Capítulo 13: Hallucination Or Problem? (2)
Linus walked briskly through the bustling London airport with his parents, his mind racing. He needed to clear up what the whole thing with the system display was about. Since waking up after fainting he hadn't been able to be alone for awhile so since the next flight wasn't going to depart in another hour he decided he had time to himself now.
"I need to use the toilet," Linus said, trying to sound casual.
Marie nodded, distracted by her conversation with Mats about their plans, and Klara didn't seem to notice Linus breaking away either.
Slipping into the restroom, Linus sighed with relief at having no questions thrown at him. He quickly ducked into one of the fully enclosed stalls, locking the door behind him. He needed to check the system again, to see if it was real or if it was just a figment of his imagination.
Sitting down, Linus stared into space, trying to focus. Almost immediately, the familiar floating window appeared in front of him, clear and detailed, just as it had been since that moment he hit his head.
[Linus Edberg]: Level 1
[Exp]: 0/100
Linus furrowed his brows. The system was still here, still vivid. It wasn't fading away like a dream. He hesitated for a moment before pressing on the line that showed his experience points, hoping it would give him more information.
To his surprise, a new line of text appeared instantly:
Can upgrade 1 stat by 1 grade every level up. Example: F- > F.
Linus blinked, feeling a jolt of shock. This wasn't his imagination—there were rules and mechanics in place, like in a game. It responded to his input, which meant… this system might actually be real.
"Okay, okay, calm down," he muttered under his breath, his heart racing. Maybe it was still possible that his mind was just playing tricks on him, showing him what he expected. But he wasn't sure. He needed to dig deeper.
"Let's check the stats," he said softly, more to himself than anyone else. He focused on the main stats page, and as if responding to his thoughts, the categories expanded to show subcategories, each one more detailed than before.
[Physicals]: D
- Strength: E-
- Stamina: E+
- Agility: B-
[Pitching]: F-
- Control: F-
- Velocity: F-
- Break: F-
[Fielding]: F
- Fielding: F-
- Arm strength: E-
- Arm Accuracy: F-
- Reactions: F+
[Batting]: F-
- Contact: F-
- Power: F-
- Bunt: F-
[Mentals]: E
- Clutch: E
- Vision: E
- Discipline: F+
Linus stared at the breakdown of stats. This system was clearly related to baseball. His mind raced as he read through each stat, each subcategory.
"Why baseball?" he asked himself quietly, trying to make sense of it. The only connection he could think of was that he had played baseball for the first time recently. Was that the trigger? He remembered the impromptu game he joined during his vacation in the U.S., where Liam had needed a last-minute player. Could that experience have somehow triggered this bizarre system?
'Or maybe it was because he hit his head? …The bystander did say that I got hit by a baseball player'. Maybe this was some kind of mental reaction to the injury?
"Is it because I played baseball, or because of the accident?" Linus muttered, shaking his head in disbelief. It felt too coincidental, but at the same time, it made some kind of weird sense. He'd been coming into contact with baseball a lot lately, and now, here was a system focused entirely on the sport.
The more he thought about it, the more questions flooded his mind. Why him? He wasn't even that serious about baseball. Sure, he'd had fun playing that one game, but he'd never imagined himself as a baseball player. Yet now, it seemed like the system was pointing him in that direction.
Linus leaned back against the stall door, trying to process everything. If the system was real, and it was guiding him toward baseball, what did that mean for his future? Would he have to commit to the sport to see where this system led him?
Linus reminded himself that it still wasn't confirmed whether the system was real or not. Sure, it looked convincing, and the way it responded to his thoughts was strange, but that didn't mean it wasn't just some odd side effect from hitting his head. He needed more proof. Sitting in the small stall, he continued studying the display, trying to figure out how it worked.
"So I can upgrade my stats when I level up," he thought, staring at the screen in front of him, "but how would I even get experience points?"
As if in response, the system flickered, and a new message appeared before him.
[*First Mission*]
- Mission: Join a baseball team
- Reward: 50 Exp
Linus blinked at the text, his heart racing. A mission? Like something straight out of a video game. He looked at the mission window, still processing what it was asking of him. Join a baseball team? In Sweden?
He frowned, realizing that he didn't even know if baseball teams existed back home. Sure, he knew baseball was huge in the U.S., but in Sweden? He had never seen anyone play, let alone heard of any local teams.
How was he supposed to complete this mission if he didn't even know where to start?
Leaning back against the stall door, Linus let out a sigh. There were probably some baseball teams back home but he didn't want to spend a long time in the toilets in case it made his parents worried that he fainted again or something.
"Looks like this will have to wait," he muttered to himself, closing the display with a sigh. As intriguing as it was, there was no way to move forward just yet.
Presentes
-- Presente
recebido Status de energia semanal
-- Ranking de
Poder 
-- Pedra de
Poder