“Leafy, it’s time to get up!” Violet yelled, nearly turning Lefu deaf.
With the cool air touching him as his blanket was pulled off, Lefu opened one eye while rubbing the other. With one eye on his mother, who was tapping her foot rapidly, he took a glance at his clock. ‘It’s only 4:01 A.M.,’ Lefu thought as he began stretching his arms.
“Hurry up and shower or you won’t get your morning training in,” Violet stated, whacking him on top of his head.
Feeling the slight pain spreading from the top of his head, Lefu’s drowsiness began to disappear and his mind started to focus. Tossing off his blanket, Lefu entered the bathroom, exiting fifteen minutes later in his training clothes. Feeling his black gi, happiness filled his body at the thought that his mother finally allowed him to train again.
Upon entering the kitchen, he saw his father in a similar outfit tapping his foot impatiently. ‘It seems father is coming along too,’ Lefu assumed, seeing the outfit. Lefu didn’t mind if his father joined as he tagged along a few times before. Quickly throwing on his running shoes, he waved to his mother before following his father out the door.
Making their way outside the building, Lefu took one big, deep breath filling his lungs with pollution and the rotten smell of the city. With a smile, he faced his father and nodded before jogging his usual routine of nearly six miles. After jogging for twenty minutes in silence, Lefu began to wonder what his father wanted. Usually there was something when he trained with him.
“Did you want to asked me something, father?” he asked.
“If you have a chance, can you get Camilla’s autograph for me?” He answered.
[Mission: Get Camilla’s Autograph,
Reward: Acting will be increased to Intermediate Level.
Failure: Forget half your lines.
Accept: Y/N.]
‘The system can give out missions. It seems there is still more to learn about the system,’ Lefu thought as he clicked ‘yes’. For the mission he wasn’t worried as he figure he might meet her today and he could get it during break time.
“Sure, I will try,” Lefu replied, earning him his father’s smile.
The duo kept their pace and returned home nearly thirty minutes after the conversation. Upon returning, they spotted a BMW parked out front with a muscular man patiently waiting. Walking closer, Lefu reconcogized the man as Bill who lead him out of the mansion.
“Good morning, Bill,” Lefu greeted.
“Good Morning Young Lefu, we are running a bit behind schedule, so please get in,” Bill greeted him while opening the backdoor.
Hearing that he was running late, Lefu glanced at his watch which read 5:02, “Can I go wash up and change first?”
“You can do it at the mansion as we need to return and grab Madam Camilla and Mistress Clare,” Bill Calmly replied as if expecting his question.
With a slight sigh, he got into the car while waving bye to his father. Sitting in the backseat, Lefu felt a little uncomfortable as it most likely cost more than what his parents make in a year. After the thirty minute car ride, they soon arrived at the Zurie mansion.
Pulling into the garage, Lefu spotted forty other cars ranging from 1940’s to the latest sports car on the market. Slowly pulling into the third row, Bill parked the car before opening the backdoor for Lefu. With a quick step, Lefu was out and spotted a young servant around his age standing by the door leading into the house.
“Please follow her as she will lead you to your room to change,” Bill said pointing to the girl.
Nodding in understanding, Lefu walked up to the girl who silently turned around and led him to a guest room. Upon entering the guest room, he realized it had a similar layout as the one he was in last time. If the window wasn’t on the opposite wall from the last time, then he would have thought it was the same room.
With a glance at the nightstand he spotted pair of clothes and towel prepared for him. Picking up the black clothing, he realized that they remembered his size. Quickly cleaning up, he opened the door to be greeted by a woman with long blonde hair and deep blue eyes. Quickly scanning over her, she reminded him of an older Clare.
“Ah, you must be Lefu. I heard that you’re joining us today.” She said sticking out her hand.
Lefu firmly shaked her hand while noticing how smooth and soft her hand was. Soon he replied, “My name is Lefu Delano. Sorry for the inconvenience.”
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“It’s not a problem to have you as it saved us from postponing since the last pair suddenly quit. We would have ended up waiting a few more days as we searched for new actors.” Camilla explained.
After learning he was a quick replacement, some of his hidden nervousness was removed. But Lefu’s thoughts changed directions as this seemed perfect opportunity for the autograph, yet he didn’t have paper or a pen.
“By your current expression, you want my autograph but don’t have paper and a pen,” Camilla’s voice filtered into his ears.
“Sigh~, Well it’s my parents who wants it, not me,” Lefu explained with an annoyed tone towards himself.
“You must have seen the poster with the cast’s signatures last time, why don’t I just send it?” She simply asked.
“But, isn't it important to you? So how could I take it?” Lefu quickly replied.
“I have three so giving one won’t matter much. But that has to wait as we need to get breakfast and leave so we can arrive on time.” She stated as she left with Lefu following behind her feet.
