Matt walked outside down the sidewalk. He was a bit nervous since the quest he was going to attempt was pretty stupid. He thought it seemed like a prank quest that was just supposed to humiliate him. He kept imagining the conversation he was going to have and every time he thought about himself walking up to a stranger and telling them he was a celebrity, he always imagined the same response.

'Who asked?'

That response just sent chills down his spine. It was the ultimate social comeback. He wasn't really sure he could handle the embarrassment if someone actually ended up saying it. He would slink away and never talk to anyone again.

The problem was, this quest would just produce responses like that. Any way he imagined trying to convince someone he was a celebrity, it always ended badly.

'Ok, I'll just try not to think about it! I'm being paranoid! I'm doing this for the reward anyway, so why should I care what people say?'

He tried to push out any negative thoughts because he knew they would only get in the way. He headed toward the local cafe he always went to.

Once he arrived, he saw it was busy like usual and he sat at one of the tables by the windows. He looked around at all of the people and instantly was doubting doing this quest. No one looked open to conversation.

They were either on a laptop, eating, reading, or talking to friends. Of course, there was the person at the counter where you ordered, but they were probably a seasoned socializer. He imagined they would see through him in an instant.

'Maybe I could just save this quest for later. Waay later.'

He got up and started speed walking to the door, but that was when he heard a familiar voice.

"Matt, is that really you? I knew I'd find you here!"

He turned around to see someone he had known for a long time. It was Fen, his best friend in high school.

"Fen? W-why are you in town?"

He was shocked. Matt had attended high school in a completely different city where he had also grown up, Maeston. When he graduated he only had one goal in mind and that was to go far away.

The main reason was that he wanted to get far away from his old life, where everything always went bad, including the drama he had with his parents. So Matt moved to this city, called Vairon City.

The last thing he had expected was his best friend, the only good thing in his life besides his siblings. He had always been there for Matt, even in the darkest times. Fen was probably the reason Matt wasn't a hardcore introvert, since he always dragged him to conventions and things.

"I was just in town, actually I'm moving here! I didn't know your address but, your sister told me that this was your favorite cafe. So I came over and you were here!"

They both talked a bit. Matt hadn't realized how much he had actually missed Fen. What's funny is, that it was Fen's idea for Matt to move away, since he had seen how much he was struggling.

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"And so then, we all looked up and this dude was hanging from the top of the fish taco sign! Bro, we were all dying laughing so hard!"

They were both laughing as Fen told Matt random stories he had apparently experienced after he had left. After a few minutes more of catching up, Matt had a strange idea.

"Hey, Fen? Uh, is there any way you can help me with something?"

"Yeah, anything Matt, you know that!"

Matt glanced over at someone sitting in the cafe who was sitting reading a book.

"This is gonna sound weird but, can you help me convince them that I'm famous?"

Fen looked confused for a second, but then a smile crept up on his face. He elbowed Matt in the shoulder.

"Trying to get a girl? You really have come far, Matt!"

Fen laughed.

"No, problem. I'll be your wingman. Just go over to her and I'll do everything."

When he realized Fen had misunderstood his intentions, he thought about explaining but realized that the reality was much more complex and annoying to explain. So he decided to just go with it.

Fen had always been good with girls. His appearance helped a lot since he had sandy blond hair and a smile that would make anyone's heart flutter. He also had green eyes which contrasted well with his hair. Not to mention he had always been trying to drag Matt to the gym with him, so he was fairly fit.

Matt got up and walked up to the table where a woman was sitting reading a book. He felt nervous but decided to try his idea for how to make it seem natural, even though it was dumb.

He had decided to talk to her because he had noticed earlier what book she was reading. It was one he had stored in his mind palace. He had thrown in a few random novels whenever he had started spamming books into his mental space.

He entered his mind palace where time didn't flow, and found the book he was looking for.

[Helmet of Brabaloon]

He started to read through it, but quickly realized it was a 500-page book. He sighed.

'This is gonna take a while.'

He knew he had infinite time, but he was still annoyed that he had to read this whole thing. She seemed to be a decent way in, because most of the pages were on the left of the book she was reading, so she was probably around 400 pages in.

He kept reading for a few hours in the mental space. He actually needed to read it, so that if he talked to her about it, he would know what was going on. Due to his improved int stat, he was going through it much faster than a normal person.

After about another hour, he had finally finished the book. He also had to admit the ending was really good, and the characters were genuinely well-made.

He finally exited the mind palace and in reality, nothing had changed. He was still mid-walk to her table, while Fen was grinning, watching him from their table.

Matt walked by her and then feigned surprise with a gasp.

"Is that Helmet of Brabaloon?!"

The woman looked up in surprise as well and then her face lit up with excitement.

"It is! Do you know it?"

"Know it? I just finished reading it! It's one of my favorite books ever!"

They started to talk about the characters and some of their favorite moments in the book.

He already felt the skill he had learned earlier working. It seemed to activate automatically since it was a passive skill. He found himself not hesitating in conversation and using subtle things to change how he appeared socially in conversation. He was a bit amazed by this since he had never been good at socializing.

All of a sudden Matt heard a Fen's voice behind him.

"Holy Shit! Are you THE Matt Peterson!?"