“Gary, why are you swearing so early in the morning?” Amy questioned, as she was rubbing her eyes. She didn't usually sleep in late, it was just her brother who had developed a tendency to start the day incredibly early, so he could wake up to prepare breakfast for the two of them.
“Ah, I’m sorry, it’s just that my uniform is really tight. It seems like I can’t delay buying a new one.” Gary replied as he flexed his muscles, almost ripping his shirt and popping one of the buttons off, which he didn’t expect to happen. It had revealed a couple of his abs that his sister was surprised to see. The shirt was indeed too tight for him. Ever since his body had changed, he had yet to order a new set of school clothes, something which cost money.
’System, don't you think you should have warned me that I needed more to upgrade myself?’ Gary was fuming as he looked at the message. He could practically see a mischievous grin from whoever had designed it.
[1 Pawn Point has been assigned to increase your Grade]
[You need a total of 5 Pawn Points to upgrade your body to the next Grade Werewolf]
[1/5 Points]
If he knew it was going to more than one Pawn Point, he would have rather saved up to use them all at once. After all, what use were there when assigned like this? At least, he could have converted it, in case a situation arose where he might need it.
With how useful Last Stand had proven to be, more skills wouldn’t have hurt, either, and possibly there would be more to chose from.
‘Be honest, system, did you choose 5 Pawn Points as the requirement on purpose? Is this your way of making me try to turn Kai and the others? ‘Cause I doubt you expect me to hunt down four more Werewolves.
‘Argh, whatever. If it costs so much, then it better be quite the good upgrade once I get it! … and you better let me change my frigging hair back to normal as well!’ Gary smiled bitterly, however the next moment he thought about the potential boost in strength.
Reaching the next Grade, maybe he could ask Jayden for a rematch. However, he had no reason to just outright challenge the Altered fighter. Who knew, perhaps one day the two of them could meet in the ring.
‘Should I try making extra money as an AFC fighter?’
Thinking about another certain individual, Gary’s mood became quite pleasant as he headed out. There was even a hop to his steps as he rushed to school. He hadn’t bothered texting Xin, there had been too much going on since her rescue. Besides, he didn’t want to appear as a needy person.
Gary needed to get everything perfect. Too many times he had read in Webtoons how the guy put in too much effort, and only ended up creeping the girl out. That was the last thing he wanted to do.
Walking around, Gary waved over to old man Morten, who was the head of the apartment blocks, as well as Tyler who was working at the convenience store again, yet there was something he noticed. The Underdog gang members that had roamed all over the Chavley area had disappeared.
‘Does that mean they're finally doing something else?’ Gary wondered. ‘That guy from the Grey Elephants should know my name and what school I go to, and the same goes for the Underdogs. After the red colour gang incident, the school must have at least increased their security, so they shouldn't attack any time soon.
‘In a way, their stupid stunt actually helped me get the big gangs off my case for a while. Still, Hawk’s brother already knows about Amy’s school. I’m a bit worried that he’ll come after her again.’
Thinking about this, Gary decided to text Kai, asking him if they could set up some protection for his little sister. Now that they had Olivia’s people to utilise, it should hopefully be possible.
[Yeah, no problem. I’ll pick out someone reliable. BTW I won't be at school today. If you need anything else, just send me a message] was the reply he got from Kai a few moments later.
‘Won’t be in school…well, I guess there’s not much point in us being in school if this is going to be our lives from now on… but we only have two more years, right? No, wait, Kai should only have one more year ahead of him.
“Isn’t he worried about this whole gang stuff not working out? What is so important that he's skipping school for? … Must be something to do with that lawyer and the Pincers. Yeah, I should probably thank him for taking care of those things…‘
Thinking about this, led Gary to start thinking about money once again. He could only imagine the things he could afford to buy. Perhaps he could get that new phone for his sister after all, and it might relieve his conscience for lying to Amy.
‘Shouldn’t I start to think bigger? If it really is a lot more money, wouldn’t it be great to move out of that crumpy apartment and move to a nice place like Cipen?’ Gary smiled. ‘Yeah, I can't exactly invite the Mayor’s daughter to our current apartment. Shoot, but how will I explain it to Mum and Amy? There’s no way they’ll believe me I got enough cash from a measly part-time job as a waiter… ’
Eventually when coming to school, he saw Tom and Innu who waved back at him. Innu had his head down on his desk as usual, while Tom seemed as happy as him for some reason.
“What's up with you?” Gary asked, not used to seeing his best friend in such a good mood.
“It's nothing, I just think I'm in love.” Tom replied, which was the last thing Gary had been expecting to hear. And for some reason, seeing the dumb grin on the other teenager’s face, part of him felt the urge to hit it.
“Well, as long as it's not Xin, then I’m happy for you. Not that she would go after you anyway… she’s already got a date.” Gary couldn't help but brag as his thumb pointed on his own chest. On top of that, saving her life, he was sure she had fallen for him already.
At that moment, Mr Gray entered the room, he had a bandage around his head from being hit by one of the Red Gang members, but the wound didn't seem to be too bad. If anything, the bandage seemed to be a bit excessive.
“Alright, settle down, everyone. Unfortunately, we’ll have to start off the week with some disappointing news.” Mr Grey announced, holding the desk in front of him with his two hands. “Although she hasn’t been with us for long, I’m sorry to inform you that your fellow student, Xin Clove, will no longer attend Westbridge. I’ve been informed earlier that her father has chosen to transfer her out of school.”
Gary was in the middle of getting his bag out at that moment, and dropped it straight on the floor.