Jung continued to listen to the last 3 classes and he was rewarded with a few bubbles in the air giving him 2 or 3 points of XP. It was a slow march to the next level but Jung didnt mind.

When class finished and his small group of friends, which included Kwang and Sang-ki, naturally gravitating around his seat, Jung's mind was still on his status screen and he wondered what he should do next. He now has several ideas that he wanted to experiment with, and he couldn’t wait to do so.

His friends, after long years of exposure, are rather used to Jung’s blank look and give his current antics no mind. The boy has always been eccentric, with all the ideas brimming inside his mind, and they mastered the art of talking around him yet continued to include him in their conversation too. Eventually, Jung will be back as if nothing happened.

Surreptitiously, Kwang looked around the empty classroom and leaned forward to whisper, "Hey guys, you are not going to believe this, but a cousin of a family servant hooked me up with a black marketer, and I got hold of the latest western gaming console.”

Sang-ki blinked. “What?”

Kwang's big head is bobbing up and down enthusiastically. “You should see it! Its unbelievable. It comes with like two wires and you hook them up in your television, turn it on, and its ready!”

Another friend was hovering excitedly. “What do the foreign devils call it?”

Kwang shrugged. “The box label called it 'Family Com-pyuter,' or something like that. The cousin mentioned it and that’s how I remember how he pronounces it. Who knows with English gibberish? So are you guys going to come over? It comes with 2 cartridges; one even has like 4 games in one!”

“No way!”

Jung sighed. “I can’t join you guys,” he said suddenly. “I have work to do back home.”

“What? Milking cows? Come oooon! You never go play with us after school anymore! Live a little!” Kwang said in his nasal graty and whiny voice. He always uses this to get what he wants from his parents; it has become a habit of his even now. Unfortunately, it never works with Kim Jung-hee.

“I’m sorry, but my family needs this,” Jung said. Jung didn’t need to emphasize it since it has always been how it is with the young boy. His family ALWAYS comes first.

So he left his friends with a wave, despite their whining and jeering protest. Jung turned and looked at Eun Mei’s class, but unfortunately, no one is there anymore. The girl always dragged her seat near the window. Now it is in its proper line, and that tells Jung that the girl has already left.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Jung sighed and left the school as well. He went to town and to the only diner in the neighborhood. He’d been bringing firewood to the place since he was very young, and he knew every staff member by heart. The no-nonsense grandma who owns the diner in particular might not show much affection, but every cook, waitress, or helper in the place knows how much she likes Jung. The grandma’s mood became lighter for the rest of them every time Jung hee visited the place.

But Jung didn’t come there to eat. He is there for business. A week ago, when Jung brought back several bundles of firewood for trade, he was instructed to store the firewood in the basement of the kitchen, and he noticed a stack of broken chairs inside the dark, damp area. They were full of dust and mildew, but to Jung’s observant eyes, the chairs were still perfectly repairable.

When Jung asked about it, the grandma sighed and simply explained that she could not afford the price the local carpenters are asking for. So young Jung jump the opportunity and promised to fix the chairs for a fraction of what the carpenters were asking for. The grandma said no.

It took Jung some time to work his charm over the old woman, despite her liking him already, before she reluctantly agreed to his proposal. She did add a proviso that if she didn’t like the final product, either Jung would return the chairs in their original state or leave them to her in their new status, but she wouldn't be paying for them. Jung accepted the challenge, and they shook on it.

Now is the day Jung has to grab those chairs and bring them back to his home in their barn, where his father’s tools are located. It will take him a few days to fix the chairs and then he will deliver them back. When the old woman agreed, he thought Jung would bring the chairs somewhere, like the cooperative building, and fix them there. At least the co-op will provide them with a truck to transport the heavy chairs back to the diner.

But Jung simply tied them up tightly and then carried the chairs back home.

When Jung was ten years old, he finally measured how far his home is from the town and school. He first measured his average step, which is about 2 and a half feet apart, and then he measured his own feet. Then he counted all his steps until he reached his house.

Jung travelled seven mountains to reach home. Okay, it was actually just 2 mountains and 5 smaller hills that are covered in trees. Jung also didn’t travel in a straight line and after doing a quick calculation, Jung found out that he walked, give or take, about 18 miles every day. The average adult walks 18 miles in about 8 hours, or 4 hours if he walks very quickly. Unfortunately, a normal human cannot maintain that kind of speed, so an adult human can complete that many miles in 6 hours on average.

With the help of the system, Jung took 2 hours and a half when he first traveled it when he was six years old. His standard power-walk now completes the journey in about an hour. If he jogged quickly, the journey would take him 42 minutes. And if he sprints the entire distance, it will only take him 11 minutes.

The extra sixty pounds in his back caused him to take two hours to get home, but Jung was fine and still relaxed. He was only restricted because he was afraid the package in his back would become entangled by the bushes and trees in the forest, increasing the damage to the furniture he was carrying. Of course, it helps that he invested the last attribute point he received in STRNGTH again. Still, Jung arrived a lot sooner than he estimated, so on his way home, Jung was looking forward to starting a new project other than the system.

None of his parents were outside working, so none of them saw the chairs tied up behind Jung’s back. Jung dropped the chairs carefully in the barn next to the old cow and walked back in his humble home.

That night as his family ate dinner, Jung listened to the radio as the announcer described the latest good news as the ministry of interior fielded 200 new cement mixers in Pyongyang as part of the country’s ongoing successful 5-year plan.

Jung was almost bursting with pride for his country and he had to stop himself from spontaneously clapping out loud. “Isn’t the great leader awesome, mother?” Jung said excitedly.

His father simply stared at him. His mom smiled at him indulgently and answered him positively. “Yes, he is, son,” she said.

“When I grow up, I will serve the fatherland too!”

He didn’t notice the strained smile his parents gave him. But Jung was already dreaming of his future and the path of glory his country is going to take, with him helping all the way.

He had this dream since he was 6 years old.