Locking In With My Life System

Chapter 25: Whiplashed

Aiden stared at the post he was about to make, a smile of pride plastered on his lips as the contents of the screen were reflected in his olive-green irises.

-

TUES YOUR ADVENTURE!

You gain consciousness.

The first thing you realize is that you can’t blink.

The second is that you don’t have any eyes.

You are a rock.

Just... a rock.

You lie on the side of a quiet road.

The wind brushes over your majestically rough surface.

Something buzzes nearby.

What do you do?

└ A] Observe the strange buzzing.

└ B] Attempt to move.

└ C] Continue existing.

(Voting ends in 24 hours. Next post comes up next week. -¹)

-

After sorting out the structure of what he’d wanted, Aiden had opted to make a bite-sized, interactive LitRPG... one that he would be uploading every Tuesdays, hence why he’d so proudly named it;

Tues Your Adventure.

There was also the little art he’d clipped to the post for reference, the very rock in question looking very average like every other rock.

In any case, this was the kind of post that would get lost in the algorithm for a while, and yet, just out of curiosity, people would be incentivized to vote, even if it was just for shits and giggles.

At the same time, Aiden knew they would be tempted to follow him, just to see the outcome.

And though for a while, they probably would’ve forgotten about it, they would once again be hit by another come the next Tuesday.

Only to have to wait in curiosity for the next Tuesday, and the Tuesday after, and on and on and on.

’And just like that, I’ll have an army of addicts--ahem--I mean followers, I can bank on when the time comes!’ Aiden inwardly thought to himself, an impish, sly smile playing on his lips.

Nodding proudly to himself at his evil masterplan, Aiden then timed it to release early tomorrow morning.

Only after did he hibernate the laptop, take a shower and head to bed.

...

...

...

Aiden arrived on campus the very next day, the well-kept lawn already buzzing with the familiar sight of students chatting, discussing and animatedly gesturing.

Walking over to his buddies while reciprocating several greetings--both from people he knew and from others he’d honestly never interacted with in the past three years of high school--Aiden soon slung his arms around Clyde’s and Benjamin’s necks as he greeted them and Larry;

"Assholes,"

"Asshat," they all chimed in sync.

"What’s popping?" he casually asked.

"Oh, you know. Casper went ahead and didn’t listen to us so we’re waiting for his fallout any moment now." Larry quickly filled him in, the other two looking on in amused anticipation as they watched the corner the main building curved at.

Almost immediately...

"Casper Maslow Callaghan! Get back here!!" a familiar, particularly pissed voice reached their ears.

In synchrony, the quartet sighed, a mix of concerned yet resigned amusement on their features.

Bolting out of the corner with a childlike grin on his features, a mob of slightly damp teenage ladies running after him with vengeance etched onto their features was Casper!

And at the forefront of that very mob was Daisy herself, Casper’s girlfriend and Captain of the girls’ soccer team.

"He turned on the sprinkler valve while they were discussing when to practice again, didn’t he?" Aiden deadpanned.

"Yep." the trio simultaneously replied.

As most of the older students on the school lawn watched the scenario play out--much to the confusion of the freshers--they couldn’t help but laugh in amusement as they watched Casper take the girls for a spin before they finally cornered him.

Seeing that he had no way to escape, he shamelessly tried to bargain, his palms gesturing;

"Ladies, ladies! Time out! Time out!"

Circling him, seemingly awaiting whatever last-ditch effort he was planning, Casper was just about to speak when their school’s warning bell rung like an overlord heralding the true start of the school hour.

An almost collective groan could be heard from all and sundry on the lawn--save for the freshers--as they dragged their feet towards the main building.

Not that it stopped the ladies from peppering and whacking Casper a few times with their dainty but surprisingly tough fists.

"Wait! Ow! Not the hair! Not the hair!" the blonde-haired youth begged!

Laughing as the scenario played out, Aiden and the trio left Casper to his fate as they filed into the main building alongside everyone else.

Soon, they were navigating through the familiar hallways that buzzed with chatter, locker slams, and the squeak of sneakers against the polished floors.

However, before the quartet could reach their respective lockers, they were forced to come to a halt before the bulletin board.

Given how other teens had crowded around the board, a feverish exuberance in the air as they chattered excitedly over the Spirit Week and Homecoming Dance poster, Aiden looked over to his buddies whose gaze had already locked onto what had caught their own attention.

Turning his head, Aiden’s gaze equally rested on the poster that was pasted in the right-hand corner of the bulletin board.

Talent Show.

