The System's Hold Over Me

It had been a day since Frizz had been stalked. The windows of his room were tightly shut, the thick curtains drawn across them. The same applied to every window in the house—each covered with heavy curtains, further confusing his siblings and father. However, they didn't seem to mind. The curtains were a nice addition to the house, they said.

Frizz woke up, his body stiff from a restless night. He hurriedly peeked through the curtains, scanning the road outside. "No one there," he muttered with a sigh of relief.

"I hope they only target me, not my family." He muttered to himself, clearly worried.

[System]

Would you like to initiate the daily objectives?

Frizz glanced at the notification. He thought for a moment. (I need all the help I can get, but the questions are tough.)

"Fine. Give it to me," he said with a resigned sigh.

[System]

Displaying the first question:

When did the country of Austria-Hungary disband?

Frizz stared at the message, dumbfounded. He had no idea. But he refused to let his ignorance stop him. Without wasting another second, he dashed to his computer, hastily pulling up the screen.

[System]

Cheating detected.

Daily Objectives are removed entirely.

Initiating shock treatment.

Frizz's eyes widened in shock as a small spark appeared in his right hand. In an instant, the shock flashed through his body, and he fell to the floor, convulsing with pain. He clutched his throat, gasping for air as his body burned with an intensity he had never felt before. His breath came in short, jagged gasps as he lay on the floor, reeling from the shock.

"How the hell should I know about the dissolution of some ancient country from a thousand years ago?" Frizz shouted angrily, still lying on the floor, his body trembling.

"You're officially the worst system ever," he growled in a hoarse voice as he slowly rose to his feet. His body still felt sore, and his hands were shaky. He sat on his bed, his fingers digging into his scalp. He stared blankly at the wooden floor, his mind overwhelmed with stress. He still had no idea who had been stalking him, but he suspected it was somehow connected to that drug pusher, Baron.

[System]

New Objectives for New Name

Deep breaths: 0/60

Rewards: [Serenity]

Frizz looked at the new notification, his eyes narrowing in frustration. "Now you help me? Ha... Whatever. I might as well do it," he muttered bitterly, on the edge of losing his composure.

He closed his eyes and exhaled deeply. "Breathe in." "Breathe out." "Breathe in." "Breathe out."

Five minutes later...

[System]

Objectives Completed

Rewards: [Serenity]

Displaying descriptions: Gradually reduces stress by a slight margin every five minutes as long as the perk user is in a calm, non-combat environment.

"It's better than nothing. I can say that much," Frizz muttered as he took another deep breath. (I need to clear my head.)

"System, display my perks, please."

[System]

Perks: [In Good Faith], [Daily Life], [Enraged], [Reckless Approach], [Gluttonous Approach], [Telekinesis], [Alcoholic Advantage], [Peak Physicality], [Force Field], [Weakening Strikes], [Tag], [Serenity]

"How the heck am I going to get more perks?" Frizz wondered aloud as his eyes shifted to the covered window. His thoughts wandered. "Wait. Milestones and achievements! I got that drunk perk from a milestone." He clapped his hands in realization.

"System, show me a single milestone that I'm close to achieving!"

[System]

Milestones cannot be viewed.

"God, dammit!" Frizz cursed loudly, frustration bubbling over. "System, please! Do you have any other mechanics that can help me earn experience points or perks? You've got to have more!"

Frizz began pacing around his room, his thoughts racing. "What mechanics do those other systems have?" He was trying to remember the various tropes from fanfictions and novels he'd read where characters had a system to follow.

[System]

Perk-mixing is active.

New Name is able to combine two perks of similar tiers. Additional effects are possible but not guaranteed.

New Name can only combine perks three times a day.

"Oh, thank fricking god. That's something," Frizz muttered with a hint of relief. He was on the verge of exploding in anger, but the notification calmed him down. He sat back on his bed, contemplating which perks to combine.

"It has to be daily life," he decided. "It's a simple perk, and I don't think I'll miss it."

"For the second one, it has to be..." Frizz thought for a moment. "Hmm... Let's try Serenity."

"System, combine Serenity and Daily Life."

[System]

Combining [Serenity] and [Daily Life]

The system interface vanished for a few seconds, then reappeared.

