Chapter 7: Small Talk Is The Real Boss

Nero sat in the back seat, examining the System window floating before his eyes.

[Choice Completed]

[You successfully had breakfast with Lilia and Lilly.]

[Reward Distributed: Entry-Level Mana Cooking Knowledge]

[Would you like to absorb the knowledge now?]

[Yes] [No]

Nero considered accepting the reward but eventually decided against it.

He was still inside the car, and he had no idea what would happen when he absorbed the knowledge.

What if some strange light suddenly appeared around him? Wouldn’t that attract the attention of the person sitting beside him?

It was better to wait until he was alone.

Nero then glanced toward Lilly, who was sitting at the opposite end of the back seat.

Her blonde hair was tied into a ponytail, with soft pink coloring near the ends. She was looking out the window with a bored expression, seemingly uninterested in everything around her.

She wore a fitted white blouse tucked into a black pencil skirt that hugged her curvy figure. Her blouse was slightly tight around her E-cup breasts, while her skirt emphasized her wide hips and slender waist.

Her legs were crossed elegantly, revealing a portion of her smooth tender thighs. Together with her black heels, the outfit made her look even more attractive.

It was obvious that she had inherited much of her mother’s beauty and mature figure.

Nero quickly looked away before she could catch him staring.

He had no intention of getting himself into trouble this early in the morning.

Thinking back to breakfast, he realized that he had handled the situation much better than he expected.

Of course, he had still been nervous, but it was nothing compared to how he would have reacted before taking the Hormonal Change Injection.

His thoughts were clearer now, and he no longer felt like panicking over every little interaction.

However, that didn’t mean he had suddenly become a confident person.

He had spent years avoiding conversations and being afraid of other people’s opinions. Those habits weren’t going to disappear overnight just because his hormones had been balanced.

Still, it was a good start.

Just as he was thinking about this, another golden window appeared.

[Choice Detected: Awkward Car Ride]

[Option 1: Start a conversation with Lilly.]

[Reward: Upgrade to Your Basic Combat Fundamentals Manual (Rare)]

[Option 2: Stay silent and mind your own business.]

[Reward: $30 Cash (Common)]

[Option 3: Be loud and start spouting bullshit, earning a glance from Lily.]

[Reward: $1000 (Common)

Nero’s eye twitched when he read the options.

Seriously? You want me to talk to her?

The first reward was clearly better. An upgraded combat manual would be extremely useful, especially since he had never received any proper combat training.

But starting a conversation with Lilly was easier said than done.

What if she decided to use her talent on him?

She was a gifted Awakener who possessed something known as the Destruction Talent, an incredibly powerful ability with the potential to kill millions.

In fact, she was the only person in the world known to possess that Talent.

And unfortunately for Nero, she also had a rather difficult personality.

She was easily annoyed, and whenever he tried speaking to her in the past, she would either cut him off or simply walk away.

One wrong word and she would probably ignore him for the rest of the ride.

Or worse, she might actually bite his head off or use her talent on him.

However, Nero eventually selected the first option.

He couldn’t keep avoiding conversations forever, especially when the whole point of the System was to help him change.

With that decided, he turned toward Lilly and opened his mouth.

Unfortunately, nothing came out.

Wait, what am I supposed to say?

His mind had suddenly gone blank.

How did people even start conversations in situations like this?

Before he could come up with something, Lilly noticed him facing her.

"What?"

Her purple eyes narrowed slightly.

"I..." Nero hesitated before blurting out the first thing that came to mind. "Nice weather today."

The moment those words left his mouth, he wanted to slam his head against the car window.

Nice weather? Seriously?

It was cloudy outside, and the sky looked like it was about to rain.

"Are you stupid?" Lilly looked at him as if she was looking at an idiot. "It’s about to rain."

"Right." Nero nodded awkwardly. "Rain is nice too. Good for the plants."

"We’re in a city. What plants do you see around you aside from the artificial ones?"

"..."

Nero immediately wanted to dig a hole and bury himself.

This was going terribly.

However, just as he was regretting his decision, he noticed something unexpected.

The corner of Lilly’s lips had curled upward slightly.

She quickly turned toward the window, but Nero had already caught it.

Was she trying not to laugh?

"You really are hopeless," she muttered.

Nero felt a little relieved.

At least she wasn’t yelling at him.

"I’m trying to get better at talking," he admitted.

Lilly scoffed hearing this.

"By talking about the weather? That’s the most NPC thing anyone can do."

"Well, I have to start somewhere."

"Then start somewhere less pathetic."

Nero thought about that for a moment.

