When he finally reached the spot where his tent was supposed to be, Ari saw an empty spot with two old women standing around and chatting with each other.
One was a short Korean grandmother with a black curly bob and large brown eyes, dressed in a pink tracksuit and holding a matching pink cane.
The other was slightly taller, with long silvery blond hair and piercing blue eyes, and was dressed in a matching pink tracksuit.
When they spotted him, they stood up and began approaching as fast as they could.
"Grandma Kim, Grandma Lisa, you're here. I'm sorry I couldn't meet up with you yesterday. I ran into some…problems." Ari greeted them with a cheeky smile, then winced as his face hurt.
"Who cares about that! You're alive. And you stink." Grandma Kim immediately plugged her nose while looking at him worriedly.
"Did somebody beat you up? Your phone didn't go through. Was it those nasty foster parents of yours? Or these street thugs again? Ari! I keep telling you it's dangerous out here! Now that your tent is gone, just come and stay with us, like I keep telling you. We'll sneak you into the nursing home, and if any of those nasty nurses say anything, Grandma Kim can whack them with her cane, which she pretends not to use in front of you. Oh, my baby. Look at your pretty face. It's so swollen I can't even recognize you anymore."
Grandma Lisa hovered her hands over his face, her wispy hair flying as she circled him like a puppy, wanting to touch him but too afraid.
"I'm fine, I'm fine. I got beaten up and robbed on my way back yesterday and accidentally fell into a…dumpster. But it's okay. I'm fine. You ladies should head back. I'll need to get cleaned up and figure out what to do about my tent and stuff."
Giving them a wan smile, Ari pointed to the empty space where his tent was supposed to be.
Everything was gone entirely, leaving behind the flattened patch of ground.
"Ari! Just come and stay with us. It's our fault for not waiting long enough for you to come back and letting your tent get stolen! If we had spent the night here…"
"No, it's not your fault. These things happen, you know. Don't worry about it."
Grandma Lisa stared at him with watery eyes, about to cry.
"Then! At least let us put you in a hotel!"
"No, thank you. I'm fine!"
"Fine, I'll lower my standards. A motel!"
"No!"
"Just for the weekend!"
"No!"
"A day!"
"I'm fine! It's fine!"
As Grandma Lisa childishly stamped her feet, Ari looked away with a stubborn stare.
He wouldn't argue with his elders, but he wouldn't cave in either.
Although he appreciated the two older women, and they had gotten close, he didn't want to burden them and refused to accept their money.
He had been kicked out with nothing on his back and survived, and he could definitely do it again.
"Ari." Grandma Kim called his name in a slightly harsh tone, but Ari continued to avoid looking at her.
"Ariel Bada Matisse! Look at me!"
"I'm not listening. Lalalalalala." Childishly covering his ears with his hands, Ari stared up at the sky.
He knew he was weak to people who took a tough stance like he did and harmed themselves in the process of doing what they wanted to do. Especially when trying to take care of others.
In an argument, Grandma Lisa could give up if he were stubborn enough, but Grandma Kim would argue back until she was in pain from her arthritis, and eventually Ari would have to give in and do what she wanted.
The fights that the two of them had had over the past months had ended just like that, and it reminded him of the relationship he had with his parents before they died.
He just didn't want to be a burden, especially to women who had just settled in and lived on a small fixed income.
Although it was small and had been broken often, he had his own pride, too.
He would figure this situation out and continue to move on by himself.
Suddenly, a cane whacked him lightly on his butt and he stared at Grandma Kim in disbelief.
"You are so stubborn, you know?"
"I know."
Grandma Kim stared at him quietly for a moment before handing him a plain business card.
"Disobedient kid. Fine. Since your school is closed today, you can't bathe there, so try going here. It's the place I always tell you to go to since the service is pretty affordable."
"Is this another one of your tricks to get me into some troubled youth help program that will ship me away? I told you I'm not doing it."
"It's not."
"Are you sure? That's what you said last time, and then I woke up in Nevada with the driver crying over my life sto-"
Whack-
The cane smacked his butt again as Grandma Kim sighed in irritation.
"I said it's not! It's just a bathhouse since you smell so bad and can't shower at school. They have clothes too, so you can change, and it's near Koreatown, so there's lots of food. Lisa and I will leave for now and come back another day. Lisa, let's go." Grandma Kim quickly replied and turned away.
