Had his actions changed everything so drastically that his parents had decided to have another baby? Was this the butterfly effect?
‘Wait, isn’t mom in her late 30’s? Isn’t that too old to have a baby?’
As Ken was having a mental crisis, pouring over all the possible implications that such a result could bring, Daichi listened patiently, waiting for the next words.
Chris grabbed the laminated piece of paper and handed it over the table to Daichi, his face finally breaking into a smile.
“This is your certificate of adoption. Welcome to the family Daichi.”
Daichi felt his world pause. All the sounds in the surroundings vanished as he grasped the laminated paper in his hands which then began to shake slightly. He gazed at his two guardian angels smiling back at him.
He looked down at the paper that was shaking, reading the title.
‘Certificate of Adoption. Daichi Suzuki.’ He tried to read further but for some reason the text began to blur, making it extremely difficult to continue.
Ken’s ridiculous notions came to a sudden stop as he heard those words, only to be replaced with pure joy and happiness. He now had a younger brother, just not in the traditional sense.
“YES! Welcome to the family Daichi!” Ken shouted with joy, jumping off his chair and embracing his new brother in a bear hug.
It was only once he felt the firm embrace of his best friend that Daichi could finally react to what was happening. He broke out into joyful tears as he hugged back, feeling the intense emotions wash over him.
Yuki couldn’t help but join in on the waterworks before coming over and giving him a warm hug also. The two cried happy tears together as they embraced the moment.
Chris couldn’t help but wipe a tear from the corner of his eye also, seeing his new addition to the family be welcomed so emotionally.
Ken turned his gaze to his dad and waved him over. It wouldn’t be a family hug unless the head of the household joined in.
Soon enough, the four were huddled together, supporting each other emotionally and physically, painting a harmonious picture.
“Thank you… Dad, Mom, Big Bro…” Daichi managed to say between his sobs. These words only served to fan the flames of his mother and fathers emotions, causing another wave of cries and hugs to erupt.
Ken smiled wildly. He had never been called big brother before, but he was starting to like the sound of it.
Daichi felt as if he was in a dream throughout the rest of the day. Overnight he had suddenly gained a new family, something that he had wished for countless times in his life. A family that loved and cared for him, not one who abused and took him for granted.
The realization that his life had changed forever didn’t feel real. He was even worried that if he went to sleep that he would suddenly wake up in that lonely and abusive house once again.
So much so that he had asked Ken if he could sleep in his room tonight. Ken of course had agreed, he could already tell that Daichi’s emotions were a wreck, so he was prepared to chat to his new brother all night.
However, as soon as Daichi’s head hit the pillow, soft snores started to sound in the room, putting a smile on Ken’s face. He must have been exhausted from everything that had happened today.
Not only did he have his first baseball game, he was also involved in a fight. Add the life altering event of being adopted into their family and it was a recipe for being emotionally and physically drained.
Ken couldn’t help but shake his head and let out a small chuckle.
Now that things had come to a close for the day, Ken decided to pull up the system. He had been given a quest for the friendly game, but it had been canceled due to the fight.
MAJOR LEAGUE SYSTEM
SYSTEM LEVEL: 1 (90/100 Major points to level up)
NAME: Ken Takagi
AGE: 15
TALENT ASSESSMENT: C+
POTENTIAL: D (S)
MAJOR POINTS: 90
USER MENU:
-STATS
-MISSIONS (1 unread)
-SYSTEM SHOP (Locked)
-LOTTERY (Locked)
Ken opened up the missions tab, fighting back the nervousness. Due to the game not finishing, he guessed that the mission would likely be failed.
CONGRATULATIONS
You have completed mission “Get into Starting Lineup.”
MISSIONS:
#NEW MISSION: Get into Starting Lineup
*Task 1: Drop no catches throughout the game (0/0 completed; Rating D)
*Task 2: Get on base or advance the runner 3 times ((1/3) completed; Rating D)
*Task 3: Impress Coach Yoshida (Rating S+)
*Task 4: Win the game (Rating B)
Overall mission rating: C+
USER HAS NOT COMPLETED ALL TASKS. HOWEVER THE SYSTEM HAS RECOGNIZED THAT THIS WAS AS A RESULT OF ACTIONS OUTSIDE OF THE USERS CONTROL. GIVEN THAT A PASSING GRADE WAS ACHIEVED, USER WILL RECEIVE DIFFERENT REWARDS.
REWARDS:
>B-grade Mental Conditioning Elixir
>10 Major points
Ken’s eyes lit up yet at the same time he was filled with relief. It looked like he had been given a hand by the system in this scenario. He more than expected that the mission would have been deemed a failure considering what had happened.
Although the loss of the silver lottery ticket was not ideal, the B-grade Elixir and the 10 Major points were a lot better than nothing.
Something even more surprising was the S+ grading for impressing Coach Yoshida. It seemed that the system had a way to know the inner thoughts of the Coach who was known to be an emotional enigma.
Yet now that he thought about it, the system was an enigma in its own right. Just what kind of thing was it and how could it possibly effect and alter him and the world around him.
However, the main point was that everything it had done so far was beneficial to him, therefore he decided to throw these questions to the back of his mind. Now that he had received the rewards, he had enough Major points to upgrade the system.
‘I wonder what upgrading the system to the next level will do?’ He thought, hovering his finger over the button.
#SYSTEM ALERT
>The user has chosen to upgrade the system.
>100 Major points will be deducted to upgrade the system.
>System will shut down for 8 hours in which all functions will be unavailable until the upgrade has been completed.
[Would you like to commence the upgrade now?]
[YES/NO]
Ken was startled for a moment, yet he did not deliberate long. Considering it was only 9pm right now, the upgrade should be complete when he woke up for his morning run.
He selected the Yes option without hesitation.
#SYSTEM ALERT
>The user has confirmed an immediate upgrade of the system.
>100 Major points have been deducted.
SYSTEM UPGRADE INITIALIZING
SHUTTING DOWN TO INSTALL UPGRADE…