(Not) A Vanilla Levelling System

14

"Eh? Have you heard about Grayson?"

"About him being an addict? Well... that's nothing new. People like them must use it. How do you think he's so smart if he doesn't 'high'?"

"But, after all that, the teachers still entered him in the competition? People these days are corrupted."

"I don't think so anymore. The principal still has a brain, too. He won't make the school's name blatantly tarnished."

I had just stepped inside, and it was still as crowded as I had imagined.

What I did was actually quite trivial.

Log into the anonymous account Elena prepared, join the school forum, spread the information, and BOOM!

The news exploded the next day.

The school's journalism club even set up a special section in the mading.

PHIL GRAYSON: The evil conman who brainwashes everyone

They have phenomenal word choice, huh. Just what you'd expect from a future newspaper editor.

There was a slight feeling of guilt, but it was soon washed away and justified. Especially when the completion notification sounded.

[GREAT INSPIRATION OPPORTUNITY] RESOLVED!

[Congratulations! EXP has met the minimum threshold to level up. Processing?]

[Confirm]      [Ignore]

[Processing and calculating data...]

[You have levelled up↑↑↑]

[Lv. 8 → Lv. 9]

[You now have 8 Attribute Points that can be used]

[Use Now]   [Ignore]

I guess, for now, I'll just keep it. Seeing that the leveling up journey was slowly getting harder and harder, attribute points were a rare thing.

Just then, someone tapped my right shoulder. When I turned my head, it was my forehead that was flicked.

David winked with a lopsided smile. "Impressive," he said, before walking away.

He knew that I was behind all this. But, I'm sure he wouldn't know how.

"Ah... how noisy. Why are people already so excited in the morning," said a voice on my other side. When I turned to it, Susan Becker appeared to be opening and fiddling with her locker. "Aren't you annoyed?"

I was silent for a long time.

Wait. She was talking to me, right? That Susan Becker. But for some reason, I feel like this has happened before and feels normal.

"Hey, are you okay? You look like you've seen the devil," Susan said as she looked at herself. "Something's wrong with me today, huh. It must be that facial moisturiser. I told them, my parent, that I didn't want to use a different brand. It wouldn't suit my skin."

"E-eh, yes..., no. I just..."

Susan frowned and leaned closer, seemingly wanting to hear my words more clearly, but that only made me stammer even more.

She chuckled at my reaction.

Damn. Even after making a deal with the most dangerous group of thugs, conspiring with a bunch of semi-illegal researchers, and being indirectly responsible for a mass murder; I'm still afraid of talking to a girl?

This was a bit embarrassing.

"Tell me, McKane, where do you know those interesting people from?"

"I-interesting people?" Which ones was she referring to?

Susan just nodded. "The ones who picked you up these few days. I can't prove it, but ... they're thugs, aren't they?"

"Not like what you think," I said, repeating Richards' explanation to Phil. This time I was more afraid of my reputation looking worse. It seemed that from now on, I would have to obey when Elena instructed more carefully. "They're just misunderstood by everyone. They're actually not that bad."

"No way. I'm pretty sure Silas said he killed someone. And not just one, but three."

I blinked. "Do you know Silas?"

Susan just smiled, and asked back, "So, you guys are ... like friends?"

I was again in a difficult position.

Why was Susan so interested? And what was her relationship with Silas? Were they in cahoots? Brothers? Or maybe ... used to date?

Yes... I've heard that Susan does have eccentric tastes in men. And she was once in a relationship with an upperclassmen. Whereas Silas has been in town for a while, and is probably an alumnus of Dreamriver High, so...

Shit. It was starting to make sense now. "We're just drinking buddies," I replied, finally, after thinking it sounded pretty good.

Susan was silent and looked surprised. "You drink too, McKane?"

Eh? "Yea ..., sometimes(?)." This was a bit strange. I was just thinking that her interest in me sounded creepy and weird, but somehow it felt good now. I mean, who wouldn't be happy when the prettiest girl in school starts caring about your personal life.

"Musssou Bar. Tomorrow night," Susan continued.

"What?"

"You don't have any plans, do you?"

"I..." I thought about it... of course I dont! Oh, yeah. Maybe report all this to Elena, but that could be done quickly. "Seems like I don't have any scheduled."

"Then, let's go on a date."

*#*

When you think about it, Susan is definitely a walking red flag. I mean, if she was a normal girl, she would have found me horrible and wouldn't have bothered to reprimand me.

