John was oblivious Luke’s instruction. He prepared for his exams in the morning and went to look for his Mom in the evening. He wanted to take things slow with Erika for the time being so only went to say ‘hi’ occasionally and Erika on the other hand didn’t care .She concentrated on recovering and got busy with her own studies.
Since it was supplementary exams there were very few students present as John entered the Exam room. Suddenly he heard someone telling openly “Isn’t it that cheater ? Didn’t he get suspended?”
John expected that and didn’t bother to retaliate . He knew he committed a mistake and already taking action to correct his conduct. He even apologized to the principal, what more could he do? He simply sat in his assigned register number and adjusted his mind to write the exam. Those who incited John could only stop as they didn’t get any reply .
After three days of rigorous exam John was finally relieved. He was sure to get through to the final semester . ‘Now I need to start looking for jobs .I have only 1000Rs in my account. Hopefully I get a job soon.’
[Congratulations user for unlocking INTEGRITY and getting 10 points on INTEGRITY, HONESTY and RESPECT. Eva hopes that user will continue to work hard]
John was aware of why he unlocked Integrity since he kept his promise to the Principal and wrote honestly in the exam .He even expected to get some points on honesty but he was confused about points for Respect. ’Eva ,how did I get the points on Respect?’
[Dear user ,RESPECT not only refers to respecting others but respecting oneself too. You have acted in self respect despite mockery]
John was enlightened by the new hidden meaning. ‘lets see the display.’
[ User :John (level-0)
Values : Truth ……………exp(50/100)
Honesty…………exp(70/100)
Courage…………exp(40/100)
Proactive……….exp(50/100)
Respect………….exp(50/100)
Sympathy………exp(20/100)
Love……………….exp(80/100)
Integrity………….exp(10/100)
Note: If user’s experience goes negative ,Eva will self destruct]
John was satisfied by his progress.’ I have unlocked all the Values and all that is needed is fill up the experience bar to level up before I open the reward panel.’
John decided to visit some restaurant on his way back to home .He had some experience when it came to restaurants so he thought he might easily get a job.
*****
In an unknown restaurant…
“Hello Manager ,I am here to apply for a job.” said john with a polite tone.
“We do need some service boys but is this your first time working?” said a fat middle aged Manager.
“No sir, I have worked in a Pizza restaurant before . I resigned my earlier job for some personal reasons.” John couldn’t possibly that he was humiliated in his previous job and he had no face to go back. He was selectively choosing his words so that he would not loose points for dishonesty.
Manager furrowed his eye brows .He was not an idiot ,he had seen too many people with similar reasons and it would be mostly due to dishonesty and bad character. He couldn’t possibly take rejected pieces from other places so, he decided to reject John categorically.
John knew what the other party thinking and said hurriedly without holding anything back “Manager you are right I resigned my earlier job because of my bad character .But I can assure you that I have changed .”
Manager didn’t expect him to admit his mistake .He was slightly surprised and squinted his eyes “You say you have changed . Every dishonest man tells the same thing. How can I believe you ?I don’t want to take any risks . You can see yourself out.”
John knew it was not easy to convince . His past mistakes were like chains holding him back . He needs to break this chain but social stigma won’t let him easily do that . People want their mistakes to be forgiven easily but when it comes to forgiving others mistake, they become reluctant and picky.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
He tried seeking jobs in other restaurants but same thing repeated . He was tempted to say some lies to convince them but abandoned that thought immediately as he was afraid of his system deducting points and exploding his brain.
Without any result John finally turned towards his home feeling disappointed. To is surprise the neighbor grandma’s grandson was waiting in his front door . That kid wore a worn out cloths but his face looked sharp and cute . John couldn’t help but smile .
“Hello brother , my name is Chris, grandma told me to visit you. What are you going to teach me?” He was little curious as should be for his age.
John really hadn’t thought of that yet. He mulled for a while and decided to try something new , ‘lets teach him the Value system. I want to know what effects it would have on a child.’ John became excited all of a sudden.
“Chris lets go inside first.” As they walked inside the house . Chris looked around the house with curiosity . John came back after getting fresh up .
“Chris let me be honest with you .I won’t teach you math or science today but how to be a good child . It will stop you from getting beat up and everyone will come to like you . What do you think?” John explained Values system in a way a child could understand.
Chris became agitated all of a sudden “Really ? Brother are you telling the truth ?” He was frustrated everyday getting beat up and didn’t know what to do .He was really confused because everyone tells him what not to do but no one has pointed him what to do.
