Locking In With My Life System

Aiden poked and prodded at his salad with the enthusiasm of a deflated balloon.

Yet, every five seconds or so, he’d take a forkful, munch for a bit and then swallow reluctantly.

Watching him from the opposite end of the table, Richard couldn’t help but ask;

”Why the salad if you weren’t interested in eating it?”

Aiden looked to his Pop’s meal, the man’s enticing burrito bowl tempting him. Then he replied dejectedly, his fork prodding at his own meal;

”I figured I should try eating healthy from now on.”

Richard’s stunned expression couldn’t be photoshopped even if someone tried. Everything about it hinted at the man’s ever-growing perplexity at what dream his son had experienced to have triggered such profound changes to his mentality.

Still, he couldn’t help but joke, his eyes crinkling in amusement;

”Okay. Something’s definitely wrong with you. Best we go see a doctor as soon as we’re done eating so he can lettuce know if anything’s wrong.”

”Haha. Very funny, Pops.” came a sardonic response from his son.

Unfortunately for Aiden, his response only enabled Richard to go full throttle;

”Why did the beet turn red?”

”Dear God,” Aiden groaned.

”It saw the salad dressing.” Richard grinned, clearly proud of himself.

Not that it stopped him from making another;

”What did the lettuce say to the celery?”

”Ugh,” Aiden let out, raising a forkful to his mouth.

”Quit stalking me!” Richard cackled at his own joke and then proceeded to crack another;

”What’s the coolest vegetable?”

”What is it?” Aiden reluctantly asked, a tad bit curious.

”A rad-ish!” Richard declared, causing his son to drag a palm down his face whilst muttering to himself;

”I shouldn’t have asked...”

Yet, a genuine laughter soon escaped him, one that Richard looked gleefully glad to see.

Rounding up their meal a couple minutes after, Aiden packed up the dishes as his system updated;

-

[Quest Completed!]

⸢Daily Quests

› Eat Your Broccolis, Champ.

└ Eat a healthy meal within the first half of the day – [0.01 LP Awarded!].

-

Levelling the quest a vindictive stare, he soon dismissed it as he heard his father ask;

”So, you excited for the job?”

”Yeah. I’m gonna be shown the ropes for the first week though, so, I figure there won’t be much to do.” Aiden shrugged in response.

”Hmmm...” Richard audibly hummed.

”Maybe.”

Then he said quietly, almost in a knowing tone;

”But, I seriously doubt it.”

Unfortunately for Aiden, he didn’t hear that part as the clinking plates and rushing water drowned out the man’s words.

Instead, he said;

”Also, since I’ll be shuttling with you, I won’t have to spend a dime on transport! Ha!”

That earned a light chuckle from Richard.

That exactly was why Aiden had been so enthusiastic about the job offer when his father had mentioned it.

Though there were part-time jobs he could have applied for close to his neighborhood that equally wouldn’t have required transport, the rate per hour wouldn’t be as high as that in the bustling city.

However, since his Pops worked nearby Haute Cuisine, he had practically eliminated that issue. Now, as long as nothing unexpected cropped up, his monthly expenses would be next to zero.

No sooner was he done with the dishes though, the youth made his way back up to his room.

Settling into his chair, he proceeded to test his hand at the downloaded apps, the digital illustrator been the first of it.

Once again, Aiden couldn’t help but marvel at how his mastery over the use of the app’s many features came so naturally to him.

After messing around for a while longer, the youth then began to put his plan in motion.

Though type designing was a very niche environment that required an immense amount of patience and dedication--about several months to years--before things really got going and the big bucks began rolling in, the returns on those investments were usually quite massive later on.

Digital illustration on the other hand, albeit faster and quicker to land a gig or a commission with, had an extremely competitive market that required some level of serious grinding to reach the big leagues.

However, since Aiden practically had complete mastery of the skills and the experience required to attain those heights on both ends, he figured he could utilize them to fast track what he wanted.

But first, he knew he needed to build an audience.

Creating a new e-mail first--one he intended to use solely for business, he then proceeded to create a new TweetTalk, MediaGram, and FaceSpace account.

Having sorted that out half an hour later, Aiden then proceeded to begin scouring TweetTalk for recent and highly engaged posts from the best sketches et drawings on the platform.

