The line:
"UP! Your father needs his glasses before he goes to work!"
Corrected
The cupboard air was stagnant and cold as Harry woke on Wednesday morning. Day three. Two days down on the 'Survive the Week' quest. He shifted, the ache in his joints less sharp than yesterday morning, but still present. He focused on his internal state.
📊 [STATS]
Name: Harry Potter
Level: 1
HP: 50/50
MP: 10/10
STR: 3
DEX: 4
INT: 8
WIS: 6
LUK: 15
CHA: 9
Full HP, full MP. The System had fixed whatever 'damage' HP measured overnight, and restored his mental energy (MP). Good to know sleeping wasn't a total waste.
🔔 [STATUS UPDATE]
MP Regeneration: Active. Current Rate: 1 MP per hour. Restful Sleep provides additional MP restoration.
🎯 [QUEST ACCEPTED!]
Title: Survive the Week
Goal: Avoid Dudley's violent games. Minimize interactions with Petunia. Ensure daily food intake (minimum one meal/day). Do not reveal the existence of the System.
Progress: 2/7 days survived safely (Current Week Status: Wed)
Reward: +100 EXP, +1 LUK, unlock passive skill [Pain Resistance I]
Failure: Serious injury, revelation of the System, prolonged starvation. Unknown penalties.
Two days. Keep going.
He checked his progress towards potential new abilities.
🔔 [POTENTIAL SKILL DEVELOPMENT]
Evasive Maneuver (Potential Agility/Awareness skill): Successful escapes from immediate physical threats/ambushes.
Action Trigger: Successfully avoid or escape threats.
Current Progress: 2/5 (Successes needed to unlock)
Keep practicing Evasion.
Detected Action Pattern: [Subtle Movement]
System notes User's attempts to move silently and without drawing attention, particularly in proximity to Hostile individuals.
Continued successful efforts to remain Unseen may develop a passive [Stealth] or [Presence Concealment] skill.
A second potential skill! [Stealth]? [Presence Concealment]? Like sneaking! It made sense. When Dudley and Piers were around, or when Aunt Petunia was in a bad mood, Harry always tried to move without making a sound, to just fade into the background. The System had noticed that too. He needed to keep doing it.
He knew instinctively that developing the Stealth ability might be even more useful than Evasive Maneuvers alone. Better not to be seen than to have to dodge once you were seen.
Aunt Petunia's knuckles rapped on the door, harder than usual. "UP! Your uncle needs his glasses before he goes to work!"
Harry's eyes flickered towards the System display before it faded. He needed to find Uncle Vernon's glasses? That meant going near him first thing in the morning. Threat Level: Potentially High. Uncle Vernon wasn't a morning person.
He scrambled out of the cupboard. Petunia was hovering.
"On the mantelpiece in the living room! And quick!"
Harry nodded, already planning. He knew Vernon's pattern. Up, straight to the kitchen for coffee, then maybe the toilet, then maybe the living room before heading to his car. But it was still a risk.
He padded quickly towards the living room door. He didn't dare use [Observe] on Uncle Vernon – MP was precious, and a full analysis wasn't necessary right now, just caution. But he could use it on objects, for free. Maybe it would give him a hint.
He slipped into the living room, scanning the mantelpiece. They weren't there. His gaze swept the room. Could they be somewhere else? On a table? Dropped by the sofa? He started methodically scanning common places Vernon sat or put things down.
📦 [ITEM: Coffee Table]
Description: Standard coffee table. Cluttered. Currently holds Uncle Vernon's half-empty coffee cup (Status: Luke-warm, Potentially Dangerous Object if knocked over near carpet), various newspapers (Status: Yesterday's News), and a remote control (Status: Untouchable by User).
Potentially Dangerous Object. Nice bit of extra info. No glasses on the coffee table.
His eyes scanned the floor near Vernon's favourite armchair.
📦 [ITEM: Sofa Leg Area]
Description: Area around the leg of the sofa. Contains dust bunnies (Quantity: High) and various dropped items.
Items Present: Dust bunnies, small amount of change (Condition: Sticky), Uncle Vernon's missing glasses (Condition: Undamaged).
There! The glasses! He spotted them tucked just under the edge of the sofa. He quickly bent down and snatched them up, relieved. Mission successful. Get the glasses. Done.
He hurried back towards the kitchen. He could hear Vernon talking now. Louder voices. He was in a bad mood. Harry needed to get the glasses to Petunia without going directly to Vernon. He spotted her peering into the kitchen from the hallway.
"Here they are, Aunt Petunia," he said, holding them out.
She snatched them with a tut, casting him a glare, but taking them meant he didn't have to approach Vernon. Averting interaction: Partial success.
[Task Completed: Retrieved Vernon's Glasses]
[Task related to Surviving the Week (Appease Authority Figures, Minimize Negative Interaction Risk)]
[+8 EXP]
Current EXP: 54 + 8 = 62/100
Earning 8 EXP for getting the glasses, likely weighted slightly higher than standard breakfast-making due to the inherent risk and successful completion. He was 62% of the way to Level 2.
