World Domination System

12. Rewards

The silent beep of a machine woke Leonard up that evening. Squinting his eyes open, he was immediately blinded by the bright white light streaming from the chandelier of the room he was in. He groaned, trying to reach out but all he could feel was empty air.

''Its okay.'' a voice said.

Leonard didn't need to think twice to know that it was his mother's voice. How she had got here and how he had got here too was very strange to him.

''Mom?'' he asked.

''Yes honey.'' she sighed.

Finally, he managed to open his eyes and the first thing he noticed was how white the room was. He was momentarily confused when he saw some machines fixed on him.

''You're in the hospital, Leonard. You got severely hit by a thief.''

That was when everything came rushing back to him. The system's instructions… the women at the mart… the wait… tackling the thief to the ground and then finally receiving the blow to his head.

''The thief…''

''Oh don't worry about that honey, he's going to be in jail for a very very long time.'' she smiled.

Leonard heaved a sigh of relief, grateful that he was able to at least complete the task. Now, $2500 was guaranteed and as if confirming his thoughts, his phone made a small beep, indicating he had a new message. 

Leonard panicked just from the thought that he was going to have tons of explaining to do. 

The first would be how he got the phone. 

''What was that?'' his mother asked.

At that point, Leonard knew that there was no point in hiding the phone anymore and so he reached for his bag lying just at the foot of the bed before pulling out the phone. In the next moment, his mother's expression was priceless. 

There was a surprised look as well as a confused look in her eyes and he knew she was trying so hard to understand what she was looking at.

''Leonard. What in heaven's name?'' she asked.

''I know Mom,'' he said, scrolling through his phone and towards his message log.

Just as he had thought, his money was safely in his bank account. His face lit up the moment he saw his bank account and all pain he was feeling instantly vanished. This was all he was really after and getting it now felt like a dream come true for him.

''Leonard, I'm talking to you. Where did you get this phone and what's that smile on your face even when you're in pain.'' his mother said.

Leonard returned his phone back to the bag, this time placing it very close to him. He looked at his mother's confused face and thought about what to say.

''I won it in a bet.'' he lied effortlessly.

For some minutes, his mother had a confused expression on her face as she stared at him, trying to understand what he had just said.

''A bet?'' she asked.

''Yes. We had some math quiz… just between my friends and me. We had agreed that the winner would get a phone. As it happened, I won and got the phone.'' he said.

The lie was so easy to believe and he knew his mother would eat it up but still, he still saw the confused look on her face.

''Are you sure?'' she asked.

''Yes, Mom, I'm sure. There's nothing to worry about.'' he smiled.

He didn't want her worrying about it because he knew how well his mother could worry. There were many other things that he had his mind on and he wasn't going to bother himself on that.

''I feel stronger Mom I think we need to go,'' he said.

''No son, you need to get better and before I forget, I'm very proud of you and for what you did. Taking on someone older and even buffier than you had to take a whole lot of courage.'' she smiled.

Before he could respond to that, there was a slight knock on the door. His mother responded in the affirmative and soon, two women walked in, holding flowers.

Leonard recognized them as the women who almost had their purses stolen. They smiled at him as they walked further in.

''You're back.'' his mother smiled.

''Yes, and I can see that our young man here is awake. Hi Leonard, I'm Martha, and this is my sister Linda. We just came here to say a very big thank you for what you did. You are a very brave little boy, thank you.'' Martha, the slightly older one, said.

''It's my pleasure, ma'am. I couldn't just stand there and watch him get away with it. I just knew I had to do something and I'm quite glad that he's been arrested, that's what is most important.'' he smiled.

''Yes and to show our appreciation, we brought you these flowers and this little sum of money. Please, I hope it'll do.'' Linda smiled.

She had a dreamy look in her eyes, and Leonard found himself getting lost in her eyes until he snapped himself out of it. He remembered that she wasn't in his league and besides, he was too young for her.

''Oh no please… we can't possibly take this,'' Helene said, trying to refuse the gift.

''We insist, please,'' Martha said, placing the items on the bedside table.

''Thank you,'' Helene said, finally.

''Thank you,'' Leonard repeated his mother's words.

''Thank you too. We'll be on our way now, we wish you a speedy recovery Leonard and thank you once again.'' Martha said.

Just before they finally left, Linda walked up to him and placed a small kiss on his forehead. Leonard's cheeks turned a bright red as he tried to act unconcerned about the kiss when in reality he was dying from embarrassment within him.

Finally, they left and when they did, his mother sang their praises, telling him how lucky he had been to meet them even though it wasn't in a good way. 

They counted the money they left for him and to their amazement, it was $3000 in cash. They had never seen that much money at once before and Leonard realized that this was the highest they had ever received. 

Even the system has not given him this amount of money before.

''Wow! Mom, would you look at that.'' Leonard smiled, sitting up on the bed.

Already, all of the pains and aches he had felt prior to waking up had already vanished mysteriously. He was feeling much better now and just wanted to go home.

''We can live like kings for a while now… Thank the heavens. I'm so going to feed you a lot son.'' she smiled.

Leonard smiled back, happy that his mother was happy, and deep down, he knew that everything was going to be alright.