"So, your phone got drowned, and this young miss here made it worse by drying it with hot air?"
Taking the slightly melted phone in his hand, Liam looked at Clara and Megan in shock. At first, they had told him that her phone fell into the water, but when he looked at it, all he could see was what looked like a melted piece of plastic.
"Good thing you only burned the plastic cover, but how much heat did you use to make it this bad?"
Liam smiled and removed the plastic cover they had burned. This iPhone was made of aluminum and glass, so melting the actual phone would be a hard job even if someone tried to do it intentionally.
"I am sorry. I once saw a person doing that and tried to copy her tricks, but I failed miserably."
"No worries."
Clara just shook her head. It was not Megan’s fault to begin with, and now that Liam was here, she was certain he would solve her problem in no time.
"Alright, let me check if I can get it fixed today. It’s already evening, and I’m not certain it can be done by tonight, but it won’t hurt to try." [Charisma: 30] [Speech: 50]
"Why are you smiling like that?"
"Like what?"
"Never mind."
Megan, seeing Liam’s smile and confidence, felt a little weird for some reason. It felt like he was trying to impress her, but it seemed like she was mistaken.
Liam, taking the phone with him, stood up. He knew a girl who could help him out. She was a crazy good technician and a senior at Princeton. Although he still hadn’t met her in this life, in his last life, she had been a good friend.
"Are you leaving already?"
"Yep. I figured if we want to repair this phone, the sooner the better. If it somehow does get fixed, I’ll get you a new phone so that you can keep your photos safe in that one."
"Alright, can I come with you?"
"You can, but don’t. Even I don’t know how I should handle this."
Liam scratched his head in embarrassment and left the two girls puzzled inside their room. He wasn’t certain how his visit to a person who was now technically a stranger would go, so he felt a little awkward about the whole situation.
Stepping out of the hotel, Liam slowly walked toward the old apartment complex where he used to live when he was a sophomore. It was cheap and mostly occupied by students who came from humble backgrounds.
Let’s take something she will like so that we can have a good first impression.
Thinking of this, Liam didn’t wait for the thought to disappear and entered a nearby grocery store. The store felt nostalgic for no reason at all. Maybe he had visited it once or twice in his last life, or maybe visiting an old friend was bringing all these emotions along with it.
Shaking his head, he went to the fridge and grabbed a twelve-pack of chocolate milk from the bottom drawer. It cost thirty bucks, but it was worth it since she was completely obsessed with this stuff.
"You are a new student, I presume?"
The older cashier, seeing Liam taking only milk, casually asked. Liam nodded his head and wanted to move on, but suddenly, through the glass window behind the cashier, he saw two people he had been searching for all over the airport. They were hanging out behind the grocery store with three more boys.
Liam saw Billy Graham and Creed Howard through the glass window behind the cashier. He narrowed his eyes slightly. They hadn’t noticed him yet. Liam was standing right in front of the cashier, so he slightly moved over to the side so they wouldn’t be able to see him.
Should I use my Intimidation on them? It’s a very high-tier passive I have, but... what if one of them doesn’t have any malicious intent against me and has some kind of skill? That would make things problematic.
"Do you know them?"
"Billy and his friends? Billy is my son."
Liam gave the cashier his old silver-colored debit card for the payment and asked casually, while the cashier looked back toward the group and nodded his head.
"They went to California this week, right?"
"How do you know?"
"I am from California. We came on the same flight. I wanted to say hi to Billy and Creed, but I am quite shy with their other friends around. Can you call just the two of them in here? I will say a quick hello and leave." [Charisma: 30] [Speech: 50]
"Sure, kiddo."
"I will be at Aisle Five, shopping for a few more items."
Aisle Five was the last aisle where the cashier wouldn’t be able to directly see what happened if Liam did something, not right away at least. There were cameras everywhere inside the shop, so eventually, he might still be able to see what happened.
...
"Who the fuck are you?"
Billy’s bold voice made Liam pause his hands. He gently placed the mushroom can he was holding back in its place, then turned around and saw Billy and Creed looking his way curiously.
"Well, we meet again."
"It’s you!! How... did you find us here?"
"Remember Danuvan? I just saved your asses. They wanted to trash the whole place, but I came instead."
"Wha... What do they want?"
"They want you and you." [Malice Detected, Passive Ultimate Intimidation Aura is in effect]
"You!!" *BLEGH*
Billy wanted to say something, but as soon as Liam took a single step forward, he vomited all over the floor, while Creed immediately peed his pants. Some kind of white foam formed around Creed’s mouth as he passed out instantly and collapsed onto the floor.
What the hell?
[Updated]
[Side Mission Complete: Teach Billy Graham and Creed Howard a lesson]
[Reward: Basic Reflect Skill]
[Explanation: Reflect your opponent’s skills right back at them for five seconds when activated. Has a three-day cooldown.]
[AMPLIFYING THE REWARDS BY 10,000X...]
[NEW REWARD: God Tier Reversal Skill]
[Explanation: If someone uses a skill against you, it multiplies the skill’s effect by 20x and reflects it back upon them instead.] (Cannot be used against the same opponent thrice in the same day. Cannot be used more than twice a day.)