The walk home was slightly quiet, with Tyler and Devin exchanging a few words between each other.
Tyler saw how hungry his young brother was, from the look on his face, and he decided to not bother him with questions.
When they got home, Tyler immediately went to the kitchen to make the two of them something to eat.
Unfortunately, when he got to the kitchen, he saw there was nothing for him to cook, or anything they could possibly eat.
It was completely empty.
Seeing this, Tyler sighed, as he could already guess that their mother didn't have anything before going to work in the morning. And she probably still hasn't eaten anything by now.
The expression on his face tightened and his fist clenched involuntarily, as he thought of this.
"I need to quickly find a way to fix this," he muttered to himself.
He left the kitchen and made his way upstairs to Devin's room. He knew that the little boy was already aware that there was nothing at home, and wasn't bothered but Tyler can't allow him to go hungry.
Arriving at the door to Devin's bedroom, he knocked once before opening it and walking in.
"Hey, buddy," he said, as he walked to his bed.
Devin could be seen seated on the floor, looking very focused at the books in front of him.
Hearing Tyler's voice, he raised his head and when he saw the tight smile on his face, he lowered his head back into his books.
Tyler saw Devin's actions and sighed inwardly. He walked over to the bed and sat down, quietly watching him work on his assignments for a while.
Devin was a brilliant kid, but his introverted personality and what Tyler would call fear of strangers had always kept him from achieving great things.
And that is one of the things that he's going to change in his life.
"Hey... I want to quickly go and get us something to eat. Can you stay by yourself for a while?" He asked.
Devin curiously raised his head to look at his older brother. He was well aware of their family's situation—the fact that there was nothing to eat at home and how alone they were. That was why he looked at Tyler with curiosity, wondering how he planned to do what he just said.
His curiosity turned to worry the next moment, as he suddenly thought of something.
"Are you going to do something illegal?" He asked, with a worried look on his face.
Tyler couldn't help but smiled at Devin's question.
Something illegal? Most probably, but he doesn't need to tell him.
"Of course not. I'm just going to look around and see what I can do. You're hungry and mom probably hasn't had anything today. I need to get us something to eat," he said, with a reassuring smile.
Devin looked at Tyler's face intently for a few moments, before lowering his head back into his books.
"I know that you're lying, bug bro," he muttered.
"I promise that it's not illegal. Focus on your homework, okay? I will make sure to be back soon," he said to Devin, sighing inwardly, as he ruffled his hair.
He stood up and walked to the door. Standing by the door, he took one more look at Devin who was buried in his homework, and turned to leave.
He made his way downstairs and left the house.
Even though he had told Devin that he was going out to look for something for them, he actually has no idea where to go.
But he was confident that sooner or later, something would definitely come up.
As he walked, he decided to use the time to also check the system. He had already confirmed that he's the only one that can see it, so he doesn't have to worry about anyone else seeing it.
He thought of the screen and immediately, it appeared in front of him like it did when he was in class.
[Name: Tyler Reyes]
[Age: 16]
[Strength: 4—>7]
[Agility: 5 —> 6]
[Stamina: 5]
[Intelligence: 6—>7]
[Stat Point(s): 0]
[System Point(s): 0]
[Mission: None]
[Knowledge]
[System Store]
.....
Tyler would be lying if he said that he has gotten used to this miraculous and fantasy-like thing in front of him.
He smiled when he saw that his Strength stat that was previously the lowest of his stat, was now one of the highest.
With the +1 Strength reward he got from the mission, and the 3 stat points he added to it, it went up from 3 to 7.
As for the information on each stat? It was as if a part of his brain had been unlocked and he now instinctively knew what each stat did and how to use them effectively.
But Tyler wasn't curious about the stats, rather, his focus was more on [Knowledge] and [System Store], as he was curious to know what they were about, and he decided to ask the system's voice.
"System?" He called out, but he got nothing.
He called out a few more times but he didn't get any response. He sighed and focused his attention on the two tabs.
The next moment, he saw two screens appear at each side of the big screen. On each screens were information about the two tabs.
"I see... So, I can purchase Specialised Knowledges from the [System Store] tab and I will be able to see them under the [Knowledge] tabs," he nodded to himself, in understanding.
Having understood what each tabs was about, Tyler was finally getting the idea of what the Core, Primary And Specialised Knowledges are about.
According to the information on the screen, it explained that the [System Store] was structured into four Core Knowledge branches—Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology.
Each Core branch contained multiple Primary branches, and each Primary branch held numerous Specialized Knowledges.
Also, according to the information on the screen, Tyler would first need to unlock a Core knowledge branch, then a Primary knowledge branch under it, then he will be able to purchase a Specialised Knowledge under them.
"I see... So, that's what the One-Time Free Unlock and the 72 hours One-Time 99.9% Discount on Core Knowledge Branch Unlock are for," he nodded to himself in understanding.
But there was one major problem, the amount needed to unlock the Core, Primary and purchase Specialised Knowledges are outrageous!
Just the amount needed for the mandatory unlock of a Core knowledge branch is 1,000 System Points which is $10 million!
"The hell!?" He cursed inwardly.
$10 million?!
Even considering how expensive things were in the future due to inflation, $10 million was more than enough to retire on—let alone now. It was beyond life changing.
If he had $10 million then, there was definitely no way that he will be working his ass off doing a 9-5 job, trying to scrap by each day, while living in a dingy apartment.
"I guess that's why the system gave me that One-Time 99.9% discount, causing the amount needed for a Core knowledge branch unlock to drop drastically from $10 million, to 10 System Points which is $10,000," he muttered, sighing inwardly.
The problem was that even $10,000 was still a lot for him. Especially for 16 year old who was still in high school.
Tyler smiled wryly, as he was being reminded of just how badly he needs money.
"Well, I won't have to worry about money for long, as I can use my information from the future to make lots of money. But to achieve that, I need capital," he said to himself.
"...And I know just where to get it."
He immediately turned and started walking towards a particular house, down the street.