Chapter 9

We reach home in silence and I grab the keys from my backpack to unlock the door.

"How was school?"

She did not expect me to suddenly talk to her, but she assumed I was seeking to converse with her.

"It was as usual. How about you? I saw you have some new friends."

I smile at her and turning the doorknob I open the door to let her in first.

I enter after her and lock the door.

"Yes, I met them recently."

"Are they why you suddenly decided to come out of your room?" She giggled half through the joke.

I merely chuckled.

I walk to the fridge and take out the milk.

"You fancy a banana smoothie?"

She seemed a little uncomfortable as I was never like this before, but she's got no choice but to get used to it now.

"Yeah, sure."

With practiced ease, I wash the bananas from the fruit casket, peel them and dump them into the blender.

[Ding!]

[Culinary Skill has upgraded by 10 points!]

I don't know if that makes sense, but I'll take it.

Adding honey and some peanut butter, I can see her taking a picture of me.

"Who are you taking a picture of?" I inquired.

"I'm sending it to mom!"

Knowing her, she'll probably frame the picture somewhere. The phone camera quality is also excellent so I have no doubts she'll probably try to.

I merely shrugged and deliver her the smoothie while putting the rest in the fridge.

"I'll be in my room. Tell me if there's anything."

She nodded at me and took a sip of the cup.

As I close the door I catch her eyes widening in delight.

Well, now that I'm home...

I open the system's shop tab and explore for anything close to 45 points or anything interesting.

[Eidetic Memory: 5,000 points]

I'll be damned. I must get that.

[Organized thoughts: 15 points]

That sounds extremely useful for my current situation…

[+1 Stat Upgrade: 15 points]

I think I'm going to get this and put it on luck seeing as how overpowered that is.

[Better Language Proficiency: 20 points]

Learning more languages is definitely in my bucket list…

[Expression Manipulation: 70 points]

Well, that caught my attention. If I buy this, wouldn't I be able to become a really good actor? Hmm, I've never acted before, but it sounds interesting.

[Composing: 60 points]

Hmm, that coupled with my general Music Theory knowledge would pair up extremely well. I guess I can also make songs if I'd like.

Scrolling through the catalog, there were many interesting things but I was still unsure of which to get. I'll buy the Stat upgrade and save the rest of my points up in case there's something I missed.

The price of the stat upgrade instantly jumped to 150 achievement points. Damn, it'll probably jump to 1,500 after that. I might want to be a little more conservative on the use of the stat points.

I still feel like putting the points in Luck would be most beneficial.

System, please open my stats.

[Stats:

Luck: 1

Intelligence: 13(12 + 1)

Charm: 9

Available stat points: 1]

I clicked on Luck but instead of increasing the 1, the stat reddened and shook.

I spammed it but it just kept reddening.

System? Why can't I add the stat point to Luck?

[Ding!]

[Host! Before you can upgrade Luck, you must open an Achievement Egg! Achievement Eggs are items gained from system rewards and are opened upon accumulating a specific number of Achievement Points.]

Hmm, so I can't spam all my stats into Luck.

The question is, should I try to put the point it in another stat, or save it up for when I can open an Achievement Egg?

System what are Achievement Eggs?

[Ding!]

[The Host should find out by himself!]

Hmm, flat dismissal.

Achievement Eggs don't sound too common and needing an accumulation of achievement points means I'll probably have enough to buy the next stat point by the time I open an Egg.

So now, should I put the stat point in Charm or Intelligence? Charm will probably get me more attention and it would be good if I want to model, or maybe even act. It could also maybe help me persuade people, lead people, or maybe even work on animals. However, I'm still at school and more intelligence will probably allow me to think through things better, make a better gameplan, and even boost my bodily functions.

Going for Intelligence right now would probably be for the best. The System also said I can gain stat points from rewards so I don't think I will ever run out from stat points permanently.

Okay, I tap on Intelligence. Let's hope I don't have to open some Achievement Egg to raise the stat.

Instantly, I can feel my sense of time slowing down marginally. My thoughts run speedier and smoother and I feel so very energized. My senses become sharper and I see, smell, and 'sense' things much more articulately.

