**Ring**
Jamar was awoken by the sound of an alarm. He groggily reached for his phone. The time displayed 6 AM, but there was no alarm to turn off.
"Where is that noise coming from?" he muttered, heading out of his room while struggling to put on a shirt. The alarm rang again.
**Ring**
He headed down the stairs, seeing Anne also on the stairs. They finally discovered where the noise that interrupted their sleep was coming from. The intercom downstairs showed two figures by the door: a tall male in his late 30s wearing a military uniform, smiling at a stunning female dressed in office clothes.
Jamar bolted for the door without thinking, a smile evident on his face.
"Mom! Dad!"
The door opened for them, and the two kids rushed out to hug them. Confusion was evident on the faces of Adrian and Zoey Carter. Rather than seeing their short, plump bundle of joy, they met a tall, built teen.
"And... who are you?" asked Adrian, moving Anne behind him. In shock, Jamar stepped back and looked at his father.
"It's me, Jamar," he replied. "Your son."
Looking deep at Jamar's face, Zoey finally found a hint of resemblance between the old Jamar and the new.
"What happened to you? We know you have my family's genes, so at most, you'd be this height," she said, raising her hand to display the height of one of her 'tall' uncles who measured 5 feet 7 inches.
"Come in and let's sit down and talk," Jamar said, gesturing for them to enter the house.
***Don't tell them about me if you want to be alive and live a normal life,*** a prompt appeared before his eyes.
"Why not?" Jamar thought, disliking the idea of lying to his family.
***Your chances of being alive to play in the NBA, after revealing me, are going to be zero,*** the system displayed. ***Chances of you being used as an experiment are very high.***
'They are my parents; what could happen? They aren't going to risk that,' Jamar thought.
***It is not going to be them who will expose you. Your younger sister will find out and might tell a friend who will tell their friend, and soon maybe all the little kids in Detroit will know. An investigation will go on, bringing out past photos, previous doctors' reports, and so on. The government will get involved, and that is where you end.***
'You are paranoid. No such thing is going to happen,' Jamar thought.
***Correction, Host. The system cannot be paranoid. How did you know how to activate me?*** the system asked.
'Webnovels. It's not like it did ever happen.'
***It did happen. I was there.***
A/N : it never happened
'Really? I'm not your first host?' Jamar thought, shocked at the system revealing some information.
***That is beside the point. Don't do it, or you will die,*** the system warned.
'Okay, I got you. But what do I tell them?'
***I didn't want to do this, but...***
An interface opened on the prompts.
***System shop unlocked. Reward: Growth pills.***
**Tell them this is what you took for the last 2 months.**
**It is placed in your room.**
"Mom, Dad, I know this seems crazy, but I've been taking these growth pills for the last two months. It's why I've grown so much," Jamar said, hoping they would believe him.
Adrian and Zoey exchanged glances, still trying to process everything. Zoey spoke first, "Growth pills? Where did you get them?"
"Online, I have some in my room. I'll show you," Jamar replied, leading them upstairs.
They followed him to his room, where Jamar retrieved the bottle of pills the system had placed there. He handed it to his parents, hoping the explanation would suffice.
Adrian examined the bottle, still looking skeptical. "We'll need to have this checked out. But for now, we're just glad you're okay," he said, finally pulling Jamar into a hug.
Zoey joined the embrace, her eyes welling with tears. "We missed you so much. Happy birthday, Jamar."
Jamar felt a wave of relief wash over him. He had managed to keep the system a secret, at least for now. As they celebrated his birthday, he couldn't help but feel a new sense of responsibility. He needed to balance the system's demands with the life he wanted to live, ensuring his secret stayed safe for as long as possible.