Lou punched the table, making the silverware and pancakes leap in perfect sync. “I’m telling you, Nate, Wisdom is the answer. It’s like cheat codes for this whole cringe thing.”

Nate cocked an eyebrow, syrup rolling off his fork. “Wisdom? Really? You’re gonna be the Professor of Awkwardness? You really wanna be a nerd about this?”

Lou shrugged, a cheeky grin twisting his mouth. “Bite me, you teleporting dick. But wisdom is how you master this power, how you learn to grind the levels faster and smarter.”

Nate leaned away, a thoughtful expression erasing his perpetual grin. “Alright, I get what you’re saying. But why wisdom? Wouldn’t strength or dexterity be better for, you know, actual dueling?”

Lou snorted, pushing his plate away, the half-eaten pancake a testament to his complete and total lack of hunger. “Strength and dexterity? I need to grind this understanding thing, not the brute combat stuff, not the fancy moves.”

Nate cocked an eyebrow, a mischievous grin twisting the corner of his mouth. “Grind with your brain?”

Lou brushed past the sarcasm, his eyes shining with a newfound purpose. “Exactly. Wisdom is how you unlock the true power of cringe. I need to learn how this thing works, how to wield it, how to make it dole out maximum impact. I can worry about the strength and the dexterity later, once I know what I’m doing.”

He leaned in, his voice lowering to a secretive whisper. “I’m not gonna be just the guy who makes people cringe. I’m gonna be the cringe master, the king of awkwardness. And to do that, I need wisdom.”

Nate laughed, shaking his head. “Alr—alright, alright. I get it. Wisdom it is. You’ll be the cringe lord in no time with that mindset.”

Lou closed his eyes, focusing on the familiar buzzing sensation as he poured two points into Wisdom. His mind felt sharper, clearer, like a mist had lifted. A new notification suddenly replaced the previous one on his mental screen:

Congratulations! You have unlocked the Cringe Progression Bar! With this, you can now track your Cringe Experience Points.

Lou snapped his eyes open, a thrill pulsing through his chest. “Nate, I unlocked something!” he said, his voice a confused mix of surprise and excitement.

Nate leaned towards him, his eyes aglow with intrigue. “What? Did you unlock a new cringe power?”

Lou shook his head, holding his hands out wide as if he could summon the image in front of him. “Not exactly. It’s a Cringe Progression Bar. It tells me how close I am to leveling up. I think the more cringe I generate, the faster it fills.”

Nate's eyebrows flew upwards in surprise. “Whoa, that's sick! You can track your progress and stuff?”

Lou nodded, a wide grin spreading over his face. "Exactly! This looks so cool. I guess now I need to test it."

Nate chuckled. "Speaking of testing it, I think our waitress is plotting our demise. Look at her face."

Lou followed Nate's gaze to see the waitress glaring at them from across the diner, arms crossed as though a thundercloud was growing over her head.

"Oops," Lou said, a sheepish grin spreading over his face. "Maybe we should lay low for a bit."

Nate burst into laughter, hitting Lou on the back. "Don't worry, Captain Cringe. We'll find new and creative ways to fill that bar. Just try not to get us kicked out of every diner in town."

Nate and Lou left the pancake house, both having eaten their pancakes and settled their bill under the watchful gaze of their server.

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A mischievous glint appeared in Nate’s eyes as he grinned. “Okay, Captain Cringe, I‘ve got it.”

One of Lou’s eyebrows rose up with dread. “Oh no, what now?”

Nate lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper as he leaned over. “We are going to go to the mall. You will find the most adorable girl you can see there and say this:” He paused for a moment before grinning wide open. “Hi stranger, my name is Lou; but girls call me boo.”

Lou turned even paler than before and felt sick to his stomach from sheer fear. “No way, Nate! Never! That would… that would be too much for me! Anything but this!”

Nate disregarded Lou’s fears with a shrug. “C’mon Lou, don’t be such a chicken. It’s just some harmless practical joke anyway. Besides, a perfect exercise of your powers”

Lou shook his head violently while barely speaking above a whisper. “I can’t do that Nates…I’m not that guy… I am not…confident…cool…”

“That’s better,” Nate suggested teasingly with an almost smug smile on his lips.

Lou glared at him, though a faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips. "Don't push it, Nate. I'm serious. This is way out of my comfort zone."

Nate sighed, shoulders drooping. “Okay, alright, I understand but don’t you think you’re overdue for a change? Don’t you think it’s time to actually embrace the cringe and see how far it takes you?”

