Locking In With My Life System

Two weeks had passed since Aiden had joined the academic decathlon team.

Throughout that entire period, they’d had six practice sessions, all of which had solidified Aiden as one of three students who’d be representing Silverlake High in the Scholastic bracket.

At the same time, Aiden couldn’t help but feel sorry for the competition this year.

It was one thing to have an Honors division where all three members were so academically brilliant, they were using college questions for practice sessions.

It was another to have a cheat code that was his snappy assimilation rate and newly acquired photographic memory in the Scholastic bracket.

That said, Aiden had been rather surprised to see that his system hadn’t upped the ante on his quests, specifically the ’Road to College’ daily quest, given how much he was blitzing through the three pages required of him these days.

The only explanation he could come to though, was that it saw no need to improve it any further, as it was already more than enough as is for a daily quest.

After all, even despite all the stats he’d been upgrading thus far, his other two daily quests, ’Eat Your Broccoli’s, Champ’ and ’Wakey wakey!’, hadn’t even budged all this while.

Even then, it was all speculation on his own part. More so when he now understood that he was essentially still on the lite version of his system.

Anyhoo, the first week of February had arrived.

Aiden woke up right before his alarm rang, picking up his phone and swiping off the notification before it began blaring into his senses.

His system on its own was already enough as is, dinging within the confines of his skull to inform him he’d completed one of his dailies.

Getting out of bed, he casually slipped into his workout outfits and promptly resorted to going about knocking out the rest of his quests.

Just as he stepped downstairs though, he saw his Pops already up, the man in his robes as he quietly spoke over the phone with someone whilst slowly pacing back and forth.

Curious to know what was up, Aiden waited, leaning on the wooden railing of the staircase as Richard promptly cut the call a moment after.

Upon turning around, the man beamed at him and greeted in an octave that was slightly higher than usual, almost as if he was startled to see his son;

”Morning, Champ. How was your night?”

”Morning, Pops. It was fine.” Aiden replied, to which he then asked in kind;

”Trust yours was too?”

”It was,” Richard replied simply, his smile warm.

To that, Aiden tilted his head slightly with a mildly scrutinous look and said;

”Is everything okay?”

To that, Richard let out a sheepish smile and said;

”I can’t hide anything from you, can I?”

”Trouble at work?” Aiden followed up with what he believed the problem was, an understanding sigh escaping his lips.

Usually, that was what happened whenever his Pops was like this... especially when he happened to be working with clients whom were usually quite unreasonable.

Richard, on the other hand, blinked.

Then he immediately said;

”Yes. Apparently, the client didn’t quite like the floor plan, so we’re going to have to tear it down and rebuild it again.”

”He also wants it quick, so...”

”You’ll be coming home extremely late this month, I presume?” Aiden followed up with a knowing look.

”Yeah. Sorry about that, Champ.” Richard let out a resigned sigh.

”Come on, Pops. I’ll be fine.” he gave his dad an understanding smile, then added with a concerned look and a gesture of his finger;

”Just don’t overwork yourself while you’re at it, okay?”

This time, Richard smiled genuinely and said as he ruffled his son’s hair;

”Ah, Champ. What would I do without you?”

”Beats me,” he replied with a light shrug, to which his old man chuckled a bit.

”See you later, Pops.” Aiden waved him goodbye as he headed out for his run.

...

...

...

Aiden arrived at school, greeting and high-fiving his peers as he made his way into the main building.

Usually, he’d have found his buddies hanging around the lawns and would’ve joined in their conversation till the warning bell rang.

Today, however, they were nowhere to be found.

Even after he’d stopped by the computer room and made his way to class earlier than usual, he couldn’t find any of them.

However, when the warning bell did in fact ring, they all trooped in a few minutes after like they’d spawned right out of thin air.

Naturally, they greeted their helicopter mummy, teasing and roasting him as usual.

Before long, Aiden had gotten sidetracked, forgetting to ask the quartet where they’d been.

And even when he remembered, their instructor walked in, so he could only file it for later.

In any case, the rest of the day went on mundanely, and Aiden hadn’t quite managed to inquire from his buddies where they’d been earlier in the day.

In between all their talks for [Crashout: Sin City] and several other mundane things, he hadn’t even thought of bringing it up.

At this point, he didn’t really see the need to, especially since they might’ve all been doing things of their own, or might’ve just coincidentally arrived later than usual.

As of the moment, he was currently heading over to the student council office as they apparently had something quite important to discuss.

Just as he was making his way over, he ran into Lizzie, who actually greeted him with a genuine smile and a light wave as she walked past alongside her friends.

Her usual peppiness at the sight of him also seemed to have dialed down considerably, replaced by something more natural, one Aiden had noticed ever since the conversation they’d had on the stairs.

And though he hadn’t managed to follow up on the goings-on in her life, especially since he didn’t want to come off as intrusive when such a sensitive subject was involved, he was at least glad to see that she seemed to be returning back to the girl he’d originally known in sophomore year.

”Did you hear? She and Kevin broke up last month?” a familiar voice quietly reached his ears.

”Yep.” Aiden simply replied, his tone almost casual and his hands tucked into his pockets.

Then he angled his head over to Clarissa, whom was currently standing next to him with her hands resting on the curve of her hips.

As for the lady, she equally glanced back and asked, her eyes casually blinking up at him;

”What?”

”When did you get here?” Aiden asked instead, his tone bemused.

”What’s your favorite color?” the lady evaded his question with another question of her own, earning a curious squint from Aiden as he reluctantly answered;

”Navy blue. Why?”

”Nothing~.” Clarissa happily hummed with a sweet smile as she turned to walk away.

Watching her back recede, her chestnut-brown hair doing that little back-and-forth sway it always did whenever she seemed to be in a really good mood, Aiden couldn’t help but shake his head in amusement a moment after.

Then he simply made his way to the student council office, all whilst mulling over why she’d ask him such a question.

Upon arriving though, he tossed his thoughts to the back of his mind as he’d landed right into the discussion they were already having.

Where were they to pick for their senior year field trip?

...

...

...

Aiden had rounded up his AP Computer Class for the day.

And though he’d paid attention in class, he had been rather surprised to see that Theo hadn’t hung in the back as he usually would to work on the game.

At this point, he was starting to get curious about all the weird instances that were going on today.

Just as he was pondering over it, he happened to walk past the school bulletin board in the hallways.

Pausing for a bit, his thoughts shifting instantly, Aiden suddenly facepalmed;

”I’m an idiot. I swear to God, I’m an idiot.”

Considering how he’d been investing his funds into promoting [Crashout: Sin City] online, how in tarnation had he not considered a more organic form of promotion?

One that wouldn’t have cost him a single dime either, given all of the skills in his repertoire.

Letting out a resigned sigh, Aiden proceeded to head out.

Originally, he was planning to work on the game immediately after heading home, but now, he had a new objective.

Make posters for [Crashout: Sin City]. One eye-catching enough to garner every student’s attention as they walked past.

Sure, Principal Walters and the administrative block might come tear it down later for being too violent and what-not, but even that would serve to drive most students’ curiosity and intrigue.

If that was the case, Aiden would just need to paste it a couple times again. The only downside was that he’d have to do it all discreetly.

’Shouldn’t be a problem.’ he nodded to himself as he made his way out the school gates.

Just like that, Aiden had forgotten his previous thoughts, much like he had all day with one distraction or the other.

Upon arriving home, his gaze squinting as he found the door unlocked, Aiden tentatively pushed open the door...

...only for a burst of confetti to greet him, his Pops and the gang collectively shouting;

”Happy Birthday, Aiden!”