Locking In With My Life System

The simple request Aiden had asked of his fellow co-workers had sparked a bickering amidst them.

As each of them worked five tables each, they all wanted to jump on Aiden’s request as it would lessen their workload.

Mrs. Bao used the ’I’m older than you all!’ card.

Jermaine used the ’I’m the employee of the month so I should have first dibs,’ card.

Cody... well Cody opted to be shameless and used the ’I’m the one who showed him the ropes so if anyone should have less tables to work with, it should be the mentor!’ card.

Aiden had to say, seeing adults squabbling over something so ’inconsequential’ had him genuinely amused.

It, in fact, wasn’t inconsequential at all.

He just happened to see the entire thing through his own rose-tinted lenses.

Good for him though, as he ultimately decided on a rotation with all three.

One of Mrs. Bao’s tables on Mondays, Jermaine’s on Tuesdays, Cody’s on Wednesdays and Thursdays on a roulette basis.

”May the best waiter,” Aiden looked to Cody and Jermaine, then turned to face Mrs. Bao.

”Or best waitress, win.”

Chuckling a bit at his words, all three engaged in rather mundane conversations, only to quickly assume their positions when the restaurant opened for business.

In any case, by the end of his shift, Aiden had only managed to attend to forty-seven customers.

Not the least bit bothered over failing to complete the quest, he pushed himself harder the next day.

Unfortunately, it had been a slow day for whatsoever reason so he only managed to attend to forty-one customers in total.

On the third day, he came oh-so-close to completing the quest, clutching just forty-nine customers.

Currently on the fourth day though, Aiden was completely in the zone, his undershirt quite drenched in sweat.

Having attended to a total of forty-five customers so far, and less than an hour before his shift was over, he blitzed to the newest customer as they took their seat, his smile warm and inviting;

”Welcome to Haute Cuisine, Miss. How may I help, you?”

”Oh wow! You startled me there,” the lady let out, her reaction jolty as she held the menu in her hands.

She looked to be a tourist and was notably pretty. Not that Aiden cared.

He simply smiled a hospitable smile in response and waited on her order.

”I’ll uh... I’ll have an avocado toast with poached eggs, greek yogurt on the side, and an iced latte.”

”Got it.” Aiden nodded and immediately called out upon reaching the expediter.

”One avocado toast with poached eggs, greek yogurt on the side, and an iced latte.”

A couple minutes later, the order slid through and Aiden promptly picked them up.

”A lovely meal, for a most lovely lady. Enjoy.” he placed it before her with a beaming smile, utilizing what he’d seen of Jermaine’s suavity whenever he served women.

That, in turn, prompted a rather bashful giggle from the lady.

Not bothering to hang around longer than intended, Aiden looked to the next customers coming in.

Waiting for them to settle in, he approached the trio of businessmen and greeted as he slipped into Cody’s polite yet inviting demeanor;

”Gentlemen, trust you’ve been having a productive day.”

”Ah, Aiden. Yeah. It has. Thanks for asking,” one of the men reciprocated, the others simply nodding in acknowledgement.

They were all regulars at the restaurant.

”Same on your end?” the man then asked.

”Yeah.” Aiden responded to which he then inquired;

”So, what would you like to have?”

”Hmm... can I get the chicken and waffles with extra syrup, and an orange juice?” the man requested.

”Ah! Orange juice!” one of his friends taunted, to which he then asked knowingly;

”Your wife on your ass again?”

”Yeah. Wouldn’t want to get on her bad side,” the man let out a resigned sigh to which the friend simply nodded and then said;

”I’ll have the lobster Benedict and a mimosa, kid.”

”Iced latte. Extra cubes.” the last of the friend group simply ordered, loosening his knotted tie as he did.

”On it,” Aiden’s smile remained cordial as he proceeded to do his job.

Roughly five minutes later, he was back with their meals, placing each tray gently onto the table with a soft tap.

”Enjoy your meal,” he said, his smile cordial.

Then he glanced at the clock on the wall;

’Fifteen minutes left. More than enough time, I hope.’

Considering they were now transitioning into the early hours of the afternoon, there typically was less customers trickling when compared to the later hours when people started getting off work.

Heaving out a determined sigh though, Aiden looked to the door, waiting on that one customer that would make his day.

