After their serious but brief conversation, they both visibly eased up. Ensen leaned closer towards the table with his elbows, seemingly more engaged in their conversation. Emilia, on the other hand, simply repeatedly tapped her foot lightly on the ground.
"Do you remember our championship victory over the Littlewood Academy in tennis Ensen?" Emilia spoke in a reminiscing voice.
Of course, he remembered. That was his favorite memory during his time at the SilverLeaf Academy as a student. Even now, it was still a fond memory he treasured. The Littlewood Academy's tennis team had been undefeated the whole playoff season. While SilverLeafs tennis scene wasn't bad by any means, it still fell short by quite a large margin in comparison. By sheer luck, they managed to tread through the playoffs carefully, only losing two games.
This managed to propel them into the 2nd place in the league. This league included the entire city, both public and private schools. After a tough battled in the finals, they managed to barely squeeze out a win. Honestly, the entire reason they pulled out a win is that one of the members from the opposing team was feeling ill that day. But good enough. That's what they thought at least.
Naturally, that little fluke of a win wouldn't happen every day. The school had been getting decimated by Littlewood's tennis team every since.
"Of course I remember that. We sure showed them who's boss!" He said in a joking manner.
With a giggle, she responded "We absolutely did. I'm pretty sure our picture in the hallway at the academy is the only award the school has ever got for tennis."
After finishing their coffees, they continued talking for a bit before deciding to end things here.
"Thanks for coming, Ensen. I'm happy you decided to take your first step towards your dream. I know I talk like I hate this job, but honestly, there is nothing else I would rather do. And it seems you feel the same way. I need to get going now, but as I said earlier, call me if you need any help." She spoke as she slowly got up from her chair, grabbing the small brown folder on her way up.
With a slight smile, she leisurely walked towards a little gate in the small fence of the outdoor seating. Once she was out of sight, Ensen slowly pulled out his phone.
After passionately declaring his desire to start his academy, he realized one important matter he has previously not thought about, time. He wasn't getting any younger. Although he may not have been as careful as he of been before, he wanted to chase his dream. But, he simply wasn't confident in himself that he could pull it off. He still wasn't confident, but at least with this strange system, he would fail less spectacularly if he did fail.
Because of this, Ensen decided he wanted to buy the plot of land. Even if he was wrong, even if it was the most colossal mistake of his life, he didn't care. He still wanted to do it.
Slowly maneuvering to the posting he saw earlier on a popular real-estate website, he knew instantly that the price needed to be negotiated. While the price itself was pretty good considering all included, the school building would be an absolute money-drain.
Ensen did think of tearing down the building and just developing a new one in its place, but that had its fair share of problems as well. First off, the vast forest surrounding the plot would make it hard for modern-day construction vehicles to arrive. Besides, the sheer amount of time it would take for the new school to be built would be... far too long.
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Besides, while the building itself was quite small it would be a good fit for him just starting out, and with the vast space around the building, extensions wouldn't be hard to fit in either. While the same problems about building affected the possible future extensions as well, he felt this was not as crucial. The academy would have to well established before it would be extended. This would ensure that he had a way to have a source of income while building.
After all, his funds weren't endless. Ensen clicked the green show interest button below the 'pictures' of the school. After that, he quickly decided to message the poster, declaring his interest in purchasing the property. But he requested it to be inspected by a certified professional before further discussions about the potential sale were considered.
While Ensen was excited about buying the land, he wasn't ignorant. While he knew there were innumerable flaws in the building, he wasn't exactly skilled in spotting flaws or fixing them either. This was a good way to get a better idea of the state of the house, as well as a rough estimate of how much it would cost to fix. He also included some questions about the property itself, such as if it extended to the coast of the lake.
After thoughtfully concocting the message, he promptly tapped send. Dying to receive a response, he knew he would just be staring at his phone all day unless he did something. Looking at the time on his phone, he realized it took around 30 minutes for him to compose the message. Realizing he hasn't moved in quite a while, Ensen stretched his arms behind his back. Although it seemed awkward to do in public, it was very effective. After that, he rolled his wrists and slowly got up from the table.
Ensen picked up his now empty cup of coffee and slowly made his way to the exit, throwing the cup into a nearby empty garbage bin. Afterward, he exited the outdoor seating in much the same way as Emilia did earlier. Once stepping out on the hot pavement, Ensen felt a sudden wave of heat hit him. The heat previously blocked by the canopy covering the outdoor seating was put on its full display now.
Ensen never really liked the heat. In fact, he kind of hated it. He much preferred the cold winter, so being under blankets was that much cozier. Preparing to return to his car to blast the air conditioner and go home, he was met with the sudden emergence of a blue screen.
[Chain Mission: Flex those muscles]
[Being in shape is crucial to properly run a private academy. You will be a role model for these students. As such, you must conduct yourself accordingly to make a lasting impression. This is true in all facets of life. You will be given various tasks to complete.]
[Rewards]
[One EP per task]
[Random item/skill if chain mission is completed.]
Ensen read the new mission slowly, becoming slightly annoyed near the end. Although he was by no means overweight, he was not in shape at all either. Slowly thinking it through, he quickly found the system's reasoning, agreeing with it himself.
With a sudden epiphany, Ensen quickly looked all around him like a rat scouting the area for predators. He just registered that the strange blue box has appeared right before him on a busy sidewalk.
After observing his surroundings for a while, he noticed that nobody was acting strangely, as if the odd blue screen mission box did not exist. A young man even walked straight through the floating blue box with no problems for either the man or the box. Once he was sure that it was safe to have out, he turned his attention back towards the box. As if on queue, the box began slowly cracking before crumbling into a strange sort of dust that was blown away by a sudden gust of wind.
'I swear the system likes to show off when it creates and destroys messages' Ensen muttered in amusement. He soon turned his attention a message box falling from above and slamming against the concrete with a powerful force. It then slowly floated up towards the eye-level.
Shocked, Ensen turned his eye to look at the people's reactions around him, but again there was nothing. Looking back down at the concrete below him, he realized it looked perfectly normal unlike a few seconds ago.
Ensen quickly felt the urge to facepalm at the ridiculousness of the system before reading the next message.
[Chain Mission 1: To the park]
[As the first mission in your adventure to fitness, might as well start with something big. Crystal Gardens is located approximately 5 miles from your current position. Using only your legs, you must arrive there within 1 hour.]
[Rewards]
[One EP]
[Access to next chain mission]
'What?! Are you kidding me? Do you really think I can do that? Do you know the last time I actually ran somewhere? Plus look at my clothes are you kiddi-" The appearance of an evil blue box promptly shut Ensen up.
[Time Remaining: 59:46]