[System]

Results: [Serene Life]

Displaying descriptions: During daytime, stress levels gradually decrease every four minutes when in a calm environment. Additionally, gain a minor boost to both physical and mental aspects.

"I see, that's a significantly better perk..." Frizz murmured, studying the results. "However, this may be a mistake." He paused. "During daytime?"

"So this perk will only work during the day?" He frowned. "Okay, okay. Not the end of the world."

"I should just try again. This is a process. It takes time to get familiar with it." Frizz took another deep breath and tried to think through his next combination.

"In good faith," he muttered, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "It's a rather unassuming perk." A sudden idea crossed his mind. "Combine it with Enrage? I wonder what would come out of that. Heh."

Frizz smirked, thinking it would be funny to mix those two perks together.

[System]

Combining [In Good Faith] and [Enrage]

Frizz's smirk quickly faded as he blankly stared at the notification, his face devoid of any emotion.

[System]

Results: [Righteous Fury]

Displaying descriptions: Upon a successful roar directed toward the heavens, gain a significant increase in strength and endurance for six minutes, followed by a minor increase in all physical aspects for the next twenty hours.

"Never mind, this shit ain't funny," Frizz mumbled, his enthusiasm waning. "Still no additional effects... I might as well take it." He paused for a moment. (These combined perks can be upgraded, right? I hope they gain extra effects as I level them up.)

"System, show me my list of perks."

[System]

Perks: [Serene Life], [Righteous Fury], [Reckless Approach], [Gluttonous Approach], [Telekinesis], [Alcoholic Advantage], [Peak Physicality], [Force Field], [Weakening Strikes], [Tag]

Frizz rubbed his chin, deep in thought. (Maybe, one last combination.)

"I should actually take the time to think this through," Frizz muttered, scanning his list of perks. *(Hmmmm...)

Five minutes later...

"Alright, let's consider my options."

(Gluttonous Approach is a consumption-based perk, and so is Alcoholic Advantage. If I combine these two, I'll have to make sure to eat and drink a lot every day just to reap the rewards... unless there's an additional effect.)

(The other option is Tag and Weakening Strikes. If combined, maybe each melee hit will automatically tag the target? Maybe an additional effect thrown it too.)

"Hmm..." Frizz hummed thoughtfully, trying to make up his mind. "Coin toss."

Frizz pulled a small coin out from beneath his mattress.

"Heads are the first, tails are the second," he said as he tossed the coin into the air.

"Tails." Frizz grinned. "Tag and weakening strikes it is."

"System, combine Tag and Weakening Strikes."

[System]

Combining [Tag] and [Weakening Strikes]

Frizz closed his eyes, hoping for something new, something useful.

[System]

Results: [Mark of Decrepitude]

Displaying descriptions: The perk-user can tag a target by sight, highlighting them for six seconds (only visible to the user). While the target is tagged, each melee or unarmed hit slightly lowers their physical prowess, stacking up to four times.

If the target is fully de-buffed (all four stacks applied), the target is stunned for five seconds.

"That's an additional effect, right? YES! YES! YES!" Frizz shouted, punching the air in triumph as he griddied.

"SHUT UP, I AM TRYING TO SLEEP!" his older brother, Weng, shouted from below.

Frizz quickly put his hand over his mouth, realizing how loud he'd been. "Sorry," he whispered, looking back at the notification bar. (Hmm... So Weakening Strikes will only work if I tag the target first? That's a bit of a downgrade, but the additional effect made it worth it.)

Frizz smiled, feeling a sense of accomplishment, though there was still a slight pang of regret in his chest. (If I were just a little bit smarter, those daily questions would've been easy.)

His stomach grumbled loudly. He was hungry. Frizz stood up and peeked through his window again. Aside from some students passing by, there was no one suspicious in sight. "I should eat and shower, then head to work," he said with more confidence now, his new combined perks giving him a slight boost in his outlook.

"Hey, come eat. I've already made breakfast," his father called out from the kitchen, waving him over. On the table were fried eggs, chicken legs, warm beef broth, and mashed potatoes—more than enough to make Frizz's stomach growl louder.

(Watch out, stalkers. I'm going to beat the heck out of you.)