While playing around with the app, Aaron accidentally absorbed the magical item he had into the inventory of the app.
"Welpp.. That's neat. At least I can bring all of them with me around.." he thought.
With the enhancement from the magical water, he realized he should search through every function that he could possibly use for the time being. However, after searching for quite some time, he couldn't find anything new.
For the time being, he had 4 item tokens. Also, he was quite tempted to spend at least one token, but he abandoned the idea the moment he started playing Diablu. He put his phone away and continued playing the game until he got tired, and then started watching anime. When it was almost midnight, he closed his computer and lay down on the bed with his phone in his hand.
He looked at the date and noticed that it was already the final day of 2021. The day where he would typically receive a missive or a call from someone, normally his device would be as silent as a tomb. Despite being a member of many work-related chat groups, he always muted them after office hours.
The last time he had contacted someone unrelated to work was actually Jessica whom he had dated during the pandemic, they had found each other through the dating app, Finder. Their relationship had lasted for a few months until they both became busy and started to mutually ghost each other.
"I wonder how she's doing presently.. She's such an exceptional and delightful woman. I mean, every man would be fortuitous to have her as their significant other.." pondered Aaron as he scrolled through his old messages.
He closed his eyes and fell asleep.
Aaron woke up before dawn to take his usual morning run around the residential areas. During these runs, he often encountered some friendly and lively elderly individuals who exuded an air of wealth and affluence from their appearance and aura. Some of them even invited him to their New Year's party, knowing that he lived alone and had no relatives nearby.
Aaron felt guilty about rejecting their invitation, so he agreed to go to Uncle Garry's party, as he was the most enthusiastic one when inviting him. Uncle Garry lived in one of the biggest mansions in the area. The mansion was so large that it had its own swimming pool and tennis court, with a field that could be used for his family or friends to practice soccer or other sports there.
The house that Aaron rented was one of the few low-cost housing units developed by the builder in compliance with the government's policy to provide affordable housing for lower-income residents. Unfortunately, some of the wealthy individuals in the area bought some of these low-cost houses and used them as their personal warehouses or for other purposes.
He wanted to practice with the winged boots, but finding a secluded spot was proving difficult. Aaron didn't want to risk being recorded while playing with his magical boots. Today's daily quest was slightly different, with three objectives:
- Read 20 scientific journals.
- Write 5 new articles in the field of science.
- Have conversations with 10 people.
He was glad to have completed most of the sub-quest that required him to talk to at least 10 people during his jogging session earlier. Only 3 more people were left to meet before he could complete the sub-quest.
As for the reading and writing quests, he realized that he could use the Tranquility Cup to assist him in completing them. But before everything else, he needed to prepare a light breakfast.
He made French toast for breakfast and marinated some chicken to be cooked for lunch later. While having his breakfast, he started reading some journals to complete the first sub-quest. Later in the afternoon, when it was almost late, he completed the reading quest.
"Holy crap...I really read 20 journals in just half a day...Sigh...No wonder I feel a bit drained...At least the magical water and healing pendant helped a lot..." muttered Aaron as he was going to start making lunch with the chicken he had prepared earlier.
He made grilled buttermilk chicken for lunch while also saving some for dinner, as he always made extra chicken for more natural protein.
Being athletic and active made him eat more protein to recover faster. Years before, he used protein powder to replace protein intake, but he slowly couldn't tolerate the taste of the protein shakes, which made him learn to cook delicious and healthy food to replace the protein shakes.
Though it sounds boring and hectic, he liked this kind of life. At least he doesn't have to go out to eat.
"Geez, how much this spoiled brat spent for this full magic build?? Sigh.. If only I have extra money to get something from the premium shop.." murmured Aaron, watching some Diablu mage's build video while having his lunch.
He tidied up the kitchen before commencing to write some articles based on his earlier research. By utilizing the magical water to cook his meals and craft sweet beverages, he came to the conclusion that it was advantageous to always have it on hand for daily use rather than solely for drinking purposes.
It was just around 5 o'clock in the evening and Aaron had completed the second sub-quest. Since it was still early, he decided to watch an episode of anime to figure out what to do for the rest of the evening.
As he finished watching the anime, he thought to himself.
"Hmm.. Maybe I should do some body weight exercises to get in shape a little bit. Who knows there might be someone to impress there.."
When he finished his workout, he received New Year wishes from his parents and siblings. He replied to each of them. Usually, he had to call them, but his parents had informed him that they were on vacation just outside the country, so it was unnecessary to do so since it was already late there.
Aaron then sent some New Year GIF wishes to some work-related chat groups and also sent a personal wish to Jessica since she was the last person he had texted outside of his colleagues. To his surprise, she replied to them as soon as possible.
"Aww, Happy New Year to you too. Thank you for helping me when I was lost before. I really hope you find what you are looking for. I owe you one. Thank you, Aaron," Aaron read the reply from Jessica and realized that she must have felt that she owed him for helping her during her depression period.
He noticed that Jessica profile picture was her wedding picture so he concluded that she just got married recently.
"Aww.. She looked so much better now.." thought Aaron, observing her profile picture.
Despite their brief romantic relationship, they mutually acknowledged that they were more compatible as platonic companions, and their separation culminated amicably as she discovered her perfect match.
He went to take a shower while reheating the grilled chicken in buttermilk from lunch to have for dinner later. Aaron decided to eat first before going to the party as he wouldn't be eating much at the party since most of the food served there would be unhealthy or wouldn't fit his dietary requirements.
Later at 8PM, Aaron stood in front of the mirror, combing his hair to the side with a comb and some pomade. He decided to wear his only black suit, which he had purchased for this kind of occasion. He knew that Uncle Garry would invite a lot of wealthy and special people from their respective fields, so he had to dress properly.
According to Uncle Garry's verbal invitation, people could arrive as early as 9PM. Since the mansion was only a few minutes' walk away, Aaron decided to walk there. He didn't want to show up in his cheap black sedan and risk feeling out of place among the high-end vehicles. As he walked, he realized that the last sub-quest had been completed and wondered why.
"Wait...So interacting with others through just text messages still counted, huh?" muttered Aaron as he finally understood why the last quest had suddenly completed.
As Aaron approached the entrance of the mansion, he heard someone calling his name from behind. Turning around, he was taken aback by what he saw.
A sense of familiarity washed over him as he recognized the voice, yet his surprise grew as he laid eyes on the speaker. The speaker was wearing a face mask so he was unsure who's behind the mask.