As he did, Mrs. Bao whom had just finished attending to another customer looked over in his direction.

As she had been lucky to have the roulette fall on her, Aiden was handling one of her tables.

And though she was genuinely impressed by how overly efficient he was today, she still couldn’t help but feel concerned as she watched his chest rise and fall, clearly indicating that he was tired.

Seeing that he was finally getting the chance to catch his breath without darting between tables though, she was quite glad.

Yet, despite her best intentions, Aiden’s thoughts were in complete contrast as he glanced at the clock again.

There was only ten minutes left before his shift would be over.

”C’mon, c’mon.” he looked towards the door expectantly.

As the clock ticked down, with roughly five minutes left on the clock, the doors to the restaurant opened.

”Hey, champ--”

Richard hadn’t completed that sentence when his son dragged him and moved him to an unoccupied chair.

Then;

”Afternoon, Pops. Now order something.”

”Wait, what?! No!” he disagreed, and then explained;

”I just came here to greet you and check in on David.”

”Pops,” Aiden slowly said, looking into the man’s eyes with a hand on his shoulder.

”Order something. On me. Think of it as small token of gratitude for being such a terrific dad.” he gave his father the most inviting smile.

Seemingly touched by his son’s gesture, Richard decided to honor his son’s wishes;

”Alright. I’d like an iced tea, please.”

Aiden blitzed over to the counter and called out, notably excited;

”One iced tea, please!”

In less than a minute, the drink was passed and Aiden promptly picked it up and placed it before the man;

”One iced tea, for one tea-rrific father.”

Richard’s eyes widened, stunned to no ends. And then he said, the disbelief in his tone evident;

”Oh no, you didn’t?!”

”Yes. Yes, I did.” Aiden flashed him a grin so unapologetically smug, Richard couldn’t help but burst into a hearty laughter that garnered the attention of most individuals in the restaurant.

In sync, his system pinged into his field of view just as the clock hit two.

-

[Ding!]

[Quest Completed!]

⸢Exclusive Quests

› It’s Haute in Here!

└ Serve a total of 50 customers before your shift is over – [0.5 LP Awarded!]

-

Seeing that notification, a thrill of excitement ran down the length of Aiden’s spine as he inwardly remarked;

’Aw, yeah! I’m amazing!’

With that, the rest of his day was made and his joy was immeasurable.

After battling with an almost impossible quest at the start of the month, he had finally completed it by rising up to the challenge.

But more than that, Aiden could finally feel what it was like in real-time to not give up on something just because it looked impossible at first, or because you were afraid of failing.

It hadn’t been easy, that much was obvious, but it was so, so worth it.

*

Currently seated on his chair by the desk in his room, Aiden had his hands clasped behind his head, a thin smile on his lips.

-

[Aiden North] – Life Points – [2.15]

-

Staring at his Life Points, Aiden couldn’t help but feel proud of himself.

Considering he accrued 0.04 LPs on a regular basis, one he’d done a good job of maintaining over the course of the past twenty-nine days, he’d made a total of 1.16 LPs by the end of his first month of summer vacation.

That, in addition to the previous 0.49 LPs he had, and the most recent 0.5 LPs he’d gotten from completing his exclusive quest, netted him the cumulative total of 2.15 LPs that he currently had.

And now, after a fairly long while of saving them up, he figured it was finally time to invest into some of his stats.

Without thinking twice, he dumped one into his Mind attribute, and another into his Stamina.

-

[Aiden North] – Life Points – [0.15]

⸢Stats

› Mind — D » D+

› Strength — E-

› Stamina — F+ » E-

› 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⸥

-

An euphoric feeling washed over Aiden, one he couldn’t quite explain as his perception suddenly felt a tad bit sharper, his thoughts a bit clearer and his body, just a bit lighter.

Staring at his measly 0.15 LPs though, he couldn’t help but mutter to himself;

”Still a very grindy system though,”

”Oh well. Beggars can’t be choosers. At the very least, this should make my work at the restaurant smoother and my daily quests easier to perform.” Aiden nodded to himself in satisfaction.

Tossing the thought to the back of his mind though, he equally dismissed the system interface and then retrieved his laptop.

Now that he’d done over twenty different cover arts and over thirty-five character arts, it was high time he began monetizing his skills.