoke inside his mind again.

"The system is currently preparing a skill to give to the host."

Even though Liam's consciousness is slowly fading away, his mind is still working properly. And he heard the voice clearly.

He was in the middle of falling and then once again a voice spoke in his mind.

"The system has given you the Athletic skill. It's an active skill and can be activated by sayi-"

THUD!

Liam fell to the ground. And his consciousness is completely dissipated.

Later that day.

Liam finally woke up. It is already afternoon and the first thing he did after waking up is to touch his face and check the wound he got from banging his head into a solid wall.

But he didn't feel any liquid on his head and he didn't feel any wounds that could hurt if touched.

"Is it a... Dream? N-no, Definitely not. I can't be feeling any intense pain from a dream," He was still puzzled of the fact that so many bad things had happened in just a minute or so earlier pass midnight.

"B-but where is the blood? I slammed my head right?" He stood up and looked at himself in the mirror.

There is not even a scratch that can be seen from his head.

'How!? I definitely got an open wound and a lot of blood gushing down to my face.'

He turned around then walked on his bed and sat on the side of it.

'And that voice. I can stil remember it clearly. The skill... The athletic skill... What can it do?'

Liam decided to put the thoughts away for a moment then he went downstairs to find something to eat. He didn't find any food in the kitchen so he went out to the groceries.

Before finding a grocery, He stopped at an ATM and checked his bank account that was previously his parents'. The amount of cash that in his bank account is over five hundred dollars.

"M-my money... Its almost gone. My parents left me a three thousand dollar cash and now there is only two hundres hundred dollars left. How can I continue to live with this." He let out a sigh then continued to find a grocery. He really hates that he is a Big Spender.

Half an hour later, Liam got to find a grocery near a park that was almost half of a city away from his town.

After buying some things to eat, He went to the park so that he can be quite relaxed since he gone out too far away from his home.

He then found a bench to sit on. The bench was in front of a perfect circle pond so its a nice view for him while eating his instant noodles.

After finishing his food, he stood up and walked in front of the pont. It was really beautiful with its perfect circle shape and its bluish color. He suddenly wants to go around the pond just to see its own beauty and to get some fresh air but he thought that he don't have a good stamina to run for a long time and distance. It's not like that he is an Athlete or something.

'Wait. An Athlete. Athletic.'

Liam remembered that he have received a skill called Athlete. Well, that's what the voice in his head said to him.

'Let's say that I really have the skill and I activated it. Will I become an athlete who has a good stamina and agility or will I know how to be athletic like playing sporting events.'

He is currently thinking deep and imagining some things. He hates thinking something irritating but he really likes thinking something satisfying so he is just continuously thinking what happened in the midnight earlier.

'Okay. I'm really good at imagining things but its just an imagination. However, this time I will try to do my imagination. It sounds crazy though.

Liam then decided to try it. Not just from his imagination but to this real life. He thought that nothing can happen if he just try it.

If it doesn't work he would just forget the things that had happened last night including the voice and the time he hit his head, thinking that it was just a vivid and painful dream but if it does work...

"Then it would be really great. And I would be like a player in a game with only one skill. haha." He released a short laugh then let out a heavy sigh.

'I must be going crazy.'

"Athletic." Liam said it with a faint voice.

As soon as he said the word "Athletic", something is happening to his body.

His whole body feels somewhat lighter than earlier and it's still getting lighter. A strange feeling is happening to all of his muscles like a hundreds of so small bugs are crawling inside his flesh and making his body lighter.

Liam looked all over his body. He was surprised and a bit scared by the fact that his imagination somehow became real.

"W-what is thi- No. I... I must try this skill. It will definitely beneficial for me in the future." Liam said with great really wanted this to happen since he started imagining something like it.

Since his parents passed away, he thought to himself everyday that he have to be independent. But his independence has been dragged down by his lack of talent, wisdom and skills. He was never been so good at everything.

Finding a part-time job is really hard for him. With his below average stamina, agility and strength that even a job of moving heavy things is making him tired so easily.

If not for the fact that he always had to get help from his best friend Ian, who has a wealthy family, he would definitely not be studying at school today. The cash in his parents' bank account is enough for the food and some utilities for him to live in a whole year.

It was truly a hard time. He wanted to beat the talent and get some skills to learn and use but... how can he? He can't get a skill just by idling around, studying at his school and finding jobs can he? With all of the hard things in his life, he was living with despair in his heart.

But now that he got a skill for only a cost of an intense pain. How could he not take it and use it.

WHOOSH

Liam immediately ran. He decided to go around the pond like he had previously wanted and now he is currently running really fast.

In just a second he is now at a distance of approximately 4.5 meters from where he was earlier, with a single step that moved for over 1 meter and his stamina is barely decreasing.

With the Athletic skill, He is just as fast as an a.d.u.l.t, who always use to jogged everyday in the morning. And compared to him without the skill, he was just lile a weak child running for something stupid.

'I'll definitely use this skill to turn my life better.'

Since that day, Liam always used the Athletic skill every day. When he have free time, he uses it to jog in the morning so he can get his stamina and health better, Sometimes when going to school he uses it so that he can save money and with the skill he can now work in some lifting part-time job.

He once uses it to run in an event called "Junior Marathon". It was a smaller version of a marathon with a distance of 10km but he won the 2nd place. Even though he could not win to an athletic 19 years old, who had gotten the 1st place, he was still pleased because he received a prize money.

Even if it's still a small amount of money that he got from his own work it was enough for him to tell to himself that he can live independently.

_______

Present Time

Liam smiled as he recalled the beggining of his comfortable life four years ago.

But suddenly, he remembered something.

"W-wait! Five years ago. In the warehouse. I was buried under the ruins right?" Liam thought the time that the warehouse exploded but he was safe and sound.

'That means that there was a really high and a frightening chance that I would get pierced, squashed or get burned by something from the whole mess that day. It's not like I have a godly luck that I was in the last chance so that means that... I regenerated at that time.'

Liam just realized that he was so stupid enough to not know about the regeneration skill.

"Hm? So the Project-X that day... Is the godly "System" that I currently have right now. I really am a living lab rat." He recalled the time when he was in the gigantic glass box and the things he had heard from the gigantic monitor. The Project-X is inside him.

PWISH

The bandages that was fully covering Liam earlier is nowhere to be seen in his body. He toss it at the trash can near the door then he stood up and walked in front of a huge mirror.

He is wearing a patient wear that he saw from under his bed earlier. A sky-blue pajama and long sleeve shirt.

He grabbed the cloth on the shoulder part then he slid it down.

What he saw was a big scar on his shoulder.

"Hm? So grave injuries leave a scar." Liam said then he quickly slid it back.

He looked around the room to find something.

'As expected of a VIP room, there is also a small closet here. I wonder if Ian would pay for this or he would just spout some things that will make the staff frighted. hehe'

Liam picked out the black sweatshirt and a white pants from the closet then he immediately wore them. He then walked away from it.

CREAK

Liam opened the door and looked outside but he don't see someone so he slowly step outside the door. He changed the door sign that is exclusive for VIP members to "Do not disturb for 1 hour." so he was sure that no one, not even doctors can be able to go inside his room for 1 hour.

He grabbed the hood from his back then he slid it to the front. Half of his face is now covered with it.

'I will now go to the dead guy and get some skills for myself. Fast and Stealthy.'