"Thank you so much for letting me stay over at your place, Mrs. Omara. You have such a wonderful home." Stephen said, smiling warmly.
"What a wonderful young man you are," she said, smiling as well. Then with a toss of her slipper. "You should be more like your friend, Tello!"
It hit him over the head and Tello sighed softly. The last thing he wanted was this. "I will mom..." he muttered in defeat.
"Go get him something to eat!" She shouted, then turned sweet again. "What would you like to eat, Stephen. Do you have any meals you don't like?"
"No, no. I'm not a picky eater at all" He said politely. "Anything you offer me is more than enough."
"See, he's not a picky eater too!" She said, tossing her second slipper. It narrowly missed his head. "You should be more like him!"
"I will, mom!" Tello screamed from the kitchen.
"Still, I don't really want to ask too many questions," She said, lowering her voice. "Tello doesn't bring friends over much, and I wouldn't want to scare you away."
"Mom!" Came his voice from the kitchen again.
"Shut up, you hood rat!" She yelled back, reaching for another slipper, only to realize she'd run out.
"He's like a brother to me, I don't believe anything could change that." Stephen muttered.
"You're such a good boy," she said, eyes soft. "What do you do for work?"
A clank came from the kitchen.
Stephen chuckled. "Unfortunately, I'm in the same boat as your son at the moment... but I'd like to venture into trade eventually."
"Well, I hope the world opens up for you," she said just as Tello walked back in, two steaming plates in his hands. "That you'll be as successful as you want to be."
"I hope so too," Stephen said, as Tello set the plate in front of him.
It was rice and curry, nothing like the full on five star courses he had at the kingdom, but oddly reminiscent of time back on earth. Where he'd attempted to make curry, and instead made a strain of plutonium.
"But still... I keep on telling this to this little goof of mine—" She put the spoon to her mouth. "That he has to get married someday."
"I'll get married when I'm ready mom." Tello said, stepping into the room where they all sat, sitting next to her with his own plate as well. "You keep trying to push me out of the house, it's not healthy you know. Someone has to take care of you."
"I can take care of myself," she said with a dismissive wave, then looked at Stephen. "But you see what I'm talking about, it makes me scared for when I pass. Would my son ever create a new generation? He barely even talks to women."
Stephen laughed. "I think he should be fine,"
"Really? Well if you say so." Then with a small pause, she picked up another spoonful. "What about you? Do you have anyone you're seeing?"
"Mom!" Tello groaned.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I tend to ask a lot of questions to guests. You don't have to answer."
"No it's fine." Stephen said, a sheepish smile on his lips. "In fact, I actually do have someone."
"Ooh! Lucky girl. Where is she? In the city? Back in your home at Rennes?"
"She's... in a different country actually. The last time we met, I kind of pissed her off and I'm pretty sure she hates me now."
"Did you cheat on her?"
Stephen nearly choked, as he struggled to reply. "No, I didn't."
"Then it's fixable! Go apologize. As long as you're sincere, she should understand."
"Maybe she will,"
"That's enough questions for now mom," Tello groaned once more, "Just eat your food."
The conversation tapered off into a quiet, warm dinner. Occasionally interrupted, of course, by more of her questions, and Tello's increasingly desperate attempts to shut her up.
"Thanks so much for the meal," Stephen said as Tello and his mother stood, collecting all three plates before heading out the door.
A few seconds later, Tello returned, arms full with two sleeping mats tucked under his elbows.
"Scoot over," he said.
Stephen stood to the side while Tello laid the mats on the floor, placing them as far apart as the small room allowed.
"This is your room?" Stephen asked, eyeing the tight layout.
"Yeah. Sorry it's not much."
"It's fine," Stephen replied, stepping forward. "Beds are uncomfortable anyway."
"Right? They really are," Tello said, watching as Stephen dropped onto one of the mats, arms splayed out like he was making a snow angel.
Stephen exhaled, sinking into the mat. The Omara family lived in a modest apartment tucked inside the city. With just the two of them, it made sense that space wasn't a priority.
Was this why Tello followed him into something so risky?
Footsteps came down the hallway and in a few moments, Mrs. Omara was perched by the room door, now in a night gown.
"I suppose, I should leave you two alone for the rest of the evening." She said, smiling. "Good night, Stephen~~"
"Goodnight, Mrs. Omara," Stephen answered.
"Night, Mom," Tello added.
"Sure, whatever." And with that, she disappeared down the hallway.
The door closed behind them, the lights turning off in sequence as well. The night had reached its peak, a stark midnight by which a large bell was rung to signify that.
Stephen yawned, staring at the ceiling he could no longer see.
