Talented Me! 39

"Mr. Greene," Avina started. "Why did you want me to be in the club so badly?"

Mr. Greene looked over puzzled. His eyes asking her why she wanted to know. He didn't expect her to ask, but it was inevitable she would ask. It's just, he never expected her to ask right now.

"Or do you not want to answer forever?" Avina said as she looked closely at his changing face. Her mission was a priority, and she didn't need another unknown obstacle.

Mr. Greene replied, "It's not that I don't want to answer, but I'm unsure how."

He scratched his head and sighed. "You see, no one joins the club. No one likes to garden and the few students who help me are part of my class."

So that's why she never saw anyone else during club activities here.

"I saw you who looked like she was interested and thought you were perfect. You ate that flower -what was it called- calendulas!" He snapped his fingers. A smile of joy lined his lips. "I wanted someone like you to join my club."

And that was why he basically blackmailed me to join his club…

Avina was truthful to admit that she did not expect this. She thought there was an elaborate scheme full of twists from this otherwise sneaky conniving fox. Turns out he was not sneaky -a little conniving- but a helpful fox. All he wanted was someone to join his club and he thought the best way was to threaten a student.

'That sounds so dumb,' Avina blurted out in her mind. She couldn't wrap her mind around his nonsense, but it didn't seem like he was lying either.

5025 agreed, 'Definitely not the smartest thing.'

So now, in Avina's mind, Mr. Greene wasn't this complex person with secrets hidden inside his pocket, but a total dork who probably shouldn't be left alone. That would explain the shiny hat. That would explain his serial killer-esque driving skills. And finally, his terrible reasoning for doing stuff like practically blackmailing a student.

"I didn't expect such a simple answer," Avina managed to squeeze out. What else was she supposed to say...

Mr. Greene looked at her and teasingly said, "What? Did you expect me to be some diabolical schemer who got you into my club for some diabolical reason?"

Okay, that was exactly what she thought, but that's exactly what you can't say either.

So Avina laughed it off and replied, "Of course not. That's just plain silly."

After that, they didn't have another conversation to talk about and sat there quietly. At first, it was awkward, but Avina started to feel appreciation for spectating. It left her time to think and plan her next steps, and to avoid talking to the weirdo next to her. But he also soon left to help out in the greenhouse.

The next topic was gaming. Everyone would be made to play a game and there would be a bracket competition. (The one where 2 people compete, winner moves up, 2 people compete, winner moves up, etc.)

Avina had 2 choices. One, to learn how to game from scratch and have Eli help her. Two, cheat and use the all-powerful system 5025. A part of her leaned towards using 5025 to win. There are no bad choices, just choices that will have better results!

'How far do you think you can get me if you hack my computer?' Avina asked. It was just 2 choices, but it was a tough choice.

5025 thought for a moment before replying. 'Well, you also have to fake the keyboard and mouse or it would be pretty obvious.'

'Then, can you make me win even if I play badly?'

5025 knew that it could do that. It would be like having an auto-aim hack or a small glitch to escape. 'I think I could.'

A big plan was forming in her head. She could just play with her terrible skills and the dash of guidance from Eli, but actually have 5025 lead her through victory. So she was playing, but not really playing herself. Very smart, very schemy, very diabolical!

"Eli!" Avina cupped her hands and called out. "Come here! I got a favor to ask you!"

Eli looked over and dropped his watering can. He ran over and asked, "What's wrong?"

"So I know that you game sometimes," Avina began. "And I was wondering if you could teach me. You know, a few tips and tricks."

Eli furrowed his brows and pursed his lips in confusion and deep thought. Avina saw it and started to ramble. "Because you know, I just want to try it out! For fun! It looks really interesting. If you don't want to, you don't have to, but you're the only person I know that really games."

"It's not that I don't want to teach you, but like, there's nothing to teach," Eli denied. "Games are pretty explanatory just the way they are. There's always a tutorial at the beginning and you can just figure it out from there. You don't need a teacher."

Avina quickly said, "But I want to be good at it!"

"The more you play, the better you'll get," Eli answered. "So don't rush it. You'll get better."

At this point, Avina was a little frustrated. What was something that she could say that would immediately make him help her? Think, think, think-

"I just want to play with you!" Avina blurted out. "Gaming seems really fun, and you seem to really like it, and I want to try it."

