March 8, 10:00 pm, Beijing, China

Ding!

[100 Push Ups: 100/100, COMPLETE!]

[Rewards: 1 Strength Stat Point. 500 Exp.]

[Requirements: Complete all Daily Tasks met!]

[Unlock: ??? -u003e Weekly Task!]

[Would you like to begin?]

Irade collapsed on the floor of her bedroom, tired. She did it! She finally did it! 100 Push ups in one day! Suck on that!

She panted, laying on the floor, her small room feeling a little too warm. For some reason, she wasn't sweating, but that didn't mean she wasn't tired. Her arms felt like jelly. But at least it was not as bad as they had been on the first day. Or the second day. Or the third day…

Huh. She turned over, her heavy breathing already lessening. When did it start to get easier, exactly? Now that she thought about it, there wasn't really a specific day she could pick out…

Actually, no. The day she leveled up had been quite surprising, in the sense that it was so easy, and that she got a buff in all stats. From that, she got a sense that all the Daily Tasks got just a little bit easier. Well, for everything except push-ups, each day had been a lot easier than the day before. She could actually run 10 km without stopping now, and in only about an hour.

That sort of improvement could only be attributed to some sort of cheat ability.

Irade sat up and stretched her arms a little. She was wearing her pink, h.e.l.lo Kitty pyjamas already; she had already done homework and everything, and she was really getting ready for bed now. But before that, she checked her stats once more:

[*Arabic Writing*: Level 3]

[HP: 20/20]

[Strength: 7 (+1)]

[Speed: 18]

[Intelligence: 19]

[Agility: 14]

[MP: 28/28]

It had been a week, and all her stats had almost doubled. Her physical capabilities weren't anything superhuman yet (not including her Skill), but her rate of growth definitely was. From someone who would get out of breath after a minute of running, to someone who could finish 10 km in one hour (still getting pretty out of breath though).

After a week of testing, Irade had figured out how the stats affected her body. Strength and Speed were obvious. Agility improved her ability to control her own body how she wanted, improving reaction speed and flexibility (in terms of reaction speed, it was more to do with her body following her already quite high mental reaction speed). HP was directly related to how healthy her body was. The only thing that made it go lower was actual damage to her body. She had tested it by poking herself with a pen; nothing, despite the pain.

One night, she cut her finger a little with a knife, just to see what would happen. Her HP went down little by little, in increments of 0.001, only stopping when the bleeding stopped. Plus, the status 'bleeding' had been written under the HP bar.

MP, of course, was her magic, which she used to use her Skill: [Flight]. She had been practicing at every opportunity she could without drawing attention to herself. There was no Skill Level counter or anything, but she did feel like there was a knack to it. Right now, she could only really float and fly in a certain direction. Complicated movements like flips and high-speed acceleration were beyond her.

But from the way she was improving, Irade had a feeling that these moves weren't impossible.

Luckily for her, it seemed that her stamina wasn't something that was included in these stats, but it had improved along with everything else, thankfully. Maybe it was a hidden stat or something like that.

Okay, enough stalling. She took a deep breath. Time to look at what this [Weekly Task] was.

[Weekly Task: Defeat the Thiljar!]

[Notice: First Weekly Task Unlocked]

[Task must be completed within one hour]

[Task begins in 3:24]

[3:23]

[3:22]

[3:21]

Irade's eyes widened as she absorbed this information. Wait wait wait. Thiljar Fang? Encounter?

That sounded like she was going to fight a monster of some sort. Some sort of monster that would drop and item when she beat it. And given the timer and the time limit, it looked like she had no choice but to do it.

Okay. No problem.

The problem was how would she find a Thiljar in that time?

Irade was already home, in her own room. Her parents would not let her out now, not at this time of night. Not out of concern, of course, but in case something happened to her and their reputation got damaged in the process.

[3:01]

[3:00]

[2:59]

No. Wait.

Irade's eyes grew wide as she considered a much worse possibility.

What if the monster sp.a.w.ned wherever she was? And this timer was just letting her know how much time she had before this Thiljar came along?

[2:55]

[2:54]

[2:53]

Okay, okay. No need to panic. Just calm down. Irade slowed her breathing, trying to get herself to relax as much as possible, to think with a clear mind.

What was the most likeliest possibility?

After a few agonizing seconds, Irade had to admit that it was most likely that the monster would sp.a.w.n when the timer ran out.

Alright.

How to solve the problem?