"But-"
"You have our numbers, Ari. Call us if you need anything. And make sure you go to the bathhouse. Today! Otherwise, next time I see you, I'm going to whack you extra hard with my cane!"
After leaving those words behind, Grandma Kim grabbed Grandma Lisa, who was complaining, and dragged her away.
"Kim! We can't just leave him here! Where is he supposed to sleep?"
"Teenagers. He has his own pride, so let him be. Besides…" Grandma Kim whispered something while pointing at him, and Grandma Lisa brightened up immediately.
"Bye, Ari! See you at your new place soo-oof." Grandma Lisa was sharply elbowed in the side by Grandma Kim, who began walking faster and dragged them along.
The two of them quickly disappeared, and after waving them off, Ari slumped down to sit on the curb.
Mentally, he was completely tired, and the day was just beginning.
He had to purchase new clothes, a tent, a new phone, a bookbag, textbooks, and more since it was all gone.
That would cost money that he had been religiously saving up, but he couldn't avoid it.
Looking at how high the sun was, he was already late for his server job, and to top it off, he smelled bad!
And he still had to deal with this stupid system and these terrible stats that were floating in front of his face without disappearing.
[Vocals: F]
[Dance: F]
[Visual: F]
[Rap: F]
[Charm: F]
Remembering his anger once more, Ari began complaining again.
"What the heck am I supposed to do with this, huh? Please explain yourself, NOVA."
[What should I explain? It's exactly like you see it. A failure across the board.]
"Yes, but why? I know for a fact my charm should not be an F. This face of mine is quite handsome when it's not injured, okay?"
[These are your stats after I brought you back from death. They had to be utilized to heal your body, which was beaten to a pulp, had several broken bones, a snapped neck, a pierced lung, and had been blinded.]
[If your original stats were higher, perhaps your current stats would not look so pathetic.]
[Rather than complaining, you should be saying thank you for not only bringing you back to life, but for healing you to a state where you can move around with no issues.]
Seeing the extensive list of injuries, Ari snapped his mouth shut.
'That blonde bastard was really crazy!!!'
'If what the system said was true, he should be in a morgue right now.'
