The Games We Play

Chapter 1

 Chapter 1

The Games We Play

New Game

"Hey, mom?" I said, joining my mother in the kitchen as she watched the sun set outside the window.

"Hm?" My mother, Isabella, turned towards me slightly, lifting an eyebrow as she made the sound in the back of her throat. "What is it, sweetie?"

"I, uh..." I scratched my cheek as I frowned slightly. "Well, I guess I'm just unsure about something and I figured you'd know?"

"Oh?"

"Is it...Mom, which would you say is more important, Intelligence or Wisdom?"

My mom put down the dish she'd been washing, turning to face me fully with her head tilted to the side.

"I'm not sure I understand the question?" She said questioningly. "Where'd this come from?"

"Well," I said, wondering about that a bit myself, if for different reasons. "I was playing a game, I guess. You know, an RPG, right? And it had the usual stats: Strength, Dexterity, Vitality, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Luck. And I never thought about it until a few days ago, but its like, all the others are obviously different, right? I wondered why Intelligence and Wisdom seem to be the exception and I started thinking about whether they were different in real life, too, and how."

Mom seemed to ponder that for a minute.

"Well, I'd say that it's ideal to have both intelligence and Wisdom," She said. "Just how it's better to be strong and fast and tough and lucky, rather than just one in particular, but that's very rarely possible, is it? If I had to say which was most important...I suppose I'd say Wisdom."

"Why?" I asked.

"Well...If I was to differentiate between Intelligence and Wisdom, I'd say that the former was power and the latter the awareness of how to use that power. I'd say that Wisdom was the ability to make good choices and Intelligence a way to give you more choices. If you're smart and have a thousand ideas, wisdom would tell you which was the best choice to make and what the long term effects would be."

I nodded at her seriously.

"Then it would be better for me to become wise then become smart, right?" I asked, just to double check.

Mom put a hand to my cheek and smiled.

"Oh, Jaune. You're still young," She said. "You have time enough to become whatever you want."

"Thanks, mom," I said, smiling honestly. "Then...I promise I'll become someone great. And, uh, why don't I handle the dishes?"

At that, her eyebrows went up again before she chuckled and nodded.

"I'll leave it to you then." She said, patting my cheek again as she turned away. I stared after her for a moment.

?

LV?

Isabella Arc

I sighed and turned to the dishes, washing them one by one.

A skill has been created through a special action! Continuously washing dishes has created the skill 'Dish Washing' to quickly clean dishes!

I just sort of...stared at the blue box that appeared before my eyes for a moment and then exhaled slowly, shaking my head.

So even stuff like this...

How do I explain this? I can't, honestly, which is my I don't. I didn't even tell my mom or dad. But if I had to, I guess I could describe this as my special ability. I haven't had it for very long—just a week, really—but...well, you see, the game I'd told my mom about, that made me wonder about all this? Well...