She led Lefu down the hall, passing by a few servants before they arrived at a grand dining hall. Inside Lefu spotted Clare already eating while the servants lined the walls. Scanning the walls hanging above the servants, paintings of spring flowers or trees filled the canvases. On the other side of the room was a terrace where a few colorful flowers were placed. It looked over their backyard where numerous flowers could be scene.
Looking back at the numerous plates filled with different types of breakfast, Lefu felt like it was more of a breakfast buffet instead of a simple breakfast. As if she expected this, Camilla lead him over and quickly explained some simple rules. The rules were actually quite simple as you’re only allowed to take what you can eat while the servants get the rest.
Taking their seats with Camilla sitting next to Clare and Lefu across from them, Lefu took a quick glance over at Clar where, he saw dark circles underneath her eyes from a lack of sleep. He quickly realized that even if she was as cold as a glacier, she was still human.
“What are you smirking at?” Her voice was as cold as ever when she saw him staring at her.
“It seems you’ve been practicing hard these last few days.” Lefu gave a small laugh when he replied.
Silently sending him an icy glace, Clare just went back to eating her omelet while a small smile raised in the corner of her mouth. Seeing her daughter smile, Camilla began humming as if she was planning something. As for Lefu who was watching this, he felt a chill run down his back as if a predator set their sight on him again.
‘Is it a family of predators or something?’ Lefu thought as first it was Clare, yet now it was her mother giving the same reaction. As he analyzed the feeling, he realized it was a different kind than what Clare gave him as this one felt filled with care and usefulness.
After eating for a few minutes, Lefu realized he hasn’t met Clare’s father since he never appeared for breakfast. Furrowing his eyebrows, Lefu wanted to asked but figured he was off to work already. Soon they finished eating and a young man in a chef uniform appeared. He looked quite nervous as sweat was soaking his uniform.
“Madam Camilla, how was the meal,” the young chef asked.
“The meal was lovely, do give Chef Gordon my thanks.” Camilla calmly replied with a shiny smile.
“It wasn’t Chef Gordon since he showed up drunk and soon passed out in the corner of the kitchen. It was actually the newly hired cooking assistant that cooked as the other chefs were busy with their own dishes,” He explained as his nervousness decreased the longer he went on.
Hearing the chef blacked out from being drunk this early in the morning, a tiny frown appeared. After a few seconds of thought, a cold voice appeared from her, “Wake him up and bring him here.”
Shocked by the voice, the chef quickly bowed and rushed out of the room. After a couple of minutes had passed, he and another man in a chef uniform dragged out a short yet obese man who was soaking wet with a dark red face. It was obvious they tossed water on the man’s head before dragging him here.
Dropping the man in front Camilla, she looked at him with ice cold eyes as if not care for the man’s life. Tapping her finger on the chair, she appeared to be in deep thought while the servant began to shake as the tense atmosphere around her increased with every tap.
“You have shown up drunk for nearly a month, so I’m sorry to tell you this but, you’re fired,” She said causing the servant to sigh in relief as it was only firing him. “Also, since you failed to cook nearly for the last month, your final payment is cut down to five percent of the normal wage.”
Reacting to his money being taken away, he began to cry while shouting, ‘I just bought a new car.’ Approaching from behind Camilla, two bodyguards picked up the man and dragged him away before he started throwing a fit.
“Well you two, let’s get going as we have a two hour ride to the mountains today,” the cheerful Camilla stated while clapping her hands.
“We’re filming outside today?” Lefu asked as in his research they would film outside the studio if it saved them money since each series has a limited budget. Now hearing that they’re going to the mountains, he got excited as he loved the mountains since his father would bring him there for training during summer vacation when he was younger.
“You look like a kid going on a field trip,” Clare commented in her cold voice which sounded like an attempt at teasing.
Sticking his tongue out at her, he glanced at Camilla to remind her of the poster which caused her to whisper something to a servant. Knowing that the poster was being sent, he took a glance at his skill only to see it rising.
[Skill Acting: Beginner 50.7%]
The number was rapidly climbing until it changed into intermediate, which reset the percentage down to zero. After the skill levelled up new, information sounded off rapidly as the mission was completed.
[Mission: Get Camilla’s Autograph (Compete),
Reward: Acting has increased to Intermediate Level, disabling research leveling.
Host is now able to bring supporting characters alive when acting the role,
Bonus reward: Soft Fist of Ancient Kung-Fu.]
A surge of information entered his mind about the Soft Fist. This made Lefu jump in surprise as he could only describe it as extremely deadly. The usage of Soft Fist allows the user to shatter nearly all of the victim’s organs when tapped on the shoulder when practiced to extreme levels.
“Hurry up, we are leaving.” Clare’s cold voice appeared behind him when she gave him a ‘light’ kick.