Gio somehow learned about the school incident from his people who were monitoring the school and other places where Floyd Cruz could appear. When the news of the death came into his ears, he knew the academy would be dismissing the students right away. Due to this, he arranged his family driver to pick up Sofony from school while he ordered Sofony to wait for the car.
"You don't actually have to do this. I know where your place is. Golden Residences is famous. I could have just commuted there."
Sofony complained a bit over the phone because it had been quite a hassle when she had had to sneak into a car without letting other eyes see her. She also felt that she was a bother so she gave the old driver an apologetic smile.
"Are you alright?"
Sofony sighed from the backseat, her eyes on the road ahead, "I'm fine. It's just quite unbelievable for me. Oops, you still don't know but a huge incident happened at school and that's the reason why we are asked to go home."
Gio pretended to not know, he asked. " What happened?"
Sofony replied in a sad voice. "One of my favorite teachers suddenly died in the faculty's restroom. I'm not supposed to tell others because our principal forbade us. But I just want to share this to you. It really made me upset."
"That's really sad news."
"Yeah..."
"I think you are not in the mood, so I suggest you take a break from going to your cafe. You can take a day off."
Sofony wrinkled her brows. "I don't think that's good. You gave me the cafe. I don't know how to run it but I want to learn how. Being on site helps."
"It will run even without you being there. You can first start reading books and learn theoretical knowledge about managing while at home. It's just today."
Sofony no longer argued and thought that she was not really feeling well today to watch people at the cafe. She ended the call and let the phone sit on her lap.
'... I don't want to talk to you.'
'About what?'
She frowned. 'I think I know the reason. E+ is not a high level for a skill. Though I have an easier time pulling off an act, it's still nowhere as smooth as a novice TV actress'... I'm aware of my bad acting. And I'm okay with it.'
'But I'm just a student...'
She looked away. '...I'm perfectly happy being normal. Why are we even talking about this? Is this because we met another host?'
Sofony thought it was weird that the system was acting like this. Normally it would be throwing her insults and teasing her in a rated R-18 manner. Was something triggered by the appearance of another host?
'Hey, system. Is something the matter?'
'Hey, it's not like I have enough points to make a massive upgrade!'
Sofony felt like she received great enlightenment. The idea really did not cross her mind and now that the system pointed it out, she blushed in shame. How did she not think of this method before? Did she become too dependent on the system, or too lax after the initial upgrade? By the way, don't be mistaken, she was thinking about the concept of manually upgrading and not the last example given by the thing in her head.
She didn't know why the system said the stats are low when she felt that they are all okay, so she asked. 'Why did you say so? I thought 10 is the standard, and two of my stats clearly surpassed that.'
The system then went to rant that 10 is actually just the average. For example, 10 in Intelligence was only enough for her to score 75 in a 100 item test. It drilled to her mind that she should strive for the best. The system nagged her to at least make her body comparable to athletes, whose stats when quantified should be around 15 to 20. The difference made her confused.
She inquired what is the cap, and the system told her, it was 50... She had a hard time believing it and the outcome that she imagined exceeded even Superman's. It was very ridiculous... and definitely unscientific.
'...I know I'm in the wrong now. I'm sorry. You are correct. Please upgrade my stats to 15.' Sofony studied her interface for a bit before she decided what would be her ideal stats increase. She spent 56 to Strength, 60 to Charm, 28 to Dexterity, 64 to Luck, 31 to Intelligence and 4 to Stamina. ***** ATTRIBUTES (Basic Human - 10) Strength: 7 (10) -> 13 Stamina: 12 -> 15 Intelligence: 13 -> 18 Dexterity: 8 (10) -> 13 Charm: 8 (10) -> 14 Luck: 4 (10) -> 11 ***** Sofony sighed in relief. Earlier, after eating all those candies, she couldn't feel her body for quite a few minutes which truly scared her. However, the system said it was part of the process as her whole body and mind were changing. She should already be thankful that she was not feeling any pain instead. 'There's no pain, but when the stats are being upgraded all at once, I felt like my soul temporarily escape from my body.' When she regained her senses, she was very relieved and immediately checked for changes. But she only felt that her mind was clearer and that's it. It was like her first experience before, like everything was still quite similar. Sofony nodded at it as an acknowledgment. Sofony's face flushed again in embarrassment. 'Like when he was high in aphrodisiac?' Sofony furiously shook her head. She was not craving for it that much to drug the other party. '...Do we always have to think of doing that?' Her face lost color. She would never be able to! The system didn't voice out, but it sneered within, 'Of course, I know you're thinking you won't be able to! Yes! You can't, not yet! But don't worry I'll train you so that you can see what the real zenith is! And I'll be starting soon!' "Miss Sofony, we're here." Sofony stiffly nodded to the driver and gave her thanks before getting off the luxurious car with her phone and bag. ......