But, anyway, who cares about all that?

You might say that the best mates are those who have inner beauty. But that won't work if you're unsightly, right?

I'm not trying to discriminate against any particular group here, just trying to state a fact that might be hard for everyone to accept: inner beauty is bullshit.

Who cares if Susan Becker has a wonky brain if she's hot.

Well, I did say I didn't want to think about dating, but that was when I was in a tight financial situation.

Right now with ten thousand dollars coming in with each mission, and the big money from Lumi-whatever that is (if Elena's words are to be believed), I feel like dating someone could be considered as an option.

Moreover, I'm more capable now than before, in all areas.

So, basically, I was just very happy when I heard Susan's invitation to date.

It was like a dream come true. Or was I dreaming right now?

It lodged in my brain and made me unable to focus on my studies until the last class.

Although, at the same time, when the class was going on, Susan didn't even turn her head to me once.

However, I believe all of this is real. These are all good opportunities for me to take and create a wonderful breakthrough.

The next two days will be the most thrilling and exciting times of my life!

"Hey!"

That was, before I was visited by this uninvited creature, right after exiting the gate.

I started to worry about my privacy. First Shane's group, then Red, then Elena, then this guy.

Do all the high-profile criminals in this town know where I go to school now?

However, unlike the others, I'm sure I can afford to be ignorant this time.

"Hey!" However, of course he wouldn't let me pass quietly.

Seeing him calling out and following me while dragging the motorbike was so attention-grabbing, making me even more furious.

I turned to William Fletcher with a disgusted look. "What are you doing here?" I asked at last.

"How can you ask that after all you've done," Fletcher said with a shake of his head. "Don't you have any regrets?"

"Can you leave me now? I'm busy."

"You're ungrateful, aren't you. And no manners. So, you've got a new job all this time."

Huft ... fine, fine. I gave in. "What do you want?" I called impatiently.

"What do I want?" snapped Fletcher. "I want you to go to the restaurant, apologise to everyone, and help me find Liz."

I'd even forgotten that I had a second job and hadn't officially resigned.

But that doesn't mean it's a problem. 

After all, the restaurant was also said to be going bankrupt. Mr Sandler didn't seem like a very influential person either. Whether my work there is good or bad, it won't have a big impact.

But wait. "Looking for Liz?"

"Liz is missing."

*#*

We decided to drive to the park, for who knows what purpose.

I just thought that seeing something green would clear my head a bit, and hoped that it would apply to Fletcher. 

After all, what he said a few moments ago was almost like a confession from a stoned person.

"She can't be missing," I said as I opened a canned drink I'd just bought from a nearby drinking machine. "She's not a kid."

"So adults can't be missing?" snapped Fletcher, still insistent. "I've been calling her since the day before yesterday, but there's been no answer."

"I?"

Fletcher immediately corrected with a red face. "We. I means we've been calling her since that. Everyone's looking for her."

That reminded me of one thing. "The restaurant still opened?"

"What do you mean, losing one or two irresponsible employees like you won't make it close," Fletcher said. Nevertheless, he continued speaking, this time as quietly as a whisper. "Even if it has to close for other reasons."

"What?"

"The point here is, we have to find that girl again.

I scratched the back of my neck, which wasn't itchy. "I'm confused why you're so adamant. Did she do something so annoying that you can't let it go?" I saw the development of Fletcher's still unchanged expression (annoyed and salty), and continued to say. "Or..."

I deliberately left that sentence hanging, and it succeeded in getting Fletcher hooked. "Or what?" he said impatiently, seemingly a little worried about what I was saying.

"Or she still has an outstanding debt to you?" My words were immediately met with a pinch to the head.

"Stop talking nonsense. What I'm doing doesn't need a special reason. After all, she's your friend too."

"She's my colleague," I corrected.

"What?"

"She's my colleague. You should realise that the only thing that connects us is work."

"Hey," Fletcher exclaimed. This time his tone was deeper. "When you never show up and you're never heard from, do you know who's the first to ask and defend?"

I gulped. Well, Fletcher did have a big body. His unnatural blonde hair made him look like a punk. However, his slightly daft and silly demeanour sometimes made me forget that he was older than me. "Mr Sandler?" was my first guess.

Fletcher patted the park bench. "Liz, you idiot. She said you looked like you'd fallen on hard times, and she couldn't leave you alone. She was so worried that he stopped by your house every night, even the hospital where your mum was being treated."