His sight drifted toward the window as Lou hesitated. There was something in Nate’s speech that struck a chord with him. A small flame of rebellion had been ignited.

“Whatever,” said Lou hoarsely. “But if I get slapped, it is all on you.”

“Deal,” replied Nate with a triumphant glint in his eyes. “Now let’s go find your ‘boo’.”

Lou felt his arm being grabbed by Nate. “Buckle up,” he smirked at him. Then in no time at all everything around them went blurry and they were standing outside the mall.

The sudden teleportation didn’t even annoy Lou before he thought about it.” You know if you keep this up, pretty soon you’re going to gain weight from this ability alone! We could have just walked down here and burnt off those pancake calories.”

Nate grinned as he shrugged. “Where’s the fun in that?”

Before them stood the mall. Illuminated billboards buzzed while the air was heavy with the unmistakable smell of pretzels and popcorn. People strolled by dressed in high-rise jeans and big fluorescent shirts.

Walking began, the sound of their feet echoing on the tiled floor. Nate's gaze raked around like a hawk’s. “Right, let me see…how about her?” He gestured towards a girl who was leafing through stacks of vinyl records.

Lou shook his head. "Too cool for me. She'd probably just roll her eyes and walk away."

Nate laughed. "So what? You know that we are trying to make people cringe. Not trying to find you a date right?"

Lou felt a pang of anxiety. "I don't know, Nate. What if she freaks out and calls the security?"

"That's the point, Lou. Embrace the cringe, and trust me no one calls security over a lame pickup line," Nate said, nudging him forward.

Lou took a deep breath, his heart pounding in his chest. Here goes nothing, he thought as he walked towards the girl.

"Hi, um, I'm Lou," he stammered, his voice barely above a whisper. "But you can call me boo."

The girl looked up, her eyes wide with surprise, although very quickly they transformed into a disgusted expression, then a just-contained eye roll. "Seriously?" she sneered, turning back to the vinyls. "Get lost, creep."

Lou's face burned with embarrassment. He wanted to melt into the floor, but he couldn't move. His tongue felt thick and heavy in his mouth, and his mind was a blank slate.

"I... uh..." he stammered, his voice barely a whisper. "I just wanted to say..."

The girl's eyes narrowed, her patience wearing thin. "Look, I'm not interested," she said, her voice cold and dismissive. "Just leave me alone."

Lou's heart sank. He knew he had messed up, but he couldn't help but feel a pang of disappointment. He had hoped that his cringeworthy pick-up line would at least elicit a laugh, but it seemed he had only succeeded in making her angry.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled, his cheeks burning even brighter. "I didn't mean to offend you."

He turned and fled, his legs carrying him as fast as they could away from the scene of his humiliation. But his foot caught on the edge of a display, causing him to stumble and nearly fall. He could hear the girl's laughter echoing behind him, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

As he regained his balance and hurried away, he heard the girl mutter, "What a weirdo."

Lou didn't stop running until he reached Nate, who was doubled over with laughter.

Nate was laughing so hard he had to grab onto a nearby pillar for support. "Dude, that was perfect!" he gasped, rubbing his eyes. "You even faked falling! That was epic"

Lou could barely manage a weak smile. "Yeah, I totally faked that," he mumbled. But then he noticed that he had gained 800 Cringe EXP. He leveled up, and the Cringe Progression Bar had filled up quite a bit. Maybe there was something to this after all.

Lou turned back toward Nate, his face a mix of embarrassment and excitement. "Dude, I just gained 800 Cringe EXP! I'm almost at level 8!"

Nate, still wiping away tears of laughter, gave Lou a high-five. "That's the spirit! See? I told you this would work. Now, let's find you another target. There are plenty more girls in this mall who need a good dose of cringe."

Lou took a moment before speaking again as his face showed him conflicted by doubt for some moments."I'm not sure Nate," he said in such a low tone that most people could barely hear him, "I felt sorry for her actually; she appeared really disgusted."

Nate shrugged his shoulders at Lou and grinned continuously. “Don’t worry about it dude,” he assured him with an unwavering smile.“ It’s all part of the process; besides, you’re doing her a favor. You’re helping her build up her tolerance to disgust.”

At Nate’s twisted logic, Lou couldn’t help but chuckle.“You are something else man.”

Nate winked at him and said, “I know that is why you love me. Now come on, let's go find another damsel in distress.”

Lou murmured, “We’re the ones putting them in distress but okay…”