The morning sun hit differently, not like the other ones I had felt before. After leaving the still traumatized Maya, I stood outside the boutique, catching my reflection in the window, and barely recognized myself. That guy staring back? I actually liked him, way more than the old guy.
The clothes were perfect; they weren't flashy, just right. Dark jeans that fit, a black crewneck in this stupidly soft cotton that probably cost way too much, and a charcoal bomber jacket that sat on my shoulders like it was custom-made for me.
The shoes, though! Black leather sneakers so clean they looked like an art piece from the guy who painted the Mona Lisa painting. The whole outfit had this quiet confidence thing going. Money without the desperation—exactly the style I'd been going for.
I stood there for another minute, just taking it in. The way the jacket moved when I shifted my weight. How the jeans didn't bunch up at the ankles like every other pair I'd ever owned in my life. Even my posture looked better, straighter somehow. Maybe it was the clothes or my new confidence. Or, maybe it was something else, I don't know.
My phone buzzed. That familiar vibration that used to make my stomach drop.
Regina: Leo, come to my office now. Bring the Anders contract, and don't be late.
The Anders contract. The one my ex Elise shredded like confetti yesterday, laughing while the pieces rained down around me. The reason I should be getting canned today. The reason I'd spent last night staring at my ceiling, wondering if I'd be able to make rent.
Weirdly, even after all this, I still felt anxious about meeting her empty-handed. That document was so important, though.
Still, I pushed the feeling aside and smiled. Yeah, I'd bring something to her office alright, just not that contract.
I grabbed a cab, sank into the leather seat, and let my mind drift inward. The system's blue interface flickered to life behind my eyes, visible only to me. I was shocked to see that it was changing, transforming into something no different from a cheat code in a game.
[Welcome, Host Leo.]
Something new caught my eye, blinking next to my regular system points total.
AURA FARMING POINTS: 175
One seventy-five? Where'd that come from? I focused on it, and a little explanation box popped up.
[Aura Points are earned through public acts that generate admiration, awe, or fascination. Points are calculated based on the number of witnesses and the intensity of their reaction.]
My mind raced. The coffee shop, the fight with that robber, the cops showing up. Maya watched the whole thing unfold. People saw, and they reacted. They felt something, so the system turned all of that into currency.
I pulled up another strange thing I was seeing, "The shop menu." What popped up made me nearly choke on nothing.
[System Shop - Aura Exchange]
It was insane. A whole catalogue of abilities I could just... buy. Like scrolling through some cosmic Amazon.
Performance Skills: Pro-level golf for 500 points. Black belt karate for 800. Guitar virtuoso at 600, golden singing voice at 450. All with little notes about how performing them publicly would rake in even more Aura Points from impressed crowds. It was a feedback loop. Get good at something flashy, show it off, earn more points, and get better at more things.
Then the social stuff got weird in the best way possible. I saw skills, like the one I had gained called "level one flirting." The new skills read:
Uno Reverse (200 AP): Never get owned in an argument again. Instant comebacks that flip any insult back on whoever threw it. The description promised "devastating wit" and "guaranteed embarrassment for your opponent."
Aura Light (300 AP): Walk into a room and become the gravitational center. Everyone looks at you without knowing why. The description called it "becoming the main character for dummies."
I almost laughed. Almost bought it right there.
But the physical upgrades? Those made my pulse spike. And apparently, these only worked with system points.
Penis enlargement, one inch for a thousand points. Full beard growth for 150. Perfect hair that'd never thin or gray for 200. Two extra inches of height for 2,500, a metabolism boost, and six-pack abs. They were all permanent and real.
I could build myself from scratch. I became whoever I wanted, piece by piece. The ultimate customization screen, except it was my actual body. The possibilities made my head spin. I could walk into Regina's office today as new-clothes Leo. But give me a few weeks, a few more public moments, and I could walk in there as a completely different person. Taller, more handsome, and more confident.
"So there are two types of points: Aura farming points and system points. The aura farming points bought the skills, while the system points bought the physical upgrades? Fascinating!" I muttered, causing the cab driver to look at me weird.
The cab stopped outside my office building.
It was all glass and steel, looming like a giant creature trying to scare me. Before, walking through those doors meant eight hours of getting stepped on. Today it just looked like a game board to me.
I paid the driver, overtipped because I could, and walked through the lobby. Sneakers quiet on the marble. The same stale coffee smell mixing with cleaning solution. The same fluorescent buzz that always gave me headaches. (sighs...) But breathing it in felt different now.
I was almost at the elevators, maybe about fifteen feet away, when I heard him.
"Well, look what the cat dragged in. Cutting it a little fine, aren't we, Landon?"
Derek, the office parasite and Regina's lapdog. The human equivalent of a hangnail that never quite heals. He was posted up by the reception desk with a stack of files tucked under one arm, wearing that same greasy smirk he always had. His eyes swept over me in that automatic dismissive way, then stopped.
He noticed the clothes, the shoes, and how I was standing with my shoulders back instead of hunched.
For half a second, the smirk slipped. Confusion flickered across his face. Then he doubled down, like he always did when something didn't fit his worldview.
"Did you finally find a thrift store that wasn't completely pathetic?" He stepped closer and shoved the files at my chest. Papers shifted and threatened to spill.
"Take these up to accounting. I've got an actual meeting."
(Sighs..) This was the same old Derek. Dumping his work on me because he could. Because the old Leo would've just taken it, mumbled something apologetic, and shuffled off with his head down. That's what I always did; guys like Derek loved that shit.
Ohh no, no, no, not today. I didn't move my body, but my eyes looked at him in amusement.
The files hit my jacket and dropped. Papers exploded across the pristine floor, spreading out in a wide fan of white.
Derek's face went blank. Like I'd just slapped him or something. "What the hell? Pick those up!"
I looked down at the mess. White sheets everywhere, some of them sliding across the smooth marble. Then back at him. His face was red now, that vein in his forehead starting to bulge. But I wasn't even mad. It was almost funny. All these years of taking his crap, and all I had to do was... nothing. Just not play the game.
I smiled—slow and easy, the type of smile that would leave anyone in Derek's position confused.
"I'd love to help, Derek, really. But it looks like you dropped them." I tilted my head slightly. "You should probably handle that. Wouldn't want people thinking you're sloppy or clumsy. A bad look for someone gunning for senior analyst."
His mouth fell open in utter bewilderment, then it closed in shock. Then opened again without a sound.
The elevator dinged. Talk about perfect timing. The doors slid open with a soft hiss. I stepped in, turned around, and watched his face as the doors began to slide shut.
He was frozen in place, mouth hanging open, eyes wide like I'd just told him the earth is flat and the moon landing was faked.
His brain was clearly trying to reboot, trying to make sense of what just happened. Trying to fit this version of me into the box where he'd kept the old Leo in.
Did Leo Landon just say no? Did he just... walk away?
The doors closed on his stupid, shocked face, and I felt the elevator rise. Ahh yes, the satisfaction of putting a bully in their place, with so much efficiency that they couldn't respond. It was a feeling I could get used to.
Regina's office was on the twelfth floor. I watched the numbers climb higher. Three, four, five. Usually, this ride made me nauseous.
Let her wait there; let her wonder where her favorite punching bag went. Let her sit there getting more pissed off with every minute I was late. Little did she know the guy she remembered? He was gone.
AND SHE WAS ABOUT TO MEET HIS REPLACEMENT.