Chapter 69

"Charlie, will you be dressing up as anything for Halloween?"

Blake handed me a towel to wipe my sweat off.

"Halloween… I forgot about it."

"Really?"

"Yeah… Are you dressing up as anything?"

"Nope. Didn't prepare anything this year."

"How come?"

"Busy."

"Oh."

"Will you be dressing up as anything?"

"...I dunno. Maybe. My friends said they wanted to do animal onesies…"

"You forgot about Halloween and thought your friends wanting to dress up as animals was normal?"

"..."

"Nevermind…"

"Blake, you should have fun on Halloween."

"I will, Charlie. Maybe I'll dress as a ghost."

"You should dress up as Among Us."

"I think I'm fine, thanks."

"What. Among Us Ghost."

"I'm fine Charlie, thanks."

…

"You haven't been to school in so long, Charlie."

"Don't swarm him, he'll be overwhelmed."

"Ah, here you go again; saying he can't drink coffee and can't talk to us," Catherine chastised Abel.

"..."

"So with Charlie here, that's everybody. Right?" Reed glanced at me and said.

"Yes. Why'd we get here so early, anyway?" Tori wiped her eyes.

"I really did not need to wake up at 5 AM on a Free School Day."

"Irene… Why'd you wake up at 5 AM then?"

"...I have to wake up early else I'll look crusty coming here."

"It's even worse because you wouldn't shut up last night," Elle pulled Irene's arm.

Girls get dangerous when they're lacking sleep, or when they're hungry.

Noted.

"I'm sorry. I just couldn't sleep and it was the first time we did a sleepover where every single girl was allowed to come. You have to admit the gossip was great."

Lizbeth pointed out.

"It was Natsumi's first time, right?"

Mimi nodded and they all smiled.

"Damn. Why didn't we make a boys sleepover?" Ronan groaned.

Owen's eyes lit up and he suspiciously said, "Missed the chance to kiss the homies on the forehead goodnight."

"Charlie wouldn't have been there though, so we'd simply have to climb through his window," Arlo said as a matter of fact.

"Do you know how high that thing is?" Reed asked while squinting his eyes.

"No, but I'm just different. I'd simply just climb the walls."

"Alright alright, just get married all of you," Juniper urged them to shut up.

"Everyone brought their costumes, right?"

I scratched my chin.

"Costume?" I questioned Callie's question.

"The animal onesie."

"...Ohhhhhhh."

I reached into my backpack and took out the wolf onesie.

"Do we put it on now?" I asked everyone.

"It's still too early."

Some of them hesitated looking at me,

"Everyone will be getting here in the next few minutes. Look, the staff is already setting everything up. I think we should put them on now."

"Seems like Alex really wants to get into his piglet onesie."

"Okay, Elle Bear. Bear suits you because you're big and grouchy."

"Ah? I dare you to say that again."

The rest facepalmed.

"Yeah, let's."

Natsumi happily called out and everyone went to change to their costumes.

Her eyes had dark bags. She must have not slept too well last night…

…

[Special Event:

Modeling Wolf,

Be a wolf in this special Halloween!

Rewards:

Boosted modeling points during the event.

75 achievement points.]

The fog cleared and my mind's acuity was rejuvenated.

What do you mean be a wolf? You want me to eat Grandmothers this Halloween? Blow down straw houses?

On a serious note, am I supposed to bark? Howl to the moon?

Agh, I'm an idiot. I'm too used to thinking like a simpleton now. I just have to be an alpha predator.

Or turn into a werewolf.

So, eat raw meat?

Eat this mea—

I slapped my head.

Opening up this world's main search engine, I looked up Wolf symbolism.

Darkness, Aggression, Curiosity, Playfulness, Loyalty to Pack.

Ok. This is what Blake has been teaching me regarding how to exude a mood.

Definitely not Darkness. No aggression either; I don't want to end up in jail before I can get to stardom.

Curiosity will be easy since my mind will be fogged. Playfulness will be easy as well…

System? Are you purposefully trying to make me look like a child?

I felt the System's mechanical amusement, and hesitation to speak.

[Host's Intelligence has far surpassed the System's calculations and foresight.]

You...

The fog hidden in my skull encircled my brain once again and I fell under the effects of the strange condition.

...

…

…

Hard work.

Hard work is just putting your all into doing something.

When you're humble, you accept that there's always a better version of yourself to strive for.

When putting your all into something, and by being humble, you have clear to yourself what's there to improve, and what's to be learned.

Humble could be used in several contexts.

A humble family could mean a poor family.

A humble person could mean a modest person.

To humble someone could mean to lower someone's self-importance…

Humble others while humbling myself?

No, how could that work?

Maintain humility knowing there's always a taller mountain. Maintain hard work knowing the taller mountain could, in the future, be you.

Stay low and humble knowing there's more to learn. Know your self-value and making sure that the variables that can be controlled are done to your best.

[Host has gained Great Mastery in Secret Feature: A Master's Disposition '?']

I felt as if a chain broke inside my mind and the golden words glued to my brain shone brilliantly.

The fog slowly dissipated and was absorbed into my brain.

The feeling was relaxing and tablets of hard-working images appeared in my mind.

Certain gears in my brain were lubricated and became purified by the fog until at last the prison covering my brain broke.

