Chương 10: Should I Become A Hopper?

Saturday. Something that I didn't expect would happen, happened. I was at the town centre, going out with my friends. And those friends were Theo, Ben and Maya. What did I end up doing to have three friends walking with me on the streets of town? The answer was obvious: I became a skill user, and even though I initially saw those three as colleagues rather than friends, they somehow became my friends.

Yes, maybe being a skill user and eventually a Hopper was a job rather than a social outing with friends, but having an outing with colleagues was still normal. Straight after that training session, the four of us all exchanged system user IDs and spent hours on end chatting and introducing each other, reaping the immense benefits of being skill users. And at no point during that conversation did I ever say 'I have to go' early. I never thought I was going to enjoy messaging my friends on an online group chat.

"I was thinking about it," Theo said while we walked down the high street, "but maybe being a Hopper isn't a bad idea after all."

"What makes you say that?" Maya was intrigued.

"You know, I've always been a school bully," Theo continued.

"I get into trouble almost every other day, and I know it. My parents know it. I've been thinking about this for a long time, but maybe there are wild animals out there that I can bully without getting into trouble. Then I can say to my mother that I've changed and turned over a new leaf." I couldn't believe it. I didn't know which side of my brain to trust; one side was annoyed at the fact that Theo would rather bully animals than people, but the other side was relieved that I wouldn't be bullied by him anymore.

Ben nodded in agreement.

"It's no fun when you bully people you're already bullied before," he added.

"Sometimes I feel like I'm getting bored of bullying the people in my school. I feel like it's time for a change." Maya pulled a straight face. I could tell she was wondering whether those two were just stupid or genuinely wanting to change their ways. But that was when Theo and Ben turned their attention to me. I almost flinched.

"Hey Robert," Theo said in a more sympathetic tone.

"Don't think that we've forced you to come with us. It's nothing like that. Ben and I are genuinely thinking about changing our ways, and we are thinking about putting a stop to our bullying." Well, he did seem genuine there, I guess. Maybe the side of the brain that was relieved should be the side I should trust.

"We're really sorry," Ben said, almost shouting into my ear.

"We're really sorry for bullying you over the years, and we're really sorry for bullying everyone that we've bullied. We promise we won't ever do it again." I turned to face Ben. He looked like he was going to bow his head in front of me or kneel for forgiveness. He looked like he was going to do anything to repent for his sins.

"We'll act as your bodyguards," Ben continued, showing immense regret.

"You might not believe us, but we're actually really good at fighting! And our main skill allows us to have enhanced strength! We'll repay you by protecting you at any cost and make sure you're not hurt anywhere!" I smiled. Although I thought this was overkill, I never thought I was going to be smiling at Ben, but here I was, living my wildest dreams as a skill user and making friends with bullies. Without even influencing the plot of Night Hoppers.

"I forgive you," I said quietly.

"Theo, you too. You promised to never bully people again, and I believe that you won't. Now that you've all apologised, how about we all get some food?" Theo and Ben cheered. Maya just smiled at me.

"I'm glad you made up for everything," Maya said, beaming and smiling at me. She was extremely beautiful when she smiled, and it looked like she was sparkling with glitter whenever she did.

"That's one problem taken care of." We walked to a fast-food place just outside the main shopping mall. Theo and Ben ordered a truckload of fries, which I thought didn't suit their appearances as healthy, athletic boys. Whilst eating, Theo reached into his pocket and took out the mana crystals Cayman had given him. He seemed to have mixed emotions about receiving them and feeling them with his own hands. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"I wonder," he said whilst admiring the crystals. He was in awe.

"I wonder whether we can really get more of these. They look extremely valuable."

"We could be rich," Ben said whilst taking his crystals out. They were the same shade of blue as Theo's crystals, and they looked almost identical. I followed suit. I made sure no one could take the crystals by storing them in a box which I kept hidden in my desk drawer. I was extremely glad they weren't stolen. I was about to admire the beauty of the crystals, like Theo and Ben, but suddenly, a message window popped up on my system.

Blue Mana Crystals Level: Basic Description: Crystals given as rewards for killing basic-level mana beasts. Can be exchanged for cash, used to upgrade skills, used to create new skills or used to upgrade your traits. So it was possible to exchange it for money in the real world. But the system didn't tell me how much. It could be exchanged for a single pound, or in the best-case scenario, a single crystal could go for a hundred pounds or more. We could easily be rich just from defeating mana beasts!

Despite reading Night Hoppers ten times, I couldn't vividly remember how much each mana crystal was sold for. But that didn't really matter since in the novel they would most likely be exchanged for the currency of Cayman and Ellie's home planet.