"She did that?"

Fletcher frowned, as if to say 'are you kidding me?', and then said again, "Of course. And after all that, you don't even consider her a friend?"

She really didn't need to do that.

It's possible that Liz was just overwhelmed with guilt. After all, I got beat up for, unintentionally, trying to protect her.

And that shouldn't make me feel responsible. 

"You said when was the last time you heard from her?" I asked Fletcher, finally.

Yet again, this pesky nagging feeling kept coming, and it didn't seem to go away unless Liz was found.

And, as an added motivation, the drifting writing appeared as an answer.

[DETECTIVE EXPERIENCE]

Objective(s):

(*) Find Liz

Hm. Only one objective? That's a bit unusual.

If I'm not mistaken, I was in a similar situation in the early days, and the EXP gain wasn't great (I think it was because I wasn't given an optional objective, that extra objective really gave me an advantage that couldn't be ignored).

With the effort I had to put in and the results I would get, it didn't feel worth it. But, still...

"I told you, the last time I saw her was the day before yesterday, right before the restaurant closed," Fletcher replied, finally.

"So the restaurant is really closed?"

"Does that matter to you?" retorted Fletcher, fiercely. I was still confused as to whether she was really angry that I hadn't given her any news and was acting like a missing person, or that she had to fill in a double shift with incompatible pay?

I think I already know the answer. "It's important. Every piece of information is important now." Maybe I can connect the variables with my 'versatile' Skill. "When did it happen, why it happened, and what did Liz do afterwards?"

Fletcher finally relented, looking up, trying to remember. "Well, Mr Sandler wasn't very detailed. He said he had some personal matters to attend to, and I think he mentioned that the business was going in a direction he didn't want. Blah blah blah, you know how Mr Sandler talks. Every worker is dismissed with salary and severance pay."

I thought that after taking care of Shane and his debt collectors, the problem was over. But, apparently, the problem was with Mr Sandler himself. "What about Liz?"

"What do you mean what about Liz? Of course there's nothing strange.  She got the same treatment. But, after that, she said she would temporarily go to her hometown and rest for a few weeks."

Huh? "So, the answer is obvious? She's just going to her hometown, not disappearing." Why make things so complicated?

However, I was immediately poked in the head. "Listen when people are talking, I'm not done yet. Before going home, she had asked me to help her carry her luggage to the station. However, when I picked her up the next day, her apartment was empty. No one responded to my calls and texts."

Then? "I still don't understand how you can't see it clearly. She went to her hometown. Liz is with her family now. She's safe."

"And why didn't she contact me?"

"Maybe she forgot, or there was no signal." Or because she didn't care? Again, we were all ultimately only connected as colleagues.

"And what if she didn't?"

I tapped my forehead. "You're overthinking it."

"I'm overthinking it because I'm worried. You're the one who can't see this clearly, you ignorant fool."

Okay, okay. "Let's make sure. Do you have a contact for the family?"

Fletcher frowned. "What? You think I'm her babysitter or something?"

That's right. Then I'll have to enlist the help of a third party. "I'll be home for a while--"

"And disappear again?"

"And contact you if I get any new information."

"No," Fletcher said with a shake of his head. "I'm not going to get caught up in that pesky nonsense of yours again. Besides, what information are you going to get? If you want to do something, just do it here. I'll help you."

Tsk! What a troublesome person. "Okay." I took my mobile phone out of my bag, and started tapping on the screen.

"So that's the reason why you can't be contacted," Fletcher chided when he saw my mobile phone.

After the meeting with Elena, I had decided to buy a new mobile phone. Not because I wanted to be stylish or up-to-date, but because my old mobile phone was too outdated. The touch screen didn't work very often and it was cracked everywhere. It was only a matter of time before the mobile phone exploded.

"Eh, yeah..., I've been getting some good stuff lately. But, that's not what I meant. I promise I'll apologise to Mr Sandler and ask for his permission to leave after all."

Fletcher spat. "It's too late."

That was... right.

Not wanting to be drawn into a longer uncomfortable conversation, I called Elena, explaining the situation.

Again, Elena complied without asking many questions. "So you've got a new mission and this has something to do with it?"

"Uh, yeah... something like that."

"Okay. Give us a moment. We'll send it via email." The call was dismissed then.

I faced Fletcher who had been waiting. "So?"

"We're waiting."