The Passive Skill Collection System

"THE PASSIVE SKILL COLLECTION SYSTEM - UNLOCKED."

"GET READY TO GRIND!"

Lu Jae-sung fell out of bed, drenched in cold sweat, scanning the surroundings, trying to comprehend where he was.

The patient's room was uninhabited. Lu Jae-sung, attached to the ECG, was the sole person present. Three beds plus equipment occupied the small room.

"I wonder what has happened to me? When did I get here?" In his deep thoughts, he tried to figure everything out.

Suddenly, the pain started throbbing inside his head, making him grab onto it with both hands. Even though the pain settled down, he remained confused.

*Beep-Beep*

"You have unlocked two new passive skills. Do you wish to view the 'Passive skills' page?" - Yes/No

His attention shifted to the transparent blue prompt, with a simple frame line of brighter color that appeared before him.

*Thud* *Fluff*

He snuggled down to his bed, checked he was alone, and excitedly clicked 'Yes'.

The prompt vanished and a new, slightly larger interface appeared before his eyes. The section categorized the two skills as common, graying out the rest, presumably because he possessed no skills of other rarities.

Passive Skills

↓ Common:

- Cognitive Resilience Lv 1 (1/10 XP)

- Drowsiness Defiance Lv 1 (1/10 XP)

There was no other information besides the passive skills. While he was thinking about it, the system seemed to recognize his sought for information and showed a descriptive tab over the interface.

"Cognitive Resilience: Enhances mental fortitude against confusion and overwhelm."

"Drowsiness Defiance: Enhances resistance against negative calming effects."

The system vaguely described the two skills; however, it did not specify the percentage increase or whether they worked against abilities or substances. It made sense that it would work for both, but no one can be cautious enough. After all, self-awareness improves handling various situations.

Lu Jae-sung then checked his system more closely. The Passive Skills box had a discreet arrow in its upper left corner.

When he clicked on the arrow, another, even larger interface appeared, displaying a large amount of information.

Most noticeable in the picture was the vitality of his limbs and organs. Currently, his brain glowed yellow, while everything else showed up green.

Below the image was an information button. When he clicked it, there were five descriptions of state phases on the prompt that appeared.

Phases of status:

Critical (Black): Severe damage that poses an immediate threat to life.

Severe (Red): Significant damage that requires urgent medical attention.

Moderate (Orange): Noticeable damage that may lead to complications if not treated.

Mild (Yellow): Minor injuries or issues that are manageable.

Stable (Green): No current damage; the body is functioning normally.

He found it unique and interesting. A while ago, he had studied known unique abilities, and the system already showed signs of unusuality between general systems. In the past, here and there, other awakeners had other tabs that connected to their unique ability, but it never tweaked the design by a huge margin.

This meant good news for Lu Jae-sung. He could easily assess his situation at any moment—if he could continue in a fight or if he should run away.

After closing the description, he saw an infinity symbol icon on the left side. His hunch told him it led back to the Passive Skills tab, so he paid little attention to it.

Under the infinity symbol tab, he found other astonishing icons. The first icon was a backpack, which probably led to an inventory system. It was common to have it, so he continued his inspection of the second icon. It resembled a scroll, something he couldn't really guess what it would lead to.

"Hmm, I'd like to search through it." He was thinking about checking it, but there was still much to discover in his current menu.

There were also three other tabs with a lock sign on them, inaccessible, he looked to the top right of the box.

Stats:

- 95/100 HP

- 1/1 MP

- 4/100 Exhaustion

- Level: 0 (0/100 XP)

- Strength: 5

- Endurance: 3

- Intelligence: 6

- Mana: 1

- Dexterity: 2

- Agility: 4

- LOCKED –

- LOCKED –

- Stat Points: 0

This part was quite overwhelming. With so many upgradable stats available, it would be difficult to decide which stat to focus on. He also had to determine the optimal weapon based on his skills and fighting style.

"I wonder which stat should I be concerned about? I am uncertain whether I will have any active skills to use intelligence on."

Unknown to Lu Jae-sung, intelligence only affected his logical thinking, which is also important during battles.

After going nowhere with his thoughts, he continued with his examination.

Special Abilities:

- The Passive Skill Collector (Transcendent)

- LOCKED -

Going down the menu, he noticed the special abilities row that had left him blown out of his mind for an entire minute.

"Do I have two special abilities? Can I have even more?"

The possession of more than one special ability wasn't uncommon, yet his was Transcendent, the rarest known.

Rarities went like this: Common, Uncommon, Rare, Epic, Legendary, Mythic, Celestial, Divine, Ethereal, Arcane, Transcendent.

The best publicly known special ability was Celestial. The authorities concealed information about superior individuals, preventing the determination of anyone's rarer status.

*whoosh*

The double doors opened fast and wide, revealing two people entering the patient room.

Lu Jae-sung was alone, so it meant they had finally gone to check on him.

The system closed automatically, deciding to pretend he was still asleep.

"His successful awakening left the machinery unusable! How are we going to explain this to the higher-ups?" The professor from earlier entered the room while talking with his assistant.

"Well, they should already know about that. It's a matter of time until they reach out to us for further details. Who was awakening, what concretely happened during the process, etc. I don't think it will hurt the association much by closing one room, professor." The assistant explained to him.

"We need to at least figure out what special ability he was granted, otherwise the higher-ups won't be that tolerant." The professor doubted they would be out of trouble.

At that moment, Lu Jae-sung 'woke up' and pretended to look disoriented, scanning the surroundings in 'confusion,' then stared at the duo that approached him.

"You are finally awake! I don't know if I should say a good job with the awakening or curse at you for destroying the entire room." The professor shook his head as if he wasn't sure how to feel.

*sigh*

"Well, I can't really blame you when you were in a state of unconsciousness, but I would like to know which special ability you have." He said, showing a genuine interest in his ability while showing a smile on his face.

"I don't know the special ability. The interface appeared before me when I woke up, but looking through it now, I can only see basic statistics and the ability to put my stat points to the statistics. There is a part that displays special abilities, but it is currently inaccessible."

Following an odd stare from the pair, the professor spoke.

"There was never an instance where the system would cover the special ability. If you are trying to hide it from us, do whatever you want, but you will find it harder to join any clan in the future. You might even need to look for private small companies that hire people like you, but they are usually no-names with zero privileges for portal outings."

He looked disappointed at not being able to figure out why the destruction had happened. No timeline existed for the machinery's unexpected destruction.

"Is it everything you desired to tell me?" Lu Jae-sung asked the professor.

"Yes, it is indeed all I wanted to talk to you about. You can leave the hospital since it was on us you were unconscious." The professor reassured him.

"After you leave, head towards the four guilds close by and register with one of them. They give out missions related to portal outings. Clans typically leave beginner portals for the lower classes like you will be now, or when they seek a specific special ability user for portal clearing. Some missions are behind the wall too, which are dangerous for starters." He said out of the association's policy.

The guilds he was talking about were the Rift Hunters Guild, the Rangers Guild, The Sentinels Guild, and—the biggest one—The Adventurers Guild.

The first three specialize in different missions. Their creators intended them for people who wanted to traverse rifts, hunt beyond the wall, or guard the city and its connecting highways against external threats.

However, the guild Lu Jae-sung was mostly interested in was the Adventurers Guild, because it was an all-rounder of the three ones with the availability of specific/special missions which differed from the other guilds.

"Thank you for the hint, but before I can leave, can you disconnect me from the ECG? I don't want to damage the hospital's property." He responded, scratching his head from the awkwardness that filled the room.

Having settled everything, he prepared to head to the Adventurers Guild, a few blocks from the hospital.