PING
Adam watched as a baseball sailed over the outfield wall straight into the crowd beyond.
Dad shot up from his seat to Adam's side.
"Yes!!! Run!!!"
Adam and Mom just watched as Dad hyped and cheered for the game.
Dad's team, the Cascade Kings, were tied in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Not anymore. The home run had let the Kings get a two-point lead.
Adam leaned back in his seat, somewhat overwhelmed by the noise around him.
Even overstimulated, Adam's thoughts drifted back to the system.
Odd, no system messages for a packed stadium?
And as if just to prove Adam wrong.
[Host has survived prolonged exposure to high density of Mutant activity.]
[Host has gained 0.15% towards the next level of Perception.]
There it is.
Adam refocused on his surroundings, paying closer attention now—testing whether focused observation could actually grind the rather rare stat, Perception.
The results were immediate.
[Host has gained 0.01% towards the next level of Perception.]
[Host has gained 0.02% towards the next level of Perception.]
[Host has gained…]
The more Adam noticed about the crowd, the more the system pinged.
A man dropping a hotdog as his seat neighbor sprung up.
A baby being bounced by its mother to soothe.
Until now, Adam had a rough time understanding Perception.
He knew Perception wasn't just sight—it was the five senses and how they fed information to the brain.
The problem was that there wasn't an obvious way to train something like that.
I could try blindfold training. Cut off one sense and force the others to work harder.
All that could wait.
He had to focus.
***
The end of the year was approaching, and for Adam that spelled annoyance.
Not because he was a grinch.
But because it meant Kindergarten was going to be doing *something* to celebrate.
He had already overheard the teachers planning for each class.
Holidays also meant no rest at home, his extended Family would come over and treat him like the 5-year-old he was.
Adam shook off the thoughts, his Academics skill was about to reach level 2, which should mean more skills would unlock.
His other skills were crawling, but still outpacing his stat progression.
That made sense. Early skill levels were probably easy—anything near "expert" was where the slowdown would hit.
A sharp pull on his arm jolted his attention outward.
"Adam! We get to do a play!"
"A play...?" Adam already regretted whatever came next.
Honestly, probably the most embarrassing option for me.
"Yep!! Mrs. White was asking who wanted to play!"
[Host has been invited to perform an intimidation ritual with the Juvenile Mutant Brute!]
[Recommended action: Comply.]
Adam's eye twitched, taking a deep breath to not mentally curse the system.
"Do we know what play?"
"Something about reindeer? And a big red nose!"
"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer?"
"Yep! I knew you would know it!"
Adam facepalmed, dragging his hand down his face.
If it's that and the system flags it as an event, getting the starring role would be best for maximum gain.
"We're getting the starring roles, Rae."
"Huh? You want to have a red nose?"
Adam felt his brow twitch. "Yeah, I want a red nose."
***
Getting the starring role was easier than Adam thought.
All he had to do was ask. With his reputation as a child too mature for his age, Mrs. White didn't hesitate.
The real problem was Rachel.
She wanted to be Rudolph too, though Mrs. White handed her the role as Rudolph's friend instead.
Rachel turned to Adam.
"Trade!" She stuck her hand out, pouting.
"Rae…" Adam felt a headache already.
"I want Rudolph!"
"I know you do, but let me ask you this. Do you know Rudolph's story?"
Rachel blinked in confusion and a little curiosity.
"No…"
"Rudolph's story is that he gets bullied for his red nose, among other things. But becomes the hero for Santa and Christmas."
"He gets bullied for having a cool nose?"
"Yep, because he's different."
"But you know who I think the real hero is?"
"Who?" Rachel leaned closer, drawn in by Adam's words.
"Rudolph's friend, Clarice, never made fun of Rudolph and helped him."
"Really? She probably thought his nose was cool too!"
"Yeah, exactly." Adam smiled, watching her excitement bubble over.
"Then I'll be Clarice! That way I can protect Rudolph from bullies!"
"Sounds like a plan, I'll be relying on you." Adam chuckled, patting her head.
