Reality overload Chapter 11: Scary

Read chapter 11 of Reality overload by Namizou on NovelPedia.

Ping... Congratulations. You have achieved Level 10. PING... YOU HAVE RECEIVED NEW EQUIPMENT. The system notifications felt wrong. Too bright. Too cheerful. Too normal for what was happening inside my chest. I heard them only after my breathing finally stopped shaking. Even then, they sounded distant, like they were muffled behind a closed door. My emotions were still volatile, scattered everywhere like someone had thrown a deck of cards and said, "Here, catch!" It was like the floodgates had been ripped open. All the things I'd shoved down just to function. And my rationality, the part of my brain that usually kept everything neat and manageable, had dipped within said chaos. Slowly, I loosened my grip on Charlie. My fingers felt stiff, like they didn't want to let go. Riley had joined her at some point, one hand rubbing circles on my back, her expression soft and worried. "You doing better now, Kris?" she asked, voice gentle in that big‑sister way she had. I swallowed, trying to steady myself. "Yeah... thanks. I don't know what came over me. It was like everything hit me all at once, and my brain just... noped out." Charlie didn't say anything. She just cupped the side of my face with a hand that was still trembling, her eyes red‑rimmed. "You scared me," she whispered. "Don't do that again." Her voice cracked on the last word. As she began to heal my wounds. The warm flow of mana washing the pain away. "It won't heal completely but it's better than nothing. She said apologetically. "Thanks sis." Giving her a smile in thanks. Behind her, Luke shifted awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck like he didn't know where to look. "Uh... yeah. You really had us going there. Thought we were gonna have to... y'know... carry you out or something." He tried to smile. It came out crooked. He was worried too. Nate stood a little farther back, pretending to fiddle with his staff. His eyes were shiny, and he kept blinking way too fast to be casual. "I wasn't crying," he muttered under his breath. "There was... ice dust, yeah, ice dust in my eyes." Charlie shot him a look. He immediately looked away. Riley gave a small, sympathetic laugh and bumped her shoulder against mine. "Well, when a cute girl cries, you have to make her feel better. At least, that's what my brother always said back when he was not a weirdo." She nodded like this was ancient, sacred wisdom, and I rolled my eyes at her use of girl. I let out a shaky breath half laugh, half sob, and wiped at my face with the back of my hand. For the first time since the cave swallowed me whole... I felt not alone. Charlie still hadn't let go of my hand. Even after I stopped shaking, after my breathing steadied, after Riley and Luke and Nate all relaxed just a little. Her fingers stayed wrapped around mine like she was anchoring me to the world. I didn't mind. Honestly... I needed it. But then something flickered at the edge of my vision. A faint blue shimmer. My system UI. It opened on its own. "Uh... guys?" I whispered. The window expanded in front of me, translucent. My new equipment flashed across the screen, stats updating, numbers jumping. ———————————————-\\\\\\\\____ LEVEL 10 — ICE PRINCESS (HIDDEN CLASS) NEW EQUIPMENT ACQUIRED NEW TRAITS UNLOCKED —————————————————\\\\\\\\ ⚠️WARNING⚠️ ‼️SYSTEM INSTABILITY DETECTED‼️ —————————————————//////// My stomach dropped. The text glitched, flickering, warping, letters bending into symbols I didn't recognize. For a second the whole window distorted like someone had grabbed the edges and twisted. "W‑wait—what is that?" I breathed. Charlie squeezed my hand tighter. "Kris? What's wrong?" "I... I don't know." My voice came out small. "My UI is... glitching. Like—really glitching." The window spasmed again, a burst of static, a line of corrupted text, then it held solid, although still glitched out. Nate stepped closer, eyes wide. "That's not normal." Luke swallowed. "Is it... bad?" "I don't know!" My voice wavered. "What if it means something's wr