Breakfast preparation was uneventful (+5 EXP, EXP: 67/100). Serving and cleaning also went smoothly, managing to avoid direct conversation. Vernon grunted directions occasionally, Dudley was absorbed in his cereal, Petunia stayed focused on her toast and watching for crumbs. Harry deliberately moved with extra care, trying to practice the 'Subtle Movement'. He wasn't sure if it helped immediately, but maybe the System was noting the effort.
After breakfast, Harry was sent to tidy the back garden – pulling weeds, sweeping paths. This was physically demanding, but often peaceful, as Dudley rarely played back there unsupervised. It was a good place to reflect.
He pulled weeds from around a rose bush, the thorns occasionally scratching him. He flinched. Gamer's Mind didn't make things stop hurting, just made the emotional response less severe. Pain Resistance I from completing the quest felt very appealing right now.
As he worked diligently, lost in the simple, repetitive action, the chime sounded.
[Action Completed: Weeded Rose Bush Area]
[Diligent Effort Noted]
[+6 EXP]
Current EXP: 67 + 6 = 73/100
Another chunk of EXP. Every job mattered. Every task he did well earned him points.
Mid-morning, while sweeping, Harry heard noises from over the garden fence – Dudley and his friends laughing somewhere down the street. He used [Observe].
🔊 [ENVIRONMENTAL OBSERVATION]
Area: Adjoining properties / Wisteria Walk
Notable Sounds: Child laughter (Identification: Dudley Dursley and friends), Distant traffic, Dog barking.
Status of Threats: Specific threat entity (Dudley) is outside User's immediate vicinity (Status: Temporarily Relocated, Threat Level: Low-Immediate).
The System even told him Dudley was 'Temporarily Relocated'! And the Threat Level from that specific entity was low right now. That was incredibly useful information. It reinforced that [Observe] worked even without direct line of sight on a person, if he was focused on their location or the sounds they made. It helped him relax a tiny bit.
🔔 [Action Noted: Situational Awareness Check]
[User proactively gathered information on environmental threats.]
[Potential Skill Development Detected! Repeated conscious attempts to gauge surrounding danger and gather indirect information may unlock a passive [Situational Awareness] or [Danger Sense] skill.]
Another potential skill! Checking the area, listening, seeing if Dudley was near... this was 'Situational Awareness'. He just had to keep doing it. The System was guiding him, implicitly telling him what kinds of things to focus on, what 'actions' it valued. Survival actions. Gathering information actions. Quiet actions.
He finished sweeping, his back aching.
[Action Completed: Swept Garden Paths]
[+7 EXP]
Current EXP: 73 + 7 = 80/100
Eighty experience points! Only 20 points left to Level 2!
The afternoon was spent trying to stay out of sight and secure his daily meal. Lunch was a near miss; Petunia was home, and Dudley came back early, demanding sandwiches. Harry was busy cleaning the bathroom upstairs. He deliberately took longer, polishing the mirror until it shone, cleaning the sink carefully, hearing Dudley yelling downstairs. He didn't get summoned.
[Action Completed: Bathroom Cleaning (Prolonged)]
[Evasion Method: Strategic Absence from Threat Location]
[+9 EXP]
[Potential Skill Development Progress Updated: [Subtle Movement/Stealth] - Noted User avoiding direct contact successfully. (Progress update Pending Confirmation/Further Demonstration)]
Another 9 EXP! His "Strategic Absence" (taking his time with a chore in another room) counted as successful avoidance! He felt a tiny flicker of satisfaction. The Stealth skill might be tracking that too. He needed to confirm his food intake later. Dinner was his best bet.
Dinner arrived. He helped serve, kept quiet, ate the small portion he was given. It was barely enough, but it was a meal.
🎯 [QUEST PROGRESS UPDATED!]
Survive the Week: Ensured daily food intake (3/?) (Day 3 Goal Achieved)
Goal: Ensure daily food intake (minimum one meal/day). Status: Achieved for Day 3.
[Task Related to Surviving the Week: Achieved Minimum Sustenance]
[+10 EXP]
Current EXP: 89 + 10 = 99/100
Ninety-nine! He was only one point away from Level 2! He felt a fizzing sensation inside, a strange mix of disbelief and excitement. Just one more point!
As he retreated to his cupboard for the night, exhausted but keyed up, he wasn't sure what would happen when he reached Level 2. Would his stats increase? Would he gain a new skill automatically? Get more MP?
He closed his eyes in the dark, the faint blue lines of the System his only company. He was hungry, cold, and sore. But he was also Level 1, with 99 EXP, Day 3 of the quest complete, two (maybe three?) successful evasions counted, potential Stealth and Awareness skills detected, and MP regeneration confirmed. He was working towards something, every single painful minute of his life.
Just one more point. He couldn't wait to see what Level 2 felt like.