'It was a miracle that he could move around.'
But... that was that, and this was this.
'What kind of global idol superstar could he be with these stats??? '
It was all F's across the board!
Or maybe the F stood for fantastic?
He could only hope.
Glancing around and seeing nobody paying attention to him, Ari opened his mouth and sang a little nursery rhyme.
"M̸̨̲̪̮͚͚̬̜̥̩̦̲̣̂͐ͪ̾̉̄̿ͬ͐̆̒ͦ̈̚͜͝ͅa̵̶̵̵̛̙͚͇͚̺̞̥̭͎͍̘̮̣͆̅̃̈ͥ̉̀ͤͨ̎ͪ̎̇ͭ͑́͊̿͢͢͜͡r̗͉̳͖ͦ_̷̸͈͙̦̜̹̪̩͉̲̜̻̙̣̞͙̙̼͙̊́͒͌͂̂ͤ͊̀ͣ͌͢͞͞y̷̷̛̦̱̜̅̐͢͝_̳̭̳͍͈̻̺ͬ́ͥ́́̀͛̓̒͂ͤ h̶̶̷̸̵̛̻̖̰͉̜̼̘̙̝͔̥͑͆̐͆ͫ͗̀̋̔ͥ͊͛ͪ̆̅̌ͦ͟͜͟͜a̶̵͔̗̙͙̱ͧͩͫ̅_͕̠̊͘d̸̢̛͖̠͎̰̜̼͒͊̈͐͘͘ ą̵̷̵̷̛̱͉͈͍͇̻̝̣̫̼̙̟̞͙̌͗ͩ͌̓ͯ͌͗̓̾̊͌͐ͭ͐ͮ̕ͅ l̼ͩ̆͂̕i͊ͧ_̲̋̃t̵̤̦̍t̸̸̡̛̜͍̪̠͙̥̙̮͇͋̇̔ͫ̌͛̆͟ͅl̨̤̖̯̟͂͡e̶̸̤̗̬̜̣͇̤̜̜̟͉̊̔̓̾ͧ͂̃̋̆̈́͛̚͡ l͙͈͉̼̩̯̗̝̽͗̌̓̎̔͗͛a̴͉̮̝ͥͫ̐͗͘m̷̸̢̧̡̧̛̛̞̬̠̭̹̝͚̞̖̥̝̤̹̞̬̤̯̔ͭͧ̌ͨ̈̈̅́ͭͥ͑͋̚͢͝b̸̡̤͌̀̽̒̕ w̷̵̩̪̦͈͓̬̘͎̖̰̳̼̼̃̀ͪ͑̎̽̈́́͋͗͐͢͠h̵̵̡̨̛͕͎̮̞̫̰̬͎̰̣̰̳̾̌̿͌ͭ̌ͯ̑͗̃ͥ͊̂̈́͘͟͜͜͡ͅͅo̶̶̢̡̡̬̳̫͎͎̹̺̪̞̽̅̓ͧͯ̈́ͫͤ̔̀́̓ͩ̀ͣ̈́̈'̵̷̸̢̡̡̡̮̬̥̪͙̳̘͔̺̹̜̘̪͔͉̦͓͍͚͎͔̝ͪ̉͑̀͗ͨ͆̃͗͂̐̈́͘͟͟s̤̅ f̴̷̴̛̼̣͍̟͉͉̜̜̫̘̰̬͋ͤ́͗̉͋̍͛ͦ̎͂̇̆̔̌͘͢l̷͓̩͙͛̈́̋́̎̑̚͡ͅe̢̨̛̱̤͛̀̓̐̓̄̏ȩ̷̷̷͕̱͕̺̺̦̣͚̤͓͌̉̌ͤ͐̆̒̋̅ͪ̿̅͢͟ͅͅc̺͍͉̪̐͊_̧͎̞̾̐̄͜͝e̵̢̛͈͇͓̩̲̻̤̿ͤ͡ wắ̶̴̸̷̶̝̣͓̩͉̝͖̯̦͚̹̯͕͎͒̈̍ͣͤ̔̾͐̏̋̆̔͜͞s͎̤̼_̦̯͋ͭͬ̂͊ͤ͘ w̶ͮ̅h̶̴͚̯͈̤̞̞̹̳͎̘̤̫ͭ̔̊̈͛ͮ̉͂̆͆̈͊̂͊̚͟͟i͙͊̾͟_̶̙͕̪͓̣̏̃ͥ̍̈t̘͍̾̄̒̍͌ͯ͐̐ȩ̸̡̧̛̛̱̜̦̥̙̠̼̟͇̳͙̗ͧ̐̂͆ͯͣ̊͋̄̓̂́̾̓͐̄͊ͫ̚͠ͅ a̶̴̵̸̵̧̛̲̮̩̖̮͇̱̪̯̣̝ͮͯͪͧ̈́ͬ̀ͥ͒̐̌̀̂̓̅̈̽ͯͤ͘͠͠͝s̻͙̰̒͋ͧ sn̵̼̪̙͚̖̞͙͇͓ͥͮͫ̐ͨ̕͟ỏ̉_͍̾_̹͔̎̀̋̄̔ͪ̔_̷̨̠̻͓̼͗͂ͯͣ̊̀̇̌ͦ́͒̿̕͠͞͞ẅ̷̧̨̧̲͈͚͚̘͉̱̪͕͖̜͍̫̫ͤ̀̏͑ͫ̿̆͒ͣ̆̋ͫ̾ͯ͆̕͜͝͝""
Ari: "...…"
Was this considered English or a wild animal's growling?
Just from the sound alone, three stray cats went running, birds flew into the air as fast as they could, tangling themselves on the telephone wire, and…
Was that a lizard running down the street?
This was noise pollution of the highest order!
The F was definitely for Failure or even Flop.
One more time. Just to verify.
Before Ari could try again, the system quickly cut in-
[Enough!]
[Stop that racket at once!]
"So you admit that it's a racket? That clearly, this is mission impossible?"
[Where are my thanks for saving your life?]
"Okay. Thank you very much for saving my life. However!! These stats?? They're completely useless. I'm doomed, aren't I? Sigh. I wasn't even here for a good time, not a long time. I signed a rigged contract with the devil, and my soul is going to get devoured, isn't it? "
[I will not perform an act as uncouth as that.]
[Naturally, I will provide a way for the stats to be improved.]