No, wait. She was getting ahead of herself. Times like these, every step must be taken carefully, otherwise mistakes would be made, and problems wouldn't be solved.

First, what was the problem? In times like this, it's always best to clarify the question in order to get the right answer.

The problem was that a monster was about to sp.a.w.n here.

Why was that a problem? Because it would end up tearing through the building, possibly killing the other people in the apartment, then the building.

So, the problem was actually the possibility of a monster killing other people.

How to solve that problem?

[2:00]

[1:59]

[1:58]

Irade bit her lip as she thought of the simplest solution: get to a place with no other people.

…

Easier said than done.

[1:53]

[1:52]

[1:51]

Okay, okay.

Irade got up, and started pacing around. She needed to be calm, but the countdown wasn't doing much to help with her elevating blood pressure.

So she needed to get to a place with no other people. Well, she only lived in one of the most populous cities in China, so that should only be a little impossible.

No, calm down. Think. Break the problem down, then find solutions.

First, she had to get out of the apartment.

[1:39]

[1:38]

[1:37]

Irade stopped pacing, and looked at the door to her bedroom.

The only way out was the front door. And there was no way for her to sneak out. Her "parents" would hear, and they would not let her.

Although, it wasn't like they would physically stop her. Would they?

Would it be worth it to fight them, just so she could save them from a possible monster?

[1:12]

[1:11]

[1:10]

Maybe as a last resort. But there was no time. Only about a minute! And this was just the first step! She still needed a secluded place where no-one would be able to find her and the monster once she got out!

Was there really nothing she could do?

[0:58]

[0:57]

[0:56]

Irade looked out the window. The city s.h.i.+mmered bright. Her parents gave her this room because it was always too bright, even with the curtains drawn. Irade didn't mind though. She was used to falling asleep in the twinkling lights. Somehow, it made her feel safe and seen.

Wait a second.

"I'm an absolute idiot," Irade muttered to herself.

[0:43]

[0:42]

[0:41]

Irade rushed over to her school bag, and took out a face mask and put it on. Then, she went over to the window and started to force it open. It had been taped shut to keep from the air coming in, since they were on the 12th floor. She hadn't thought of going out through the window for that reason, and also because her parents would probably complain about her letting in polluted air. But better to be scolded the next day than having a confrontation now.

The window opened up on the third pull, letting in the cool air. Without missing a beat, Irade leaped out.

[0:32]

[0:31]

[0:30]

Instinctively, Irade activated her skill.

Now what?

Where to go?

Irade looked at her rapidly depleting MP, panicking. Where would be the closest-

Ah. The roof. Up!

Irade flew up to the top of her building, as fast as she could. The timer and her MP rapidly decreased.

[0:15]

[0:14]

[0:13]

Almost there…!

[0:10]

[0:09]

[0:08]

Made it!

Irade canceled her flight just as she got over the edge of the roof. She stumbled as she landed, falling over and skimming her knee.

"Ow..." she muttered, s.h.i.+vering a little. She was still in her pyjamas, and wearing a face-mask. At least her hair was still tied back.

[0:03]

[0:02]

[0:01]

Right on time. Irade grinned.

With no MP.

Thin clothes.

About to fight a monster.

Irade ungrinned.

[0:00]

Ding!

For a moment, the world seemed to freeze. Irade got up slowly. The smog wasn't too heavy today, and so she could still see a little. At the very least, she could make out the silhouette of the moon. And with all the lights around, she could see in front of her.

She stood there for what felt like ages, basked in the moonlight.

Then she heard it.

"...rooooooouuuuuuuuuuuuuuun…"

It was distant, but she could tell it was loud. Very loud.

"...rooooooooooouuuuuuuuuuuuuuun!"

It was getting closer, but Irade couldn't tell where from.

"Rrroooooooooooooooooouuuuuuuuuun!"

Ah. It was coming from above.

And behind!

Irade instinctively leaped forward.

CRAs.h.!.+

"RRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!!"

Something large and heavy crashed onto where Irade had been a few moments before. She scrambled to get up, and face what had dropped from the sky.

A large, tiger-like beast, with black, leathery wings snarled at her. It's yellow eyes were b.e.s.t.i.a.l, full of rage. It's fangs protruded from it's mouth like tusks, making Irade think of that one saber-tooth tiger character in that one western movie with the mammoth and the sloth.

"RRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!!!"

The winged tiger leaped at her.

"Aw, fu-"