Chapter 4

Elen Stavros!

I listened to the manager's in silence, my indignation building with each word. Of course, I knew exactly who it was. The person who filed the complaint could only be Elen. When I broke up with her back then... well, let's just say some people don't handle rejection gracefully, especially when they're used to being worshipped.

You see, Elen wasn't just popular in school - she was the kind of beauty that made anime protagonist entrance scenes look understated. How many guys had fallen for her? I'd lost count. Add to that her perfect nuclear family with their respectable office jobs, while I was the classic orphan protagonist with only a sister to my name. Talk about a setup for a drama series.

In terms of both pedigree and appearance, she was flawless. Picture this: this ethereal goddess, who could have starred in any romance drama, somehow ended up choosing plain old Marco. From her perspective, I was the equivalent of a side character who'd stumbled into the lead role. How dare a guy who needed several social class power-ups just to be considered her equal have the audacity to initiate a breakup?

But that's exactly what I did - I broke the script and dumped her!

Elen must have been running scenario analyses in her head ever since, trying to figure out where her character arc went wrong. And now, after I stained her dress? Well, let's just say revenge flags were raising faster than death flags in a final boss battle.

I wasn't surprised. What truly broke my heart was how we'd gone from co-starring in a romance to playing antagonists in each other's stories...

I sighed, not bothering to argue with the manager. 150$? Fine. I was already in the final chapter of my story anyway. My only remaining concern was my sister - the one plot thread I couldn't leave unresolved.

Complaints? Dismissal? Bring it on, Elen. Do your worst. My remaining runtime is limited anyway.

The exhaustion debuff weighed heavily as I silently left the manager room. No words needed here.

By the time I reached my base of operations - I mean, home - it was already eleven. I lived in the old dormitory area of the Mons Viridis Chemicals, a remnant from my parents' backstory. Though it had all the charm of a starter area, the rent was cheap – 75$ a month for a two-bedroom apartment, perfect for a tragic sibling duo.

My sister was already in sleep mode by this hour. Entering her room, my heart clenched at her haggard appearance. It was as if we'd both rolled critical failures on our health checks - I got liver cancer, she got lung cancer. Both were the kind of status effects you couldn't just heal with a potion.

At first, I wondered if we'd somehow triggered a family curse event. Later, I learned about cancer's hereditary tendencies - though siblings don't necessarily inherit the same type. My sister's lung cancer was stage three, slightly better than my stage four liver cancer. Her condition could still be managed with the right item buffs.

As for me? The doctors had already suggested palliative care - basically the game's way of telling you to prepare for the ending credits. They wanted me to stop wasting resources on a lost cause.

I understood the meta. I didn't reject their treatment plan. This wasn't giving up - it was resource management. My sister still had a chance of maintaining stable HP. If she could survive, I was willing to take the fall damage.

I still remember my parents' final cutscene, when they held my hand and made me promise to take care of my sister. I swore I wouldn't abandon her, even if it meant sacrificing myself to complete this quest.

"Brother..." My sister suddenly stirred - probably my stealth stats weren't high enough when opening the door. She rubbed her sleepy eyes, looking at me standing by her bed.

"Have you eaten?" I asked, carefully avoiding any mention of my hot pot restaurant encounter. As her brother, I had a responsibility to maintain her happiness stats.

"Yes, have you?" she replied.

"Of course. And your medicine?" I pressed, activating my daily care-check dialogue options.

She smiled, "Took that too, of course."

I nodded, preparing to exit the room. But then my gaze caught the three photos on the wall - critical story items if I ever saw them. One showed our parents' wedding, another our complete family unit. Though they'd been removed from the active character roster, my sister never unequipped these memories.

The last photo was from my high school graduation - featuring none other than Elen and me. Past-me was making faces behind her, perfectly captured by the camera. Looking at our seventeen-year-old character models, especially those genuine smiles... Back then, our relationship parameters were maxed out, our eyes containing only each other.

But that save file was long gone.

Shaking my head, I retreated to my room, downed a bowl of medicine, and initiated sleep mode. Night passed without event flags.

The next day.

Under the manager's new quest parameters, I started collecting kitchen waste. The hot pot restaurant generated enough to fill three large barrels every hour. My mission: transport these to a biofuel processing plant several kilometers away.

The manager equipped me with a manual tricycle - clearly a low-tier item with rusted chain and questionable brakes. Not exactly top-tier gear, but I had no choice but to work with what I had.

Despite my health debuff making pedaling a challenge, most of the route had convenient downhill segments where I could catch my breath and conserve stamina. After half a day of grinding, I'd pretty much mastered this waste delivery minigame.

Evening brought increased customer activity, reducing barrel fill time from an hour to thirty minutes. I had to up my delivery speed. Fortunately, I'd mapped all the downhill shortcuts to the processing plant during my daytime runs.

However...

My good fortune buff didn't last long.

During one of my countless waste runs, while coasting downhill, I suddenly encountered a Mercedes-Benz with high beams activated heading straight for me - a wild boss appeared! I desperately tried to brake, but the tricycle's faulty mechanics combined with the downhill momentum created an unavoidable event trigger.

I yanked the handlebar, attempting to dodge the luxury vehicle.

BANG!

The extreme turn sent my tricycle crashing into a utility pole. The impact launched all three barrels of waste into the air, with one barrel scoring a direct hit on the Mercedes.

I mentally prepared for the incoming damage calculation. This Mercedes was clearly a late- model, pristinely maintained. These weren't just transportation items - they were status symbols. While my waste attack wouldn't permanently damage the car, transforming a luxury vehicle into a garbage truck would definitely trigger some serious aggro.

The driver would definitely demand compensation!

And not the small-change kind!

"I'm so sorry..."

I scrambled to my feet, spamming apology dialogue before the driver could even exit. The car door opened with cinematic timing.

Then, that impossibly familiar woman stepped into view.

"Elen! It's you!"

I stared in shock as the final boss revealed herself.