Deceptive Delusion

In this dystopian world, a Civil Contribution is essentially a citizen's pecuniary contribution or serving of time in a specific job class.

Those, other than law enforcement officers and soldiers, who don't amount to sufficient civil contribution, aren't entitled to what the Government gives to people who meet the prerequisites.

———

Jin continued to peer long and hard at the screen before him.

[Effect: Deceptive Delusion]

[+1 Exp]

[Exp: 1/15]

Quickly, he stormed off to his room; leaving his crestfallen grandmother right there by herself. He locked his door, and plopped on his bed.

'I'm sorry, grandma…'

He wasn't in the mood for anything system-related. He just laid flat on his back; sprawled out on his bed, while peering up at the hole in the ceiling from Laevateinn's entrance.

"I was far too harsh on her just now. Why did I act like that?"

Jin thought about closing the screen, and it immediately disappeared accordingly. Simply, his eyelids covered his eyeballs as he laid on the bed; and he let out a loud, stressful breath.

***

Jin woke up late the next morning.

He warmed-up, and got in the groove already. He slept all day yesterday after what went down. But today, he made up his mind to make a difference.

Without wearing a shirt, he, covered in sweat, stood with his hands on his waist, looking at the screen in his presence.

[Task Completed!]

[+5 Exp]

[Exp: 6/15 | Level 2]

Jin made up his mind to apologize to his grandmother first thing in the morning right after completing his expected daily task.

He had not much planned for the day; all he wanted was to make up for the bad day he had yesterday. He essentially hated being a jerk to people.

Because he sure as hell knows what it feels to be the subject of some jerk's insolence. He knows how it is.

Walking out of the bathroom from a hot shower, a screen appeared before him.

[New Task: Consume sufficient sustenance]

[Reward: +1 Exp]

Only then did he realize that he hadn't eaten anything all yesterday. His stomach was snarling at him; and roaring like a lion. He could eat even his grandma's horrible cooking at the moment. Put simply, he was hungry as fuck.

He changed into a black, long pants that reached his ankles, and a contemplating black shirt.

On his nightstand, there was another pair of glasses that he only wore once. The glasses were basically too weak for his eyes, and he had to get another prescription pair from an ophthalmologist that wasn't such a bonehead as the last one.

Jin was essentially blind as a bat. He could not see words and such without his glasses there for his ass all the time. For whatever reason, he decided to wear this pair today, given that his good one was long fucked.

"Alright, how long has it been since I wore this?" he asked himself, picking it up.

He wiped it in his shirt, and contemplated it well. After doing so, he extended the temples, and placed the pair on his nose bridge.

Immediately he grimaced, squinting his eyes a bit, trying to see through the lenses. It was just a huge blur to him. He couldn't see a thing with it on.

"What in the bloody hell?"

The tested glasses seemed to be too strong for his eyes, when this was never the case before.

"Wait," he took it off, "Wasn't this the same glasses that was just too weak for me that it didn't help me see any better? How the hell is it too strong now?"

"I swear, I'm going nuts…"

Ultimately, Jin put it back down on his nightstand, and walked away in confusion.

He left his room, and went looking for his grandmother. She wasn't in the living room, nor in the kitchen. And he found this really, really strange.

He even called out to her, but she didn't answer. He immediately found himself appalled right there and then.

She never really went outdoors; the reason being was because she feared the other hostile-like races. Like the shit-eating Hobgoblins, and the menacing Orcs—only because she feared getting harmed by them.

She would always see the negatives of everything, and think up the worst possible outcome of her staying outdoors.

And so, Jin knew she wasn't outside. Still, he walked around the yard of the house in light of finding her. Given that his search was simply to no avail, he began to stir up reasons for her absence, like the fact that she probably hit the ceiling ropes because of him.

He immediately started fretting about finding her. To him, he felt like finding her became a necessity now that he knew she was missing. He was about to look beyond his yard, but then he remembered that he hadn't checked the second floor of his house.

"Shit, how the fuck did I not think about checking the second floor!" he snapped, rushing back into the house.

Since he was crippled, he lived on the first floor alone, and this made him even forget that there was an upstairs entirely.

