NOVEL WEB Chapter 16 - Old Friend? Part 2
"Sarah" he exclaimed in realisation.
Adam was your average student when he was in high school and while he was ignorant of his Aunt's hard work and struggles, had a normal school life.
He had many friends and a few close friends who he spent every day with, one of them being Sarah, but when his life came crashing down halfway through the 10th grade, he had to suddenly leave them.
Knowing youths in school, rumours spread around that he had died or left the country and nobody knew exactly where he had gone and what had happened to him.
Little did they know that Adam was working 2 jobs and living on the streets as he paid for his Aunt's medical bills.
The rough lifestyle continued for 2 and a half years and Adam didn't give up, despite the struggle, until he was blessed by the Dungeon System and in 2 days turned his life around completely.
"Everyone thought you died or left the country so suddenly, but look at you now living in such a nice place and so good look...."
Sarah stopped herself mid-sentence, realising what she was saying.
Adam with his calm red eyes, slick tied black hair, and now quite muscled body was quite handsome and it was mostly due to his charisma that was enhanced by the system.
"I am clearly not dead and haven't left the country so you can be at ease and I had to leave due to being in a bad situation," stated Adam calmly.
Hearing this, Sarah looked at him and where he was living and got really frustrated by the fact that he still could say this was a bad situation and his calm expression made her think he was ridiculing her.
"Who knew money could change you so much and you are so arrogant" she screamed at him in frustration as she stormed out of his apartment and slammed the door.
There was a massive miscommunication and Adam was baffled by why his old friend got angry at him.
"What did I do wrong" he mumbled to himself.
Replaying the scene in his mind he saw that she got angry as he said that he had to leave school due to being in a bad situation which may have angered her, and made him assume that she was in a bad situation and assumed that he lived like this for the past two-and-a-half years.
[If only she knew that I was homeless two days ago] he thought to himself..
He was slightly upset that after finally meeting an old friend after over two-and-a-half years, she left straight away and was angry with him.
After changing his life around, he wanted to enjoy himself and have friends, but it seemed like life wasn't that simple.
DING
A notification sound rang in the apartment, but Adam hadn't given out his phone number to anybody so it wouldn't be his.
Looking on the counter, he found a phone with a pink case that he didn't notice while deep in thought.
"It must be Sarah's phone, let me catch up to her and give it to her," he decided.
Meanwhile, a girl in the short dress and heels rushed out of the apartment covering her tears as she passed the security guard who had wild thoughts about what happened between her and Adam, but knew that it wouldn't be worth it for him to intervene.
"Damn it I forgot my phone at that bastard's house, who after started making money and left the school, is arrogant and forgot about his good friends from high school" she wept, as she stopped running due to her feet hurting in the heels.
Adam was disappointed by the outcome of their reunion, but was much less emotional than her and thought logically about the situation.
Looking at the notification he saw that it was about an overdue medical bill payment from the same hospital that his Aunt was at and it was for Matt Smith.
The hospital his Aunt and Matt was at was the cheapest in the area and the treatment wasn't the greatest, but it still did the job.
"This must be her father," assumed Adam seeing the familiar surname and that the bill was 6000 dollar he was shocked.
Reading the notification it said the payment was overdue to the cancer ward and if it wasn't paid today they would have no choice but to send him out.
"6000 dollars can be earned in a night, I will pay for her father's medical bills so she doesn't have to struggle like I did" he decided.
{Gold can also be exchanged for System Points and at an exchange rate of 100 gold to 1 System Point, is it really worth it to spend 600 gold coins on a normal, useless human} the system asked rhetorically within his mind.
The fact that gold could be changed to System Points excited him, but by no means changed his mind about paying for his Old Friend's father's medical bills.
"I may hunt in a dungeon in my sleep and LVL UP and people could say with my unique constitution I am no longer human physically, but I won't lose my humanity when it comes to values, morals and emotions" he stated.
The thought of no longer being human was lingering in his mind since he had begun with the dungeon system, but this event helped him to clear his mind and remind him that he is in control of his own life.
{Achievement Unlocked - Clutching to Humanity - this achievement is awarded to host when he is able to accept who and what he now is, but still retain his humanity.
Reward: ....}
[I don't care I have something to do now, tell me later I need to catch up to Sarah] he interrupted.
Rushing out of his apartment with the phone in hand. he ran down the stairs and out of the building receiving a confused and suspicious look from the security guard.
He ran out and realised he had no clue in what direction she went or where she was going and although he was slightly faster than an average person, he was nothing compared to a car.
Instead, he decided to head to the hospital and would pay for the medical bills and leave her phone there with his number and a note.
He returned to the building and got a pen from the receptionist and went up to his room.
Finding a scrap piece of paper he wrote a long note to tell her that what she assumed was incorrect.
[I left school because my Aunt fell into a coma and is still in a vegetative state until now and I left school to work for my Aunt's medical bills. You know that I am an orphan and my Aunt is all I have. I was homeless and worked two jobs at the same time while I was homeless just to be able to afford it] he wrote.
Pausing he thought about what was a realistic way he became able to earn money quickly that wasn't suspicious rather than writing 'I have a Dungeon System and when I sleep I LVL UP and get gold'.
[I now work for a big company on my computer doing calculations where the manager pitied me and I was able to get a good wage and if you do not, believe me, my Aunt is in the same hospital as your Father. I have paid the medical bills and don't want the money back, I just want to have fun with my old friend like before all the trouble. I left my number at the bottom] he added.
He thought that working from a computer was realistic as at night he would be in the dungeon and he was always the best in his class at maths which Sarah knew.
Now with a new start, he wanted to have friends again and seemingly live a normal and happy life during the day.
Walking out of his building again, with the note and Sarah's phone in his pocket, he headed towards the hospital.
As he entered he received a smile by the front receptionist who could only recognise him from the last time he came and not from the hundreds of times he came before as the poor and skinny Adam from the past.
"I would like to pay the overdue medical bills for Matt Smith and would like to make a request" he stated as he took off his hood.
[Transfer all my gold to dollars and I will live off it for the upcoming month and spend the rest of the gold I earn on System points to buy stuff I need] he ordered the system in his mind.
{1660 gold coins transferred into 16,600 dollars} announced the system.
"Okay the overdue payment is 6000 dollars that had pilled up over 3 months" she stated with an uncomfortable expression.
Seeing him dressed in a plain simple tracksuit she assumed he wouldn't be able to afford such a large amount upfront.
"That is fine I will be paying by card and I also want to pay for another month for Jannet Green," he told the receptionist that was shocked by his words.
Paying the money he went up to see his Aunt and kissed her forehead respectfully like he would every time and on his way out left the phone and the note.
He asked the receptionist to give it to Sarah Smith when she came and gave her 20 dollars to thank her for the help.
Adam felt good about himself and for the first time since gaining the system had a genuine smile as he returned to his apartment.