Rohan stared at the glowing blue screen floating in the middle of the empty, colossal stadium. He reached out a trembling hand, expecting his fingers to tap against solid glass. Instead, his hand phased right through the cyan light, sending ripples across the text.
"A System?" Rohan murmured, his voice echoing in the dead silence of the stadium. "Like in those web novels Kabir reads during history class?"
The mechanical voice resonated inside his skull once more, answering him as if it could read his very thoughts.
[Affirmative. I am the Ultimate Cricket God System. My prime directive is to assist the Host in achieving the absolute pinnacle of this sport. To forge a legend that will echo through the annals of cricketing history.]
Rohan pinched his arm hard. It hurt. "Am I dreaming? Did I die in that park?"
[Negative. The Host is currently unconscious in the physical world. Your consciousness has been temporarily pulled into the System’s Mindscape Stadium. Time flows at a ratio of 1:100 here. One minute in the physical world is one hundred minutes inside the Mindscape.]
Rohan swallowed hard. The throbbing pain in his head from hitting the concrete was gone here. If this wasn’t a hallucination induced by a concussion, then a literal miracle had just fallen into his lap.
"Okay," Rohan said, taking a deep breath to steady his racing heart. "If you are a System meant to make me a Cricket God, where do we start? Do you give me a magic pill? Do I instantly throw the ball at 160 km/h?"
[Negative. The System provides the path; the Host must walk it. There are no shortcuts to divinity. To understand your current standing, the System will now display the Host’s Status Panel.]
The air in front of Rohan shimmered, and a new window expanded before his eyes. He leaned in, his eyes scanning the glowing white text. What he saw made his jaw drop.
--- HOST STATUS PANEL ---
Name: Rohan Roy
Age: 15
Overall Rating: 15 / 100 (Grade: G - Trash Tier)
[Physical Attributes]
• Physique: 12/100 (Warning: Severely Malnourished. High risk of bone stress fractures.)
• Stamina: 15/100 (Incapable of bowling a 5-over spell without performance drop.)
• Agility: 20/100
[Bowling Attributes]
• Pace: 102 km/h
• Line & Length: 25/100
• Swing/Seam: 10/100
[Batting Attributes]
• Hand-Eye Coordination: 30/100
• Timing: 20/100
• Power: 15/100
System Points (SP): 0
Active Skills: None
Rohan felt his face flush red with embarrassment. "Trash tier? Grade G? Come on, I know I’m not great, but my timing is better than a 20! And I definitely bowl faster than 102 km/h!"
[The System does not lie. The Host’s highest recorded pace in the last three months was exactly 102.4 km/h. To survive in professional cricket, a fast bowler must possess a minimum Physique stat of 60. You are currently a fragile vessel. If you attempt to bowl at 140 km/h with your current physique, your spine will snap.]
The blunt, emotionless truth hit Rohan like a bucket of ice water. Coach Sharma’s harsh words from earlier that afternoon echoed in his mind: You have no pace, no stamina, and your technique is a mess.
The System wasn’t insulting him; it was just quantifying his reality.
Rohan clenched his fists. The anger and frustration that had driven him to the park late at night resurfaced, but this time, it wasn’t directed at Aryan or the Coach. It was directed at his own weakness.
"Fine," Rohan muttered, a dangerous glint appearing in his dark eyes. "I’m weak. I’m trash. Tell me how I fix it. How do I get stronger?"
[By completing System Quests. Completing quests will yield System Points (SP) and attribute upgrades. SP can be used in the System Shop to purchase techniques, recovery items, and elite gear.]
Suddenly, a golden envelope appeared on the screen, spinning slowly before bursting into a flurry of pixels.
[Ding! Initiating First Daily Quest.]
[Daily Quest: The Foundation of a Pace Demon]
A skyscraper cannot be built on quicksand. Before mastering the ball, you must master your body.
Objectives:
• 100 Push-ups (0/100)
• 100 Squats (0/100)
• 100 Sit-ups (0/100)
• 10 Kilometer Run (0/10 km)
Time Limit: 24 Hours (Before tomorrow midnight)
Reward: +1 Physique Stat, +5 System Points (SP), 1x Novice Recovery Muscle Patch.
Penalty for Failure: -2 Stamina Stat, System goes offline for 7 Days.
Rohan stared at the quest prompt, his eyes wide. "Ten kilometers? 100 push-ups? Are you insane? I couldn’t even run 2 kilometers without coughing up a lung!"
[Does the Host wish to remain a bench-warmer? Does the Host wish to carry water bottles for Aryan Singhania?]
The System’s robotic voice somehow managed to sound mocking.
Rohan’s breath hitched. The image of Aryan’s arrogant smirk flashed in his mind. The look of exhaustion on his mother’s face. The feeling of absolute powerlessness.
"No," Rohan whispered. "No, I don’t."
[Then break your limits, Host. Exiting Mindscape in 3... 2... 1...]
GASP!
Rohan’s eyes snapped open. He sucked in a massive breath of cold, polluted Delhi air, violently coughing as he sat up.
He was back in the local park. The yellow streetlamp was still flickering overhead. The concrete pitch felt rough and cold beneath his palms. His head throbbed with a dull ache where he had hit the ground, and his torn left shoe was lying uselessly a few feet away.
He checked his cheap digital watch. 2:45 AM.
"Was it just a dream?" he groaned, rubbing his temples.
He looked at the empty air in front of him and nervously whispered, "System?"
Ding!
Instantly, a faint cyan screen materialized in the dim light of the park. Only he could see it.
[Daily Quest: The Foundation of a Pace Demon]
Time Remaining: 21 Hours, 15 Minutes.
A slow, disbelieving smile spread across Rohan’s bruised, dirty face. It was real. The System was real. He wasn’t destined to be a lower-middle-class failure. He finally had a weapon.
He forced himself to his feet. His left ankle twinged with pain, a consequence of his disastrous bowling attempt earlier. Picking up his broken shoe, he tucked his taped tennis ball into his pocket and began the long, painful limp back to his apartment.
By the time he sneaked back through the creaky wooden door of his home, it was past 3:15 AM. The house was dead silent, save for the rhythmic snoring of his father from the main bedroom.
Rohan didn’t go to sleep. He knew that if he slept now, his exhausted body wouldn’t wake up until noon, and he would never finish the System’s grueling quest.
He walked into his small room, placed his broken shoe on the floor, and looked at the faded poster of the fast bowler on his wall.
"Ten kilometers," Rohan whispered to himself, dropping down onto the cold cement floor of his bedroom. "Let’s start with the push-ups."
He placed his palms flat on the ground, braced his core, and lowered himself. His arms trembled violently. His malnourished muscles screamed in protest on the very first repetition.
"One," Rohan grunted, pushing himself back up. Sweat beaded on his forehead.
"Two."
It was going to be a long, brutal day, but for the first time in his fifteen years of life, Rohan Roy felt unstoppable.