Chapter 55: Accidentally lucky
As morning sunlight filtered through the half-open curtains, Eiden stirred from his sleep. His eyes cracked open slightly, immediately narrowing at the digital clock’s soft blue glow.
Saturday. Realizing it was the weekend, he let his head fall back onto the pillow, sinking deeper into the soft embrace of the bed with a faint, content sigh. A moment of peace rare, fleeting, and oh so cherished. Unfortunately, it didn’t last.
His phone rang, vibrating loudly against the wooden nightstand, shattering the brief tranquility. Without even glancing at the caller ID, Eiden reached out and picked it up, thumb sliding across the screen with a lazy swipe.
"Hey man, wanna hang out?" It was Deuel’s voice. Eiden let out a sleepy grunt. "I’ll see," he muttered, then hung up before his friend could respond further. He tossed the phone aside, buried his head into the pillow again, and managed to squeeze in another ten minutes of shallow sleep before finally groaning awake.
Dragging himself out of bed, he shuffled to the sink, eyes half-closed, brushing his teeth while staring blankly at the mirror like a zombie in the early stages of caffeine withdrawal. When he came downstairs, he was greeted by the warm aroma of breakfast.
His mom, Dally, was bustling in the kitchen, still in her comfy homewear. Eiden yawned, rubbing the back of his neck as he asked, "Is Dad sober now?" Dally glanced over from the pan, flipping something with a spatula. "Yeah, but he’s got a hell of a hangover. Can you go get some after-drink medicine from the convenience store?"
"Sure," Eiden replied nonchalantly, slipping on his hoodie and heading out the door. As he walked, the morning air did wonders to clear up the last bits of grogginess clinging to him. His thoughts wandered, and naturally, he summoned up System-chan.
Ding. He skimmed through his Status screen and Quest Progress. The numbers looked about the same no major stat upgrades overnight well he didn’t used his remaining 3 points so it was expected . A few quests showed minor progress, but they were too insignificant to worry about right now.
He turned a corner, his eyes still half on the floating interface, when he lightly bumped into someone.
"Ah sorry," Eiden said instinctively, stepping back. "Sorry," the other person echoed. He blinked and looked up. Linda. She was standing there with an unreadable expression for a split second before she composed herself, and then smiled brightly. "Good morning, Eiden. Going somewhere?"