AN: Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and enjoy any other winter holidays I may have forgotten!
--------
Uncle Ben arrived a week later to stay with us at the house. I was surprised that he didn’t have a woman with him. He did have a case of beer, though. Some things never changed.
“Hey little dude,” he said to me. “Milt said you needed help with the tractor?”
“Yeah. I don’t know where to begin and Dad said you were the guy to ask.”
...
2024-12-25 16:50:56 +0000 UTC
View Post
Over the next two weeks, I completed the prep work on all the fields. Getting Dad to bring the tractor down the road for the smaller properties was a colossal pain. The tractor was slow—even with the higher road gear—and so finishing those fields took a lot longer than the bigger property had.
During that time, I did my research into planting. I had the attachment for the tractor, but I wasn’t sure quite how to use it. That’s when I discovered the tractor’s GPS capabilitie...
2024-12-23 17:00:06 +0000 UTC
View Post
The orders for equipment and seeds were in place, so there wasn’t much else to steal my attention. I had a lot of time to wait before anything interesting happened. That meant I focused on quests and planned for the future.
While I did not know how much experience I would get from the crops, I knew I wouldn’t be getting any from quests—or nearly none. I simply wouldn’t have the time. In a way, the whole farming idea was a gamble. I knew it could do well from the tests I’d ...
2024-12-20 17:00:11 +0000 UTC
View Post
Daisy was the first interview I’d ever conducted. Even in my past life, where I’d been an adult, I’d never run a business or been a manager. I’d been on the other side of the table many times, but never actually asking the questions. And it had been a couple of decades since the last one. I was going to be rusty.
Without a phone, I had to borrow Mom’s. I nervously punched in Daisy’s phone number. It rang once. Twice. Thrice. Then I heard the click on the other side as it...
2024-12-18 17:00:12 +0000 UTC
View Post
Next on the agenda was finding an assistant. I reached out to some recruiters to start that process. Because of the time of year, I wasn’t expecting any results for at least a month. The replies I got confirmed my assumptions. Though I could discuss what I needed in a prospective candidate, they wouldn’t talk to candidates until after the new year started.
--------
“Put your shoes and coat on,” Mom said the week before my birthday.
2024-12-16 17:00:08 +0000 UTC
View Post
Two days later, I was in contact with a real estate agent. She was local to the area I was looking in and would be an excellent resource to help me find the land I needed. Through the real estate agent, I had leads to follow. That meant a trip to see the land for myself. I hadn’t heard from Al about someone to handle the finances, but I wasn’t worried. There was plenty of time to find one—well, maybe not plenty, but definitely enough.
Dad took me. The drive took three...
2024-12-13 17:00:10 +0000 UTC
View Post
I had no choice but to test the new feature. While I could have chosen Mom or Grandpa Joe, I ended up picking Dad. He was the closest. Before I went to him, I thought about a small contract to test things. I needed conditions that were visible when enforced but also not an inconvenience.
I settled on paying Dad ten dollars for a pen. The conditions were that if he gave me something other than a pen, he would have to give me twenty dollars in addition to the promised pen. If it worke...
2024-12-11 17:00:10 +0000 UTC
View Post
Grandpa Joe, it turned out, had a life outside of helping me from time to time. He was traveling for a week to hang with some friends of his. We set a date to meet three weeks later—he had other plans he couldn’t move—to meet at the bank.
All the while, I made money hand over fist. What had once been around $50,000 was now in the tens of millions. My goal—and stopping point—was to have a hundred million after taxes were paid. It meant I needed around double that amount. Wh...
2024-12-09 17:00:12 +0000 UTC
View Post
The next day was Sunday. Easter. Unlike the previous time, I had the full Quests series unlocked. That meant a quest for finding all the eggs! The rewards were mediocre—just twenty experience—but I was happy to see some improvement. I went with Dad to see Grandpa Milton and Grandma Rose for a family lunch. I kept the loops to myself. I hadn’t forgotten how she’d reacted to the truth. That was a mistake I would not repeat.
When I got home that night, I checke...
2024-12-06 17:00:06 +0000 UTC
View Post
“Mil—uh—Eddy! Grandpa Joe replied!” Dad called, an hour after lunch.
I ran down the stairs. Dad was still in the living room by the TV.
“What’s up?” I asked.
“Your grandfather sent an email back,” he answered. “He said he hears you loud and clear. He mentioned sending a laptop to you. I’m setting up a time for the two of you to meet in person—he specifically said he wanted to talk to you.”
“Makes sense. I hope Mom gets the la...
