The digital clock on Chris Miller's monitor glowed 10:37 AM, April 5th, 2025. Eighteen. Officially an adult, though it felt distinctly anti-climactic. Outside his window, the world seemed quiet, basking in the lull of the Eid al-Fitr school holidays. Distant sounds of families celebrating occasionally drifted in, a cheerful counterpoint to the frustrated sigh escaping Chris's lips.
Defeat.
The word flashed mockingly across his screen. Another match lost in Valiant Tactics, the popular hero shooter he'd sunk countless hours into. He wasn't terrible, not really. Just… average. Decent aim, okay game sense, but he lacked that spark, that intuitive brilliance that separated the good players from the great ones. Much like everything else in his life, really.
He leaned back in his worn gaming chair, stretching his arms overhead. Average height, average build, brown hair that perpetually looked like he'd just rolled out of bed. His grades were mostly Bs and Cs. He even knew his IQ, thanks to a mandatory school assessment last year: a perfectly, almost insultingly, average 100. Not dumb, not smart. Just… there. Existing squarely in the middle of the bell curve.
His birthday plans were equally average: hang out, maybe order pizza later, field some calls from relatives. The Eid holiday meant most of his friends were busy with family gatherings anyway. So, it was just him, his computer, and the lingering bitterness of digital defeat.
He closed the game, the sudden silence in his room feeling heavy. Maybe he should go help his mom in the kitchen? Nah, she'd shoo him out. Read a book? Too much effort. He stared blankly at his desktop background – a generic sci-fi landscape. Eighteen years old, and his primary achievement felt like reaching a mediocre rank in a video game.
Ping.
The sound was soft, melodic, and seemed to resonate directly inside his skull, not through his ears. Chris blinked, frowning. Had his headphones glitched? He wasn't wearing them.
He rubbed his temples. Maybe he was just tired? Too much screen time?
Ping.
There it was again, clearer this time. Simultaneously, a faint, translucent blue rectangle flickered into existence in his vision, hovering about two feet in front of his face like a misplaced augmented reality display.
Chris froze. His heart hammered against his ribs. He blinked rapidly, rubbed his eyes vigorously, but the blue screen remained, shimmering slightly. It was about the size of a tablet, displaying crisp white text.
[System Initializing...]
[Host Genetic Markers Confirmed...]
[Compatibility Scan: Positive...]
[Welcome, Host Christopher Miller.]
[Idle System Activated!]
Chris's breath hitched. This… this wasn't real. It couldn't be. He looked around his room – familiar posters, messy desk, rumpled bedsheets. Everything was normal except for the impossible blue screen floating mid-air. He slowly waved a hand through it. His hand passed right through, causing the screen to ripple faintly like disturbed water.
"Okay, Chris," he muttered, his voice shaky. "You're officially losing it. Happy birthday, you're hallucinating."
He squeezed his eyes shut, counted to ten, and opened them again.
The screen was still there.
Tentatively, focusing his thoughts on the screen, he willed it to do something. To go away, maybe?
Instead, the text changed.
[Main Menu]
[Status]
[Idle Slots]
[Tasks]
[Upgrades]
[Help]
His jaw dropped. It responded to his thoughts? Like… like something out of the light novels and webcomics he sometimes read. A system? An Idle System?
Taking a deep, shaky breath, he focused on [Status].
The screen refreshed instantly.
[Host Status: Christopher "Chris" Miller]
Age: 18
Level: 1 (0/100 XP)
[Attributes]
Strength: 9 (Average)
Agility: 10 (Average)
Stamina: 11 (Average)
Intelligence Quotient (IQ): 100 (Average)
Perception: 10 (Average)
Charisma: 8 (Slightly Below Average)
Idle Points (IP): 0
Chris stared at the 'Charisma: 8' and winced slightly. Ouch, system. A bit harsh, but fair. But the IQ… 100. Exactly what the test said. This thing, whatever it was, seemed to have accurate data. But what did 'Idle System' mean?
He focused on [Idle Slots].
[Idle Management]
Available Slots: 1/1
[Slot 1: Intelligence Quotient (IQ)]
Current Value: 100
Idle Rate: +0.01 IQ per 10 minutes
Time to Next Increment: 09:54
[Add Idle Slot (Slot 2): Locked - Requires 100 Idle Points]
[Upgrade Idle Rate (Slot 1): Locked - Requires 10 Idle Points for +0.001 IQ/10min increase]
Chris's eyes widened until they felt like they might pop out. Idle… IQ? His IQ was… increasing? By itself? He stared at the timer ticking down. 0.01 IQ every ten minutes. That was… incredibly slow. Six times an hour, so 0.06 IQ per hour. It would take over 16 hours to gain a single IQ point.
But it was automatic. Passive. Effortless. While he slept, ate, played games, even while he just sat here gaping like an idiot, his IQ was slowly, inexorably climbing. The implications started to sink in. Over a day, that was almost 1.5 points. Over a month? Nearly 45 points. In a year…
He shook his head, trying to ground himself. This was insane. But the timer kept ticking down: 08:32… 08:31…
Okay. If this was real, he needed Idle Points (IP) to make it better – faster gains, more slots for other stats. He focused on [Tasks].
[Available Tasks]
[Task: System Acknowledgment]
Description: Mentally acknowledge the existence and activation of the Idle System.
Reward: 1 Idle Point (IP)
Status: Pending
It was simple. Almost too simple. Was this a test?
"Okay," Chris whispered, then focused his intent. I acknowledge the Idle System.
A soft chime, different from the activation ping, echoed in his mind.
[Task: System Acknowledgment - Complete!]
[Reward: +1 Idle Point]
He immediately focused back on [Status]. Sure enough:
Idle Points (IP): 1
It was real. Holy crap, it was real.
He had one Idle Point. Not enough to upgrade the rate or add a slot, but it was proof. Proof that this impossible thing obeyed its own rules. Proof that he could interact with it, gain from it.
He looked back at the [Idle Slots] screen. The timer read 02:15. He watched, mesmerized, as it ticked down… 00:03… 00:02… 00:01… 00:00.
Ding! (A tiny mental sound)
[IQ +0.01]
The screen updated instantly.
[Slot 1: Intelligence Quotient (IQ)]
Current Value: 100.01
Idle Rate: +0.01 IQ per 10 minutes
Time to Next Increment: 10:00
Chris let out a long breath he hadn't realized he was holding, a slow grin spreading across his face. It was minuscule. A hundredth of a point. Utterly insignificant in the grand scheme of things right now.
But it was a start.
His eighteenth birthday. The day Chris Miller, the definition of average, stopped being quite so average. He looked at the system interface, no longer with fear or disbelief, but with a burgeoning sense of excitement. His life had just become a game – an idle game – and he was ready to figure out how to play. The first step? Figure out how to get more tasks, more points, and start truly accelerating his progress. The Eid holiday suddenly felt a lot more interesting.