Chapter 1: Thunder bolted to Success
Have you ever dreamed to be an Immortal God? No? That makes 2 of us, but now I have the chance to do just that. Can you imagine that?
Taking a deep breath of the earthy smell, Fergal relaxed his body and lay on the soft and comfortable patch of grass, gazing at the clouds slowly drifting across the azure blue sky.
*Flash*
...
*Wee-woo* *Wee-woo* *Wee-woo*
Sirens filled the air shortly after.
…
A few hours later...
"A lightning strike hit a male age 21 at Central Park this afternoon. The victim is currently in a critical condition, the surgery is still ongoing..."
-----
2 days later.
"Received 1 gold coin."
"Received 1 gold coin."
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[Status]
[Name] Fergal Parker (Dead but alive)
[Lifespan] -60 years
[Job]
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Ability to shorten a human target lifespan and transfer the number of years to the user by receiving those years in exchange for something in return.
[Stats]
Level → 1
Power/Strength → 10 +
Intelligence → 20 +
Speed → 12 +
Agility → 10 +
Stamina → 10 +
Luck → 30
Charm/Charisma → 10
Recovery → E
Control/Accuracy → D
[Skills]
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[Quest Log]
*Use
*Use
*Collect 10 gold coins. (Reward: LEVEL UP) {8 more gold coins until completition}
*Purchase 10 stat points. (Reward: 1 x Lucky Draw) {10 more stats until completition}
*Play
*******************
What the heck is this? Did I knock my head too hard? The last thing I remember is me lying down on the grass, and afterward, there was a sudden flash... These were Fergal's thoughts at the sight of the weird screen filled with dubious words that had appeared when he opened his eyes.
Wait, am I in the hospital? Fergal wondered, suddenly aware of his surroundings as he recognized the layout of a typical hospital ward. But this hospital ward was expensive as hell! I had a whole room only for myself and even a bunch of electro domestic and expensive stuff! Even the tv was the newest 4k smart tv monitor of 48 inches! Holy fuck how the hell I'm gonna pay this? I'm currently unemployed living day by day doing small errands... He turned his head to get a closer look at the room, the screen followed his gaze and continued to obstruct his view.
Irritated, Fergal sat up to inspect the screen. After briefly scanning through the words, he found a small [X] button at the top right corner of the screen.
He pressed it, making the screen disappear into thin air, as intended.
What the heck?
"Fergal, how are you feeling?" A lovely voice interrupted Fergal's train of thought.
Fergal looked up at the person who had spoken. It was a nurse, she had been checking Fergal's vitals on the machine when she noticed that Fergal woke up.
Wow. This nurse is really pretty. A young woman around 20 years old, with lovely curled brown hair, a pair of emerald eyes and a slim figure with a decent pair of boobs to show. Even in that conservative attire of nurse couldn't hide that nice figure.
Fergal looked at the surprised young nurse for a little while and then said, "Sorry If I startled you miss, do you know what happened to me? And also, I can't pay for this room, is beyond what my bank account can handle, can you transfer me to a normal room?"
The nurse regained her composure and said "HAHA! Don't be scared, this is all free! Is a courtesy of the medical community of course since you are an unusual case! Not only you got hit by a thunder on a cloudless day, but you also didn't even gained burn injuries! On top of that, you regained consciousness in only 2 days! You are a medical miracle, if not for not being dead you would be dissected before night for searching the cause of the anomalies presented!"
While I was getting cold sweats on my back knowing that not only a FUCKING lighting has smitten me down, now I had a risk to become a guinea pig for the eager medics. Not only they paid for this extravagant hospital room they even locked me up essentially here. I have to be really fucking careful of what I say. Thank you, dumb nurse, for giving me such vital information for free!
Before I even opened my mouth the cute nurse ran while saying:
"Please give me a moment, I will inform the doctor-in-charge that you have regained consciousness."
Fergal barely glanced at the back view of the nurse's hourglass figure as she walked out of the room.
While I was waiting for the deadly medic to appeared I thought of that weird [Status screen] thing. What the well was that thing anyway?
*Zing*
The status thing appeared again.
Fergal examined the screen word by word several times over, a feeling of ridiculousness growing increasingly stronger the further he read. These types of situations where you gain some gaming ability or superpower only happened in fantasy novels, right? Dead but alive? And what's with the -60 years? Closing the status screen, he massaged his head, trying to recall what had happened after the flash.
"The condition of the victim of the lightning strike at Central Park has stabilized…" The news anchor reported.
Wait… Are they talking about me? So now I'm on the news?… Seriously?! That's some quick update speed! Great now I need to find a way to lay low.
Fergal was still staring pensively at the television when two people walked into his room.
"Patient Fergal Parker, I am your attending physician, Doctor Wyine. How are you feeling?" The doctor wearing a white coat called out to Fergal.
Doctor Wyine was a beautiful read-head with double D size of breast and a narrow yet firm stomach. Even her ass was firm as the rest of his body, she was a wet dream fantasy of ever teenager for sure!
