Matt and Chad were on the ground. Matt was holding Chad's arm against the ground in a clear win. The crowd was shocked by how much force it would take to break the table while arm wrestling. But Matt stood up and looked around nervously before announcing.
"Um, e-everyone! It seems the table was faulty! Oops!"
He realized that he definitely looked superhuman now unless he made a good enough excuse. He had been too in the moment to think about the repercussions. The crowd started talking.
"Oh, that makes sense! There's no way that kid is THAT strong. That's not even possible."
"Yeah, he's right, that makes more sense."
They seemed to agree that the table really did break accidentally because it was manufactured wrong or something. Or maybe it just couldn't handle the weight of people arm wrestling on it.
Chad sat up. He quickly checked to see if his arm was broken, but it was fine. It seemed like it just hurt a little. He stared at Matt with a blank expression.
'Oh shit!'
Matt realized that Chad had definitely felt the force of his arm. As he was trying to think of how to explain, Chad looked sheepish, his face was pale. He quickly turned around and ran. Matt tried calling after him but he didn't stop. Soon he was gone.
'Shit, I hope he doesn't tell anyone.'
When he thought about it realistically, even if he had felt how strong Matt was, it was still within human ability. So it's not like anything was too bad. Also, if Chad did try to spin some crazy tale, who would even think of it as more of an urban legend?
Reality hadn't changed for millions of years. Anyone talking about superhumans or anything like that would only be criticized as conspiracy theorists. Besides, the system would go public soon. He really wasn't concerned when he fully thought about it.
He breathed a sigh of relief and realized, his table was broken and the line was starting to disperse since there wasn't really a place to arm wrestle anymore. There were still a few though who stuck around, so Matt spoke to them.
"That's it guys! I can't keep going until I get another table! Sorry!"
After that, even the remaining hopeful ones started to leave. They must have thought their chances of winning the $100 was higher since there were fewer people now, but Matt was done for the day. He already had a stack of cash and hoped to count it soon. He could've bought another table right then and there, but he couldn't be bothered.
Matt decided that he wasn't going to count the money in public. He was still a bit spooked by the last time he got mugged, but back then he didn't have real cash since everything was in his bank account. Now if he actually got robbed, they could actually steal his profits.
He pocketed the money and quickly ran back to his apartment. He wasn't sure if he was done for the day, as it was actually pretty light outside, so he would just go back out if he needed to. But for now, he wanted to evaluate things from the safety of his home.
He also brought what was left of his supplies back with him. He couldn't bring the table since it was ruined, but he could at least bring the rest.
Once he arrived, he went to his kitchen table and started laying out the bills, sorting them by amount, so he could count them. He was a bit shocked when he calculated the final amount. He had been out there arm wrestling for at least an hour.
More people than he ever expected showed up at his table, and he wasn't really sure why. He imagined most of the people came from people seeing what was happening and just stepping in line. It was a busy area after all.
Overall, the total was $330. He realized he now had more than enough to pay his rent. He may not have even needed his paycheck tomorrow if he did more deliveries tonight. But he was receiving a paycheck the next day, so he decided he wasn't going to do deliveries tonight.
'If I keep doing that, I won't have to worry about money. But I guess they could catch on. If I did it every day, there'd definitely be a rumor about it or something.'
He put away his cash and decided since he had so much time left in the day, he could do something fun with the system. He thought about doing quests, but the ones that were left were all hard. He opened the quest menu anyway though to look at them.
__________
||Quests||
-General-
Pay the Rent [$689/800] [Reward: +Mystery Reward, +30xp]
Reach LVL 5 [3/5] [Reward: +10 Unassigned Stat Points, +1 Artifact]
Make a stranger believe you are a celebrity [Reward: Stat Unlock, +30xp]
Compete in an event and win [Reward: +1 All Stats, +75xp]
__________
'So, I can't force the level-up quest, and paying the rent is for tomorrow. I would probably need to sign up for an event to do the event one, and that takes time. But if I did do that, a strength-based event would be perfect. Finally, the stranger one…'
He realized that convincing a stranger he was a celebrity quest didn't seem too hard, at least it physically wasn't as hard as the other ones. But without any planning, he wouldn't be able to do it.
'I did get that book. If I learn that skill, and then come up with a good situation or excuse for me telling them, maybe it could work?'
He would really have to make it seem natural. It would be weird for someone to walk up to you and tell you they're a celebrity. It would be more convincing if it seemed circumstantial.
He couldn't really think of anything, but he decided he would try it. So, he entered his mind palace and found the book he had saved earlier.
[Commanding Conversations]
He started reading through it and as he reached the halfway point, he heard a notification sound.
__________
[New Skill]
Interpersonal Communication [LV.1]
__________
He was a bit confused. With the other skills, he had to act them out for him to learn them, but this one just popped up by reading a book.
'I guess some skills only need to be comprehended rather than practiced. Good to know.'
He theorized that physical skills that required muscle memory had to be attempted, but mental skills only needed you to grasp their concept.
He tried to tell if he was better at talking or not, but there really wasn't any way to notice a difference, since he had no one to talk to. He tried doing a fake conversation with himself, but it didn't work. He just felt like an idiot for talking to himself.
'Well, I guess it's time for some social interaction.'