The pressure to satisfy his parents high expectation had driven him crazy and he started to lie and tamper with his marks card. Initially he was happy when everything worked out but eventually he was caught and punished .
“Yes ,I am not lying. Monday to Saturday I will teach you normal school stuff but every Sunday like today I will teach you something new. Before we begin I need you to answer few of my questions. Are you ready?”
Chris nodded like a chick picking on rice.
John smiled and continued “ What do you understand by honesty , truth and love ?”
Chris thought for a while and said “Isn’t truth is something not telling lie? As for as honesty is concerned ….it is same as truth I think . Love is playing cricket… right?”
John expected some crude answer and was not surprised instead he sighed .He was not any better than Chris when he was 12 year old .
“Chris don’t you love your parents and grandma? Have you ever expressed your love for your parents ,grandma or teachers?” John asked gently.
Chris nodded “I do love my grandma . Although my parents hit me when I do mistakes they are not bad . I don’t like my teachers at all . Brother ,what do you mean by expressing love?”
“I meant like giving a hug and telling them that you love you them or saying thank you when they do something for you . Anything can be done as long as you feel like it.” When John was almost lost his Mom .He realized his mistakes .He hadn’t even once said love you or thank you for all the sacrifices she did .He simply took her for granted and acted as if he was entitled to everything.
“Brother they won’t like it . Moreover it is embarrassing to say it .They would just laugh at me.”
John understood his point of view. He was just like him in his past .He carefully chose his words and said “Chris ,today I won’t teach you anything . I will give you some simple tasks .When you finish it I will give you chocolates as reward. What do you say?”
John read it in a Psychology book that rewards should be started from extrinsic and then slowly move towards intrinsic . Rather than simply teaching the definitions of Values ,he felt it was better to learn it from a series of habits .
Chris nodded heavily .He would do anything for chocolates.
John began to like him more and more.
“1.Whenever your Mom gives you breakfast , lunch or dinner ,you have to ‘thank you mom’.
2.Whenever your Dad does something for you like tying your shoe lays or dropping you to school ,you need to say ‘thank you dad.’
3.You need to say thank you to your teacher when she teaches you something and same thing goes for your friends and grandma when they do something nice for you. Understand ?”
Chris was confused “Teacher are you sure ? It seems …..easy ,you won’t go back on your promise right?”
John laughed “Rest assured I won’t go back on my word. It is very easy but difficult to follow. Make sure you note the time when you say thank you to people in a separate notebook. I will check the notebook and ask your parents and teachers to confirm your actions. If you do this for a entire week, you will receive your chocolates. Is it OK?”
Chris nodded in response. He was beginning to like his new brother. Till then no one gave him reward for doing a simple thing .Before coming here he was little apprehensive since he despised studying more. But all his apprehension was gone now ,in fact he was excited to come next day to receive his reward.
John sent off the kid and prepared to look for jobs online.
[Congratulations to user , you have earned 5 points on all your Values. Eva hopes that user will continue to work hard]
John was momentarily stunned .He knew how hard to gain a single point from the system . He didn’t do anything apart from teaching a kid some stuff.
“Eva how come I have earned this many points?”
[Dear user , creator of the Value system hoped that the user will become a beacon for humanity and spread the true worth of the Value system .I am just following what is programmed]
John furrowed his eyebrows ‘Becoming a beacon for humanity? I don’t even have money to eat and you want me to become a goddamn beacon! Forget it . I didn’t loose anything from teaching in fact I amassed massive points. It looks like teaching is the right job for me.
But I am an engineer! I can do M-Tech and PHD and become a professor but I don’t like those technical stuff. I am barely floating in engineering .if I take M-Tech I will sink . Moreover which professor would teach Value system to his students?
What other options do I have? How about creating a software that can teach kids Value system? It sounds nice but I am very poor in coding and don’t have any friends in computer science. I might not know coding but what about Eva?
John became slightly excited at his thought “Eva do you know coding?”
[Dear user , you will know the answer when you unlock reward system]
John considered Eva’s response as affirmation to his question. His desire to unlock the reward system intensified . ‘If I teach that kind 1 month .I might be able to unlock it soon.
According to my current understanding of the system ,I will get points as long as I do the right thing, teach someone Values and face my mistakes. When I create a software and millions of kid learn from it ,what would happen? Will my points skyrocket in a day?’ John started anticipating that day.