'Talent without hard work is nothing; you become the greatest version of yourself when in humility.'

The saying no longer felt bland and repetitive, rather it became an active brilliant light pulsating energy inside my skull.

My eyes opened with clarity and a strong determined flame brilliantly danced in them.

A refreshing sense of nature blew through my clothes and caressed my entire being.

The beautiful smell of freshness, spring, and life brimmed inside of me.

Haha, do I even need deodorant anymore?

[To Host's incredible achievement, the System gifts the Host:

1x Achievement Egg]

An Achievement Egg?

LETS GOOOOOOOOO.

Confetti appeared in the tab and popping noises appeared inside my mind.

Thank you system.

I coughed and calmed myself naturally.

Excitement is okay to show.

I thought it'd be at least a few months or even the next year until I finally got one of these things. But wow!

I got another one so soon!

Does that mean I can unlock another lucky star?

Getting the achievement points might be a pain, though…

[Select: Achievement Egg]

Y / N]

I tapped the Yes button.

Immediately, the egg bounced around in my system tablet and a small golden egg appeared next to the Achievement Point count.

[Achievement Egg: 0/??????????]

I coughed.

How many digits is that?

10 Digits?

I need at least 1 million achievement points. Normally, I'd yell out calling the Achievement Egg a stupid thing but it doesn't matter anymore because the number is clearly attainable.

My matured mind vibrated.

I clenched my fist and in excitement, my blood began pumping quicker.

The number blurred and once again presented itself.

[Achievement Egg: 8/?]

The rate I gain achievement points at is getting very quick. I already got 8 achievement points and it looks like it takes a few seconds to refresh every time so I should have more.

…

"Alright, Charlie. It'll be Winter soon. The paper is how the Show's schedule will more or less look."

"Okay."

I scanned through the paper.

As expected, I wouldn't have too much involvement but the fact that I'll be involved there is already surprising.

"Some of my other students will be there as well so go out there and show them what's up."

"Huh? Alright."

It's not a competition dude...

"Hours and hours and hours of preparation all for this single event. You've done good, Charlie."

"Thank you, Blake. Is there any specific diet?"

"The one you're doing is fine. You don't need to starve yourself. Your young appearance will be a different refresher for the entire event."

I palmed my cheeks once and twice.

"See. Your kind of looks isn't common, especially in the modeling industry. And since you're so young, you've got a sort of special vibe that dieting might kill."

I nodded.

…

…

…

Back at home after the long tenuous extra classes, I tiredly slumped on the living room couch.

Facing the glass windows presenting the beautiful dark blue sky, I felt a calm sense of peace within.

A few weeks after Halloween, I had finally regained clarity and after the constant check-ups from the doctors were over, I was finally released from the daily check-ins.

Because it had been a very rare case, the doctors were confused about what was happening.

Usually, emotional or mental regression happens due to trauma, drugs, or other abnormalities. However, I presented no substance symptoms and had no presence of a deep trauma.

Since my intelligence was still present but common sense was not, the issue was not too severe.

I convinced them I felt okay and I think the only reason why it worked was the charm stat and my sudden intelligence boost.

Sighing, I looked at the soon night sky.

Though the benefits are amazing, I'm unsure of how this will trouble me in the future.

Maybe people will notice that my physique is too unnatural, or that all the songs, movies, and books that I plan on sharing in the future make people question my existence.

People might notice that suddenly from the gloomy person I was I turned into a superstar. Could they suspect me of being possessed by an alien soon to implant hidden thoughts within people?

I belong but at the same time don't belong in this world. I'm an alien existence.

For a while, it was only myself and the moon looking towards each other.

The blue beautiful sky resonated within me, and the pale light reflecting my stare lulled me to a daze.

Admiring the view that I rarely appreciate, it was only myself enclosed in this space with the entrancing scenery.

Talking to the Moon…

Haha.

They say people that reach fame soon become crazy and is one of the reasons why so many celebrities turn to drugs or other eccentric behaviors.

The ones that don't turn into failed celebrities are the ones that don't care about society or the media anymore.

I think I can understand why...

I shook my head out of my thoughts and my determination and will became strengthened.

There's no reason any more to be bothered over spoiled milk.

I was sent here for a reason, and I'll make sure to live my life to the fullest.

Besides, sharing such magnificent works from Earth to Pangaea would benefit everyone. They're masterpieces to be shown to everyone.

That's right.

I clutched my head in thrilling passion.

My heartbeat accelerated and the excited blood pulsed within me.

A cold breeze reminiscent of the approaching winter season brushed my entire being.

The land's core pulsated with my heart's pump of blood. The beating of the world's core deafened all other noises to be triumphantly showing itself to me.

The moon's brilliant light shone directly to the window and spotlighted me, similarly to how theater stage lights would to their actors.

[The voice of the world has spoken. Recalibration and Integration of the Host: Complete.]

My talents won't go unnoticed. I'm Charlie Yang. Earth is now but a distant fond memory. I'm not Charlie from Earth, but Charlie from Pangaea. My memories of Earth make me who I am, but Pangaea is the world I now thrive in. It is now my home.

System or not, alien or not, what matters is I'm here to sweep the world in a storm.

[Will the Host accept the World's status?]

I'm Reaching For The Stars.

…

…

...