07: Back to reality

The next morning, Jared slowly woke up, squinting at the sunlight pouring through his window. He felt a strange pull to check his phone. Something just told him to look.

He reached for his phone and opened TikTok.

His heart skipping a beat.

122K views on the One Piece edit. Overnight, his account had exploded again.

"Holy—" Jared sat up, wide awake now, his eyes glued to the screen.

He scrolled through the flood of comments.

[@OnePieceFanboy99: BRO THIS IS INSANE! 🔥🔥]

[@VisualNerd420: Imagine being this good at editing 😭]

[@ZoroSimp42: So good that I got chills 😭]

[@LuffyKing19: THIS NEEDS TO GO VIRAL. NOW.]

Jared blinked, hardly believing it. 122K views overnight? This was unreal. And it wasn't just that video.

He switched to his previous edit.

212K views.

His jaw dropped. "What the hell…?"

He immediately opened his status window, eager to check his stats.

---

[Status Window]

Name: Jared Harper

Age: 17

Current Followers: 5,873

Total Views: 365,489

Likes: 28,926

System Skills:

Video Boost: Level 3

Video Enhancement Feature: Level 2 (+1)

Content Creation Insight: Level 1

---

Jared stared at the numbers, completely shocked. In a matter of days, his account had skyrocketed. He went from struggling for attention to gaining thousands of followers and hundreds of thousands of views.

But before he could process it all, the system's familiar notification popped up.

[Quest: Complete a 30-minute outdoor exercise routine to unlock the next use of the Video Booster.]

Jared sighed. Right, the daily workout. It was the price to pay for the Video Boost. He tossed his phone on the bed and got up, stretching out his sore muscles. Yesterday's routine had left him tired, but if he wanted to keep riding this wave of success, he needed to push through.

"Let's get this over with," he muttered, grabbing his workout clothes.

At the park, Jared fell into the same routine: push-ups, squats, jumping jacks, and a light jog. His muscles complained every step of the way, but after about thirty minutes, he felt that familiar buzz in his pocket.

He pulled out his phone to check the system.

[Quest Complete: 30-minute outdoor workout.]

[Video Boost Recharged for Next Use.]

"Perfect," Jared said, wiping the sweat from his brow. "Now I'm ready."

As he made his way back home, he started planning his next edit. But before he could dive too deep into his thoughts, the system popped up again.

[Alert: Based on trending data and audience behavior, it is highly recommended NOT to upload or edit content today.]

Jared blinked. "Wait, what?"

He stared at the message, confused. The system had always been spot-on with its advice so far. But now it was telling him not to edit or post? That seemed completely out of left field.

He scratched his head, wondering why the system would give such a strange warning. But the system had helped him reach these heights—he had to trust it. "Alright," he muttered.

"I'll hold off."

Back home, Jared grabbed a drink from the fridge, still mulling over the system's warning. Just as he sat down at the table, his mom called out from the kitchen.

"Jared! Can you come here for a second?"

He sighed, walking into the kitchen, where his mom sat with some paperwork.

"Morning," he said, leaning against the counter.

"Morning. You know school starts tomorrow, right?"

Jared blinked, almost spitting out the soda he was drinking causing him to hold his mouth. "Wait… what?"

A/N: I have no clue how school works, I am still a kid myself, in high school.

"College. You enrolled before summer break, remember?" she said, glancing up from her paperwork with a smile.

Jared's stomach dropped. He had totally forgotten about school starting. In his past life, he had dropped out of college after his first semester.

It just hadn't felt right at the time, and now with his TikTok blowing up, he wasn't sure he wanted to go through all that again.

"Right…" Jared muttered, staring at the floor. "I kinda forgot."

His mom raised an eyebrow, but her smile didn't fade. "You're still going, right?"

Jared hesitated. 'Should I go? I dropped out before… but maybe things are different this time.' With everything the system was doing for him, it almost felt like he had a fresh start. He could try again. Plus, what did he have to lose?

"Yeah," Jared finally said, feeling the weight lift off his chest. "I'm going."

His mom's smile widened, and she nodded approvingly. "I'm glad. You've always been smart, Jared. I think college will be good for you."

Jared felt a little more confident. "Yeah… maybe you're right."

Before the moment could sink in, Connor's voice boomed from upstairs.

"JARED!"

Jared groaned. "Here we go again..."

Connor came crashing down the stairs, phone in hand, as usual. "Dude! Why didn't you tell me your One Piece edit blew up? You're at, like, 130K views now!"

Jared raised an eyebrow. "Really? It was at 122K this morning."

Connor shoved his phone in Jared's face. "It's going up fast. Seriously, man, you're blowing up! Again!"

Jared chuckled. "Yeah, I guess so."

Connor shook his head, grinning. "Man, first day of school tomorrow, and you're gonna be popular already. You're really lucky!"

Jared rolled his eyes. "I'm not exactly trying to be the center of attention at school, you know."

"Yeah, well, good luck with that," Connor teased, snatching a piece of paper off the table and pretending to inspect it.

Their mom narrowed her eyes. "Connor, put that down before you lose something important."

Connor grinned mischievously. "Fine, fine," he said, tossing the paper back.

Jared couldn't help but smile at the banter. But his mind kept drifting back to school.

Dropping out the first time had felt like the right move, but things were different now. He had a chance to turn things around. He wasn't the same person as before.

"I'm going to college," he said out loud, more to himself than anyone else.

"Of course you are," Connor quipped. "Just try not to get lost on your first day, okay?"

Jared smirked. "Thanks for the vote of confidence."

His mom gave him a proud smile. "I think it's a good choice, Jared. You're going to do great this time."

The next morning came faster than Jared expected. He woke up early, nerves buzzing through him. As he got dressed for his first day of classes, his phone buzzed again.

He opened TikTok, eyes widening as he saw his One Piece edit had now reached 267K views. His followers had jumped up as well.

---

[Status Window]

Name: Jared Harper

Age: 17

Current Followers: 6,450

Total Views: ...1

Likes: ...

System Skills:

Video Boost: Level 3

Video Enhancement Feature: Level 2 (+1)

Content Creation Insight: Level 1

---

He stared at the stats, feeling a wave of pride wash over him. But today wasn't about TikTok. Today was about getting back into college and giving it another shot.

With one last look at his stats, Jared tucked his phone into his pocket and took a deep breath.

"Alright," he muttered to himself. "Let's do this."

---

A/N: Sorry for the delay. My sister just had her first child, and I was busy helping out my mom and my sister. But I'll make sure to update as much as I can!