Locking In With My Life System

"My old man’s a snake and I don’t trust him." Casper stated, the usual liveliness to his tone nowhere to be found.

"He has eyes and ears, everywhere. And yes, that includes, here, on campus." the blonde-haired youth continued.

"And with this," Casper pointed to the screen indicating the game’s net revenue.

"It won’t take long before the news gets to him, and everyone else in school for that matter." he added;

"The last thing I’d want is for him to find a loophole or a scummy move to funnel all my funds away."

"So, please, it would mean a lot to me if you could--"

"I understand." Aiden cut him off with a pat to the shoulder, his tone assuring as he repeated;

"I understand."

"Thanks, man." Casper’s voice carried with it a genuine appreciation, his smile returning much the same.

"Don’t mention it." Aiden casually waved it off.

At the same time, the rest of gang found themselves visibly relieved, all of them giving their favorite clown an assuring smile as a natural silence descended into the room once more.

A moment after, Aiden spoke;

"We should all keep tabs on player feedback. Go through the reviews, both on AppSphere and across all social media platform,"

"Check what players want and perhaps see what we could improve upon as we work towards the free DLCs and new content." he added, his hand gesturing vaguely.

To that, everyone nodded in agreement, and before long their conversations returned to more mundane things.

Soon enough, they realized how far gone the time was and promptly proceeded to head home lest they made their parents worry.

Upon reaching home though, Aiden casually dropped his bag on the living room couch and headed straight into the kitchen to begin preparing diner.

Today, he decided to go all out, his mood at an all-time high as he began preparing some of his and his father’s favorites.

Sure, it’d eat quite a bit into the groceries they had, but honestly, Aiden wasn’t bothered.

He could literally restock everything on his own if he wanted... and that was completely independent of the $330K+ he was yet to receive as he still had quite a bit left in his accounts.

A combined total of $3500+ to be exact.

Upon opening the fridge to retrieve some ingredients, his gaze caught sight of the homemade non-alcoholic brew that was running low.

’Should top that off,’ he inwardly remarked as he closed the fridge.

At the same time, Aiden’s thoughts began churning.

Considering he’d always had plans to start a brewing company, he had been doing some research into it here and there.

Unsurprisingly, the capital to kickstart the business was extremely high... somewhere between the $300K+ to $500K+ range.

And that was just for a microbrewery venture, not the standard venture itself.

Clearly, it wasn’t a feasible route to go down right now.

A beverage company though...

Now that was something he had realized he could get behind when he’d began searching for alternatives to mitigate the staggering capital required to jumpstart his plans.

The best part about going down this route first, was its low capital investment of $50K+ to 150K+ in comparison to the brewery business.

Aiden also knew, that if he played his cards just right, he could potentially scale things up from there on a much bigger scale.

Besides, he could even end up cutting down more on that investment cost given he already had skills such as his {Brewing}, {Digital Illustration} and {Programming} skills among a couple other, all of which would go a long way in designing eye-catching brand logos, labels, and packaging alongside building websites to facilitate an online market for bulk sales.

Added to that, he’d already picked up on how to market a product so really, it was all right up his alley.

The only question that then remained, was this;

’What kind of beverage do I intend to sell?’

Though Aiden had his {Brewing} skill, it was still a necessity for him to work with a scientist or a formulator to create a stable, great-tasting recipe, complete with all the nutritional goodies to avoid legal concerns.

More than that, he actually wanted to create something healthy and not just pump sugar and microplastics into people’s systems. There was already enough of that going around the world.

Besides, Aiden didn’t want to be filthy rich at the detriment of others.

That was just a magnet for trouble... a constant quagmire of grinding the edge between an evil and a lesser evil. A sad way to live, really.

And though he was aware that several elites would mock him for that very thought process...

’They can cry me a river for all I care.’ the youth rejected the idea nonetheless.

Returning to his prior concern, Aiden realized he would have to shelve the thought for the meantime.

What he was certain of though, was that whatever he intended to produce, had to be healthy.

And that was already a good start to things, however little they might’ve currently seemed to him.

