NOVEL NEXT Chapter 2: Chapter 2: The System
[You have (x1) Mystery Box available! Would you like to open it?]
"Yes!" Mathew sat up with a large grin. In front of him, a bright ball of light appeared, bathing his bedroom in an ethereal glow. The ball of light quickly shifted into a cube before a flash of light momentarily blinded Mathew.
Blinking away the black dots that swarmed his vision, Mathew found a small blue and white present floating in the air.
Not one to wait, he grabbed the box, causing whatever magical or otherworldly power that kept the box suspended in midair to leave. Just before he undid the present's ribbons, Mathew paused.
"The System said that I could win any random skill or item. Could that mean I could possibly win a nuke?" Mathew pondered, his eyes fixed on the box. Despite his trepidation, his natural curiosity overpowered his caution. "Meh, what's the worst that could happen?"
Undoing the gift box's ribbon, another bright glow filled the room for a split second. Mathew squinted his eyes as he found a black and blue backpack in his hands. "A… backpack? What kind of luck do I have?" Mathew said in surprise and disappointment.
[You have won the Infinity Backpack! The Infinity Backpack allows you to store an infinite amount of objects within its magical space!]
"Apparently, I have great luck!" Mathew grinned as he unzipped one of the backpack's compartments and peered inside. Inside the backpack was a never-ending void of space, filled with various colors and shooting stars. It was as if the backpack held the very cosmos themselves. Mathew was captivated. "Holy crap. This is amazing."
Turning to his Batman comic, Mathew grabbed the book and deposited the comic into the backpack. But after letting go of the comic, the book disappeared into the hidden cosmos. "Hm, now that I think about it. How am I supposed to find whatever I throw in here? If this backpack holds infinite space, then I won't be able to find my stuff!"
With a frown, Mathew hesitated before he stuck his forearm into his backpack. Inside the backpack was nothing. It was as if everything was missing in the cosmic space. It wasn't cold nor hot, and as he waved his arm back and forth, Mathew felt no air resistance.
With a low hum, Mathew tried to feel around within the infinite space, but nothing he did helped him find his comic.
"Come on, give me my comic, you dumb backpack," Mathew said. Suddenly, he felt the familiar texture of printed paper in his hand. After he pulled his arm out of the backpack, Mathew smiled at the sight of his Batman comic. He then threw the comic book back inside the infinity backpack and quickly pulled it out once more. "I see. It seems I need to have a clear image of what I want to pull out for it to work. How nifty."
Placing his comic beside him, Mathew zipped up his new magical backpack and placed it on the ground. "If this is a glimpse at what I can win from these mystery boxes, I wonder what other awesome rewards I can win."
Mathew grinned as his mind ran through all the possible items he could win. Could he win items from video games or movies? Perhaps even objects from some cartoons and anime he used to watch. "A lightsaber would be amazing." Mathew chuckled as he lay on his bed with his arms behind his head.
Despite the excitement of receiving his very own System and being part of a sitcom television show brought to life, Mathew felt all of the day's exhaustion catch up to him. Slowly, his eyes closed until his breath slowed into a rhythmic dull.
••o••o••o••
"Okay! Let's test out this System of mine!"
Mathew finished his stretches and gazed out at the quiet suburbs of his new neighborhood. It was early morning, and the soft light of dawn filled the city of Los Angeles. He bent down to tighten his shoelaces, then jumped to his feet with a grin.
"Alright, let's do this." Mathew pushed forward, beginning to jog through the streets of his new neighborhood. As he ran, his mind wandered back to everything he could recall from watching Modern Family. "Man, I can barely remember anything—just bits and pieces from random episodes and how the characters behaved. Other than that, I've got nothing." Mathew exhaled as he left the neighborhood and arrived at the Cheviot Hills Recreational Center.
The location was vast and open, with a golf course nearby. As Mathew explored, he noticed several other people taking early morning walks and jogs. Some even had their dogs accompanying them.
"If I knew I was going to end up here, I would have kept watching it. The most I watched was up to season 6 or something like that." Mathew said as he gave a friendly wave to an old couple. "Oh well. What can you do? I'll go with the flow for now." He said as he finally came to a stop, his chest rising and falling as he felt the last four miles he jogged nonstop.
[Your Stamina has improved by 1 point!]
[Your Running/Jogging Skill has improved by 1 point!]
Seeing the system prompts, Mathew grinned at his progress. After catching his breath and calming his heart, he burst forward and continued jogging. Quickly, his jog turned into an all-out run.
Those at the recreational center watched Mathew run with surprising speed. However, upon seeing his excited and determined expression, Mathew's fellow early-morning joggers pushed themselves to move a little faster.