"You guys are dead set on winning this year’s, huh?" Aiden asked of his buddies.

"Yep." the trio simultaneously replied, to which Larry then remarked as they promptly moved towards their respective lockers;

"We made a couple more killer tunes over the summer vacation!"

"Yeah. All that’s left is writing the lyrics and picking which one to perform." Clyde chipped in to which Benjamin raised a finger;

"I pick [Young Love]."

"Fuck no." Clyde and Larry immediately rejected.

"Why not [Young Love]?! I love [Young Love]!" Casper whom had finally caught up to them and had somehow managed to keep his crew cut taper unruffled, popped into the conversation, his arms slung over Aiden’s neck.

"That song’s the cheesiest love song we’ve ever written! Why would we want to perform it at the talent show?!" Larry defended, a shiver running down his spine at the thought of it.

"You guys made it, though." Casper grinned at them, his head tilted slightly and his brow cocked in amusement.

"Yes. ’Cause we thought the committee would’ve actually allowed us to perform at the homecoming dance last year." Clyde clarified.

"All in favor of [Young Love]..." Benjamin proceeded to initiate a voting session, his hand raised slightly and an amused smile on his lips.

Casper’s hand sharply joined in, while Clyde and Larry folded their arms over their chest in rejection.

"A tie?" Benjamin’s tone assumed a sophisticated British accent from the 1900s.

Then he alongside everyone else turned to face Aiden as he asked;

"What say you, sire North?"

"I say we’d better move our asses to class. There’s only a couple minutes left before the warning period ends." Aiden seriously replied to which his buddies took a mock offense.

In return;

"Helicopter mummy." Casper declared.

"Our copter can’t be this serious." Clyde remarked.

"Helicopter Helicopter~!" Larry said in a sing-song.

"Requesting permission for emergency copter extractio--"

"Don’t you dare." Aiden clamped a hand over Benjamin’s lips before he could complete the statement and the trio shared hearty chuckle as they made their way to class.

On their way over, Aiden spotted Lizzie who enthusiastically waved at him from afar--a greeting he reciprocated without much thought.

Soon enough he and his buddies filtered into their own class.

Casually, they took their respective seats, Aiden easing into his at the very center of the class while the quartet took the cardinal seats around him.

Promptly, Mr. Lazlow, their homeroom teacher walked in with a brown envelope, a relaxed smile on his features as he set it onto his desk.

He had a rather relaxed air to him, his build solid and lean, and a full head of brown-hair that fell to the sides of his head with a pair of rectangular glasses framing his dark-brown irises.

Taking things in stride, he casually pulled out the register, picked up a pen and began the roll call.

No sooner was he done, he simply leaned backwards and onto his desk, his legs crossed and a light smile on his lips as he pulled the envelope closer to him.

Simultaneously, Aiden and his buddies looked to one another, seemingly sharing a single brain cell as they all thought the exact same words;

’Ah, shit. Here we go again.’

It didn’t take a second after.

The bell for the first period rang and Mr. Lazlow, whom was equally their maths teacher declared with a genuinely sadistic smile, his eyes creasing into knowing slits as he gently waved the envelope;

"Pop-quiz!"

A collective groan of annoyance rippled through the room as the man casually began passing out the quiz sheets amidst complaints upon complaints from his students.

"Come on, Mr. Lazlow!"

"Really, teach! It’s the first week of resumption!"

"This better not be part of a CA. My GPA’s already fucked enough as is."

Instead of replying to their complaints or reprimanding their choice of words, Mr. Lazlow opted to troll his students instead, the very same sadistic smile plastered on his lips;

"Here’s one for you, and one for you, and one for you..."

As one would expect, the complaints only got even louder, one the man looked oddly glad to see.

Amidst this, Aiden eyes were already twitching, his expression bemused.

But not for the reason Mr. Lazlow, or his buddies and classmates may have probably thought.

-

[Ding!]

[Exclusive quests updated!]

⸢Exclusive Quests

› Surprise, Motherfucker!

└ Get a perfect score on the pop quiz! – [1 LP]

-

Aiden would’ve done a double take if not for the fact that he knew exactly what was going on here.

Just because he’d cussed out the system yesterday for messing with him, the darn thing had taken matters into its own hand the only way it knew how.

Trolling him in more creative ways.

Even then, Aiden was impressed.

He had to admit. The system couldn’t have picked a more perfect time to whiplash him.

Still,

’You’re a real, petty piece of shit, you know that?’ Aiden let out a bemused sigh of resignation as he retrieved a pen from his bag and got down to work.