James finally arrived home after the strenuous day at the grocery store. He got here safely due to the fact that instead of being a lone wolf old man thing, he decided to join the herd of old people. Just this once.
"Man, I'm bored! Being an old man all the time really takes a lot out of me. The stress is one thing, but having to deal with the people all the time while pretending to be someone I'm not is really.. annoying." James sighed as he voiced his opinions aloud.
"James. I know that you don't need to act as an old man when you're by yourself but you should at least do something. I mean, eventually, there will be people you will have to be an old man towards all the time! You might even meet an old woman that you want to settle down with. I mean, this is your life now!" The system suddenly said.
"Yeah, you're probably right. If I have a partner I probably wouldn't hate my life as much. But, if I do get a partner, I'd have to pretend to be an old man 24/7 pretty much.. If that's the case, you're right. I do need a hobby. It will help with the stress, as well as keep my mind off of things." James pondered over his options.
"System, if I'm committing myself to a hobby, do I need to pretend to be an old man during that as well? Or can we make a deal and it only looks like I'm an old man. Like an illusion sort of thing!" James pleaded.
"Well, I suppose I can do it for you just this once.. But, in return I will occasionally ask you to complete sudden quests. If you refuse to complete them I will start deducting stats I have given you." The system said, suddenly being reasonable.
"I accept! Now, what should I do.. What do old people do.. Hmm.. There's so many options really.. Cooking, Knitting, collecting stamps, creating sculptures, writing books, gardening.. Gardening! I will become a gardener in my free-time for right now!" James decided and smiled.
In James's eyesight text showed up. "Unlocked quest tree: Gardening"
"Oh.. so I can gain more availabilities for quests depending on what I do.. That's pretty cool. Maybe someday I can get back to male modeling and acting.." James dreamed with a smile.
"Anyway, I now need to figure out what I want to plant! Do I do vegetables, fruit, or just cosmetic.." James thought to himself before figuring out exactly what he wanted to do.
James walked outside of his modest home and looked around. It was just as he thought.. He had competition.
Next door was a fellow old man-creature thing. An ancient abomination who had to be at least 80 years old was outside currently mowing his lawn, surrounding his lawn were pristine flowers that were beautifully taken care of. There were shrubs as well that would surely increase the property value of the house a bit. In the entrance of this old man's house was some stone pillars, the man even had a gargoyle statue next to his door.
"..." James was taken aback. This was his competition?! How could he get a better garden than this old creature who has been gardening for generations?!
James walked outside after grabbing his cane and walked toward the fellow abomination. The old man saw James and audibly said "Haaah?" In a dry-like-a-beach old man voice.
The old man then turned the key to his drivable lawn mower and carefully hopped off, lest he break his back accidentally..
The two abominations stared off as they licked their eternally dry crusty lips and made similar humming noises at each other, they were both predatory animals and were assessing which one of them was the prey.
"I see you've been gardening a while, haven't you? Geezer." James spoke out to the old man.
"Yes, yes. I see you're still teaching Mr. James. Perhaps you should take a lesson." The old man taunted James..
James's vein near his head suddenly began to show as he grew in anger..
'Now, how am I going to deal with this old man?' James pondered..