Confusion painted itself all over Jin's face, "Baron!?"

Baron waved, "Baron came to see Jin…"

Jin raised a brow, "Yeah, but—in the bathroom?"

He hadn't responded, he simply grinned widely, and suddenly disappeared before Jin's bewildered eyes.

Jin quickly looked around the bathroom; veering his body in a rotating motion—in light of finding him somewhere around, but couldn't.

'Okay. He left. But did he leave my house entirely? I don't know.'

'I got four upgrade points from leveling up just now.'

'I already know exactly what I'm gonna spend them on…"

He thought about opening his system screen; and just like that—it appeared before his partially opened eyes.

He then hovered a finger over the 'Stats' tab, and pressed on it. Accordingly, he was taken to yet another screen.

[Stats]

[Strength: 1]

[Health: 10]

[Speed: 2]

[Skill: 5]

[Available UP points : 4]

There were pluses after each specified area; which were the buttons that allowed the user to spend UP points in a specific criterion upon touching them.

Jin decided to spend his points in the Strength criterion given that it was such an important category, yet he was rather vulnerable here.

Standing with a towel wrapped around his lower body, he raised an index finger once again. Using this said index finger, he tapped on the plus button next to the 'Strength' text.

Consecutively; he heard a profoundly satisfying, ambient sound, and then the number '1' cranked all the way up to a 5.

From the time he had spent all of his four upgrade points on the Strength criterion, he felt an upsurge of power within him; channeling through his body.

What's more, his body glowed brightly green in an instant—and the luminosity disappeared before he could discern it fully once again.

[Stats]

[Strength:5]

[Health: 10]

[Speed: 2]

[Skill: 5]

[Available UP points : 0]

He balled his fists, "I feel stronger already…"

Suddenly, he heard his shouted name sound through the air, entering his ears.

"JIN!!???"

To him, it sounded like Ashton's high-pitched voice. Upon overthinking all the possible reasons why Ashton would call out for him so loudly, he could not take the slightest risk—a risk like ignoring a friend's call when it could be important.

Pivoting on his feet, he rushed through the house; bursting through his bathroom and then his bedroom door.

And the first thing he had landed eyes upon, was Baron standing before his friends.

Ashton, trembling while standing two meters away from Baron, peered over at Jin, and cried, "Jin! This guy just appeared in your house!"

Dobby was in front of Ashton; looking daggers straight into Baron's eyes, "You're an elf like me—but if you think you could just break into people's houses and do whatever the hell you wanna," he glared, "Think again."

Jin hurried over to them. He stood in the middle of Baron and Dobby.

"Dobby, it's okay. Technically, he didn't break in…"

"Whaddya mean? So," Dobby knotted his brows, "You don't have a problem with this creep being here? Do you even know him!?"

Jin exhaled stressfully, "Yes, I do…"

Baron took a step forward, standing beside Jin, "Baron is friend."

Jin smiled at him, "Yeah, guys," he folded his arms, "Baron's a good guy. He's really friendly."

Suddenly Baron disappeared, and reappeared before Ashton. Instantly both Dobby and Ashton's eyes expanded as they feasted eyes upon such a jarrying sight.

Ashton flung himself on the floor, and started looking up at the towering Baron, "HE JUST—"

"Teleported," interjected Jin.

Dobby aggressively pushed Baron on his back, "What do you think you're doing, huh!?"

Baron quickly spun around and grimaced at him, "Baron is confused."

"Don't play stupid! You just used an Ability! An illegal one!"

He looked at Jin, "Jin, you knew about this? You've been hanging around with Ability Runners!?"

"Yeah but," Jin scratched his head, "They're good people—all of them."

"How could you be so sure about that!?"

"After spending a day with them…I guess I kinda just know this now."

"Baron is still confused."

Jin quickly consoled him, "It's okay, Baron. You're using an Ability, and like Dobby said, it's an illegal one. So my other friends are just a little shaken."

Ashton stood, "So…he's not gonna hurt us?"

Jin smiled at him, "He's not gonna hurt us."

Dobby's facial expression softened, "If you lay as much as a finger on any of my friends, I'm gonna break it despite being an elf too, you hear me?"

Baron nodded his head.

Dobby's glassy eyes disappeared, "Can you," he blushed, "Show is your ability again?"

Baron suddenly disappeared.

"Where'd he go?"

"Baron is over here…"

They had turned around only to see him sitting on the couch behind Ashton, with his legs crossed and his arms folded; a smile tricked on his face.

Dobby's eyes widened, "It really is fucking teleportation!"

Ashton fixed his glasses, "Isn't it illegal though? And how come he's able to use it? Was it not suppressed when he was born?"

Jin looked at him, "That I can't answer, bud.

All I know is that Ability Runners find all kinds of ways to get their Abilities illegally reawakened."

"Yeah, it's true. But most of them go through all the insanity to simply get their Abilities back in order to do crime more effectively."

