章 19: Growth.

Hugo stepped out of the bathroom in a cloud of steam, feeling like a man reborn—except instead of majestic, he looked more like a soggy, confused towel monster.

The towel was barely hanging on to his waist, clinging to him for dear life as he tiptoed across the room to avoid slipping on the floor.

The mirror, fogged up and blurry, offered him nothing but a vague outline of his half-naked glory.

He struck what he imagined to be a heroic pose. "Not bad," he muttered to himself, striking a pose that screamed, 'I definitely know what I'm doing.'

His skin tingled from the hot water, and for once in his life, he felt... refreshed?

Was it the new routine? The system? His impending execution?

Afterall, studies have shown that most patients often feel much more alive after being diagnosed with a terminal illness.

Or maybe it was just the fact he hadn't embarrassed himself in the last 24 hours. That had to be a record.

It had been a week since he got the system, and while he still hadn't fully adjusted, things were... happening.

First, he still hadn't attended classes.

After the whole "ass dragon" incident, Hugo had mastered the art of avoiding human contact on campus.

He'd become like a ninja — except instead of dodging deadly weapons, he was dodging eye contact. The mere thought of walking into a classroom and being recognized as "that guy" sent shivers down his spine.

He was now fully versed in every back alley, janitor closet, and bush around the university, all to avoid his peers.

The downside? His knowledge of class material: zero. The upside? Stealth skills had unintentionally leveled up. He had also caught the eyes of the assassin sect patriarch...

At this rate, he was going to evolve into a hermit!

Second, he had been seriously training with Sanchez.

Every day he went to Sanchez's mansion for "training," which was mostly Sanchez demonstrating his ungodly people skills while Hugo scribbled notes in a journal like a laboratory intern.

Sanchez had given him so many tips in those last few days that had been enough to fill 3 journals!

The amount of Rizz knowledge his cousin knew was shocking. Hugo was still in the process of trying to memorize everything!

"Be confident, Hugo. You have to radiate coolness," Sanchez would say, and he would nod and immediately try to replicate it... by tripping over his own feet.

Still, his communication stat had increased by 2 points. Progress!

Now, instead of tripping over his words and feet, he only tripped over the feet part. He could now talk to humans...

Kinda.

Another important thing was his daily bike lessons with Lisa.

Oh sweet sweet Lisa.

Although Hugo could now comfortably ride the electric power bike, why on earth would he let her know that?

As long as she thought he was struggling, the lessons would continue, and there would be more of those sweet, sweet moments of contact.

"Oops, sorry, can you just, uh, hold me steady?" And every time she rolled her eyes but complied, it was like a mini victory.

Little did she know, Hugo was practically ready to join the X Games. But the lessons had to go on... for educational purposes, of course.

The most shocking thing though, was his height growth of 2 inches!

Hugo had been ecstatic when he noticed he'd grown taller. He'd looked in the mirror and done a double take.

"Is that me?" Turns out the plate unlock pills actually worked! He'd walked around with a new swagger — that extra two inches really did wonders for his confidence.

Now, whenever he bumped into something, it wasn't just his clumsiness; it was his new height adjustment, or so he kept telling himself.

He was basically a giant now, in his own mind at least.

"I might as well be an NBA prospect at this point," he mused with a smirk, knowing full well no one was around to hear his delusions of grandeur.

He sincerely hoped the system would give out more plate unlock pills, afterall, he was still considered short at 5'7.

As for the daily missions? Easy.

After completing a string of daily missions (which included tasks like "Make a woman laugh" and "Compliment Lisa without sounding creepy" — not as easy as it sounds), Hugo had racked up enough credits to buy a new aura.

With the credits he'd racked up, he could finally buy a new aura that would (hopefully) make him look a little less like an awkward string bean and more like a confident, slightly less awkward string bean.

He was hoping for something cool, like "Aura of Awesomeness," but the options so far seemed more in the range of "Aura of Not Embarrassing Yourself (Too Much)."

Still, after searching for a long time, he had managed to find another godly aura that would definitely improve his interactions with women.

In fact, this particular aura could be said to be broken!

He could be said to be quite lucky to get it, after all, the auras available in the shop tab refreshed every 24hrs.

Just then, a voice snapped him out of his thoughts. "Yo, Hugo, you done dressing yet?" It was Collins, peeking in from the other room.

His amazing cologne wafted into the room like a divine immortal's fart. He was definitely dressed to kill...

Hugo's heart raced. He suddenly remembered why he'd taken the extra-long shower and why his anxiety was bubbling again.

The twins!

They were meeting the twins again tonight!

Sanchez had somehow managed to set up another double date with the twins. It wasn't really a date per say, it was just a simple meeting after their game.

But to Hugo, this simple meeting could be the difference between life and death!

Hugo scrambled to pull on his clothes, muttering to himself, "I just have to not mess this up...again. This time, it'll go perfectly."

He had the system, some newly unlocked height, and a bike-riding ability he wasn't quite ready to show off just yet. He also had 3 journals worth of Rizz knowledge.

Yeah. What could possibly go wrong?