He rushed up the flight of wooden stairs, calling out, "Grandma!? Grandma, you there!?"

There were two doors; he checked the one on the left first, only to see an empty room.

"Not here either…"

Then, he rushed to the one on the right, his ankle and feet pivoted as he displayed great agility. Bursting through the wooden door, his eyes widened in shock. What laid on a huge bed, was none other than his Grandmother.

But this wasn't what made him horror-struck. It was the fact that she could've been dead, for she wasn't moving at all although her eyes were open and peering at him in the soul.

He darted towards her, and knelt beside her bed, holding one of her hands. And as soon as he had touched her hand, a screen appeared before him.

[Effect: Deceptive Delusion]

He felt as if his heart, thumping in his chest, had exploded. It skipped a beat when he feasted eyes on the hovering screen before him.

'Could it be? Is she really sick? Did the skill do this?'

Simply he closed the screen, and paid all his attention to her again. Seeing her in such a condition, immediately he frowned.

"Grandma!?" he called in an apprehensive tone.

She slowly turned her face to look at him now that he changed position. Her eyes were dull, and her hands were burning up. Her dried, flaky lips trembled while moving up and down as she struggled to say his name, "Juh…J-Jin?"

With his heart thumping against his chest like a LumberJack bashing an axe into a tree, he felt a subtle burning in his eyes as he unblinkingly peered at her.

"Grandma? What's wrong?"

Wincing a bit, she cooed, "I…I don't feel…so good."

"What do you mean? Weren't you fine yesterday?"

She didn't say anything in response; a nuance simply took her face.

Panic-stricken, he started to evince his nervousness, "Should I call the ambulance? What should I do?"

"I'll be…fine, Jin. Just go get some medication for me at…a pharmacy."

Given that he was robbed of the little sum of money he had, he had nothing in balance. And so, he pulled his Grandmother's Wristband towards him, and looked down at it.

He grimaced when his eyes met the money she had remaining.

"Two-hundred alone? Grandma, where's your money?"

She blinked, and said, "That's what I was going to tell…you. I'm running out of money, and my pension has been cut."

"What do you mean your pension has been cut? Isn't it a fixed sum of money every month? What about the money you're getting for taking care of me alone?"

"You don't get it…every month any more. It's every two months now."

He recalled the Government making a huge change to things recently. One of these changes was the fact that custodial money in general and money paid to foster parents would be every two months as opposed to the initial one cheque per month.

This new change only applied to those who weren't making or hadn't made adequate civil contributions.

Their reasons for making such a major change was that people were making children simply to get this sum of money; while staying at home and not making contributions to the society in itself.

Jin quickly transferred his grandmother's money over to his account, by simply shaking her hand.

He stood, "Alright, Grandma. I'm gonna see what I can get at the pharmacy for you, alright?"

"Okay…"

"Just hang in there. I'll be right back."

"Wait, Jin? Have you eaten anything since yesterday?" She said, trying to get up.

"Don't worry about me. I'm fine."

She continued trying to get up nonetheless.

"Grandma, stay the hell in bed! Don't you move. You're ill!"

"Why do you even do this to yourself! Just acknowledge the fact that you're sick, and let me help."

Taking his reaction into account, she dropped her body back on the bed again, "Y-you're right…I really am sick."

[One of your active skills strengthens]

[+1 Exp]

[Exp: 7/15 | Level 2]

Suddenly, all hell broke loose. A small disperse of aura started coming from his grandmother's body, and she lifelessly closed her eyes.

The aura was dark, and ominous. And for some odd reason, he could both see and feel its grim energy surrounding her.

The outcry of energy sounded through the air, and he could hear its horrifying, cacophonous hissing and its sinister whispering.

He checked for a pulse by putting two of his fingers on her neck. He felt her pulse linger; and so, she was alive.

Immediately, he hurried downstairs. He rushed into his bedroom, took one of his black hoodies, put it on, and he darted out of the house; jogging towards the nearest pharmacy.

Jin now knew that he underestimated the wrath of his first skill—he simply didn't know what it was capable of. But what he did know was that he was irrefutably the cause of his grandmother's misery.

And maybe…just maybe…the cause of her atrocious death.