Nick looked into the backpack expectantly, then sighed in relief.
"My goodness. I almost had a heart attack."
Inside the backpack was the kettlebell and a thick, black nylon.
Nick put his hand in, took out the black nylon, and tore it open. He smiled as he held the thick wad of cash.
"Hmm, the stalker didn't take…" Nick scrunched his eyebrows and quickly counted the money.
"…Anything."
'Even though he had the chance. Hmm, that's telling.' He glanced at his phone and scoffed. "I guess he just didn't search the bag."
Nick stared intently at the $10,000 sitting on the bedside table. He split the money into two places and hid them in more discreet areas of his apartment. One, deep inside his wardrobe, and the other, in the secret compartment of the bedside table.
This was just a precaution. He didn't actually expect anyone would rob him.
Done, Nick felt his stomach growl.
He yawned and checked the time. It was almost noon, so it was about time he had breakfast.
Yes, Nick was still planning on "leaving" anytime soon, but dying of starvation was a slow type of death and he wasn't a fan of such.
Nick rose to his feet and went to the kitchen.
Placing a hand on the aged refrigerator door, he stood and muttered, "What am I even expecting? There's nothing."
Nick just clicked his tongue and opened the refrigerator. As expected, it was completely devoid of anything consumable.
"Dammit, just dammit. All those preparations and stunts, only to still be alive." He hissed and slammed the refrigerator door shut.
As Nick contemplated leaving the apartment to have his breakfast, he suddenly heard a feminine voice in his head, startling him.
Nick straightened his back and looked about the kitchen with wide and confused eyes.
The voice, coming as a thought but yet feeling foreign to his mind, boldly and eagerly recited:
[Task: Clean your apartment thoroughly.]
[Difficulty: Easy.]
[Reward: 2 v-points.]
[Ending In: 59 minutes, 59 seconds.]
Nick remained frozen for a few more seconds after the female voice had subsided in his mind before blurting out, "Okay, what the hell was that?"
He opened the apartment entrance door and scanned the hallway, but it was empty. He went back in and even checked the kitchen cupboards and the bathroom. The truth was stark, there was no lady in and out of his vicinity, much less one that could sound so audible.
Halting in his bedroom, he placed his arms on his waist and wondered whether he was now going crazy.
First, there was a stalker, then the strange crow, then the Top Idol invite link and application, and now there's this.
Nick stared at his smartphone as it lay on the bed.
'What if I'm not the one going crazy, but the world?' This was all too coincidental to be written off as a mere elaborate scam.
Nick decisively picked up the device and scoured the Top Idol app. However, he found that it didn't indicate or notify him about anything he just heard three minutes ago.
Nick pondered silently, then grimaced. "Only one way to find out."
With that, he got to work cleaning his apartment. There was no harm in doing what he was always supposed to do just a bit earlier than planned.
Nick played some upbeat music with his mobile device, listening to the jam via earphones. He had to get his blood pumping to build enough zeal to perform the task.
Firstly, he removed his bedsheets, threw it into the black trash bag he used as a laundry basket, and had the bed foam propped against the balcony and window, since part of it was wet from absorbing the water of his drowned clothes.
Then, he went to the kitchen, took out the cleaning supplies, and started cleaning every surface that could accumulate dust in his apartment, like the small dining table, the kitchen counter, inside the kitchen cupboards, the surface and corners of the electric cooker, the bedside table, above the wardrobe, the top of the refrigerator, and so on.
After cleaning the window panes and their edges too, he entered the next phase of the cleaning and cleaned the bathroom thoroughly.
In the third phase of the cleaning, he borrowed a vacuum cleaner from his opposite-door neighbor, Mike, and vacuumed the entire apartment, even raising the bed stand to vacuum under it. To top it off, he mopped the bedroom, kitchen and dining area, and entrance.
Nick let out an exhausted sigh, put down the bed stand, turned the bed foam upside down and placed it in the bed stand, and wore the bed a new sheet.
Feeling tired but accomplished, Nick paused the song, walked around, and stood at the corner of the bathroom and bedroom, looking about the sparkling studio apartment with contentment.
Suddenly, the female voice from before spoke in his head once again, but this time, she only said a short phrase.
[Task completed.]
Nick stood in utter shock. Countless questions surged within his mind. How did it know that he was done cleaning? Was he being watched? Had the stranger installed spy cameras in his room?
'Or wait! With how technology has advanced, might I have a chip in my brain I don't know about? Is it impossible for the stranger? And now I cleaned the room, the brain chip knew too and fed me that message? Because that was not part of my thoughts!'
Schizophrenically weary, Nick went and sat on the bed.
"I have already gone crazy, haven't I?" he muttered self-deprecatingly.
A thought flashed through his mind. He took out his phone and entered the new application with a V-shape icon.
Right then, accompanied by a notification sound, there was a brief drop-down at the top of the screen that only stayed for two seconds before disappearing.
Nick had seen it and read its content, but he couldn't believe his eyes.
Instinctively, he clicked the menu button from the Profile homepage and saw the Notifications tab had "1" beside it.
Nick entered said tab and was shown the same message he had seen earlier, but it was the only thing on this tab.
> You have been rewarded (2) v-points for completing the Easy task.
Nick raised the phone closer to his face and quickly went back to the Profile tab, remembering he glanced at something different there.
Daily Task(s) = [2/4].
V-Points = 2.
Nick gulped and went over to the Shop tab. He wanted to spend the v-points on something more tangible, as compared to the S.P.E.C.I.A.L. attributes.
He swiped through the items displayed in rectangular bars bearing their icon and information. The items consisted of consumables, utilities, collectibles, and talents.
There was only one item Nick could afford at the moment, and it happened to also be the same item he was greeted with upon entering the Shop, right at the top of the list.
The item had a cartoony icon of a green substance in a cylindrical injector.
[Insta-Power Booster]
Type: Consumable.
Tier: I.
Description: "More greenery, more energy. Quickly re-energize thyself by restoring lost stamina and clearing built-up fatigue, thy weak-ass shit."
Price: 2 v-points.
Nick scrunched his eyebrows after reading the item's description. 'Did some brat write this?'
He briefly looked through other items and saw that their descriptions were also written in this "nature".
"How on earth can someone even take this app seriously? There's not even a single ounce of professionality."
Nick clicked his tongue and purchased the item by clicking the "Buy" button beside it.
Then, he left the Shop and proceeded to the Inventory tab.
The green injector icon was the only thing present in the inventory, occupying the first of nine square slots arranged in a three-by-three grid.
Nick clicked on the [Insta-Power Booster] and was presented with two options: [Use] or [Sell].
Making a mental note to himself to test the 'sell' option when he had the chance, he tapped 'use'.