Avina looked up with a pair of puppy dog eyes. "So, please, teach me how to game?"

There were very few people who could resist Avina's puppy dog eyes. Now, on the face of the very innocent and pure-looking Wilona, it was even harder to resist.

Eli tried his best. He backed away and squinted to lessen the powers, but he ultimately failed. At the face of the adorable mastermind in front of him, he could not win.

"Fine, fine, I'll teach you," Eli sighed. "But it's not like you'll instantaneously become good just because I teach you. It just takes practice."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Avina almost leaped up and hugged him. The only thing stopping her was her ankle.

"What are you two doing?" Daisy asked. She had been paying attention to them, and when she arrived at Wilona's side, she gave her a little nudge. "Interrupting something?"

Eli sighed and helplessly shook his head, "Put away those moving eyebrows and winks. Wilona was just asking me to teach her how to play games."

"Oh. That's boring," Daisy huffed. Here she thought love was blooming, Turns out the only thing blooming was another hobby.

"Do you like games, Wilona?" Daisy turned to ask Wilona. "I can also help you if you want. I know how to play Flappy Bird."

According to her memories and the plot, the game was not Flappy Bird. It was more like a MOBA game. So very sadly, she couldn't have Daisy help her with her flapping skills.

"I haven't really played any games, but I do want to play those popular MOBA games," Avina answered.

"Well, you're in luck," Ben walked over and boasted. "Eli's specialty is MOBA games. That's all he plays."

Ben wrapped his arms around Eli, but Eli lifted it off him. "It's not my specialty. It's just the type I like."

"Yeah, basically a specialty."

Eli rolled his eyes at Ben and hit him on the shoulders. "At least call it a preference."

"You play games too, Ben?" Avina curiously looked at him.

Ben scratched his head. "Not anymore, but I still got my account. I was at like grandmaster or something like that."

Avina didn't know what a "grandmaster" was, but she deduced it was a high rank from Daisy's adoring eyes. Sparkles were practically nailing Ben all over the place.

"Wow! That's high!" Daisy turned her sparkly eyes over to Ben. "Teach me, Master! Wilona's got Eli already!"

Ben reached out and gave a small flick onto Daisy's forehead. "No can do, short stacks. You're too much to handle. I don't think I can do it."

Daisy glared at Ben and smacked his hand away. "Hey! I'm not that short!"

Ben ran away while shouting out, "Short! Short! Short!" and Daisy chased after him. She managed to land a couple of light punches on his back before giving up.

"That guy," Daisy said between pants. "So fast. I blame it on his long legs."

"Short," Ben walked over and taunted. Daisy turned and glared at him before rolling her eyes.

"I know a great internet cafe. It's near the cat cafe. We can head over there sometimes," Daisy suggested.

"Danny's?" Gina arrived and asked.

"Yep!"

"My brother knows the owner. We can get a discount," Gina chimed in.

Daisy got excited thinking about it. She was shaking in her skin! "Then it's a plan! How about today? You all free?"

One by one, they replied they were. Finally, it was Avina's turn.

"Of course I am!"

This was perfect for Avina! The show was about to start shooting soon, and if she practiced every day with them, she would at least be somewhat tolerable online.

Facts soon proved that not only was her singing horrendous, but also her gaming.

"Wilona! Move away! No, no, not to the enemies! The other way!"

First death.

"Wait! Just wait! Don't engage! Don't, don't don't- and she's dead…"

Second death.

"Okay, so these are jungle monsters. And you kill them to get- Wait! Don't kill them on low HP!"

Third death.

"Okay! Now you see that green button. Yeah, that one. That's to heal. If you press on it- Are you colorblind!? Green! Not red!!"

Fourth death. And no, she didn't know what the red button did. All that she knew was that she died yet again.

And this wasn't the first game. There were several games before all with deaths stacked up like bricks. It seemed no matter how she played, she always found a new way to die. And she learned a very interesting term for people like her - Feeders.

"Okay, Wilona, you're a pro feeder," Ben admitted in defeat.

They played Nth games and not once did Wilona kill the enemy. It was always her getting killed by everything under the sky and if not, she still managed to die somehow. It was ridiculous, but what can they say, she was a natural.

'I'm doomed…'