Two days later...
Frizz sat on a chair, relaxing on his house's veranda on the second floor, taking a sip of tea, and looked around, enjoying the calm view from his position.
Two days had passed since he invaded that drug dealer's house, and the invasion still lived rent-free in his head. It was his biggest current accomplishment.
Despite coming out victorious and managing to dupe them, he still couldn't ease the tension from when he got mugged and had he acted recklessly. That would've been the end of him.
Yesterday, one of his neighbors saw the Fishbook video, the footage where Frizz got robbed, and that prompted his neighbor to tell Frizz's father. His father was the last person he wanted to know.
"I don't want a new phone, Dad," Frizz argued, dismissing his father.
"Why? That phone isn't coming back, and those robbers won't get caught," his father countered.
Frizz recalled his earlier conversation with his father. He couldn't deny that his father was correct. Those robbers will be eventually caught, but he wasn't holding his breath.
To him, the police are good people but unreliable, not worth placing faith in. It would be a vicious cycle of disappointment.
"Oh well, I managed to steal some money, and I'll be stronger soon." Frizz muttered, coping, but it hardly made him feel better. Feeling that unless those two crooks have learned their lessons, he wouldn't be feeling lighter.
[System]
Initiating daily objectives: Answer five questions to earn free experience and a perk!
"No, go to hell." Frizz rudely declined, having had enough.
The system window then promptly vanished.
The free experience and perk sounded decent, but unless you answered the questions correctly, there aren't any rewards, and so far these past few days ever since acquiring a system.
He wasn't able to answer any of the questions correctly; giving up was his only choice.
Frizz sipped his tea, letting his thoughts be enveloped by nothing. *Crash!*
A loud crash boomed below, in front of his house, prompting him to investigate it, leaning against the railings.
"Meoooow!" A street cat below hissed at the two scrappy dogs.
The cat was cornered and had nowhere else to go. The cat desperately swung its claws while the two canines waited for an opportunity to pounce.
One wrong move and there'll be a mauling.
Frizz blankly stared at the encounter below, half-interested. He lifted his left finger and motioned the glass stones on the plastic potted plant to levitate, aiming at the two canines.
"Poor doggies." The glass stones shot forward, hitting the dogs, and they yelped as they ran away. Allowing the cat to climb the post and escape on the roof.
He then sighed, bored yet relaxed.
The day was quiet and lazy; he wanted to do more but with no new objectives from the system and no current drive to level up, he idled by. "Grinding sounds like a lot of work."
He could invade another drug dealer's house or prowl the streets at night looking for bad characters; however, he lacked the motivation. He went back inside and turned on his computer.
"This tea is ass."
These past few days, Frizz religiously scoured the internet. He looked for any occurrences; that was logic-defying, but so far, nothing.
No one was wreaking havoc, flying around, shooting fireballs out of their hands, and amassing a personal army, and the most disappointing of all, there were no gates or monsters suddenly appearing.
"Nothing, just nothing." Frizz sighed, blankly staring at the ceiling.
The world is like before he got the system: uninteresting. (I am the only one.)
The thought that he was the only one with a system placed a smile on his face, but at the same time, he felt down since no one would understand him.
"Show my status."
[System]
Name: New Name
Level: 6
Experience: 10/140
Health: 33/33 (+8) [DL+2] [PP+6]
Mana: 30/30 (+2) [DL+2]
Fatigue: 08/100 (peak)
Class: None
Physical Prowess = [high above average human]
Magical Prowess = [average human]
Mental Prowess = [below average human]
Telekinetic Prowess = [novice]
Perks: [In Good Faith], [Daily Life], [Enraged], [Reckless Approach], [Gluttonous Approach], [Telekinesis], [Alcoholic Advantage], [Peak Physicality], [Force Field].
Talents: None
Frizz rubbed his chin, eyeing the telekinesis perk.
"Now that I think about it, isn't telekinesis a form of magic? Not only that, every time I use my telekinesis, it does not affect my mana."
The wireless keyboard jittered, levitating several meters away from the desk. "Where am I drawing the energy to use telekinesis?" He set the keyboard down.
Frizz eventually put his hands up and gave up on thinking.
"Oh well, if it doesn't bother the system, then it shouldn't bother me too." He went down and checked his electric bike: 67 percent.
It was charging, and it needed more time.
He was supposed to work today, his tardiness piling up. Mr. Sim was patient with him, but he didn't want to abuse that patience. He hurriedly put on his uniform and left the house.
"It's not that far, just a bit of a jog."
Fourteen minutes later...
Frizz arrived at the convenience store. Mina was already filling the shelves, and Mr. Sim was talking to someone else on the phone. He went behind the untended counter, trying to fix the cash register again.
"Pass me the rags behind you," Mina requested, avoiding eye contact.
Frizz passed the rags to Mina, not bothering to converse and greet. He had given up on defending his innocence, noting that her co-worker is stubborn and not willing to hear the truth.
An old customer approached the counter, placing down two packs of cigarettes.
"Hey, just these two, please."
"Do you have a rewards card?" Frizz politely smiled.
One hour later...
"Someone spilled soda on the table outside. Go clean it!" Mr. Sim said as he passed by.
Another hour later...
"Yes, if you sign up for a rewards card, you will receive thirty free points. That is roughly twenty-five pesos," Frizz tried to convince a customer.
Then another hour later...
"Frizz, we ran out of Conk; go fill the refrigerators," Mina ordered.
Two hours later...
"I'm still on my break; go talk to Mr. Sim!" Mina puffed a smoke in Frizz's direction.
Four hours later...
It was going to be closing time soon. Frizz swept the floors of the convenience store. "This is probably the only convenience store that closes at night," he whispered.
"There's only three of us, and one of us is very old," Mina replied to Frizz, fixing her pants.
Frizz placed the broom beside the counter, waving goodbye to Mr. Sim and the sneering Mina.
"Another day with nothing exciting or productive," he whispered, staring at the starry sky.
Frizz started to walk home. His whole body ached under the monotony of his daily life. He couldn't handle the pressure of the lack of excitement, but the system wasn't handing out new objectives.
And he didn't want to go back to knocking out drug dealers.
Frizz paused, reminiscing about the time he was able to be violent. Even before the system, his inebriation would only lead to yapping and dancing.
He was impressed with his capacity for violence. (Was it the system?)
(Or maybe I am just thinking too much?) He continued walking. (That alcoholic advantage may have a hidden or unsaid effect, like making me aggressive.) He thought, scratching his head.
Frizz realized something, stopping his pace and reluctantly trying to ask a question.
"System, are you sentient?" he asked, expecting a reply but received none.
(Is it quiet because it has no answer or quiet because...?) Frizz shrugged his shoulders, continuing to walk home. "There's no malicious system." He hadn't read anything similar in the novels.
"Just paranoia."
[System]
New Objectives for New Name.
Stop the home burglary: 0/1
Rewards: 30 experience.
"Just when I was thinking about something to do, it gave me an objective." Frizz grinned in excitement.
"I at least have something to do."