Happily humming to himself, he continued cooking, his movements becoming progressively more refined till suddenly;

-

[Ding!]

[Skills Updated!]

-

Aiden’s eyes widened slightly.

Though he knew the exact skill that had evolved to the next grade, he was still surprised nonetheless.

Afterall, he’d never seen that particular notification before.

Nonetheless, he continued, his already fantastic mood ticking up even higher as he began to round up things.

Just as he was about to pull up his system to assess it, the familiar sound of a vehicle rolled into the driveway.

Given it usually took his Pops three to five minutes to get into the house depending on how much stuff he wanted to carry from his vehicle, Aiden quickly began to set the table and dish the meals in an effort to surprise him.

Five minutes on the dot, he was done.

It also happened to be right on time as Richard walked in, his tired expression quickly morphing into genuine surprise.

Dropping his bag onto the floor by the couch, the mouth-watering smell carried him to the dining table to meet all of his favorite dishes.

"Tada~!" Aiden gestured with widespread arms, a beaming smile on his features as he stood at the other end of the table.

In response, Richard looked from his son to the table, and then back from the table to his son.

Without thinking twice, he expectantly asked, his heart thumping in his chest with anticipation;

"How did it perform?"

"Three hundred and eighty thousand downloads and counting..." Aiden replied with a wide grin.

For a moment, Richard’s brain did the math.

Literally a second after, his boisterous laughter cascaded through the walls of the house, his fatherly pride on full display as he exclaimed;

"Hahaha! That’s my boy!"

"Oh, champ! I’m so proud of you!" he walked over to give him a warm hug, one that Aiden reciprocated with one of his own as he replied;

"I couldn’t have done it without you, Pops."

Disentangling from the hug a few seconds later, Richard then said, the pride in his gaze unmistakable;

"C’mon. Tell me all about it over dinner. I’m famished."

Then he finally commented and praised his son as he as he turned his attention to the table filled with one sumptuous dish after the other, a genuinely impressed smile on his features;

"You’re gonna make your spouse a very happy woman, that’s for sure. Your mum, bless her late beautiful soul, would be so proud."

"I’m sure she would." Aiden bobbed his head in acknowledgement, a sense of pride in his chest as he equally stared at the table.

Naturally, both individuals proceeded to dine afterwards.

Through it, Aiden informed his Pops of how his buddies had essentially delegated the highest percentage to him, and how they all intended to push out new updates and free content to the game in the coming months.

He also brought him up to speed on what Casper had asked of him, all whilst also relaying his plans for a beverage business he had been thinking up for a while now.

More than that,

"And, you won’t need to pay for my college tuition anymore," Aiden gestured with his fork, his smile confident.

"You’re not getting rid of my responsibilities that easy, champ." Richard chuckled in response to which he then said, his tone carrying a hint of seriousness Aiden knew better than to try and talk him out of;

"I’m still gonna pitch in every now and then. In fact, I’m paying for your first year of tuition and your entire living expenses throughout your college years."

"Pops..." Aiden drawled, and still tried to reason with him.

"My mind’s made up on that one, champ." Richard simply shrugged off his concern as he took a sip out of the homemade brew, his head tilted slightly and one of his brows arched much the same.

To that, Aiden simply let out a resigned sigh and said, his tone one of genuine appreciation and gratitude;

"Thanks, Pops. I won’t let you down."

"I know you won’t," Richard replied, his expression reflecting his fatherly pride.

"Besides, I’m just doing my job." he gave his son an assuring smile as he continued eating.

Bobbing his head curtly in acknowledgement, Aiden continued eating as well, he and his father moving on to more mundane conversations.

Meanwhile...

Several gamers around the world, having thoroughly enjoyed their time with [Crashout: Sin City], were watching the credits of the game as it rolled.

Naturally, their surprise knew no bounds when they only saw six names... all of which upon being searched up, brought back the profiles of six teenagers.

Six teenagers attending a public high school in a neighborhood in Brooklyn, called Silverlake High.

And little did any of these six teens know.

Because of this, they were about to make the news in the coming weeks.

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