Theresa "Tess" McMillan was only one week into her third year of university, but she could already tell it wouldn't be any better this time around. She glared at her reflection in her dorm room's tiny mirror, noting how she had once again failed to blossom into a stunning beauty over the summer break. She was still short (5'3" was short, whatever her friends said,) still skinny as a rail with no curves to speak of, still stuck with dull eyes and a nose that was slightly too big, and overall facial features that could best be described as average. Her monstrously curly red hair had knotted itself into its usual tangled mess overnight, and her freckles still fought with her acne for space on her otherwise palid skin.
Tess sighed, and began slowly and painfully combing out her hair. Her friends, ever optimistic, had told her time and again that with the right makeup, the right hairstylist, and medicinal-grade skin creme, she could make herself look downright pretty. She'd tried for a time to follow their advice, and discovered that she just didn't have the energy or patience to go through an hours-long beauty regimen each morning, nor the money to invest in expensive cosmetics. As it was, almost all of her time was taken up studying for classes and working on assignments, and even that only allowed her to scrape by with a C average. That was something else she'd hoped would get easier this year, but no luck. After only a week, she could already tell that her new courses would be even more difficult than last year's,
Before she could start to dwell on her lackluster romantic life, Tess saw something impossible suddenly appear between her and the mirror. She held back a startled shout, staring at the strange rectangle floating mysteriously in the air, filled with text and small symbols like something out of...a video game pause menu? When blinking and rubbing her eyes failed to dispel the image, she started to actually read it.
_____________________________________
Theresa McMillan
-Completed a week of school: 50xp!
-Opened the menu for the first time: 50xp!
Spend XP? (100 Remaining)
+Intelligence (10XP)
+Strength (10XP)
+Beauty (10XP)
+Health (10XP)
+Height (10XP)
+Charm (10XP)
You have spent 0 XP so far. Spend XP to unlock new stats to increase!
_____________________________________
Tess noticed that the plus signs on the menu were softly pulsing with light, like buttons waiting to be pressed. With a trembling hand, she reached out and poked the sign besides "Beauty" with one finger. The menu made a tiny "bing!" noise, and Tess suddenly felt a pleasant warmth spill through her.
Looking into the mirror through the empty spaces in the menu, she could see her face begin to...change. Her acne faded away, while her skin took on a healthier-looking color; still pale and freckled, but no longer sallow. Her nose seemed to shrink slightly into more of a cute button, while her eyes became larger and more expressive. Her cheekbones rose up, her lips filled out slightly, and every other aspect of her face seemed to get a little more attractive. When she opened her mouth to gasp at the change, she saw that even her teeth had become more even and whiter in color. Her hair seemed to have turned a slightly more vibrant shade of red, and had lost much of its frayed tangles in favor of better volume and a healthy bounce. The individual effects were subtle, but all together the difference was staggering. She looked...cute!
Breathing heavy with excitement, Tess realized that her clothes felt different. Pulling out the collar of her shirt, she confirmed what she'd expected. She had breasts! Not big ones, but definitely bigger than before. A-cups, maybe? Her body looked like it had filled out a bit overall, bringing her from painfully thin to merely very slender. It would probably be hard for others to notice unless she wore a bikini around campus, but who cared?
"Woah," Tess breathed out, as the reality of the situation finally sunk in. "I just...changed myself, with some kind of magical floating menu out of an RPG." Thinking about the menu brought it back into sharp focus, and she could see that her total XP now read as 90, and the XP cost beside +Beauty was now listed as 13. As Tess considered the options, she felt laughter bubble up from inside her. She felt giddy with the possibilities.
"I have no idea how this is possible," she said, "but who cares?"
She stretched her hand out towards the menu, no longer trembling.
"It's time for me to level up!"
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