"Can I ask you something?" Tello said.
"You really are your mother's son," Stephen muttered, then added, "Go ahead."
"You seem like such a different person after I recognized it was all a lie... this character that you play for the people, to charm them. I'm guessing it's not the real you, the real Stephen Willows."
"It's not." Stephen admitted. "I've never been the kind of person that talks and smiles like that."
"I thought so," Tello said, staring at equally dark ceiling. "Then, who exactly is the real you... are you even from Rennes? Was everything you told my mother a lie? All just part of a long fabricated story you have brewing in your head?"
Tello might've been apart of his scheme now, but information about his real life wasn't supposed to be disclosed to him. It would've only complicated things down the line.
"It's not," he said.
"Is that another lie?"
Stephen paused for a second.
"It's not."
Then silence overtook the room for a moment, the only sounds entering now, the blow of wind from an open window, and the gentle ticking of a grandfather clock just outside by the hallway's end.
"Sorry," Tello said after a while. "I guess I didn't want to be some stranger you talked to with that polite voice. I pushed too much."
"It's alright," Stephen replied. He rolled onto his side, facing Tello's direction in the dark. "But maybe it's my turn now, after you and your mom's double interrogation."
"Do your worst," Tello said, chuckling quietly.
"What happened to your father?"
Another pause.
"He died when I was young," Tello said. "Mom's raised me on her own since then, but she's getting older now and can't work as much. I want to help as best I can."
"That why you're sticking with this?"
"Yeah. I want to get her a bigger place, something nicer. Give her meals that don't start and end with curry." He gave a faint laugh. "It's the least I can do, right?"
"Maybe I get that," Stephen murmured, glancing toward the moonlight outside the window. "We should get some sleep. Tomorrow's a big day."
"My hands are already shaking just thinking about it," Tello admitted. "If I screw it up…"
"You won't," Stephen said. "It'll work out, one way or another..."
And as his voice trailed off, and the snores hit the room en masse. A voice screamed into his ear, once, twice and then on the third time. He woke up, eyes staring up.
"What now..." Stephen asked, the system's blue light emitting in front of his eyes.
[Notification: Level increased]
[Notification: Four stats increased]
[Two Passive skills gained]
Stephen rose on the mat, quiet to not wake up the snoring Tello in the corner.
"Pull up my stats."
[Host: Stephen Eldoria]
[Age: 16]
[Level: 33] +13
[Class: Knight]
[Rank: Commoner]
[Current Love interest: Claris Grandbelm]
[Reputation Meter: Disowned Prince]
[Strength: 120/99999] +20
[Speed: 200/99999]
[Toughness: 400/99999]
[Magic: 1000/99999]
[Health: 1000/99999]
[Stamina: 7000/99999]
[Intelligence: 210/9999] +10
[Luck: 85/9999] +60
[Charisma: 120/9999] +120
[Stat Progression Mechanic]
Stats now grow based on usage rather than experience. When the host levels up, only the attributes actively utilized will increase. For example, consistently using Strength-related actions will result in Strength gains and unlock Strength-based passive skills. The same applies to all other stats.
[Skills:]
[Active Skills: None]
[Passive Skills:]
[Skill Acquired: Adaptive Charisma] Gain +10 Charisma for every successful business pitch, seduction, or public stunt. This bonus stacks infinitely, but resets at the start of each day.
[Skill Acquired: Lucked Out] Every action has a 5% chance to result in an unexpected but beneficial outcome. For every 1000 Luck points, this chance increases by +1%.
________________________________
"Well, that explains why it didn't increase when I was farming back in the kingdom," Stephen said. "But why the change?"
"Most likely due to your alterations to this world," the system replied. "Unlike before, when repetitive training would trigger progression, it now registers only real world experience."
"Hence the boost to Charisma and Luck," Stephen muttered. "Why did my Strength go up then?"
"Perhaps your display of dominance over Tello."
"Maybe."
"Still, this is good news. At least now I won't need to bother the goddess about why your system wasn't functioning."
"Good? This is perfect." Stephen grinned, barely containing his excitement. "I've never seen those passive skills before, and now you're telling me I can get more just by doing what I was already planning to?"
He let out a contented sigh. "This is the kind of change people pray for. In the main game, you had to grind endlessly for everything. This… this is beautiful."
"I suppose," the system replied flatly. Then, after a brief pause, its tone shifted. "I'm guessing everything is going according to plan."
"More or less," Stephen said. "I've been luckier than I should be, but hey, I'm not complaining."
"Tomorrow is the big day," the system said quietly.
"Yeah."
"…And I was starting to like the kid."
"I was too," Stephen murmured.