After picking ten he felt were the most engaged with, he then proceeded to redraw each and every art, adding his own flair to it whilst equally making sure to credit the original artist.

Additionally, since he wasn’t planning on monetizing his account--at least for the meantime-- Aiden doubted he’d get any flack for doing anything of such.

Still, he wouldn’t be surprised if the original artists wanted him to take it down nonetheless... though he hoped that wouldn’t be the case.

Moving from TweetTalk, Aiden did the same on Mediagram and FaceSpace.

Having done that, the youth soon pivoted to something else entirely.

Making his way over to a popular web novel site, he soon began perusing through its contents.

Upon finding any blurb of any story he liked, especially from the fledgling books that were steadily rising through the ranks, he messaged the authors directly, offering to make a cover or a character art for free.

Doing that for ten different authors, Aiden soon leaned back into his chair a couple minutes later, his palms clasped behind his head.

Though he could have contacted more, he didn’t want to come off as a bot, or a scammer. Even the messages he’d sent to each author was composed differently.

Now it was only a matter of playing the waiting game, all in hopes that at least one of the authors would respond favorably.

Afterall, designing book covers would give him the opportunity to merge all three of his skills together.

And though he was well-aware that he could create an account on many gig-based sites to freelance his skills, he reckoned going to the target audience directly would be a far more effective approach first.

Only then would he be able to build a good audience, and then funnel them to the freelancing sites later.

Added to that, Aiden wasn’t particularly hell-bent on making his current skills a major career-path. Rather, he just wanted them as a side hustle to shore up $5,000 before the end of the summer break.

Catching a glimpse of the time from the corner of the screen though, Aiden couldn’t help but widen his eyes when he realized that it was already evening.

So engrossed in his work, he hadn’t realized how quickly time had passed.

It was equally around that time his smartphone began buzzing with messages.

Picking up the device, Aiden couldn’t help smile at the messages from his buddies, each sharing pictures from their time at the prom.

Of course, they were roasting him again, but at this point, he could care less. With everything that had happened today alone, the idea of prom itself felt like a waste of time, energy and resources.

Heck he didn’t even think about Lizzie once, or her shiny new boyfriend.

Making his way down the stairs though,

”Ah? You’re finally done? I noticed you had your nose buried in what I’d assume is an assignment for the summer break, so I didn’t bother disturbing you.” Richard remarked as he sauteed a steak.

”Wanna help me make the spaghetti?” he requested.

”Sure, Pops.” Aiden placed his phone on the table, rolled up his sleeves and walked into the kitchen.

Soon, he and his Pops settled into a steady flow.

Half an hour later, the dishes were completed.

-

[Ding!]

[Skills updated!]

-

Despite every being of him itching to check out the added skill--one he presumed was probably ’Cooking’, Aiden held back on it, choosing to dish out the meal instead.

Watching his Pops retrieve his familiar brandy from the cabinet, Aiden let out a disapproving sound.

Glancing over to his son who was giving him a judgy look, Richard sighed in resignation, returning the bottle and choosing to grab an orange juice from the freezer instead.

A couple minutes later, he and his dad were dining.

”I think you should’ve still gone to the prom, nonetheless.” his father popped a piece of steak into his mouth.

”Eh. I’ll try to attend Senior Year’s.” Aiden shrugged dismissively.

Following up from that interaction, father and son continued to engage themselves, simply discussing other mundane things.

Soon enough, they were done eating. Clearing up the table, Aiden swiftly did the dishes and then made his way back to his room while his father switched on the TV to watch a game.

Lying on his bed, Aiden summoned the system interface;

-

[Aiden North] – Life Points – [0.42]

⸢Stats

› Mind — D

› Strength — E-

› Stamina — F+

› Agility — F-

› Charm — C­

⸢Skills

› {Type Designing - A}, {Digital Illustration - I}, {Drawing - I}, {Cooking - I}.

⸢Shop

› Browse Catalogue.

⸢Daily Quests

› {Expand}

⸢Exclusive Quests

› Pending Update.

⸢Time-limited Quests

› {Expand}

-

⸢FAQ⸥

-

Nodding to himself upon seeing the grading of his {Cooking} skill--especially since he’d been cooking with his mom even before she kicked the bucket--a curious thought wiggled its way into his mind.

Acting on it, he pushed his intent onto the ⸢FAQ⸥ function.