Chapter 2 - 2. Survival of a modelling newbie

Harry's thoughts were all over the place, but he managed to think of one question.

"What do I do when I am a model?"

The screen changed again.

//You will be contracted for major companies to model with their clothes and accessories.//

Harry couldn't believe it. He had never imagined being a model. Every time he saw an advert of a model showing off the brands he wanted to wear, he couldn't help but think he was the furthest thing from being a model. He was overweight and had no sense of fashion. He kept thinking he couldn't do it, his inner voice repeating the same words over and over again, 'How am I going to do this?'

The screen changed yet again.

//Tasks will be awarded to help you become a model worthy of the highest brands out there. At the completion of these tasks, "handsome" rewards will be given. These rewards vary between the difficulties of each of these tasks.//

"Lulu, why does the word 'handsome' have air quotes?"

'You will just have to wait and see ;)'

"Is there anything else I should know?"

'Yes. Along with the rewards you get, at the completion of a task, you will also gain experience points.'

//These points can be exchanged for skills or other various things related to modelling.//

//Skills can be levelled up through repetitive use or the use of experience points.//

"Why ha—"

//No more questions! :( //

//It is time for your first task. You have to do 200 push-ups before an hours time, or you will experience great pain.//

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY GREAT PAI—!"

//I said no more questions. Also, I would hurry up as soon as possible if I were you.//

Harry started his push-ups. 'How am I, Harry Mulligan, who found every excuse to not go to PE or get out of every charity walk meant to do 200 push-ups in 1 hour?'. This thought kept swirling around Harry's mind.

The screen was counting how many push‐ups he had done. The screen would only count good solid push-ups. Harry sweat hard because of the wasted energy in the bad push-ups. He had barely gotten to 30 when his arms started to go weak. But Harry didn't want to stop, and he had a good reason for doing so.

Harry had spent his whole life avoiding pain. He had not taken part in any sports to avoid injuring himself and did not go to the gym to avoid aching muscles. He had avoided emotional pain by having very few friends and always staying single. These things spiralled out of control, and to maintain control, Harry started gaming and eating junk food.

After he gained weight, he lost confidence in himself. He had stopped studying and eventually started to isolate from his family and friends. The only reason he wanted to go out the night before was to say goodbye as he was not going to be their friend anymore. He couldn't do it, but his friends knew what he was thinking, and the whole night their was a solemn air around their group.

Harry had a thought, 'Once I become a model, I will try to be their friend again.'

This was Harry's motivation to complete this task. If it meant he was one step closer to becoming a model, therefore one step closer to being their friend again, he would do it. Harry would not give up.

Harry completed the push-ups with 5 minutes and 23 seconds to spare. The blue screen changed.

He barely reacted to this of course, he had realised he had nearly passed out a few times and could hardly remember the later sets of push-ups.

//Congratulations on completing your first . Additional rewards and experience points will be given.//

'That was NOT easy!!!'

The screen changed to a homescreen, which had a picture of Harry, a completed task widget, a slot that had his total amount of experience points, and a skill tree with possible skills he could get. To say that the skill tree was extensive was an understatement.

were categorised by , , , , and .

Upon closer inspection, Harry discovered another such tree with the title . Harry already knew what this meant from the many Web Novels he had read in his free time. He always longed for this ability as ye thought he could stay fit despite maintaining his current diet and exercise routine, which was non-existent. It was the perfect way to avoid the downsides of being lazy.

However, all those thoughts of the most cholesterol raisinf and fatty meals he could think of were put down inhumanely by what happened next. The system screen changed yet again.

//The pathway is not able to actively change the any aspect a user's body. In terms you're more familiar with, it's like unlocking buffs for exercising//

//All those pathetic and weak thoughts you just had need to be replaced by integrity, Harry//

"Can you read my mind?!?!"

//HAHAHA. Of course not, who do you think I am, I'm not omniscient. It was written all over your face about what thoughts you were having :P //

"Where do you get off, mocking me?"

//You're right sorry, I took it too far :( //

//Is that what you thought I would say? I am a , something created to help user's on their journey, but we still have emotions, how would you feel when a toddler asks some of the most stupid questions that you can answer easily because it's common knowledge? How would you feel after being restricted to the identity of a concept, unable to directly interact with the world and enjoy its pleasures //

"Well... yeah... I guess I'd feel pretty shit. But that's still no excuse to lash out at someone for asking a valid question."

// ... //

Lulu's screen vanishes leaving only Harry's character screen.

'She's not the only one impacted by this, my whole world has been turned upside down by this. The trajectory of my life ever changing on the whims of system tasks.'

'I guess that's it for the day, I need to rest after that exercise and make sense of all this'

Harry stumbled to his bed, where he is greeted by the cool sheet and his freshly cleaned pillows. Harry may be extremely lazy and the furthest thing from healthy, but he loved to keep clean.