"We could be rich!" Ben shouted all of a sudden. He must've also read the system message about the crystals.

"No more real jobs for me then!"

"Shhhh!" Maya shushed Ben after he finished his outburst.

"We're in public. Look at how many people there are. What if someone finds out? Cayman will be screwed!"

"Relax," Ben said.

"They might only think I've just won the lottery or something." There was no trace of Ben's extremely angry response and subsequent bullying after Maya's nervous response. His response was calm and composed. Maybe Ben truly had changed. Maya sighed, taking out her own crystals. I could tell she also wanted to admire the beauty of the otherworldly crystals in her delicate hands.

"Listen," Theo said after he almost finished his fries.

"I want everyone here to listen to me. This may look like a normal outing, but I wanted to really discuss whether we should be Hoppers or not."

"Relax," Ben said, reassuring his oldest friend.

"We just said that we would protect Robert at any cost, right? We'll definitely become Hoppers. Don't worry." Maya looked at Theo with a slightly distressed face.

"I don't think he means that," she said apprehensively.

"I think Theo's thinking of more than just protecting each other." Ben turned to face Maya.

"What could he be talking about then?" Maya said, "Being a Hopper is about more than just protecting each other and working together. There are so many other risks of being a Hopper, and the most severe risks could be a risk to our lives." Surprisingly enough, Ben was listening, which was something he almost never did in class.

"Remember what Cayman said about the mana beasts?" Maya continued.

"They're dangerous. Higher-level beasts could kill us. Those mana lions we defeated might not be enough to kill people, but maybe advanced-level beasts might, and those might be the things we have to kill to reach stage 3." Theo nodded, indicating that he knew.

"Are you comfortable with travelling to different planets? We were all taught that only astronauts could go to outer space, and even then, they haven't been to other planets outside of Earth before. Are you sure you're up for it?" Maya was playing the role of an apprehensive, skeptical worrier to perfection.

"I've considered everything," Theo replied confidently and with pride.

"I've done extensive research for the past few days to prepare for Hopper training. Do you really think I would go unprepared? Maya, at the end of the day, I just want your clarification. I just want to make sure everybody is OK with becoming Hoppers." When Maya mentioned the stage system, I just remembered that I had progressed to stage 2. I looked at my profile.

Name: Robert Ryan Age: 17 Height: 5'9" Level: Basic (stage 2, 0/250 XP) Main skill: Reading Bubble Other skills: Teleportation (basic), Recovery (basic), Strength (basic), Healing (basic) Traits: Strength: 20 Agility: 10 Locked????? Locked????? Locked????? Locked????? Something was different. I had been paying close attention to the system and my profile. I was certain that there were six traits that said 'Locked?????' before, but now there were only four traits that were locked and two that were unlocked.

I had strength? And agility? Maybe this was my time to break free from being that weak nobody. I could actually improve my traits and get stronger. Once I closed my system, I put my hand up.

"I want to be a Hopper," I said confidently. Maybe my social awkwardness had finally disappeared from me after all.

"I want to grow, use new skills and get stronger." Theo and Ben's faces lit up.

"That's the spirit, Robert, my guy!" Theo said; he was extremely elated.

"I knew you were going to be a good friend and a good role model to learn from."

"You're extremely determined," Ben added.

"Although you may seem shy and quiet on the outside, there's a spark in you that's going to ignite at any moment. You will become stronger. You will excel as a Hopper. I believe in you." At that moment, I couldn't believe I was receiving praise from a bully. Maya smiled.

"Don't worry about us. We've all made our decisions. We're all going to become Hoppers for different reasons. Now you've got us by your side. We won't leave you no matter what."

"Well said," Theo said, lightly clapping.

"So we've made up our minds, right? We will become Hoppers and overcome the risks of death and injury. We've decided that the benefits of being Hoppers outweigh the costs. There's no turning back now, guys. We're going to tell Cayman the news ASAP." Everyone nodded with a confident look on their faces.

"OK then," Theo continued, getting up from his seat.

"How about we enjoy today, because today might be the last day of us living completely normal lives before we go off on our journey as Hoppers. What do we say?" After that, we must've been out in town for at least three more hours, since by the time we said goodbye to each other, it was already pitch black outside. And even after we had said goodbye in person, we spent another two or so hours chatting on the newly-created group chat on the system. That was simply the power of friendship.

Despite not having any friends in the past, I still cherished that moment, since it might be the last fragment of normality I could hold on to before becoming a Hopper.