I somehow feel the space within my mind broadening and I can feel more thoughts fit into my head at a time.

The feeling of getting more points is addicting. I am tempted to put all of my stat points into Intelligence just for this euphoric feeling, but I immediately scuttle the thought away.

[Stats:

Luck: 1

Intelligence: 14 (13 + 1)

Charm: 9]

Not feeling fatigued from classes anymore, I begin brainstorming on the best ways to get achievement points.

Seeing as how my quests and acquisition of the points seem to be related to impressing, impacting, or interacting with people, I probably should aim for big screens and exposure type of stuff.

Off the top of my head, I instantly think of Acting, Singing, Streaming, any show, Modelling, or being an Athlete. Hmm, I should probably search in Google what's included in show business. It'll probably list many more things.

I can't really get into Acting as a highschool student with no connections. My voice hasn't received singing training, and I'm not big named enough for a show. I could get scouted to Model, or just set up a social media account wearing sponsored clothing. Or even better, I could just stream.

The easiest one and quickest one to do at home is streaming. I could probably set up a social media account after having lots of viewers and then begin modeling and streaming at the same time. I'll be big-name enough and by that time I'll probably be recruited to a modeling agency and if I'm lucky enough, get someone to start up my acting career. For now, I'll go with streaming though.

Getting on the computer, I enter the biggest streaming website and browse through it's most popular streams.

Gaming currently has the most viewers and after that, it's Just Chatting.

Hmm. Unless I get a camera it'll be hard to attract many viewers. I could be godly at a game but there are also many other skilled people and I don't think I want to get myself too invested in a game. I could probably score a few viewers off of playing the piano but I don't have one at home and my parents would probably wonder where I got the time to learn how to even play it.

[Ding!]

[A point of luck has been consumed!]

Oooh, okay what's going to be my lucky event?

I motionlessly waited for a sign but nothing happened.

Abruptly, I hear a buzz come from my phone... Hmm?

I check my phone and it's a text from Reed. Is this my lucky encounter?

Reed: [Heyyy]

Reed: [how r u doing?]

Charlie: [Double texting me you must be thirsty for some]

Reed: [so what if i am? >:(]

Charlie: [haha okay whatever]

Charlie: [you need something? im kind of busy right now]

Reed: [oh yeah i was going to ask if you want to play some games with me and my friends]

Reed: [but if u cant its fine]

Charlie: [i might be able to soon]

Charlie: [with who else?]

Reed: [idk if u know them but they r other streamers]

Reed: [blacklily and bzoomster and some others]

[Author Note: it took me a while to think of these names, if they don't seem 'streamer' enough then I apologize.]

I search up their names on the streaming service.

I feel excitement in my heart, is this the lucky encounter?

blacklilys stream is sitting at a whopping 20k viewers and bzoomster at 8k.

Well damn.

I think becoming friends with Reed was one of the greatest moves in my life.

Charlie: [dunno them bu tmy compter was recently set up so i think ill be able to]

Charlie: [hav u done the homework yet btw?]

Reed: [ok call me when ur rdy]

Reed: [yeh u?]

Charlie: [ye i just did btw what is the game going to be?]

Reed: [its called Among Us its a rlly quick download but its 5 dollars on the store]

Reed: [we r just missing one person so get in quickly]

[Author Note: If you guys haven't played it yet, you should. It's really fun to play with friends and it's free on the phone. Also, whoever guesses what big streamers I am going to make into characters gets a cookie. (Hint: They're a group of streamers that live together. Their group name starts with O.)]

I chatted with him for a while and downloaded the game which was oddly already in my owned games tab.

Apparently, I received it from a giveaway by the game developers. Well isn't this luck beautiful?

I finish downloading the game and call up Reed.

[Author Note: Please enjoy the double release! By the way, should I keep putting author notes like this, or add all of them to the author's thought section? I notice the Author's Thoughts are sometimes ignored and putting it inside the chapter text like this would help it be more visible. I enjoy communicating with you guys.]