••o••o••o••
Sharp, quick exhales filled the backyard of the Johnson home as Mathew shadow-boxed. His face glistened with sweat as he fought against an invisible opponent. Mathew switched between several different combinations he had learned during his five years of training in the sport.
Eventually, Mathew's sharp punches and footwork began to grow sloppy and slow. The built-up exhaustion from his morning eight-mile jog made his limbs feel as if they were full of heavy lead. After throwing one final one-two combo, Mathew stumbled forward and leaned on his knees to steady himself. His breaths came out in fast bursts as he tried to calm his breathing.
[Your Boxing Skill has improved by 1 point!]
"Nice…" Mathew uttered as his breathing finally evened out. After a long exhale, he stood up straight and turned to stare at the morning sky.
"Looking sharp, Matt," Sasha said as she walked out into the back patio with a mug of coffee in her hands. "But your left hook needs some work. You're still over-extending it."
Mathew nodded at her assessment and walked over to grab his bottled water, which rested on the patio railing. "Good morning, Mom."
"Good morning, Matt." Sasha looked out at their large backyard with a faint smile. "I'll tell you this: our backyard back in Chicago isn't anywhere as nice as this one. I can see large barbecues and game days out here."
Mathew looked back and tried to imagine what his mother had said. Slowly, he saw the backyard full of people enjoying some freshly grilled barbecue his mother would cook and their shouts of joy at watching the latest football game. "Yeah. I think I can, too."
Sasha was about to ruffle Mathew's hair affectionately, but she paused when she saw that it was matted in sweat. "Why are you training so early? I usually have to drag you out of bed."
"Ah, that's because I decided that the best way to get used to LA would be to start my routine immediately. Yeah. That way, I can start seeing this as home." Mathew quickly said. There was no way he could explain that he was pushing himself to gain the benefits from his System. Or that he had a cheat system that would one day push him above and beyond normal people. "Yeah. That's why. No other reason."
Sasha eyed him for a moment but decided not to push the issue. As a seasoned detective, she knew her son wasn't being overly truthful, but weren't all kids his age that way? "If you say so. Are you almost done with your workout? We need to unpack all these boxes. Your father almost tripped on one last night."
"Yeah, almost. I have to finish a few more calisthenics." Mathew said as he shook his arms.
Satisfied with his answer, Sasha went back inside to begin the arduous process of unboxing all of their moving boxes. A process that would take most of the day.
"Now then, where were we?" Mathew went down to the ground and began doing his daily push-ups. After finishing 150 push-ups, Mathew moved on to do an equal number of sit-ups, squats, pull-ups, chest dips, and a five-minute long plank.
[Your Strength has improved by 1 point!]
"Just one point after all that?" Mathew gasped out as he lay on the ground. With a groan, he stood up and headed inside his house for a much-needed shower. "It would be helpful if I knew where those points were added to. Wait... Do I have a status window or something? Hmm. Status?"
[STATUS]
[Name: Mathew Johnson | Age: 16]
[Strength: 24 | Speed: 27 | Agility: 22]
[Intelligence: 39 | Perception: 24 | Endurance: 31]
[SKILLS]
[Running/Jogging: 32 | Boxing: 38 | Programming: 29 | Football: 23 | Soccer: 17 | Baseball: 6 | Dancing: 8 | Singing: 5]
[Points Key: Young Adult: 25 | Adult: 45 | Athlete: 55 | Professional: 75 | Human Max: 100]
"Wow!" Mathew exclaimed in surprise as a sudden screen appeared before him. In shock, he stumbled back and crashed into the bathroom door.
"Matt? You alright, son?" Jefferson called out in worry. His legs took him halfway up the stairs before Mathew responded.
"Ah! I'm fine, dad! I uh slipped!" Mathew yelled.
"Alright. Just be careful." Jefferson said and walked back down. "Kids." He murmured with a shake of his head.
"That was unexpected." Mathew sighed as he inspected his status screen. "One hundred points is the human max. But… what would happen if I surpassed that?"
With a thought, Mathew closed his status screen. He turned to the bathroom mirror and stared at himself, a grin erupting on his face.
"Only one way to find out."
-| | |-
AN: Hello~ with two chapters now available; I hope you all are enjoying the story so far. Quick question: Which TV shows or movies do you all think would mesh well with the Modern Family universe for Mathew to interact with? I'm open to suggestions.
〔´∇｀〕
Also, if there are any female leads you would like to see paired with Mathew, let me know. It can be from the main line series or any other show or movie. (≖‿≖)