10-New Clothes

*…….* =thought

“…….” =dialogue

**********

When I looked around, I was in an open field, and there was a huge rainbow crossing the sky. The animals around me were peacefully grazing on the grass. I looked up at the rainbow in the sky and said, 'So beautiful.'

But this peaceful and beautiful world was interrupted by a sharp and annoying sound.

'Derek!'

'Hey, wake up!'

'Dereeeek!'

When I opened my eyes, I met Gwen's gaze again, just like yesterday. But this time, instead of a bewildered expression, I had more of an angry one.

Seeing the expression on my face, Gwen said, 'Hey, why are you looking at me so angrily? I'm waking you up for breakfast,' and left my room grumbling. As she left, I heard her say that she wouldn't wake me up again. I smiled when I heard that and got out of bed.

I quickly took a shower and changed my clothes. I left my room and headed to the kitchen. As usual, my dad was sitting at the table waiting for us.

Normally, I prepared breakfast in the mornings, but for the past two days, I had been waking up late, so my dad and Gwen were making breakfast themselves to avoid waking me up.

When we sat at the breakfast table, my dad looked at me and said, 'Derek, if you want, you can go back to school.'

I was quite surprised to hear this question. After finishing high school, I had started working and left school. The reason for starting work was that at that time, my dad's income couldn't support the family.

My dad had recently been promoted, and now his income was enough to support the family.

Gwen, who was sitting next to me, was also eagerly awaiting my answer.

'Don't worry, Derek, if you decide to go back to school, I'll help you,' she said with a smug expression.

I thought for a moment and concluded that going back to school wouldn't benefit me at all. I had a significant gang, and if I wanted, I could make a lot of money. Plus, I didn't want to be in the same class with people younger than me. In short, school had no advantage for me.

My gang had grown, and I could earn a lot of money, that was true, but I had nothing to tell Gwen and my dad when they asked where I earned that money. My dad was a cop, and I couldn't tell him that I made that money from gang activities. Until I found a better solution, I had to keep telling them that I was working as a waiter.

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'I don't have any plans to return to school, Dad, but thanks for asking,' I said.

When Gwen heard my words, her face fell, and it seemed she really wanted to go to school with her big brother.

When my words were heard, my dad's face fell too. It seemed he blamed himself for me dropping out of school.

The atmosphere was quite gloomy, and I needed to do something to lighten it up. I reached over and ruffled Gwen's hair, who was sitting next to me.

'You don't need to worry about that. What you should be thinking about is when we're going to celebrate Gwen's birthday,' I said.

Gwen tried to pull away from my hand, but I didn't let her. She tried for about five seconds to get her hand away from mine. I let go, and Gwen looked at me, waiting for me to speak.

'We'll celebrate it tonight, and one of my friends is coming over,' Gwen said. She still looked a little angry.

'Which friend?' I asked with a smile.

Seeing my expression, Gwen said, 'Don't get any strange ideas, Derek! Miles goes to the same school as me, and he's a good guy,' with annoyance. Her anger toward me hadn't entirely disappeared.

If I wanted her anger to subside, I had to win her over.

'Is there something you want?' I asked.

Upon hearing my question, the anger on her face quickly disappeared, replaced by a big smile.

'I don't know, I've been feeling like my phone is getting old lately,' she said.

My dad chuckled when he heard this. I got Gwen something she wanted for her birthday every year, as long as it wasn't too expensive.

'Well, I was thinking of getting myself a new phone. I can give you my old one,' I said with a smile.

As my dad struggled not to spew out his food upon hearing my words, Gwen shot him an angry look, preventing him from speaking.

"Hey, calm down, I'm just kidding," I said.

Gwen didn't seem to care about my words as she continued to eat her meal. After the meal, my dad put on his uniform and left.

I returned to my room and sat on my bed, checking the updates in the system window.

First, there was a new destination called "The Boys." I had never heard of this universe in my past life, so I didn't know what kind of world it was.

I would need some free time to visit this universe. Today, I was planning to take down the snake gang, and we were going to celebrate Gwen's birthday at night.

So, I decided to wait until tomorrow to explore the new universe. The next update was a shop where I could spend my gold.

When I entered the shop, numerous boxes appeared in front of me, too many to count. Most of the boxes in front of me were gray, and I couldn't see what was inside.

Only three boxes were open. One contained clothing, another armor, and the third a super soldier serum.

Looking at the price of the super soldier serum, I saw that it cost ten thousand gold.

I currently had 5734 gold, and it was increasing every time I killed someone. At the moment, I didn't have enough gold to purchase the super soldier serum, so I looked at the other two items.

One was a black outfit with a deep hood. It came with black pants. The description indicated that it was more durable and flexible than regular clothing.

Another great feature of the outfit was its ability to transform into a wristband, so I could carry it with me at all times.

The outfit cost two thousand gold. Without hesitation, I bought the outfit. A black wristband appeared on my left wrist. It had no details and looked like a hair tie from a distance.

As I contemplated putting on the outfit, the wristband rapidly enveloped my body. In just a second, the outfit perfectly conformed to my body.

When I looked in the mirror, I was wearing a pitch-black outfit that fit me perfectly. When I put on the hood, it cast a shadow over my face due to its depth.

I could tell this outfit was extremely flexible after throwing a few punches. When I thought about taking off the outfit, it quickly transformed back into a wristband.

The other item in the shop was a large chestplate. According to the description, the chestplate offered high protection but significantly reduced mobility.

Since my defense and regeneration were already high, I didn't need heavy armor. If I were to use any armor, it would likely be a shoulder piece.

After closing the system window, I left my room.

"Gwen, I'm heading out!" I called and went outside.

Today, I was going to take down the snake gang, and I needed to do it before nightfall.