Peter had taken a cold shower and got dressed in a fresh set of clothing. Placing the old clothes set in the trash, Peter had no intention of getting them washed.
Downstairs, Peter had placed the chairs he had used to barricade the door back in their place. Since he would be visiting the cemetery near his house, he had no use for them anymore, and after a few hours, he came to realize that there was no one after him.
Pushing the door open, Peter made sure to lock the door after stepping out. Since his mother wouldn't be getting up anytime soon, he decided to lock her in for her safety, and also in case, some local thief decides to rob the house while he's out.
Before leaving the house, Peter made sure he was property-kitted to be on his way. Placing the kitchen knife in his pocket, Peter also took a few forks as well, and a few used syringes he used to administer medicine to his mother.
Dressed in dark clothing from head to toe, Peter placed the hood of his sweater above his head as he pulled on two strings, masking most of his face in the hood. The twenty-year-old wanted to get the Quest over with as soon as possible since it was still dark out, and there were no cars in sight.
'The nearest cemetery should be a few blocks from here. Thank goodness they're open 24/7. I'll complete this Quest and see what I can find out about this power I was gifted with.
'You know what. This is jank! How can someone gift you something, then expect you to work hard to use it?! It isn't exactly a gift if you put it that way, more like a commodity I'm being forced to buy!'
Arriving at the location of the cemetery, Peter made his way through the gates and began walking around the cemetery. Just as the Quest stated, once Peter found himself standing in front of a corpse, he would close his eyes, and tilt his head down, saying a short monologue of gratitude for the soul, wishing it eternal peace in the afterlife. He continued this for over twenty coffins, and by now, Peter was getting bored and frustrated.
'Fuck! This is just a waste of my time and energy! Isn't there a more efficient way to get this Quest done?!' dragging his feet, Peter made it in front of the twenty-fifth tomb, reading the name of the deceased, and saying the same, short moment, over again?
[25/350 tombs respected]
Among all of this, Peter was at least glad that the system help out by keeping track of the number of tombs he had paid his respects. Following the tombs laid out in placement order, Peter was determined, not only to complete the Quest but to ensure he never visited a tomb twice.
A few hours later, dawn began to break. An exhausted Peter was at his one-hundredth tomb, and he was ready to call it quits and head back home. Wiping the sweat on his forehead, Peter was tempted to do just that. Never really being the athletic type, Peter was no fan of rigorous labor, even though it wasn't particularly rigorous if you looked at it from an athlete's point of view.
[100/350 tombs respected]
'That's it. I'm done for the day. Besides, people are gonna start waking up soon. I don't want to cross paths with some stranger and just want to get back home and check up on my mother.
'I'll come back tonight and continue with the Quest. There shouldn't be any problem if I take three days to complete the Quest, would there?' Wiping away more sweat from his forehead, Peter had decided to do just that. Arriving at the exit to the cemetery, not even paying the home of the dead bodies a second glance, Peter speed-walked his way out of the area, eventually making it back to his house.
Pressing the key into the keyhole, Peter twisted his wrist, pushing his door open before securing it locks from the inside. After taking a nice long shower, Peter went to check up on his mother once again.
Seeing as her condition is stable, Peter went downstairs to prepare breakfast for the both of them. Back then, when she was still hale and hearty, his mother would make him his favorite dish every morning. The chicken noodle soup was one of the reasons he cared for his mother deeply, among other things.
However, with it also being her favorite dish, Peter would prepare it for the both of them every night.
Opening the kitchen cupboard, Peter got to work, bringing out a pot and turning on the gas burner. Placing a few packs of noodles on the table, Peter went down to chop up vegetables and also brought out some chicken from the freezer.
After about thirty minutes of cooking, Peter took a bowl of wet noodles upstairs, having already eaten his in the kitchen. Once inside the room, Peter proceeded to gently feed his mother the noodles, fortunately, she was able to swallow them, even in her unconscious state.
Once he was done feeding her, he washed all the plates, and the pot used in cooking, as well as took out the trash containing the unused parts of the cooking ingredients he used in making the chicken noodle soup.
After thoroughly cleaning the kitchen, Peter went to the bathroom to take another cold shower, after which he did some studying. At the age of twenty, Peter was studying at one of the local colleges in his town: The Shining Star Academy. However, ever since his mother fell ill a few weeks ago, there had been no one to pay his tuition fee, leading to him getting kicked out of the academy. Luckily, with the little money he had left, Peter was able to bag himself an online job as a financial advisor on a platform called Axx.
With the substantial money he got paid from the job, Peter was able to not only pay for his admission to an online college, but he was also able to provide himself and his mother with the necessities they needed to survive. Still, that didn't mean his life was all that manageable.
It had been three weeks, yet his mother had yet to show any signs of recovery from her illness. Peter didn't even know how she got sick in the first place. When he asked her that question the day he found her slumped against the door outside their toilet, all she said was that she was fine.
Now fast-forward three weeks later and you have a twenty-year-old caring for his bed-ridden mother, trying to balance his school and work life while planning on completing a Quest he had received from a system gifted to him by a crimson butterfly.
If someone were to tell Peter a month ago that this was what he was going to do, he would have assumed that person was crazy, but now, finding himself in that very same situation, Peter couldn't help but shake his head.
After an hour of intense study, the young adult went on Axx to do his job. Although Peter was studying to be an engineer, the young man also had a strong affinity for all things finance; money. As such, he chose to pick up online financial advising as a side hustle.
Three working hours later, the clock had struck noon. It was now time for Peter's online classes. Switching to the online platform, he participated in today's classes, just as he did every other Monday to Friday.
The classes went by pretty well. Peter only responded when needed, not saying more than necessary, and submitted all the assignments assigned to him the day before. Once his online classes were over, it was already 2:00 pm.
Placing his phone aside, Peter went into the kitchen to make lunch. With the limited income, he was getting, and how quickly the money goes into circulation, the young man is unable to purchase a decent variety of food for consumption.
Opening the refrigerator, all that was left was half a chicken, a few packages of vegetables, and three days-old leftover rice. Bringing out the rice, Peter brought out a pot and got everything ready while allowing the frozen rice to defrost over the sink.
Once lunch was ready, Peter repeated the routine once again, but this time, the rice was meant for him, while his mother would be served chicken noodle soup once again.
After cleaning up the kitchen, it was already 4:30 pm, and Peter went on to do his homework. Eventually, night came, and the young man went to the kitchen to prepare dinner for himself and his bed-ridden mother again.
'I wonder what would happen after I complete this Quest?' Peter thought to himself. 'I know I'll get that title and power, but is that it? Or is there more to this strange system?'