One Man Band System

Late in the afternoon, right as evening was setting in, Eric escorted Emma and her friends out of the shop so they could head home. Walking back inside, he slid into a chair behind the counter, right in front of an old-school cash register that had been out of production for years. He pulled up his phone and texted Priya his PC and laptop requirements, sending over specific specs he had just looked up online. Setting the smartphone down, he took a slow look around the shop.

Doubt began to creep into his mind. He genuinely wanted to breathe life back into his grandfather’s shop, but was he doing this purely out of spite and raw emotion from getting kicked out, or was it a real desire of his? The truth was, he didn’t know his grandfather at all. He looked inward, trying to make sense of what he actually wanted.

"Ring."

Suddenly, his phone buzzed. He glanced at the screen, but it was an unknown number. He simply set the phone back on the counter and let it ring out; he never picked up calls from numbers he didn’t recognize. The ringing stopped, but it was immediately followed by a second call from the exact same number. He picked up the phone and stared at the screen.

"Who is this? I already saved Emma and the others in my contacts, so it’s definitely not them," Eric thought to himself.

The call ended, but a moment later, "ding," a text notification popped up. He unlocked the screen and tapped the notification. It was a text from the mystery number that had just called.

"Eric... pick up the phone, it’s me... Vivian."

Eric’s expression completely changed. He instantly deleted the message and blocked the number without a second thought. He suddenly realized he was still using his old number, which was obviously still sitting in Vivian’s contact list.

He immediately powered off the phone, stood up, walked out of the shop, locked the doors, and headed downstairs. He walked down to the end of the block, where a massive supermarket sat.

Without a second thought, he walked inside, headed straight for the electronics counter, and bought a brand-new SIM card. He installed it on the spot, snapped his old SIM card in half, and tossed it in the trash. He then shot his new number over to Caleb, Emma, and the rest of the group.

They all replied and saved it instantly. Eric cracked a smile. [ding]—a new text slid onto his screen.

"Got it... saving your new number now," Emma replied.

"No problem, man," Caleb replied.

"Yeah... thanks," Eric texted back to both of them and hit send.

But "ding," the exact moment Eric hit send, an echo rang out behind him. Eric turned around and spotted Emma in the distance, pausing to look down at her smartphone. It looked like Emma had stopped by the supermarket to run an errand on her way home from his place. But before Eric could even react, "vwooong," a holographic screen flashed right in front of his face.

[Urgent Quest: Help Emma, who is about to be harassed by two men, report it to security, and protect Emma until she is out of the supermarket building.]

[Reward: A gift pack containing two items.]

"Kyaaaa!"

Eric looked ahead. Emma’s scream echoed through the high-ceilinged supermarket, which was practically empty. Eric’s eyes went wide as he saw two men trying to drag Emma away by her arm. A female cashier saw what was happening and immediately dialed security, while another cashier tried to step in to help Emma, only to get shoved aside by one of the guys grabbing her.

Without a second thought, Eric sprinted toward Emma down the long aisle. As he closed the distance, he instantly recognized the guy trying to abduct her. It was Chad. The other guy was likely a bodyguard or a hired thug, judging by his black suit and trained posture.

The moment he arrived, Eric shoved Chad with enough force to send him flying backward. Emma, whose hair was a total mess, whipped her head around and saw Eric. Her eyes went wide, and tears immediately started streaming down her face.

Seeing Chad get thrown back, the bodyguard let go of Emma and lunged to grab Eric. But as the man reached out, Eric swept his leg, then spun into a hard wheel kick that connected cleanly to his jaw, sending the bodyguard crashing to the floor.

Without wasting a second, Eric grabbed Emma’s hand and bolted out of the supermarket. Right at the exit, they ran smack into three security guards rushing inside.

"Grab the two guys who just went down inside, officer. They attacked my friend, and the two cashiers inside saw the whole thing," Eric said, pointing back toward the fallen bodyguard.

One of the guards looked where Eric was pointing, nodded to his partners, and the two of them sprinted toward the bodyguard and Chad, who was currently scrambling to his feet. Eric and Emma watched as the guards pinned Chad down. He seemed to be screaming something, but from that distance, it was completely muffled.

The third security guard, who was standing right behind them, tapped Eric on the shoulder, making Eric turn around.

"Can I get your statements at the office so we can file a police report?" the guard asked.

"Sure thing, officer. Come on, Emma," Eric said.

"Oh... right," Emma stammered, still too shaken up to speak properly.

They walked over to the security office, which was in a separate building across the massive parking lot in front of the supermarket. As they walked, Emma glanced down at her hand, which was wrapped tightly in Eric’s, then looked up at his profile. A smile spread across her face, and her cheeks started to flush. Meanwhile, right in front of Eric’s eyes, another screen popped up.

[Quest completed.]

[Reward: Gift pack containing two items received.]

[Would you like to open the gift pack now? [Yes] [No].]

Eric mentally selected [Yes]. On the hologram, a gift box wrapped in a ribbon snapped open with a "Congratulations!" message, and two golden stars burst out of the box.

[Reward: A one-time-use 100% discount card for any Mercedes vehicle at any showroom, taxes included, received—item sent to system inventory.]

[Reward: $50,000.00 cash transferred to host’s account.]

Seeing the unbelievable rewards on display, Eric opened his system inventory, and another screen materialized.

[System Inventory: 1. Mercedes 100% Discount Card x 1.]

Eric froze in his tracks, his face pale with disbelief at what he was looking at. Emma turned to look at Eric when he stopped so suddenly, getting a bit freaked out because he looked like he had just seen a ghost.

"What’s wrong, Eric... are you okay?" Emma asked, starting to get scared herself.

"Huh... it’s nothing... seriously... I’m fine," Eric managed to say, his heart hammering against his ribs.

"Let’s keep moving... Chad was seriously out of his mind... I think he followed me and cornered me in the supermarket when my mom asked me to buy some eggs after leaving your place. He started asking about you, so... I told him you were my boyfriend, and he just lost it and got violent with me," Emma said softly, looking down at the pavement.

Eric instantly looked down at Emma as she kept her head lowered beside him. Then he looked at his hand and finally realized he had been holding her hand the entire time. His brain completely short-circuited.

His emotions turned into a chaotic blur. At the exact same time, he was riding a high from the unbelievable system rewards, completely baffled on how to handle Emma, and entirely speechless.

His heart kept pounding so hard it felt like it was going to burst right out of his chest and run away. The security guard noticed the two of them standing still, turned around, and walked back over to them.

"Is everything alright?" he asked.

"Everything’s fine, officer," Eric replied, looking directly at the guard, who looked to be somewhere in his mid-twenties.

The guard studied Eric’s face for a second, then quickly pulled a smartphone out of his shirt pocket and tapped the screen. A moment later, the familiar melody of a guitar and Eric’s own voice started playing right in front of him. The guard looked from his phone screen to Eric’s face, then back down at the screen one more time.

"Are you the guy singing this song?" the guard asked, his face lighting up with excitement, a total 180 from his professional, on-duty demeanor.

"Ugh... now I have to deal with this on top of everything else. I’m completely overwhelmed... how did things get so out of hand, all I wanted to do was buy a SIM card," Eric thought to himself, completely at a loss for words.