The next morning, "Huaaah," Dylan shuffled weakly toward school, which wasn't far from his house. He was walking behind Maya, Amy, Lena, and Ellie, who all looked refreshed. Lena turned to look at Dylan behind her.
"Are you still sleepy?" Lena asked.
"Oh... no," Dylan replied.
"Don't be sleepy. Don't fall asleep in class later," Ellie, the class president, retorted.
"Yeah, I know," Dylan replied.
"Just hang in there. Only one month left, then we're free," Maya added.
"You were too serious last night; you even fell asleep at the dining table," Amy added.
"I had something I had to work on," Dylan replied briefly.
"Well, alright, sleep when you get home. Don't work," Ellie said.
"But I have to go to the construction site today. It's fine, don't worry about it," Dylan said.
"Alright, I understand... we understand, hehe," Lena replied.
They continued walking, with Dylan, dark circles under his eyes, staring at the four girls in front of him.
"They're the reason I couldn't sleep last night... seriously," Dylan thought.
***
The night before, after everyone went into their rooms after dinner, Dylan began dividing the money in his account. He calculated the approximate tuition costs for Fiona and Iris for elementary, middle, and high school, and then college.
He wrote down the amounts and intended to open trust funds for them, and he did the same for Aaron, figuring out the enrollment fees and tuition amounts for middle school, high school, and college to prepare the funds, as those two things were the most important to him.
Then he also calculated the cost for himself to register for college because he wanted to get a degree for a better job. After that, he calculated the monthly expenses, the necessities for the four girls' pregnancies and their babies, an emergency savings fund for any undesirable situations, the monthly grocery budget, and the rest to be saved or invested.
After that, he closed his book and put it in his bag, then he rested his head on the table while glancing at his smartphone to research investments. Soon after, he fell asleep right there at the dining table, snoring loudly. Then, "klek," a door was slowly opened, and suddenly four shadows stood next to the dining table, staring intently at Dylan without moving or doing anything, though their heavy breathing was clearly audible.
Dylan could feel the intense stares directed at him and hear their breathing. He woke up but pretended to snore.
[Sir, are you asleep?]
"No... they... what do they want?" Dylan asked in his head.
[They are not doing anything and are just looking.]
"Oh... okay," Dylan said, starting to feel a little scared.
After a moment, "klek," the door was slowly closed again. Dylan looked up and saw that the four shadows, whom he knew who they were, were no longer next to him.
"How am I supposed to sleep like this... it's truly creepy and weird," Dylan thought.
And in the end, Dylan didn't sleep all night, even though he moved to the sofa and then went back to sitting at the dining table until he genuinely fell asleep, if only for an hour.
***
Back in the present, Dylan was still shuffling weakly behind Maya, Lena, Ellie, and Amy, but suddenly all four stopped. Dylan immediately stopped too. A few big, rough-looking students and thugs from another school walked out of an alley.
They laughed and whistled as they passed the four beautiful girls. But they didn't do anything because they saw the sturdy, muscular Dylan standing behind the four of them. After they left, Dylan glanced into the alley. He saw a male student slumped over, bruised, and trying to find his glasses.
He saw that the student's uniform was the same as his, then he walked into the alley, approached the student, and helped him retrieve his bent glasses.
"Hey, are you alright?" Dylan asked.
"I-I'm fine," the student answered, putting on his bent glasses.
Dylan could see that the male student was similar to his past self; his shoes looked like they hadn't been replaced in over a year, and his clothes were a bit wrinkled, not because they were dirty but clearly because he only had one set and had washed it in a hurry.
Then, Dylan saw an empty brown money envelope nearby. He picked it up and offered it to the student, but the student shook his head and smiled.
"It's okay, senior. I'll find the money again later to pay this month's tuition," the student, Larry, said.
"What's your name and what grade are you in?" Dylan asked.
"I'm in 11th grade... my name is Larry," Larry answered.
Before Dylan could ask again, "bwuuuung," a hologram screen suddenly appeared in front of his face.
==================================================
Quest: Retrieve school money.
Target: 12th-grade student named Franky Delgado from a public school.
Location: 1000m from here.
=======================
Recommended skill: Flash step, pickpocket, invisibility.
=======================
Reward:
- $1000
- 100 skill points.
- New skill 1000 face level 1.
Auto quest mode? [Yes] [No] ==================================================
"Huh... what does auto quest mean?" Dylan asked in his head.
[Auto quest mode will make you walk on your own and perform the task automatically, sir.]
"Hmm... I see, alright, I'll press yes," Dylan replied.
[Auto mode confirm... commencing]
After hearing CATS's voice in his head, Dylan suddenly vanished. Larry, who was cleaning his glasses, was instantly confused. Then, he heard the sound of someone kicking a wall and then the wall across from it.
"Huh... where did the senior go?" Larry wondered, confused.
"Tap... tap... tap," Dylan kept pushing off walls and leaping across them until he reached a rooftop. Then he ran with long, fast strides, even jumping across the roofs of buildings and landing on the one opposite. When he had covered the distance, Dylan looked down and saw the three thugs who had passed him and the four girls when they exited the alley. Dylan leaped to the opposite building and climbed down, then he appeared and walked toward the three of them from the front.
As they passed, "bam," Dylan intentionally bumped into the student in the middle and using his pickpocket skill.
"Hey... what the... huh, who bumped into me?" the student named Franky asked.
The three stopped walking and tried to look for Dylan, who had instantly disappeared again and was running with long strides, making him fast. When he got back to the front of the alley, Dylan still saw Larry inside the alley trying to clean his dirty clothes so he could go to school. Quickly, Dylan put Larry's tuition money back into the money envelope lying on the ground.
Then he tapped Larry, causing Larry to turn and kick the envelope so it hit Larry's foot. When Larry looked at the envelope and saw it looked thick, he bent down to pick it up. Larry's eyes suddenly widened because the money the thugs had taken was back inside his money envelope. He looked confused and stunned, then looked around him and immediately ran away in fear.
[Auto mode.... finished]
[Quest clear.]
[Reward received: $1000, 100 skill xp]
[Invisibility level 1 > Invisibility level 2]
[Flash step level 1 > Flash step level 2]
[Pickpocket level 1 > Pickpocket level 2]
[New skill: 1000 face level 1]
Dylan reappeared, then he could move and feel his body again because the auto mode was finished. He raised both his hands and clenched them, then opened them again.
"Oh, so that's what auto mode is," Dylan said.
[That is correct, sir.]
"Hey, Dylan."
Dylan turned to look at the entrance of the alley. Maya, Amy, Lena, and Ellie were waiting for him. Dylan turned around and approached them, his body covered in sweat from running.
"Sorry... I worked out for a bit so I wouldn't be sleepy anymore, haha," Dylan said, wiping his sweat with a handkerchief.
"Y-yeah, it's okay," Maya replied, her face flushed.
"Ooooh... it's still morning and you're all sweaty like that?" Lena added, her face flushed.
"Come on... let's go to school," Amy added, her face flushed.
"We need to keep walking, or we'll end up being late," Ellie urged, turning her face away as it began to flush.
They continued walking, and Dylan followed behind them, the four girls fanning their necks with their hands and exhaling sharply. "Dling," a message arrived on his smartphone. He saw a bank notification that he had received $1,000.
"Hmm... so this is how Grandpa got rich... not bad," Dylan muttered to himself, smiling.