They must have sent a good looking doctor to lower my guard and spill the beans, don't succumb to their trap Fergal you are stronger than this! Not even that huge cleavage can seduce to tell you about the status screen! If I tell her I would become a guinea pig for every doctor in New York to play with!
As Doctor Wyine saw the patient staring at her, she could not help but asked him, "Are you alright? Can you hear and see me? How many fingers am I showing?" The Doctor extended her slender fingers.
Fergal finally snapped out of his stupor, his sleep must have had affected him in some way, for him to react this slowly. He told to the doctor, "That's three fingers, Doctor Wyine."
Doctor Wyine looked at him and said, "Looks like you are perfectly alright". She then studied the medical chart she had been given and scribbled something, before adding,
Ignoring her, Doctor Wyine wrote down a few more words. "You will require a detailed physical examination with pertinent laboratory tests to determine the presence of injuries. Please have a good rest, we will begin the tests later."
"Wait! I was struck by lightning, right?"
"Yes. Scientists are still figuring out why a random bolt of lightning appeared from nowhere. However, that is not important as long as you are safe and sound. We need to find out whether there is any internal damage or permanent disability have been caused by the strike." Then, Doctor Wyine and the cute nurse Melissa (I saw her tag name this time!) left the room.
Remembering that he had a 'skill' called
[Total lifespan: 85 years | ?? ] appeared above Melissa, who was closer to Fergal...
[Total lifespan: 78 years | ??] for Doctor Wyine.
Wow. This is neat. I can find out the total lifespan someone has? But what now?... I don't know what I can do with that. I should try out the other skills too.
"Fergal, you're finally conscious." Just at that moment, a voice reached his ears.
Turning around, he saw his mother, with a face full of worry, entering the room.
Fergal smiled, genuinely happy to see his mother and asked, "Why are you here? Aren't you supposed to be at work?"
Mother touched his cheek and forehead lightly.
"Do you know how worried we were? Thank goodness you are alright."
"Of course I'd be alright. I wouldn't die so easily. It's just a lightning strike."
How can I die when I haven't even had a girlfriend before…
"Maybe I should tell you how many people die of lightning strikes every year?" Mother chided, nagging at Fergal.
I thought of using that skill on my mother, but I really didn't want to know her date of death. That would make me worried and sad at the same time. Some things are better to remain unknown.
"What day is today?" Fergal interrupted Mother's well-prepared speech. Even as we knew since Melissa told him before that he was out cold for 2 days.
"Wednesday; you've been out for 2 whole days." As she replied, she sized Fergal up and down to see whether or not he was really alright.
…
1 hour later...
"Alright, I'll be leaving now."
"So fast? You were here only for an hour!"
"If you were still unconscious, I would have taken a full day leave to take care of you. Since you woke up and you're fine, I'll just take a half a day leave. I will see you later!" Mother left on those words.
**********
So I was again with my infinity worries about becoming a guinea pig of the whole medical community. Even thinking about jumping from the 2nd floor. Trying to think the way to land to avoid fatal injuries.
But immediately dismissed, if you run you are already guilty or trying to hide something. Besides is not too late to escape if I feel suspicious about the behavior of the doctor after she came back.
Just for cautiousness, I will open the window to prepare my escape route if they ask I will just tell them that I was feeling hot here.
After I sat down on the bed on the side near the window the doctor appeared yet again.
She smiled and said to me "Congratulations Mr. Parker, you don't seem to have anything to worry about. Only a little cholesterol, maybe you should avoid eating so much junk food no? Haha "
I smiled and said "Sure doctor, I will try to avoid them. But living in here where literally everywhere you go is mined with fast food places is a hard task... So I can go now?" I said while maintaining my smiling while casual face to avoid being weird.
The doctor said while still maintaining her fake smile "Sure, but first, you have you sign this checkouts forms" and handed me a bunch of forms to fill while telling me to sing there, put an initial there and so on.
I noted her fake behavior and while skimmed the legal documents I notice an inconspicuous added clause. I noticed because the paper in this form was still warm, so it means that was recently printed. It said "The patient accede to have a monthly check-up for free until the doctor deemed to be no longer necessary, failed to attend this check-up would be against the medical community and would face legal persecution"
This was certainly odd, in the land of the free, anything with the word free is so rare as a unicorn.
So before singing, I surprisingly asked "Oh a free checkup every month? Maybe I should recommend to my friends to get zapped too!"
The doctor still smiling said "A special case needs to have special protocols to follow, this was decided by the medical community, I have no say in this. We will be bothering you, for the time being, don't leave the city meanwhile"
I felt a cold chill while she said the last part, that was a threat in disguise. And she said so casually like it was a daily thing for her. Maybe she isn't even a doctor! Shit, I need to be really fucking careful.
I said while laughing "Hahaha what a good joke doctor! If I could leave the city I wouldn't be here where you have to watch not only your sides because of the criminals, now I have to watch the sky too! Besides a free check-up by a first-class hospital for free every month? Count me in!"
After singing all the documents I was finally allowed to walk away from the deadly hospital. Good another trauma to add to the list near the flying cockroaches.
But now I can finally investigate this [Status] thing and all the components that are inside.