Chapter 9:

One afternoon, six and 7 months old Jung Hee heaved the 50-kilo sack of rice and placed it over his back as he waddled the short distance from the parked truck to their house.

He didn’t see the guilty look his father gave him when a 6-year-old Jung carried the sack of rice towards their home. The 4 sacks of rice are their portion of the harvest from the people’s cooperative. The rest of the cooperative members received 2. The rest are given to the government via a central gathering area the next province over. For their hard work, the government gave them a fixed wage depending on their job position and seniority.

Kim Hyusil’s back was killing him lately, and he almost collapsed when he tried carrying the 50-kilo rice sacks. Jung brightly offered to do it, and before he could say a word, he started doing it. His son’s pure earnestness made sure that Hyusil didn’t have the heart to stop him when he started. Even so, when he saw his son’s puffy and red face, he almost stopped him. Instead, he silently egged him onward. Jung did that four times.

After grunting and heaving all the way inside, a bright smile appeared on Jung’s face when he placed the last sack of rice inside their house.

Jung has been getting large red bubbles in the air with 2-digit experience points for the last minute or so. He'd been keeping a tight eye on it for the last several minutes because it was getting close to the end of the current experience bar. The sack is heavy, but because of his skill "Strong Back," the effort he is putting into this task is not as strenuous as his everyday quest, such as push-ups.

12xp... 10xp... One step. 10xp... 11xp... 14xp... Another step.

His effort and struggle with the sacks of rice were filling his experience meter real fast. Jung’s father didn’t know that his son was hoping for another sack or two just to make sure he hit the threshold, but alas, there were none left. All Hyusil can do is sigh in relief when all four of the sacks are inside the house.

Maybe I shouldn’t mention this to my wife, Hyusil thought grimly. Jung finally placed all four bags inside the house and stretched his aching back. He even patted the sack just to make sure they were really there. Then he waited expectantly as he stared at his experience bar. Nothing happened. He sighed.

He brushed his woolen pants to remove the dirt when he pulled out his experience bar. The pop-up appeared in front of him. He is still short, like 4 XP points. He pouted unconsciously, disappointed with himself.

Jung looked up when his father approached him. “I still have to distribute the rest of the rice to the other farmers, son,” Hyusil said as he gestured his hand at the other sacks on top of the beat-up truck the co-op is using. “Stay here and wait for your mother. She’ll be arriving home soon. Don’t wait up for me for dinner since this will take all day.”

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Okay, father,” Jung said solemnly. He wiped the perspiration on his forehead, and his father looked at him once more just to be sure he didn’t injure his son because of his weakness. Hyusil gave him a weak smile and ruffled his hair a bit, unaware of the little boy’s distress since he styled his combed hair just the way he liked it and his father is now messing it up.

“I’ll be back soon.”

Jung waved enthusiastically at the truck while simultaneously combing back his hair with his other hand. The old truck drives off the dirt road noisily, away from their hut, and Jung watches the plume of dry sand wafting in the air from its departure.

When he is alone, he mischievously grabs one of the rice sacks again and then walks around with it for a minute or two. Unfortunately, the system stopped giving him points. It knew he was trying to cheat. Jung pouted again and finally placed the contents of the sack in the cabby hole that held their normal rice storage.

Jung almost forgot about his impending level-up when he started getting busy with household chores. He grabbed a few cups of the rice, washed it, and then placed them in his mom’s favorite pot. Then he heated the wooden oven and placed the rice on slow heat. He is blowing the wood to increase its heat when a welcome chime invaded his perception.

Congratulations! You leveled up!

Current level: 6

-You received 5 Skill Points (SP)

Current XP: 14,211

Total XP needed for the next level up: 22,680

Hidden inside the house and away from everyone's prying eyes, Jung jump silently for joy and made a pump fist right in the air. He started jumping several times, then he did a victory dance. A wacky movement that would resemble a-

Ding!

Congratulations! You have unlocked the general skill “Dancing.”

The skill gives you the capability to move in an artistic way accompanying music. The skill will give a slight boost in mental focus, decrease in mental fatigue, and slightly increase your charisma.

Wiping the sweat of his brow again, Jung stared at his screen and studied it for a moment. Then he sighed. That’ll teach you, you idiot. Then his gaze returned to the first message again.

The last of his initial skill points had been used up yesterday to upgrade another 20 general skills to level 1, and now he is planning to use the new 5 skill points to do the same. But he hesitated. Now that he has the points, he thought that it would be prudent to simply bank them for now. He can always upgrade the other skills when needed, but he can also save them for emergencies instead. He thought about it some more and the idea seems to be a better strategic plan than his original one so he kept the points instead. For now, he has 8 remaining skill points total.

An hour or 2 later, his mother arrived from town and Jung greeted her, explaining to her all the work he did while they were gone. He also reported what father told him and all about the sack of rice.

"Thank you, son," Jin Ae said tiredly. Some tension left her shoulder now that they have confirmation that the rice is stored inside her house. At least they will have enough for the coming winter. "I don't know what I'm going to do without you."

Jung hee beamed at his mother’s praise. He felt he can carry another 100 sacks just about now.

…

Well, maybe a hundred is too much. Maybe 10... or 5? Yeah, Jung felt he can carry another 5 sacks of rice right about now.

"Go clean up and we'll have an early dinner tonight."

Jung ran inside the house, happy. His mother watched him go and shook her head. What a weird kid…