Chapter 69: Thus Far
By now, the gang had all retreated to slumbertown.
Though they all originally had plans to stay awake whilst waiting for the first person to doze off so they could use their sleeping face as a mural, they had all severely underestimated how tired they actually were.
Not only had they practically spent most of the day building their game, but they had just gone ahead and used the earlier half of the night to engage themselves in their sleepover hijinks.
The result of that were five boys whom had simply chosen a spot in the living room and made it their bed for the night.
Asides from Theo whom was curled up on one of the sofas though, his ’blanket’ pulled over, the other four had were in a haphazard state, quietly snoring away with nothing but the clothes on them for cover.
Being the parent of the group that he was though, Aiden had gone about tucking each idiot in, worried they might actually get a cold as winter was just around the corner and the nights were getting progressively colder.
He also made sure to place an extra blanket over Theo as the one the curly haired youth had on him couldn’t even be called an actual blanket given how thin it was.
Rather, it was more like a thin cotton fabric that was just slightly thicker than the average window curtain. And maybe it really was, Aiden couldn’t say.
Nonetheless, he nodded once to himself as he looked around the room in satisfaction at his favorite idiots.
Only then did he retreat into his bedroom, his form tumbling onto the bed as he slipped under his blankets.
Unsurprisingly, he was sure to fail his daily quest as this was practically past eleven. Even then, Aiden wasn’t the least bit bothered.
Instead, he was pondering over the info Theo had casually dropped a few hours earlier.
There was not a single moment that Aiden had been interested in joining the academic decathlon.
His reasons too, were rather simple.
He didn’t want to be overwhelmed with work, and neither was he particularly pedantic--which in all fairness, he knew most of the students participating in it weren’t either.
That said, the chance for a solid shot at getting into Pacific Heights? Now that was an opportunity truly worth considering.
For a fact, Aiden was pretty certain his buddies would get into it just fine.
Casper’s wasn’t even debatable, and neither was Clyde’s.
They both had such sterling GPAs in the mid 4.0’s, along with several extracurricular activities under their belt from all the years thus far, it would be pretty hard to ignore them.
Larry and Benjamin, for as goofy as they were, were no slouches either.
Though they struggled with a few subjects, they more than made up for it with the others and extracurricular activities of their own.
It was also why their GPAs were literally 0.3 points higher than his current 3.2. That, along with them actually having artistic drives of their own, would solidify their portfolios.
Then there was Theo... and nothing needed to be said about his case. He was definitely going to get in if he ever applied, even despite his scanty extracurriculars.
And this was all without them chucking their game development endeavors into it just yet.
By that metric, Aiden himself was definitely becoming a strong contender to get into the prestigious college as well.
The only issue however, was that the 3.5 he was aiming for was literally just the starting line. A starting line that so many others with the same GPA and possibly even much better were after.
It would get his foot through the door, but it wouldn’t guarantee that they wouldn’t bash said foot in with a hammer, slam the door against his face and kick him out all the same before he managed to get in.
It was why he’d opted to throw himself into so many other school activities that wouldn’t net him any credits, but would at least make his portfolio robust enough that it couldn’t be ignored.
Given that thought process, one would’ve expected Aiden to jump at the opportunity Mr. Lazlow had presented to him a couple months back.
But then again, Aiden had no idea the decathlon was being run by the very same university he was vying for.
In his mind, it was just yet another extracurricular that wouldn’t aid the financial freedom he was working towards so he saw no reason to entertain the idea as at the time.
Even now, he still wasn’t gung-ho about it despite knowing how perfect the opportunity was.
Afterall, at the rate he was going, he was fairly certain his application would essentially shove aside the competition and brute force its way in solely based on how robust his portfolio was becoming.
But that was when he considered something else... or rather, someone else.
Theo.
For as much of a genius as the youth was, Aiden wasn’t of the belief that his mother would just allow him to head on over to such an expensive college, even if they did accept him with open arms.
Unless...
Exhibit A, Theo won the academic decathlon and got a fully-funded scholarship.
Exhibit B, the videogame they were building made so much money, him opting to study at the prestigious school wouldn’t impact his newly acquired wealth all that much.
The latter especially, was what Aiden was gearing towards, not only because of Theo, but also because of the rest of his buddies, Casper especially.
Though they all had parents whom were well off enough to sponsor them, the future wasn’t always a certainty. God forbid a situation came around where they were forced to take a student loan.
Then there was the fact that Aiden wanted to keep their little indie team together. Crashout Interactive could be so much more than just a one-time thing. That much Aiden was certain of.
But sure, if anyone of them, at any time decided they wanted to pursue other endeavors, then Godspeed to them. He would support his closest friends wholeheartedly.
However, if they were still in it together, he wanted to progress together with his day ones and raise them to financial freedom just as much as he was working towards that goal.
This was all to say, that Aiden had such big plans for all of his friends, he saw no reason not to take an opportunity that would guarantee their shared success.
It was also why he’d decided to go for both Exhibit A and B.
’Alright, Mr. Lazlow. Guess I’ll be seeing you after the fall break,’ he inwardly remarked.
Aiden wasn’t certain he could aid the decathlon team in securing first place in the competition. What he could do though, was ensure that they got, very, very far.
And if they got very far, that allowed more room for Theo to focus on a bunch of other subjects instead of being pulled in several different directions.
That would ultimately key into one of two things.
Either their school won the competition, or they fell into the runners-up.
If either of this happened, Aiden would’ve achieved his goal and Theo, would either get a fully-funded scholarship, or partially-funded one.
Nonetheless, both outcomes were good as it would work in both his and the youth’s favor.
’More than that though...’ Aiden’s thoughts had long shifted, his mind tugging on his system.
-
[Aiden North] – Life Points – [0.74]
⸢Stats
› Mind — B-
› Strength — D
› Stamina — D
› Agility — D-
› Charm — B
⸢Skills
› {Type Designing - A}, {Digital Illustration - I}, {Drawing - I}, {Cooking - I}, {Brewing - I}, {Singing - I}, {Dancing - I}, {Writing - N}, {Lettering - I}, {Programming - I}, {Riding - N}.
⸢Shop
› Browse Catalogue.
⸢Daily Quests
› {Expand}
⸢Exclusive Quests
› {Expand}
⸢Time-limited Quests
› {Expand}
-
⸢FAQ⸥
-
Casually, Aiden navigated over to the {Intermediate} section of the shop, mentally scrolling down the list of skills till he found the one he was looking for.
-
{Video Editing} – [3 LP]
└ Claim using 3 LP?
-
’Alright. Guess I’ll need to work towards that.’ Aiden affirmed as he mentally dismissed the panel.
Given how far along they were in the development of the game, Aiden was equally planning ahead to begin marketing it come late November.
To that effect, it was only natural he wanted to pick up the skill.
At the same time, it would also be cost-effective as the only things he would need to invest most of his funds in from thereon, would be advertisements to drive traffic to the game in anticipation for its release date.
All they would need to do now, was polish the game to its absolute best.
Afterall, when all was said and done, it was the quality of the product that would determine if [Crashout: Sin City] flopped or sold.
In any case, just as Aiden was about to dismiss the system altogether and head to bed, he suddenly recalled something.
The curious question that he’d wanted to push forward to the system earlier in the day before Casper knocked on the door.
Tugging on the ⸢FAQ⸥ function, Aiden asked away.
Upon getting the answer though, his eyes widened so much in stunned disbelief, one would assume it wanted to pop out of its sockets.
At the same time, it made the youth realize one simple thing.
Thus far, he had only managed to scratch the surface of the Life System’s capabilities.