"What should I talk about, then?"

Lilly turned toward him again, looking genuinely baffled by the question.

"Are you seriously asking me how to have a conversation?"

"You seem like you’d know," Nero replied awkwardly. "You talk to people all the time."

"That’s because I’m not socially inept."

"..."

Nero couldn’t think of anything to say to that.

Lilly let out a sigh before shifting in her seat and uncrossing her legs. Her skirt rode up slightly as she moved, briefly drawing Nero’s attention.

He immediately forced himself to look at the headrest in front of him.

"Whatever," Lilly said. "Just don’t embarrass me when we get to university. If anyone asks, we don’t know each other."

"We barely talk anyway."

"Good."

She crossed her arms beneath her chest.

"Keep it that way."

As soon as she finished speaking, another notification appeared before Nero.

[Choice Completed: Awkward Car Ride]

[Reward Distributed: Upgrade to Basic Combat Fundamentals Manual (Rare)]

[Ding! You’ve obtained the Special Combat Fundamentals Manual (Rare)]

Nero sighed in relief.

Well, at least I got the reward.

He had somehow managed to complete the choice without making Lilly too angry.

That alone was worth celebrating.

Neither of them spoke for the rest of the journey.

However, Lilly occasionally stole glances at him when she thought he wasn’t paying attention.

His appearance had changed so much overnight that she still found it difficult to believe he was the same person.

Nero, meanwhile, was too busy exploring the System to notice.

He had only used it a few times, but there were already several functions he hadn’t properly examined.

Apart from the choices and rewards, there was also a record of his previous decisions and a section containing abilities he had yet to use.

It was much more complicated than he initially thought.

Before he could explore everything, the car began slowing down.

They had arrived at Awakener’s Pride University.

The campus was enormous, covering several city blocks. Tall buildings made from white stone and reinforced glass rose above the surrounding streets, while mana-powered lights lined the pathways.

Students could be seen walking toward different buildings, some chatting with friends while others hurried toward their classes.

It was the beginning of the semester, so the campus was particularly busy.

Many students were already preparing for their training sessions, hoping to improve their physical abilities or gain better control over their Talents.

Nero stepped out of the car and was about to head toward the entrance when another golden window appeared.

[Choice Detected: First Day of Training]

[Option 1: Go to the combat facility and train until the university day ends.]

[Reward: Instant Fatigue Reliever (Legendary)]

[Option 2: Skip training and wander around campus.]

[Reward: Campus Map In Mind (Common)]

Nero’s eyes widened when he saw the first reward.

Legendary?

This was the first time the System had offered him something of that grade.

He didn’t know what an Instant Fatigue Reliever actually did, but anything classified as Legendary had to be extraordinary.

The condition, however, wasn’t particularly easy.

He had to spend the entire university day training at the combat facility.

For someone who had never exercised seriously in his life, that was going to be exhausting.

Still, Nero didn’t hesitate for long.

He had already decided to change himself, and there was no better time to start than now.

He selected the first option.

[Choice Confirmed. Please proceed to the combat training facility.]

With his decision made, Nero headed toward the eastern wing of the campus, where the training facilities were located.

However, after walking for a short distance, he heard footsteps approaching from behind.

He turned around and found Lilly heading in the same direction.

Her heels clicked against the pavement as she walked, and when she noticed Nero looking at her, she immediately frowned.

"Why are you following me?"

"I’m not following you," Nero replied, pointing ahead. "The training facility is that way."

Lilly seemed dissatisfied with his answer, but she didn’t argue.

Instead, she increased her pace and walked ahead of him.

Nero could only shake his head before continuing on his way.

A few minutes later, they arrived at the combat training facility.

It was an enormous building with multiple floors, each dedicated to different forms of combat training.

Near the entrance, a group of girls were chatting among themselves.

The moment they noticed Lilly approaching, one of them raised her hand and called out.

"Lilly! Over here!"

Lilly immediately headed toward her friends without bothering to acknowledge Nero.

Within seconds, she was chatting with them as though he wasn’t even there.

Nero wasn’t particularly surprised.

That was how things had always been between them, so he didn’t see any reason to complain.

He continued toward the main entrance alone.

Inside, the facility was even more impressive than he remembered.

Various training equipment filled the spacious hall, while students practiced their combat techniques in designated areas.

Some were sparring against one another, while others tested their Talents against reinforced targets.

There were even private training rooms available for students who preferred practicing alone.

Nero was considering where to begin when a familiar voice suddenly reached his ears.

He recognized it immediately.

After all, he had been hearing that voice for the past ten years.

It belonged to Lyris.