System Penalty
1104 Words
Warning: Incompletion of the daily quest will result in appropriate levels of punishment.
Hal reflexively let out a long chuckle after confirming the message's contents.
"Ha, haha....can this system be joking with me?"
Was this what the growth and reward stuffing the system was talking about?
"Mere exercises?"
"Pfft!"
"If anyone could get stronger by simply doing a list of exercises, who would be willing to endure so much hardship, then...?"
"Bollocks."
'Urgh, I don't care anymore.' Hal said with slight disgust.
Hal simply lay on his bed as he wordlessly stared at the ceiling.
As he lay there doing nothing, his thoughts ran through all that had happened ever since he had learned about the system.
Everything that has happened since then seemed out of the norm, especially the issue of his survival from that dungeon.
"So what if... ?"
What if something could change?
"Could it help me grow in strength...?"
As his thoughts were filled half with curiosity about the system's strange words, and the other half with uncertain expectations, he decided to give it a shot.
"Ain't got nothing to lose, anyways"
Hal climbed off the bed and stretched himself for a bit, before slightly spreading his legs while he began to squat.
"One, two, three...."
The count started from 'one' and quickly climbed upwards.
".....96, 97, 98, 99, 100."
"Phew!"
Hal let out a long sigh as he flopped down on the floor after barely managing to complete all hundred of the 'squat'.
He waited a few seconds to feel a change in his body but nothing happened.
"Just what the hell was I expecting.....?"
Hal smirked helplessly as he lay on the floor.
"A sudden surge in power?"
"I guess it was all a waste of time, then."
He had to admit, he was a bit convinced by the system message.
It seemed so real, not to mention the strange warnings that hinted at strength coming with a price.
But, he guess it was all for nought.
Hal looked at the floating message, which now showed 'read'.
-[Daily quest: Preparations to become strong] is now available (read)
"Well, what does it matter, huh?"
He hadn't received any energy boost or power increase, other than his legs aching due to the number of times he squatted.
With that, he decided to close the mailbox and get some sleep.
Hal climbed back on the bed as he let out a long yawn. He felt sleepy as if he had pushed himself too hard.
He looked outside the window and could see the sky already dyed the colour of sunset.
"It's late already, huh?"
Hal lay on his bed and easily drifted off into a deep slumber, totally forgetting about the system and its matters.
As Hal softly snored to himself, the needles of the clock hanging on the wall continued to tick away.
Tick, tock.
Tick, tock.
It continued that way until the needles indicated 11:59:55 PM.
Tick, tock, tick.
55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60...
The needles stopped moving precisely as they touched at 12:00:00.
Tti-ring
[You have failed to complete the daily quest, you will be transported to the 'penalty zone' for a set period.]
RUMBLE!!
*****
Hal suddenly felt his back slam against something hard.
His eyes shot right open from the intense pain he felt coming from his back.
"What the f**k!"
Hal quickly looked around himself and could see that he was in a cave-like passage with extremely dark walls that seemed to repel any source of light that landed on them.
"How is this possible?" Hal thought.
He was sleeping on the bed in the hospital, so how could he be here in the middle of God knows where?
As Hal tried to understand the situation, a system message suddenly appeared.
[You have failed to complete the daily quest, you will be transported to the 'penalty zone' for a set period.]
"Ahh"
He belatedly remembered this now.
The system had said something about appropriate levels of 'punishment' for not completing the daily quest.
"How was I supposed to know you weren't joking, huh?"
"You stupid system, just where the heck is this place?"
Ever since he knew about the system, a lot of weird stuff had been happening to him, so Hal couldn't help but curse at the system.
As he continued to cuss at the system, he suddenly heard a low screech.
"Krrrcch!"
"Huh? What was that?"
As soon as he said those words, he could see four pairs of green eyes staring at him from the dark.
"What the!"
Hal was shocked yet managed not to faint, as he could see a giant black hairy spider with two huge pincers emerging from the dark.
Hal anxiously swallowed his saliva.
'This is unreal...'
'This isn't happening...'
'It's all a bad dream...'
'There is absolutely nothing to be worried about.'
Hal closed his eyes, willing the monster to disappear, and he was back at the hospital, but the loud screech coming from the monster jolted him back to reality.
He looked up again and this time around, he could see four red words floating on top of the monster's head.
"....It's just like a monster from a video game."
'The Giant Land Craptor'
Was he dreaming again? Hal thought.
But the message that came next from the system made it clear to him that this wasn't a bad nightmare but his present.
[You have been transported to the 'penalty zone', please survive for the next two hours.]
"Two hours!" Hal shouted.
How was he going to survive against this thing for two hours when...
Unfortunately, the monster didn't give Hal much time to voice his complaints to the system before rushing towards him like a food-deprived individual.
"Krrrrchhh!"
Hal also didn't waste time, as he turned around and ran like crazy while screaming at the top of his lungs.
His feet slammed against the rocky ground as he darted through the narrow cave corridor, the frantic rhythm of his heartbeat loud enough to drown out his thoughts.
The creature's screeches echoed behind him, each one sounding closer than the last.
"I didn't sign up for this!" Hal cried out, dodging a sharp rock that jutted from the wall, nearly tripping over his own foot.
Every nerve in his body screamed in panic, but a flicker of something deeper — raw survival instinct, pushed him forward.
The walls pulsed with a faint glow, revealing more twisted paths ahead, and Hal had no idea where he was going.
He just knew one thing — he had to survive
"This is insane! This is so freaking insane!"
- Writer
