The Hero System - Chapter 4

City 0.

An estate spread for tens of kilometers. Everyone who looked at it from far will feel its magnificence. In the biggest courtyard of the estate, in a wide room with many bookshelves and a study desk, sat a middle-aged man.

The man had a blonde hair and green eyes. He was reading a book silently. His face had wrinkles due to age. However, his eyes said that he was still in top shape.

“Sir.” A shadow appeared inside the room.

“Mm. Did you find them?” The man closed his book and looked at the shadow with expectant eyes.

“Sorry Sir, the lady hid their tracks too well. She probably changed her looks and name too.” The shadow replied apologetically.

“Very well. You may leave.” The man’s expression sank and said without looking at the shadow. The shadow disappeared.

The man sat in his chair and gazed at the flickering flames in the fireplace. He sighed. Sadness and regret could be seen all over his face.

‘Holy Shit, I leveled up?!’ Jonah stood there staring blankly at his stats.

[Name: Jonah Region.]

[Age: 16]

[Level: 2]

[Experience points: 0/20]

[Upgrade Points: 8]

[Vitality: 11]

[Stamina: 10]

[Strength: 7]

[Agility: 9]

[Resistance: 4]

[Intelligence: 12]

[Charm: 9]

[Spirit: 16]

“Here, eat breakfast.” His mother handed over a plate of boiled eggs and toast. Jonah placed them on the table and started eating.

‘System, how did I level up?’

[The User completed a challenge and leveled up.]

When Jonah heard this, he hurriedly opened his Hero Menu. A penal appeared.

[Challenge: Help One Person. Reward: Experience Point.]

[Challenge: Save Four People. Reward: Level Up. Cleared: 0/4.]

[Challenge: Capture One Villain. Reward: Experience Point.]

[Challenge: Kill One Villain. Reward: Level Up.]

‘Indeed I cleared the second challenge and it changed. I now have to save four people to level up?’

[Correct. They can be saved together or separately.]

‘Then how come I don’t remember saving someone?’

[The User’s actions saved someone in the previous Quest.]

‘You mean Was someone supposed to die? Then why did I have to flood the school? Couldn’t I just report the gas leak?’ Jonah frowned. Was this system stupid?

[System has decided the best course of action at that moment. The system analyzed and concluded that any other methods would have only 70% success rate.]

When Jonah heard this, he was slightly convinced. Even though he just obtained this system, he still managed to figure out how capable it is.

‘Maybe if I reported, the maintenance team would only come the next day and someone might have already gone into the labs and got hurt Still, I can just level up through saving someone indirectly?’

[The User’s actions were to avoid damage, thus saving people. For example, if the user ever foiled the plans of villains, he would also gain rewards.]

Jonah understood now. The system is trying to encourage him to save others before they get into danger. Thus, saving them. With this, Jonah wouldn’t be a hero who only shows at the last moment to save the day. He’d also have to work in the shadows protecting the people.

With this conclusion, Jonah admired the system even more. For some reason, he felt his mentality also became a hero like when he leveled up. With this kind of system giving him the strength he needs to help people, he will always have the strength to stand for his principles.

“Okay. I need to go. The doctor said you need to rest more just in case.” His mother smiled and said. She then walked out and headed to work.

‘Okay. I should decide how to allocate these points.’ Jonah glanced at his Upgrade Points.

He got 8 points for leveling up. He also had 8 attributes. Maybe that means he can go with an all-rounder upgrade? Upgrade everything?

However, Jonah decided against it. The effect would be minimum if he distributed his points like that. Right now, his goal is to get the common skill reward.

‘Maybe I should just pour them all on intelligence? It would help me with my exams’ Jonah thought.

He didn’t really care about the exams in the past. However, he had a reason to do so. Still, he felt it would be a waste just to upgrade his intelligence.

‘System, what do I need to upgrade to increase my mental endurance?’ Jonah didn’t know if he should increase his spirit or his stamina.

[Spirit. Stamina is for physical fatigue.]

With this, Jonah made up his mind. He will allocate his points into Spirit and Intelligence. He opened his status panel and pressed the up bottom near the two attributes.

[Name: Jonah Regon.]

[Age: 16]

[Level: 2]

[Experience points: 0/20]

[Upgrade Points: 0]

[Vitality: 11]

[Stamina: 10]

[Strength: 7]

[Agility: 9]

[Resistance: 4]

[Intelligence: 18]

[Charm: 9]

[Spirit: 18]

Jonah looked at his stats with satisfaction. However, his vision blurred the next moment and he fainted.

“Jonah”

“Jonah”

Jonah woke up by his mother’s gentle voice. He jolted awake and looked around. The window revealed the night sky.

“Why did you sleep on the floor like that? That’s not healthy.” His mother said.

“Sorry, I was too tired.”

“Okay. Let me make you dinner.” His mother stood up and went to the kitchen.

‘System, what happened?’

[The user needs to be asleep to upgrade. The time required to upgrade at Lvl.2 is 9 hours. The time would decrease every time you level up.] The System said. Jonah frowned. He didn’t expect the system to have such a flaw.

‘Flaw? What am I expecting? This is real life, not a game If it could upgrade my body instantaneously, that would be the weird thing.’ Jonah shook his head. With how the system works, he lost himself thinking this was a game.

With this procedure to upgrade, Jonah can’t upgrade mid-battle. He needs to make his preparations first. However, he can still increase his stats in mid-battle without upgrading. Just like how his spirit went up by one point before. However, that would be his body changing, not the system changing it.

After his upgrade, Jonah could feel his thinking process getting faster and more accurate. Since he slept for 9 hours, he can just stay the night studying.

After eating, Jonah picked up his history textbook and started to read. He felt his memorization became even easier and he could store, classify, and analyze at the same time.

After an hour, Jonah finished his book. All of it memorized and good to go. Going by this base, he can smoothly complete the side-quest.

‘Damn does this mean that I can achieve perfect scores from now on? Maybe I can get into the best university in the city I can even get into the best university in one of the major cities! Or even the grand cities!’

Jonah felt excited. This system might really change his life. He can find ways to get money after he increases his attributes. With this, he can get a better life for him and his mom. They can even leave this city!

Jonah never left this city. When he was 2, his father died. Not that he remembers how, but his mother said it was a car accident. They were then pressured by their relatives which made his mother take him and immigrate to Cosan city. And ever since he was two, they lived in this city. Specifically, this apartment.

[Ding! New Quest.]