Dobby looked at Jin, "Yeah. Ability Runners are mostly criminals," he looked over at Baron who was now in the kitchen, "Are you sure he isn't one of them?"

'They did say they were in a gang but I don't think it's that kind of gang…'

He then answered, "No, I'm pretty sure he isn't…"

Ashton stood next to them, "I still can't believe we're so close to someone with an Ability!"

Dobby started to crimonsed. In jubilation, he hopped on his feet multiple times with excited eyes, "I can't believe it either, Ashton!"

Ashton turned to Dobby, "We always wanted Abilities since we were little, and that's why we wanted to join the Military or become cops or something," his face tinged, "Never thought I would get to see someone using one so soon!"

"Okay," Jin smiled at them, "I'm not wearing any clothes. So talk to Baron for a bit while I'm gone, would you?"

"Uhm…sure…"

"Jin if he hurts us when you're gone, I'm gonna hurt you!"

"Whatever. He won't anyway…"

***

Jin changed into his clothes, and laid down on his bed in his bedroom.

He still had Alura's kiss prevalent throughout his mind; he could remember every fine detail about that first-time experience.

He even dreamed about her already.

He could not believe that he had gotten kissed by a girl. Sure, his lingering, shit-eating virginity still held him in the wrath of its seemingly inescapable chains.

But at this rate, he felt like it would be obliterated by a woman in no time.

[One of your active skills strengthens]

[+1 Exp]

He was wrapped up in his thoughts for a while, but then he remembered something and quickly snapped out of it. He remembered someone. Someone he was supposed to be taking care of. Someone who had outright slipped his mind.

He remembered his grandmother.

Quickly, he rushed outside with the bowls of soup. And he could already feel eyes stuck to him when he had only just left his room.

"Hey, Jin…you're back.'

He ran past his friends.

"You're right about Baron, by the way, he's really cool. He told us about his disorder."

Ignoring them, he rushed towards the microwave, opened it, placed the brown bag that accommodated the soup inside, and closed it shut.

"Why are you in a hurry?"

He stood in the kitchen, impatiently waiting for the soup to finish heating up.

"Baron wants to know why Jin's in a hurry as well…"

When the soup was finished heating, he took it out of the microwave, and rushed out of the kitchen.

"Where're you headed, Jin? I've got something to tell you…"

Once again, Jin, darting up the staircase to the second floor, ignored them.

The only thing that was important to him now was his grandmother who he could no longer disdain further for anything.

He rammed into her door with his upper arm, and went pitching into her bedroom. As soon as he had regained his balance, he peered at her.

Immediately, his eyes widened in shock.

Filling almost every inch and corner of the room; there lingered an ominous aura, dispersing out from his grandmother's body and scattering all over the room in a deliberate motion.

The grim, brood aura whispered his name in a way that he could not at all hear clearly. He felt like cursing it, but its menacing appearance deterred him right then.

His incredibly pale grandmother laid right where he had left her; motionless on her bed.

"Grandma," he uttered in a keening tone that seized her attention.

He knelt beside her bed, holding a hand of hers, "Grandma, can you hear me?"

Her eyelids slowly raised, "J-Jin?"

"Grandma," he whimpered, "Here, I've brought you some soup. You'll need to drink it if you want to gain some strength."

"Jin, where were you yesterday?"

His eyes averted, "I was looking for a job…"

"All day?"

"Yeah…"

"Jin," she frowned, "Please, don't kill yourself for me. Don't."

"I don't care what happens to me, grandma," he whimpered, "It doesn't matter. I just need you alive, you hear me?"

He sniffled, "I don't have anyone else! You're the last piece of family I've got! You can't die on me now! I'll call a doctor for you. They've got healing abilities…"

"We can't afford a doctor right now, Jin. The hospital's not a place where people get taken care of for free anymore. You have to pay for healers or medication…"

Jin clenched his fists, "Well then I'll pay for healers or medication!"

"We don't have any money, remember?"

"Well then I'll work for money!"

She smiled.

"Grandma, let me feed you your soup. I'll help you get up so you can eat."

"Jin, I'm being serious," she furrowed her brows, "I don't want you going through hell for me."

"Grandma, I don't care. If you die on me now, I'll just kill myself anyway."

"You won't…you're smarter than that."

"I would!"

"Then again, if you die soon after me, I'll kill you…"

"How you're gonna kill me when you're all the way up in heaven," he smiled, "I'd be in hell if I committed suicide."

"Well then I'll find a way to kill you all the way from heaven!"

He grimaced, "Won't I already be dead?"

"Well then I'll kill you again…"

"You can't do that!"

Dobby showed up, standing next to him, "Well then I'll do it for her!"

"You can't do that either!"

Ashton stood next to Dobby, "Well then I'll do it for him!"

They all laughed, looked each other in the eyes, and smiled softly.