After school, I go for a quick workout. Can't slack off if I want to keep grinding those stats. I focused on everything today- cardio, strength, a little bit of agility. I strapped on some ankle weights while skipping rope, feeling the extra resistance with every jump. Then I moved on to weighted pull-ups, really pushing myself until my arms were burning. I am pretty sure normal people are not supposed to train like me lest they want injuries.
I could feel my body adapting, muscles recovering faster than ever. Gamer's Body is honestly broken-like, if this were a real game, it would be nerfed in the next patch.
If only there was a skill for "Not Being Socially Awkward Around Girls." If I could unlock that, I'd basically be unstoppable. The only reason I could talk to Alex was because I felt like I already knew her because of watching the show.
When I got home, Mom was already in the kitchen, humming to herself and chopping vegetables with the kind of speed only years of practice can give you. The smell of onions and garlic filled the air. She looked up and smiled when she saw me.
"Hey sweetie, can you help me chop these veggies?"
[Routine Quest: Help Mom Cook]
[Reward: 2 XP, +Cooking Skill Progress]
I grabbed a knife and got to work, sliding up next to her at the counter.
Cooking with Mom is weirdly relaxing. There's something about the rhythm of chopping and stirring that just calms my mind. I can see why people actually do this for fun. Plus, every time I level up my cooking skill, I feel a little more competent in the kitchen. Maybe one day I'll be the next Gordon Ramsay. Scratch that-I'll be better than him. No one's going to be yelling at me to "get out of the kitchen" when I'm the one with the maxed-out Cooking stat.
After dinner, I retreated to my room, homework spread out across my desk like a battlefield. Everyone had to do homework even if you were smarter than your teachers.
I fired off a message to Alex on Insta-nothing major, just a casual, "Hey, did you finish the Literature homework? How do you connect the authors' styles with the theme in your analysis?" I tried to keep it chill. Not desperate. Just a normal, responsible student asking a classmate for help. Totally not an excuse to talk to her.
We had AP Literature and AP Biology together as well, and I knew she was grinding just as hard as I was. For a girl in her junior year, she was really putting in the work. I had to respect the hustle.
She replied in, like, two minutes. Not that I was counting.
Alex: "Yeah, you have to identify and examine his previous works to understand it better. Did you get it?" she was llying on her stomach, feet in the air, happily texting away.
Me: "Actually, it's kind of confusing to understand from your messages. Do you mind if I call you right now?"
Truth is, it wasn't confusing at all. I just wanted her number. Might as well go for it.
Alex: "No problem :)"
I could practically feel her nervous excitement through the screen. She clearly didn't mind me asking. Victory. Small, but I'll take it.
We ended up talking for the rest of the evening, bouncing ideas off each other as we did our homework. The conversation drifted from schoolwork to more random stuff. I learned she'd started playing the cello recently, which was honestly pretty cool.
I asked her about her plans for the future, and she was all too happy to share her dreams and ambitions. It was nice, just talking, getting to know her beyond the surface level. But eventually, I had to go for dinner.
Her mentioning the cello got me thinking-maybe I could pick up an instrument, too. With skill books and my system, I could probably grind my way to "prodigy" status in no time. I bet everyone wanted to be a musician at some point, at least until they realized how hard it is for normal people without talent and dedication.
But who needs talent when you've got a skill system?
Maybe I will do it. Who knows? I have too many ideas.
I spent the rest of the night studying, coding, learning, and grinding XP. Sometimes I paused and just thought about how weird my life had become. One minute I'm just some average guy, the next I've got a gamer interface, superhuman recovery, and a crush on a sitcom character. Life's weird like that.
Before bed, I checked my status screen. No new level-ups, but my Cooking skills had ticked up a notch. My programming skills were progressing nicely, too. The initial levels are always easy to grind-just a little bit of effort and you see results right away.
One thing to note is that there is no single Cooking skill on the interface. There are bunch of skills that make up cooking skill like chopping, temperature control, ingredients assessor, etc. It's the same with game development. There are a bunch of skills there as well.
Some skills are not given levels as well. They are just knowledge. Not something you can improve. Like there is no mathematics skills but I have Calculation level 37 as skill. My stats decide how efficiently I can use my knowledge skills. The only magical kind of skill I have are gamers Body and Mind. I still discover new things about them.
I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, my mind buzzing with possibilities. With Gamer's Body, I can sleep whenever I want, like flipping a switch. I'm still figuring out all the uses for these skills. How absurd is my life.
[Alex Dunphy POV]
I spent the evening obsessively checking my phone, hoping Lucas would message me. When he finally did, I tried to play it cool, but inside I was freaking out. I'd had a crush on him before I even really knew him, but after we actually talked, I realized he's actually really sweet. And smart. And he listens when I talk, which is more than I can say for most people in my life. Sometimes I feel alone in my own house, so having someone who genuinely pays attention means a lot.
When his message popped up, I replied instantly. Then I panicked. Did I reply too fast? Did I seem desperate? I froze when he asked for my number and instantly jumped on my bed, which of course my sister Haley noticed. Ugh, now she's going to want to know everything about this boy and she has strong intuition when it comes to these relationship dramas.
But honestly, I was more nervous waiting for his call than I was about Haley's teasing. I locked my door, wanting to be alone for this. When my phone finally rang, I let it ring three times before picking up, hoping I didn't sound too eager.
We ended up talking for an hour before I even realized it. At one point, I definitely saw my mom outside my door, probably curious about my "new friend." My mom is really a 'Psychotic control freak' as Haley would describe it. She gets too involved in our lives.
But I didn't care for her now when I was talking to him and just closed the door. When Lucas said he had to go for dinner and hung up, I flopped onto my pillow, grinning like an idiot and thinking about all the possibilities.
Of course, Haley barged in right after, demanding to know everything about Lucas. I completely ignored her, like politicians ignore climate change. I was in too good a mood to let her bother me. Even when Luke tried to annoy me later, I didn't get mad. My family was actually surprised to see me smiling so much.
Maybe this year won't be so bad after all.
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A/N: [ExquisitePieceOfBacon, MMMCMXCIX, or 3,999, George Simon, kukaracha pokelais, Nathan, Gkiller, Dvilla, Goaty, Parker Johnson, Anime fan123456, Soul, Carson Hogan, Cole Mckinney, SecrecyW, Leinhart31]
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