Locking In With My Life System

[Ding!]

[Exclusive Quests Updated!]

⸢Exclusive Quests

› Look At You, Being Helpful

└ Become the single biggest contributor during Saturday’s community service – [1 LP]

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Aiden simply shook his head.

Honestly, he doubted he’d ever get used to the antics of his system.

That said, he was also well-aware of the fact that his system didn’t needlessly give him quests ahead of time like this for no reason.

For a fact, it meant he’d have to prepare ahead if he really wanted to complete the quest.

Which was why, he casually dismissed the system and thoughtfully mused;

’Guess I’ll have to scout around the neighborhood over the rest of this week.’

Though he knew well enough that the student committee was sure to send a notice ahead to the residents around, it wouldn’t be nearly as effective as if someone actually went around hands on, and spoke to them and documented it.

That way, it would drive their efficiency from the get-go, instead of simply arriving at the scene and then working through all the required tasks slowly.

It was also why Aiden casually walked up to Damian and said;

”You mind if I make a list of what we’ll actually need to do on Saturday? I live in the neighborhood afterall.”

Damian blinked, then his features immediately morphed in delight.

”Of course, of course! Please do. It’d be of so much help.” the Student Council President replied, clearly appreciative of the gesture.

Though he’d also considered the idea, the general problem was that literally every student in the committee already had several other extracurricular activities to handle, he refused to pile more work onto their heads.

In his beliefs, a leader that lacked an open mind and a consideration of his subjects, had set up himself to fail from the very beginning.

It was also why he’d already had plans to personally call some of the residents in the neighborhood once he got home today and inform them ahead of their visit so they could also spread the word.

However, even that would pale in comparison to a more hands-on approach. It was why he was genuinely grateful that Aiden was volunteering to do just that.

”Alright then. I’ll bring it on Saturday.” Aiden bobbed his head in a curt nod.

”Yeah. Appreciate it, man.” Damian replied, offering a fist bump.

Upon reciprocation, Aiden proceeded to make his way out.

As he did, Megan whom was equally about to head out smiled as she remarked;

”Well look at you. You’re fitting in, perfectly.”

”Hmm-hmm.” Aiden hummed in mild amusement as he opened the door for her, the lady letting out a soft, knowing chuckle as she stepped out.

Just she approached the bulletin board to pin the volunteer flyers for the community service, Aiden ticked a finger off his head in a goodbye gesture, one the lady reciprocated with a little friendly wave.

Casually, Aiden made his way over to the Computer Lab.

He was set to have his AP class there in a couple minutes so he wanted to be on time.

Then there was Theo whom he wanted to follow-up with regarding the internet thingy.

Upon arrival, he’d noticed him seated in his usual corner, head buried into lines of code as he clicked and clacked away.

”Yo, Theo.” Aiden greeted, hands in his pocket as he walked over.

”Ah, Aiden,” Theo casually replied, his gaze lingering on the screen for a little longer than usual before he tore his gaze away to look at Aiden as he asked, his tone relaxed;

”What’s up?”

”Nothing much, really... though I do have a question I wanted to ask you.” Aiden pointed, waving the finger at him curiously.

”Sure. Fire away.” Theo adjusted in his chair and then leaned back into it, his palms resting on his laps and a curious expression slipping onto his features.

”Internet. How’re you getting by at home?” Aiden inquired, one of his brows arched.

Naturally, a familiar sheepish smile touched Theo’s features for the briefest of moments before he quickly wiped it away with a simple shrug;

”I use one of our neighbor’s,”

”It’s pretty slow, but I’m managing.” he added casually.

”How slow?” Aiden dug deeper, his head tilted in a scrutinous look.

This time, Theo winced a bit as gestured with both palms;

”Around 500 kilobits per second...”

Aiden blinked a couple times.

Then he walked over to Theo who was trying to explain;

”They had to cap it, you know? Literally everyone in the building uses theirs--”

”We’re getting you a portable router today.” the coal-haired youth cut him off as he placed an arm on his shoulders.

”And no buts!” Aiden immediately countered before the curly-haired youth even managed to get a word out.

”We’re getting you, the router.” Aiden repeated with a pointed finger, his gaze dead serious and a tight smile on his lips as he demanded;

”Capisce?”

Though Theo had never seen Aiden actually pissed thus far, this was the closest he’d ever experienced.

Which was even more terrifying for him since he understood that Aiden was doing this from a place of genuine concern.

It then begged the question for him;

How would Aiden look if he was genuinely pissed?!

The answer? He really didn’t want to find out. Which was why...

”Yes, sure. You’re the boss.” Theo vigorously nodded in response!

