Reality
I checked the ending of Animal Farm.
You have confirmed the ending of Animal Farm.
Acquired trait as ending bonus: First Kill.
The pigs' bullshit got me so heated that I unconsciously shouted "Fuck!" Since there was clearly no one else at the bus stop, I just lit a cigarette and tried to calm down.
"In the end, a pig is just a pig..."
"What do you mean, a pig is a pig?"
The voice came out of nowhere and startled me so badly I dropped my cigarette. Its owner quickly snatched the cigarette that had fallen onto my thigh.
"Don't you know smoking is banned in public spaces? Wait, what even is this cigarette? The smell is incredible."
It was Go Ye-eun. She was an office worker with a right hand covered in surgical scars, like some cape-wearing wizard from a movie. We used the same bus stop, so we ran into each other often and chatted.
"You're heading to work early these days?"
"Staying home is just boring. Figured I'd hole up in the storage room and snack on something."
Going to work early because she was bored. I hadn't noticed before, but the woman was clearly a little crazy.
Go Ye-eun sniffed my cigarette, then casually took a drag without asking. She inhaled deep, like someone used to smoking properly.
"I only have ten of those."
"Where'd you buy these?"
"Uh... it was a gift, so I don't really know."
"I'm not a heavy smoker, but this is the best cigarette I've ever tasted. Can you find out for me?"
"Sure. I'll ask around."
Go Ye-eun stubbed out the cigarette and slipped it into her bag. She claimed you shouldn't throw butts on the ground. I knew for a fact that plenty of the cigarette butts littering this bus stop belonged to her.
"My bus is here. Bye! Don't forget to tell me about those cigarettes!"
I reached the university library shortly after and sat down at a computer. I didn't have a printer at home, so I always used the ones here. Student IDs made them free, which made them my go-to.
"A mistake that's not like me at all... I completely forgot to write the book report."
The Sound Sleep skill had its downsides. Thanks to my insomnia, I usually woke up in the middle of the night. That's when I'd knock out assignments and go back to sleep. Still, I wasn't worried. Raising my agility and intelligence stats would boost my typing speed dramatically.
Kang Cheol-in
Health: 15
Strength: 15
Agility: 15
Intelligence: 15
Mental: 15
Points: 30
I spent five points each to raise both agility and intelligence to 20.
"Looks like it costs two points per stat once you hit 20..."
Kang Cheol-in
Health: 15
Strength: 15
Agility: 30
Intelligence: 20
Mental: 15
Points: 0
While I was at it, I dumped the rest into agility until it hit 30. Now I could enjoy permanently agile days.
My keyboard exploded with sound. The performance of 30 agility was no joke. I could type at the speed of thought with zero typos. I hammered out the book report at an overwhelming pace.
The title... Killing the Dictatorship.
Even if you killed the dictator, another pig bastard would just take over. So how could the animals of Animal Farm ever live happily? What the hell did "happily" even mean? Aside from the pigs and a few others, those animals were all idiots. Unless every last one of them got smart enough to turn the cheating pigs into frankfurter sausages, they were doomed to be exploited forever.
The professor probably wouldn't enjoy that take, so I'd wrap it up with something safe about the importance of education and still get a decent score.
......
After sitting through my classes, I holed up in the club room and thought about the stats.
Kang Cheol-in
Health: 15
Strength: 15
Agility: 30
Intelligence: 20
Mental: 15
Agility had passed 30. It wasn't just about moving faster. Like I'd first guessed, it seemed to sharpen the precision of my actions too. My reaction speed had probably improved along with it.
Health didn't feel like an HP bar from a game. It was more like stamina. Raise it high enough and I probably wouldn't get tired even after running a marathon.
Strength was exactly what it said on the tin: raw muscular power. I hadn't raised it much, so I couldn't really feel the difference yet and still wasn't sure exactly what it did.
Intelligence was brainpower. After raising it, I could actually feel my head working better. Honestly, up until now I'd been pretty damn stupid.
Mental was still a mystery. Maybe it meant self-control or willpower?
I wanted to raise my stats even more. It felt like the human being itself was getting stronger. If I took up martial arts or became an athlete, I could probably set records that would never be broken.