am-books Chapter 79 6 Days Alive!
Chapter 79 6 Days Alive!
Hugo pushed open the door to his room with the weight of the world on his shoulders—or at least, that's how it felt.
The solemn look on his face was one usually reserved for dramatic movie heroes returning from battle.
In reality, he was just coming back from a test that had gone... well, "terribly" was an understatement.
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Despite all his late-night cramming, tutoring from Loli and feverish praying to the gods of multiple-choice questions, his answers felt like random stabs in the dark.
The test had gone about as well as a penguin trying to fly.
He slumped against the door once it clicked shut, letting out a sigh so deep it could've been mistaken for a ghost escaping his soul. Without a word, he began his post-failure routine.
First, he trudged to the sink, splashing cold water on his face and staring into the mirror as though it held the answers to all of life's problems.
Spoiler alert: it didn't.
Then he grabbed a slice of leftover pizza from the mini-fridge, cold and stiff as cardboard, and sank onto his bed with the energy of a man defeated.
As he chewed on his pitiful slice of pizza, his gaze drifted to the window.
The sky outside his window was a clear, calm blue. It mocked him with its serenity, as if the universe didn't care about the storm raging inside him.
He stared at it, biting into the pizza like it was to blame for all his problems.
"Six days," he muttered to himself, his voice low and ominous. "I only have six days left."
His mind wandered, pulling him into a spiral of self-reflection. 'How had things gotten to this point?'
It wasn't like life had been great before the System came along. In fact, it had been a disaster.
Before the System came into his life, Hugo had been a certified disaster. A shut-in who could barely muster the courage to order a coffee, let alone talk to a girl.
His days had been filled with reading novels, his nights filled with dreams of a life he was too scared to pursue.
"Fantastic," Hugo muttered. "I might as well challenge a fish to a swimming race."
Loli: Hugo frowned. Loli was a bit of a wildcard. She was quiet, introverted, and they weren't exactly close. Their relationship was more "acquaintances" than anything else.
He could barely call her a friend, let alone a romantic prospect. The idea of completing the mission with her seemed as realistic as him becoming an Olympic athlete.
Heck, he didn't even know her name!
He sighed, leaning back on the bed. After running through all his options, he realised something horrifying:
"That's it," he whispered. "There's no one else."
For a few moments, Hugo just sat there, staring at the ceiling and letting the despair sink in. But then, something sparked inside him. It was small at first, like a flicker of a flame.
"Why am I sitting here like a loser?" he suddenly shouted, bolting upright. "I'm not dead yet! If I'm gonna fail, I'm gonna go down swinging!"
He jumped off the bed with renewed energy, his determination shining brighter than his common sense.
In his dramatic haste, his foot caught on the edge of the bed, and he almost face-planted. But he quickly recovered, pretending like it didn't happen.
Hugo marched into the bathroom, flipping on the light with gusto. He stared at his reflection in the mirror, pointing at himself like a coach hyping up a player before the big game.
"You've got this, Hugo!" he declared. "Six days is plenty of time. You're gonna turn this around, and no stupid death mission is gonna stop you!"
"I'll shower, I'll strategize, and I'll hit the streets!" he declared to his reflection in the mirror, pointing at himself. "You've got this, Hugo. Six days is plenty of time to figure it out!"
Power stone Goal!
50 PS - 1 Bonus chapter
100 PS - 2 Bonus chapter
200 PS (Quite an achievement as of now) - 3 Bonus chapters.
Castle - 20 Bonus Chapters!