"You should have said that in the first place! All you said was 'Let's plan on how I can become a global superstar with your pathetic stats. Then you proceeded to mock me for 30 minutes. How was I supposed to know that there was more?"
[Mockery builds character development.]
[You should have waited patiently.]
"I'm patiently waiting to punch you in the throat and build your character development," Ari muttered quietly, but was completely ignored.
[Silence.]
[As the system that is bound to you, I will give you a Mission Board with relevant missions to aid you in achieving the goal of becoming a Global Idol Superstar. When you complete a mission, you will receive stat points that you can allocate to improve your dismal stats.]
[When you complete all the missions on the Mission Board, the Mission Board will be refreshed, and you will randomly get a Gacha Gift Token to draw an item from a random item machine or a Skill Slots Token to spin for a skill.]
[When you complete your first Mission Board, you will unlock Repeat Tasks that reward you with stat points the more you repeat an action.]
[As a one-time special deal for completing your first mission board and to celebrate becoming the host of this amazing system, you will receive a Skill Selection Ticket that will allow you to select a skill from 10 randomly selected skills.]
[Do you understand it, or shall I repeat it slowly?]
"You have gotten really rude…. You know that?"
[Is that a yes to repeating the content due to your lack of understanding?]
Ari: "..."
"Gacha, slots, stat points, skill selection, mission board. I got it, so just show me the missions."
[Ding!]
[Mission Board #1]
1. [Peee Yeeew! You Stink Worse Than A Sewer! - Take a very thorough shower, scrubbing the stench off your body, and wear brand new clothes that are unworn by anybody! Reward - 1 Stat Point + 1 Charm Stat Point (you clearly need it)]
2. [Planning On Sleeping On These Dirty Streets Again? Pathetic! - Find and designate a location as your place to sleep from now on (whether you pay, bribe, or threaten someone to get it is not my concern). The location must have four real walls, a door, a real roof, and a real bed! (recommended to find one within 24 hours) Reward - 1 Stat Point]
3. [Don't Be A Beggar! Have Some Dignity! - Get a gift or genuine compliment from somebody without begging, prodding, or insinuating that you want something from them! Reward - 1 Stat Point]
As Ari read through the missions on his mission board, his expression continued getting darker and darker, and by the time he read the last mission, he wanted to fight the system.
What the heck were these mission titles?
It felt like it was maliciously insulting him!
After deciding to be the bigger person, Ari read over the missions once more.
While he would concede the first two (the smell of garbage was particularly nauseating, and his stuff was stolen), he couldn't concede the third.
"I have never begged for a gift or compliment in my life."
[Then you'll easily accomplish the task! Good luck.]
Ari: "..."
"What will happen if I can't accomplish this mission within the recommended time limit?"
[Since it's recommended and not an enforced time limit, the system will not give any penalty. However, it is highly recommended that you finish the task within 24 hours. Preferably sooner.]
Seeing the System's dry response, Ari clicked his teeth.
Housing. Housing.
Would he really have to burden Grandma Kim and Grandma Lisa?
He really didn't want to, but...
For now, let's put aside the housing situation and address the bathing situation.
Although he had lost his backpack and tent, at least he still had his shoes.
And thankfully, he hadn't been searched when his body was dumped.
With a lot of effort, Ari removed his dirty shoes, tied tightly to his feet, and shimmied out his ID cards, 100 dollars in cash, and his debit card, which he always hid there out of habit.
Then, glancing at the address on Grandma Kim's card, he spent almost two hours walking toward Koreatown.
While walking, he passed his waitressing job and happened to see the manager taking a smoke break outside.
When he tried to talk to the man, he had simply screamed that he was fired since this was the third time Ari had decided not to show up on time (the other four times were due to delays because of terrible public transport) and had not answered his phone when called(he was in class).
Despite his attempt to explain what happened, the manager continued to curse at him and threatened to call the cops, so Ari left while cursing to himself.
That pink-haired pompous pony! He hoped the man choked on Himalayan pink salt.
But this wasn't good.
This was the second steady job he had lost in two days.
He really needed to find a replacement so he wouldn't start eating into his savings account.
Especially if he had to somehow pay for singing and dancing classes to become an idol.
Despondent at the thought of bleeding money and trying to find a new stable job, Ari continued walking while trying to sing, until he found the tiny Korean bathhouse sandwiched between a grocery store and a restaurant.
[Choi Bathhouse]