It was confirmed by the movers that they would start delivering the furnishings after 8PM, and the cuisine he had ordered was already on its way. He had ordered around four different types of dishes from the most opulent restaurant he could find on his Grub app. Though the meals cost less than 500 credits, it was the vintage liquor that had cost him a lot.
"Man... I can't wait to try them! They have been in the wish list for so long and now I can finally have them.. Thanks Garry.." thought Aaron, who couldn't hide his excitement.
"Hehe.. It's time to do the 10x roll," muttered Aaron, who was slightly shaky as he pressed the roll button. But he took a deep breath and pressed it.
*Ding ding ding*
"Sigh... No legendary, huh? At least there should be a rare grade in there," thought Aaron as he clicked the button to drop the capsules from the vending machines shown on his phone screen.
The mixtures of white, blue, and green colored lights shone for a while after the ding ding sounds stopped, and the capsules from the machine dropped at the same time.
He looked at the screen to see everything he had gotten from the previous draw just now.
[Skill Item List]
Rare Forbidden Golden Apple (Clone)
[Magic Item List]
Rare Ring of Teleportation
Uncommon Space Ring
Common Obsidian Key
Common Item Upgrader Scroll x2
Uncommon Item Upgrader Scroll x1
Bonding Scroll x2
Converter Scroll x1
He read through every item description for a while and sighed.
"So, almost every scroll requires a token to be used, except for the Bonding Scroll. Hmm, though 5 tokens are needed to use the Converter Scroll to get a single skill item token. At least I know how to use the skill item vending machine now. Let's try the apple first," muttered Aaron, excited to use the first skill he had obtained.
However, his excitement lessened as he learned that he needed to use 2 tokens to obtain the skill item. He reluctantly pressed the 'obtain' button, and with a poof, a golden apple suddenly popped out from his phone, catching him off guard. Clumsily, he caught the apple from hitting the floor.
"Urgh.. Can't believe I almost screwed this up. Let's see, from the description, I would become a superhuman by eating this.. But the last line from the description was a bit scary... It said something like 'The greater the benefit, the greater the challenge'... That sounds very intimidating... sigh" thought Aaron as he looked at the apple, mustering his courage to eat it.
Aaron struggled to fully chew the extremely bitter golden apple, but he managed to finish it after a few bites. His breaths became louder, and he looked pale.
"Thump..." The sound of Aaron's body hitting the floor echoed in the room. He tried to move, but failed miserably.
"No, no, no, no, no... Am I going to die?" thought Aaron as he lay motionless on the floor, looking up at the gloomy white ceiling. Deep down, he was panicked beyond reason.
…
"Beep beep beep beep"
Aaron slowly regained consciousness and noticed he was in a very advanced ward. The place looked clean and the technologies there were something he hadn't seen before, but he quickly realized that Uncle Gerry must have helped him after he collapsed from eating the golden apple.
He noticed his phone on the table next to him, but quickly grabbed the plate of food next to it. He was so hungry the moment he woke up that nothing could stop him from devouring the food.
"Huh.. Its gone.." murmured Aaron with sad expression looking at the empty tray.
Aaron looked around to see the unfamiliar technologies surrounding him, but he knew nothing about them. He decided to test the effects of the golden apple on his body.
So he stretched first and then started doing some bodyweight exercises like push-ups, squats, and handstands for ten minutes without stopping. He did everything perfectly without breaking a sweat.
"I guess I really am a superhuman now... How long have I been out anyway? I was supposed to work.." muttered Aaron as he quickly grabbed his phone to check the time.
He was shocked to find out that he had been gone for almost 3 days. No wonder there were unread messages, some of which were from Laura. However, the messages were all from the first day as she had stopped messaging him on the second day.
He scrolled through his phone, especially the work group chat, and later realized that he had been excused because of the COVID quarantine, which meant he had 2 weeks off.
With super-hearing, he heard someone coming just outside the room.
An elderly-looking man entered the room, wearing something like a doctor would wear, holding a file with stacked papers in his right hand. Apparently, the person's name was Luo, as it was written on his white coat.
"Good morning, Aaron. I am here to brief you on your condition after you collapsed. My name is Luo, and I am Garry's second butler. He tasked me with taking good care of you since I monitored you after the incident at your place. Do not doubt me, as I would never betray my master. I do not care whether you trust me or not, as I will only do what my master orders." said Luo, who had a husky and raspy voice, and didn't seem as friendly as Garry.
Half an hour later, Luo had finished briefing him about what had happened in the past few days. Firstly, Aaron had been knocked out cold like in a coma until an hour ago.
Secondly, Luo had tested his physique using the machines there and confirmed that he was already a superhuman, both inside and outside. He was also responsible for dealing with Aaron's work matters, creating a good alibi for him to be excused.
Lastly, Aaron learned the reason why Luo was a bit cold and aggressive towards him, despite briefing him professionally. Apparently, Garry had been anxious for the past few days, which made Luo blame Aaron for that.
"You are awfully stupid, an amateur, and a distrustful person. You could have told master first before doing something that would hurt yourself. I still don't know why the master decided to trust you, but I will always prioritize the master's condition over yours." Those lines echoed inside his mind after Luo left him alone to recover.
….
Later in the afternoon, Aaron was seen sitting on the floor meditating. He had been doing so ever since Luo left. There was food with a tray on the table next to his bed, sent by a highly advanced-looking robot, but he ignored it to calm himself and process what was happening to him.
He slowly realized how much his life was affected because of the system, and he was so mad at himself for not thinking about this properly before. He had messed up so badly, but someone else had his back. Aaron was frustrated with himself for not trusting Garry more earlier, but now he just felt guilty toward Garry.
"Damn it.. I messed up big time.. I need to apologize to Garry for not trusting him enough. It's going to be so awkward.. Haih, why did I have to be so stubborn?" thought Aaron as he stared at the untouched food on the table, realizing he had been meditating for hours without eating. He decided to finally eat something to fill his stomach and regain some energy.
He looked at his phone for a while, then decided to call Garry to apologize for his stubbornness It was also his effort to get to know him better properly now.