Systematic Survival

35 - Charisma

Matt felt kinda awful that they had to lie so much, but it was for the quest, so he was going to do anything he could to finish it. Fen continued his spiel and Matt pretended to act like this was a genuine encounter.

"I follow you on all of your social media! I even bought a ticket to your next event! Hey man, can I get your autograph and a picture if it's not too much to ask!?"

Fen was really playing up the excited fan role. Matt didn't realize Fen would be so good at acting. He thought he really should think about pursuing it as a career. They went through the rounds and Fen started to leave and just as he did, Matt heard a notification.

__________

[Quest Complete]

Make a stranger believe you are a celebrity

Stat Unlock, +30xp [XP 78/144]

__________

[New Stat Unlocked: Charisma]

(Calculating Base)

(Adding points per level)

He made note of what just happened but wanted to finish what he was doing first. He looked over and saw the woman he was speaking to before was acting a little differently. Like a little bit more nervous or excited.

'I guess she really thinks I'm some sort of celebrity.'

He thought it was funny, but also felt a bit bad. But he talked to her a little bit more about the book.

"Well, I'll have to be going. It was good talking to you!"

Matt decided it would be best to leave quickly since he just wanted to remove himself from this situation. He wasn't actually a celebrity so he hoped she would just forget about all this.

He made his way onto the street where Fen was waiting.

"Hey, did you get her number?"

Matt didn't because that was never his real goal. Also, even if he did, she would eventually find out he wasn't a celebrity. It was just a recipe for disaster and would be mean.

"Yeah man, thanks for the help!"

They started talking and catching up more and Matt found out Fen was actually moving here for college.

"I'm going to be staying in the dorms here. Hey, Matt, I was thinking. I really missed hanging out with you after you left. What do you think about going to college with me?"

Matt blinked a few times. He had thought about this before but wasn't really sure. Now, Fen was even asking him.

"Why?"

"Come on man, it would just be like old times! And I know that you and your parents haven't been getting along, but do you really want to be stuck here working a low-paying job your whole life? Remember when we used to talk about being rich when we were older?"

Matt had always wanted to go to college, but he really didn't want to have to talk to his parents. And that was really the only way unless he wanted to go into debt. They had even left the offer open to pay for his college.

When he thought about it, he was planning on helping them once the system launched. They were family, he wasn't going to abandon them when there might be an actual apocalypse. He had to get over it and try to get along with them eventually.

Not to mention, the college has tons of textbooks and classes where he could easily level his stats and learn new skills. It was a gold mine for him. He imagined it was basically inevitable for him to go anyway.