”Good.” Aiden patted his shoulders a couple times, a genuine smile returning to his resting face.

”We leave immediately after I’m done with my AP classes.” he added as he proceeded to return to his seat at the front.

Once again, Theo nodded without objections, a sense of relief washing over him.

That said, he now understood perfectly why the gang playfully referred to him as their Helicopter Mummy.

...

...

...

Aiden had managed to secure a combo offer of $200 for the portable router itself and an unlimited plan of 100mbs for the next six months for Theo from a local neighborhood electronics shop.

Having handed it over to him, much to the youth’s continuous show of appreciation in many, many thanks that Aiden kept assuring him was okay, Theo had finally accepted and was on his way back home.

Aiden too was currently on his way home...though he’d decided to begin branching at different houses in the neighborhood in preparation for the community service on Saturday.

Honestly, Aiden doubted his previous self would even bother doing anything of such, much less volunteering for it as it would’ve been too much of a hassle, so to speak.

Now, however, he saw it more as an opportunity to improve his conversational skills.

Which was why, though he’d initially felt a bit nervous when he began knocking on doors, it really didn’t take long before he found it pretty easy and his usual confidence came back.

Just like that, he started approaching residents, shop owners and elderly homeowners, introducing himself and asking if they needed any help.

Currently, he was at the fifth house, one that belonged to a kindly old woman and her husband whom was in a wheel chair as they sat on the porch of their house.

That said, the hedges at the front were unkempt, as was the garden and the lawn.

”Good evening, Ma’am. Sir.” Aiden politely greeted as he walked over.

”Hello dear. Can we help you?” the elderly woman was the first to reply while the old man simply watched on, reciprocating his greeting with a curt nod.

”Yes,” Aiden replied in the affirmative, a light smile on his lips as he continued;

”I’m from Silverlake High’s Student Council Committee,”

”We’re doing a community-service project, Saturday, and we were wondering... is there, perhaps, anything around here you’ve been meaning to get done but haven’t had the time, manpower, or equipment for?”

Aiden wasn’t surprised when he noticed both individuals glancing over to their hedges, gardens and lawn for a brief instant.

Yet, within that very same instant, he’d chuckled softly as he typed into his phone while reading out loud;

”Residence 21. Trim overgrown hedges, clear garden, and mow lawn.”

”That’s about it, right?” he looked up from his phone to see the old couple giving him a warm smile.

”Yes, dear. We’d appreciate it.” the kindly-looking old woman said to which her husband quietly nodded in agreement.

”Alright then,” Aiden replied with a light smile, to which the elderly woman then requested, her tone hopeful;

”If you could paint the porch too, that’d be nice,”

In response, Aiden said in a respectful tone as he added it to the notepad;

”We make no promises but, we’ll try our best to do as much as we can.”

As the woman nodded in understanding, he then asked, his tone curious;

”Do you perchance have the supplies we can use?”

”We have most, though I’d reckon the hedge clippers are pretty old by now.” the old man responded this time to which Aiden promptly noted it down, his fingers rapidly dancing across his phone’s screen;

”Got it.”

”Can I have your names, just for easy identification?” he politely asked a moment after.

”Sure. Gregory and Mary Linter.” the wife replied this time and Aiden nodded once more as he jotted it down.

Then he tucked his phone into his pocket and said with a warm smile;

”Alright, Mr. and Mrs. Linter. You can look forward to having us here by 9 am, Saturday morning.”

”Can we be expecting you, specifically?” Mary asked, her smile genuine and her eyes crinkling.

”I’ll do my best to show up.” Aiden simply said, his smile warm as he waved them goodbye... one that the couple reciprocated with warm smiles of their own.

By now, it was already late evening. As a result, Aiden opted to stop his scouting and head straight home.

Given he had the rest of the week to work with, it was only a matter of time before he managed to pinpoint the places in most need of their services.

Upon reaching home, he went about making dinner first and then retired into his bedroom to do his homework and check in on his side hustles.

But first, he decided to make a spreadsheet for all the details he’d gotten thus far, sectioning them based on Name, Residence, Location, Requested Task, Estimated Time, People Needed, and Equipment.

When he was done, he then attached a priority column, intending to use red dot for Urgent, yellow for Moderate, and green for Minor.

For the meantime, Aiden opted to leave the column blank without assigning any grades until he was done collecting as much information as he could.

Only after would he be able to give a proper grade assessment.

That said, he casually placed a big red dot in Residence 21’s priority column.

Only after did he close the spreadsheet and move on to his other tasks for the night.

Just like that, the rest of the week whiled past, and before anyone knew it, Saturday had arrived.