After the incident that had taken place at the amusement park, the person heading the college had decided to send a message to his staff, telling them to inform the student and other lower staff that there will be lockdown until the rogue terrorists had been apprehended by the police.
Just as he had thought, the message had been sent out. Currently, Jump was packing his belongings, getting ready to travel back to Memph City. Judging by the others' expressions, he was the only one who seemed excited to get back home.
His two roommates would be heading back to their respective homes, which they had explained that they hated. Feeling suffocated at home, they thought this place would help them escape it all, but unfortunately, their escapade had abruptly come to an end as they had finished packing their stuff.
"I'll miss this place," Scott said, as he and Nate left the room. Not long after, Jim had made it to the train station, ready to board the bus. His train was meant to leave at nine that morning. Waiting patiently on a public seat, his mind began to drift aimlessly.
"Hey, let go of me!" he heard a woman shout. This was unusual. Normally, one wouldn't attempt theft in broad daylight at this part of BlackBones City, but the idea didn't seem far fetched after what happened yesterday. It was clear that there was a gang behind it as there just didn't seem to be any other illegal body big enough to do what they were doing while illuding the authorities at the same time.
Jim could only guess that this man is a part of the gang responsible for the fire yesterday. Although he had tried looking up local gangs in BlackBones last night, nothing had come up, because there weren't supposed to be any gang activities near the GCE in the first place.
The woman struggled to hold onto her purse, but there was a clear winner in strength as the man kicked off his feet, making a run for it with the purse in hand. Her eyes darted left and right, yelling for someone to help, but everyone just decided to.mind their business since her loss didn't concern them.
Jim also thought it was a waste of time as he decided to ignore the woman as well. There were just five minutes left until his train was to arrive. Thinking about Tai Chi, he was running the steps in his mind, focusing on the sensation one is meant to feel while practicing it.
Then, in the middle of his thought process, a system notification had appeared. Reading the message, he considered this to be a first for the system. Considering the things he had done so far, he found what the system labelled as a 'Quest' quite ironic. This was his first time receiving such a message. Initially, he wanted to ignore it since it had nothing to do with his presence on the living plane, but after a few seconds, some other messages appeared, making him change his mind. Of course, he would lend a helping hand, if he had something to gain in the process.
[Quest Received]
[Give the lady her purse back]
[Reward: 100 Energy Points]
[Failure: -500 Energy Points]
His body jerked in shock as a new message had appeared. This was also a first. The system stating there was a punishment attached if he had failed to complete the Quest made him take the matter a whole lot serious. Looking in the direction which the man had gone, he stood up to his feet, chasing after him.
Although he made sure not to use his full speed, he ensured he used just enough to catch up to the thief. Not long after, he caught up to the man, grabbing him from the back of his collar, tackling him to the ground. The people around them stopped what they were doing as they stared at a man and a boy during it out on the floor. Not long after, a winner emerged, as Jim held the purse firmly in his grasp, running back before handing it over to the woman.
Although he hadn't done much to keep the man away, he was confident that he wouldn't disturb him or the woman again after the beating he had inflicted on him. And even if he was a gang member, he knew enough about gangs to know that one big enough to put this side of the city in chaos wouldn't have such a weak member in their ranks, making him believe the man was merely a common crook trying to make the most out of the current situation. However, that didn't change the fact that he had taken a gamble, but after building enough trust with the system, he was confident that he would emerge successful, completing the Quest and earning himself more Energy Points, assigning them into his Energy Pocket.
Fortunately, everything had happened just before his train had arrived. Stopping so that people could come aboard, Jim dragged his luggage into the train. A few minutes later, and the locomotive was on the move. For the next twelve hours, he would keep himself busy by watching movies on his phone.
Later that night, the train had stopped in Memph railway station. Ordering an Uber, he got a ride to his neighborhood. Knocking on the door, he remembered his sister would most definitely be sleeping by this time. Shaking his head, he brought out one of the spare keys and let himself in. Earlier today, he had told Amanda about the situation in BlackBones City, although she already knew about it. News had quickly spread about the current situation, and there wasn't an estimated time as to how long the students would be at home.
Making himself at home in his home, he soon found himself laying aimlessly on his bed. Being an undead meant no sleep for him, so he would usually stare blankly at the ceiling for hours when he had nothing else to do at the time. However, tonight was different, as he quickly took out his books and kept on reading. Sooner or later, he and others in his department would be assigned projects which determined a huge portion of his grade, which he couldn't afford to joke around if he knew what was good for him.
The next day, he spent his time at home studying and doing the house chores while Amanda went to work. Since the event was only affecting BlackBones City, his two friends Tyler and Blake weren't back as well. Although Sidney was currently in the city, he didn't wish to disturb her with his presence at this point in time since she was in the city because of her academics exclusively.
The rest of the day went by normally. From time to time, his neighbours would come over, asking about he and his sister's wellbeing because of what had happened a few weeks ago. While it was dark outside, three boys had been killed. Although the news reporters said it was perhaps the work of a gang, they wanted to ensure everyone they knew were safe.
Jim never felt like he had a good relationship with his neighbours. Before his death and rebirth, he would usually avoid his neighbours, but they still treated him nicely and even saw him as family. He was never rude towards them, but didn't feel like he deserved their concern, so he would always try to create as much distance from them as possible.
Ever since becoming an undead, he had never interacted much with them, but one thing was clear as their relationship seemed to have improved. He had even made a new friend named Kevin, a teenager boy his age who also happened to attend the same university as him, but they had never met each other at the GCE before.
Kevin lived with his parents and little sister. Ever since the tragic event that had claimed the life of his elder brother, he had become somewhat overprotective of the teenagers in the area. He would usually visit Jim at different times of the day, conversing with him and even offering to lend a helping hand with the chores. Although Jim had no problem doing them, he chose to accept the boy's help.
He had learnt that the boy was studying Politics at the GCE. He didn't seem like the political type, but from experience, Jim had learnt that looks could be deceiving. All the chores around the house had been done. Now, both boys were outside the house, in the front yard getting ready to play some football. Fortunately, the front lawn was big enough for them to manage and enjoy themselves.
As the game commenced, using his superior speed and strength, Jim had dominated the game, although minimizing his strength not to make it look too obvious to the latter. Eventually, it was starting to get dark, and the blonde-haired teenager was yet to score a single goal. Huffing and panting, lying on the grass, he realized it was getting late. Curious of his bizarre football skills, he had to save his questions for later as he made his way back home. He had to hurry since we his house was a block away. Meanwhile, Jim had entered the house, waiting for Amanda to come back home.