Rachel beamed a smile. "Go ahead!"
[Host has gained 0.06% towards the next level of Charisma]
With that out of the way, the rest of the class were assigned their roles.
"Okay, Class. Now that everyone has their roles, we'll be focusing on practicing this instead of P.E or crafts."
Adam heard the room groan—apparently he wasn't the only one not looking forward to the play. Though for reasons very different from his own.
The bell rang.
"Class dismiss, I'll see you all on Monday!"
The classroom was in immediate chaos as kids began leaving.
Adam had gotten used to it and took his time.
When he looked up, he noticed Rachel bouncing on her heels as she impatiently waited for him.
"Cmon Adam!"
"Coming, coming. Did you forget anything?"
"Nope!"
"Sure?"
"Yep!"
"Then let's go."
The two exited the classroom into the hallway, then outside.
"Huh? Daddy isn't here yet?"
Adam looked around for Mr. Morgan.
"Odd, he's usually here before my dad."
Adam felt something was wrong instinctively. There were only so many things that could keep Mr. Morgan away from Rachel.
I hope I'm just overthinking.
"Want to hang out with me and my dad until Mr. Morgan shows up?"
"Mhm!" Rachel nodded as she followed Adam.
Dad was in his usual spot, he looked slightly on edge but immediately schooled his expression into a more joyful one.
But not before Adam caught it.
"Hey, Buddy, I see you brought Rachel."
"Yeah, we're gonna hang out until Mr. Morgan comes by."
"Hello, Mr. Cross!"
"Hiya yourself Miss Morgan."
"No Miss Morgan! I'm Rachel." Rachel huffed at Dad's teasing.
Dad chuckled at Rachel's huff of annoyance. "So kids, anything interesting happened today?"
"We got a play to do! Adam got Rudolph, he gets a big red nose!"
"And Rae got Clarice."
"I'm Rudolph's best friend." Rachel tilted her face upwards, proud.
"Impressive, you two will be stars huh? A regular ole power duo."
Rachel giggled as she took the compliment, but Adam still felt uneasy.
It was clear Dad was trying to move their attention away from Mr. Morgan's absence.
Dad caught Adam's stare, letting out a sigh.
"Well, kids. How about we hang out? I'll text Rachel's dad about it."
Rachel's eyes sparkled. "Yes! I finally get to see Adam's room!"
"It's not that special."
Dad opened the back door for them, Rachel immediately climbing in.
"Everything fine, Dad?"
"Nothing you need to worry about, Adam… just keep Rachel busy, okay?"
Adam just nodded, recognizing the seriousness in Dad's tone, and climbed into the car.
The ride home was filled with Adam telling Rachel more about Rudolph and Clarice's story.
With Rachel distracted by the story, Adam let out a sigh.
I hope Mr. Morgan is fine…
***
It wasn't until after dinner that Adam heard a knock on the front door.
Peeking out of his room, leaving a napping Rachel peacefully asleep, Adam saw Mr. Morgan and his parents talking.
"Sorry to do this at the last moment…"
"Mark, it's fine, not everything can be controlled."
"I know, I know…" Mr. Morgan leaned back against his chair.
"Just… Thank you. For Rachel."
"Adam needs more thanks than us, that boy noticed something was wrong, but still prioritized Rachel."
"Really... I'm glad my girl has a friend like that."
"And we're glad Adam has a friend like Rachel. She brings in the childish side that we don't see often in Adam."
"Is he really that different without her?"
"Trust us, it's like a tiny third adult when he's alone here. But he has his childish moments."
Adam stepped back into his room, glancing at the still sleeping Rachel.
Looks like I missed the big topic and got the aftermath.
[Host has taken care of Juvenile Mutant Brute while its guardian was defending its territory!]
[Host has gained 0.05% towards the next level of Charisma!]
[Host has gained 0.03% towards the next level of Perception!]
Adam ignored the system, choosing to lay down.
Well, crisis averted, time to sleep.