The Frost mansion was ridiculous. Marble floors, actual servants, a bedroom bigger than my entire apartment in my old life. I could get used to this.
I lasted three days before the guilt caught up with me.
[PERSISTENT QUEST REMINDER][MAJOR QUEST: CALL YOUR MOTHER][REWARD: +10,000 CREDITS][YOU'VE BEEN AVOIDING THIS]
"I know," I muttered, staring at the quest notification. "I'll do it. Eventually."
[NO. YOU'LL DO IT NOW.]
The system wasn't asking anymore. The quest window expanded, filling my vision, refusing to close.
[YOU'VE HELPED STRANGERS. BANDITS. PEOPLE YOU BARELY KNOW.][BUT YOU CAN'T FACE THE WOMAN WHO GAVE BIRTH TO YOU?][COWARD.]
"Stop calling me that!"
[THEN STOP BEING ONE.][ACCEPT THE QUEST OR I'LL MAKE IT MANDATORY.]
I'd learned the system could do that—force quests if it thought I was avoiding growth. And this one, I'd been dodging for over a week.
My hand shaking, I hit ACCEPT.
The world dissolved.
I was standing in my childhood kitchen. The smell of kimchi jjigae filled the air—Mom's signature dish. She stood at the stove, her back to me, humming off-key like she always did.
[MEMORY SIMULATION ACTIVE][THIS IS A CONSTRUCT BASED ON YOUR MEMORIES][SHE CANNOT HEAR YOU UNLESS YOU TRULY SPEAK FROM YOUR HEART][SINCERITY REQUIRED: 90%+]
"Mom?" My voice cracked.
She didn't turn around. Just kept stirring the pot.
I stepped closer. She looked younger than I remembered. Healthier. This was before the cancer diagnosis. Before I stopped visiting because hospitals made me uncomfortable.
"Mom, I..." The words stuck in my throat like broken glass.
[SINCERITY: 34%][INSUFFICIENT. SHE CANNOT HEAR YOU.]
I tried again. "I'm sorry I wasn't there. I'm sorry I made excuses. I'm sorry I—"
[SINCERITY: 56%][STILL INSUFFICIENT. YOU'RE SAYING WORDS, NOT FEELING THEM.]
Anger flared. "What do you want from me?!"
[THE TRUTH. THE REAL REASON YOU STAYED AWAY.]
And there it was. The thing I'd been running from for years.
I sank into a chair, put my head in my hands. "I was scared. Okay? I was terrified of watching you die. Of being helpless. Of having to be strong when I'd never been strong a day in my life. So I ran. I made excuses about work, about being busy, about anything that let me pretend everything was fine."
Tears were streaming down my face now. "And then you died. And I never got to say goodbye. Never got to tell you I loved you. Never got to be the son you deserved."
[SINCERITY: 89%][ALMOST THERE. KEEP GOING.]
"I hate myself for it, Mom. Every day. I wasted so much time being scared, being selfish, and now you're gone and I can't fix it. I can't make it right. I'm just... I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry."
[SINCERITY: 97%]
Mom turned around.
Her eyes met mine, and she was crying too. "Marcus-ah. My baby boy."
"Mom—"
She crossed the kitchen, pulled me into a hug. She felt real. Warm. Like home.
"I know you were scared," she whispered. "I was scared too. But I never stopped loving you. Not for a second. Even when you didn't visit. Even when you stopped calling. I understood."
"How? How could you understand? I abandoned you—"
"You were human. Flawed. Frightened. Just like everyone else." She pulled back, held my face in her hands. "But you're here now. Trying to be better. That's all I ever wanted for you. Not perfection. Just effort. Just growth."
[QUEST CONDITION MET][YOUR MOTHER'S FORGIVENESS: GRANTED][NOW YOU MUST DO THE HARDEST PART]
"What's the hardest part?"
Mom smiled through tears. "You have to forgive yourself, Marcus. You have to let go of the guilt and use it as fuel to be better. Can you do that?"
Could I? After everything I'd done wrong, everything I'd failed at, could I actually forgive myself?
I thought about the kid I'd saved from the fire. The bandits I'd helped see another path. The people I was starting to help in this new life.
Maybe I couldn't erase the past. But I could build a better future.
"I forgive myself," I said. And this time, I meant it. "I forgive myself for being weak. For running. For wasting time. I can't change what I did, but I can change what I do next."
[SINCERITY: 100%]
The kitchen began to fade. Mom was fading with it.
"I'm proud of you," she said, her voice distant now. "Be good, Marcus-ah. Help people. Live the life you were always capable of living."
"I will. I promise."
[QUEST COMPLETE: CALL YOUR MOTHER][REWARD: +10,000 CREDITS][BONUS: EMOTIONAL BURDEN LIFTED][ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: "FACED YOUR DEMONS"][NEW SKILL: PEACE OF MIND (RANK E)][EFFECT: REDUCED MENTAL STRAIN, INCREASED FOCUS, MINOR WISDOM BOOST]
[CURRENT BALANCE: -942,740 CREDITS]
I woke up in my bedroom, face wet with tears, but feeling... lighter. Like a weight I'd carried for years had finally been lifted.
The guilt wasn't gone. It probably never would be. But it wasn't crushing me anymore.
[SYSTEM NOTICE][YOU'VE GROWN SIGNIFICANTLY][NEW QUESTS UNLOCKING BASED ON YOUR DEVELOPMENT][YOU'RE READY FOR BIGGER CHALLENGES]
A knock on the door. Frost's voice: "Marcus? Someone's here to see you. Says it's urgent."
I wiped my face, stood up. "Coming."
Time to see what the city needed from me now.