2024-12-04 17:00:07 +0000 UTC
View Post
AN: Welcome back! I'm moving to a 3x a week schedule moving forward. As such, y'all get this one on a Monday instead of Friday. You'll be a little behind the 15 ahead I was aiming for, but you'll catch up when RR goes for its week break in early January.
With all that aside, enjoy the start of book 2!
----------------------------
My head was killing me. It hurt badly enough that I wanted to scream! I didn’t. Somehow, I managed to keep it together even as the ...
2024-12-02 17:00:11 +0000 UTC
View Post
Author Note: So ends Book 1. I will be taking a week off, which means the next chapter will fall on 12/6.
--------
Light enveloped me. A strong feeling of vertigo gripped me. Then there was blackness so deep it felt like the void between galaxies—no light at all. Then suddenly, a box appeared in my face.
You have finished your first life. Congratulations are in order! Before evaluating your performance, let’s take a look at what might h...
2024-11-25 17:00:08 +0000 UTC
View Post
The convention center had been rearranged. Instead of being broken down into places for tournaments to take place, it was set up for each school to have their own location. Dad left me in the care of Master Chang.
“Today you can do what you like,” he said. “Check out the other schools and get a lesson from one of the other masters. Don’t forget to join one of the meditation sessions.”
Master Chang looked at us with conviction. It felt like he’d be able to know ...
2024-11-22 17:00:06 +0000 UTC
View Post
At the moment I made for the closest crowd of people, I heard the sound of a notification as it popped in front of my eyes.
There Can Be Only One Complete
Reward: 512 Exp
While not the greatest reward ever in terms of time or amount, I was still glad to have gained something for my efforts. I usually struggled to figure out how much experience I got for something. This time, however, I had a guess to go off of...
2024-11-18 17:00:08 +0000 UTC
View Post
Author Note: I have finished writing Book 1 (chapter 58). I will be taking a 1 week break from writing to plan the next book. This will be reflected in a break for you starting after chapter 58 drops of 11/25 until chapter 59 (chapter 1 of book 2) drops on 12/6.
------------------------
Time ticked by. Each student found their designated mat. I sat just off the edge of mine. I figured it would be fun to watch the match before mine to get a feeling of the skill level of the others ...
2024-11-15 17:00:12 +0000 UTC
View Post
Author note: With this chapter, you are now 15 ahead. This is the last extra chapter for a while. I may move to a 3x a week schedule with the next book, but no promises.
-------------------------------------
Grandpa Joe’s death brought to the fore everything I’d been working on—and everything I’d put off for too long. It lit a fire under me. After all, I was also on the clock. While I knew the amount of time I still had left before the apocalypse hit, it was ...
2024-11-13 17:00:06 +0000 UTC
View Post
I sat with Mom and Ken in the living room after breakfast. The Christmas tree had both white and colored lights strung around it. Dozens of ornaments and candy canes hung from the branches. Beneath the tree were a multitude of presents. Some were meant for my birthday while others were reserved for Christmas.
I had a giant smile plastered on my face. It was time to open presents! The first that Mom handed me came with some explanation from her.
“Grandpa Joe used to give ...
2024-11-11 17:00:10 +0000 UTC
View Post
The next week, Mom and Dad both came with me to Master Chang’s Tiger Academy. It was finally time for my promotion to yellow belt. The place was filled with parents, families, and other loved ones. Though most of the promotions were in the lower belt levels, the night had students from every belt.
“Please be seated,” Master Chang addressed the audience. “Tonight, several students will be graduating to the next rank. We will start with the newest students and progress up the ...
2024-11-08 17:00:14 +0000 UTC
View Post
Author Note: I meant to have this ready to go out earlier today. With the election chaos here yesterday, I got wrapped up in that and didn't write or schedule anything. I will be rectifying that now and scheduling the other chapters for the rest of this week and most of next week.
This makes you 14 ahead. Next week's extra chapter will be the last that doesn't also have a corresponding RR chapter. I will have completed chapter 54 tonight. If I keep writing as I have been, I shoul...
2024-11-06 20:33:02 +0000 UTC
View Post
The next day, I arrived at my grandparents’ house early in the morning. Grandpa Milton had specifically requested that I get there as early as I could. Planting ten rows of corn was going to take a while. When I arrived, he was waiting for me by the gate to the garden wearing overalls and carrying a couple buckets.
“Good morning!” he beamed.
“Hey,” I said with a yawn.
“Is for horses,” he laughed. “Ready to grow some corn?”
“Sure. Wha...
2024-11-04 17:00:05 +0000 UTC
View Post
I ended up skipping the next beginner class. Normally, I wouldn’t have wanted to do that after just starting to learn martial arts, but I had a good reason. It was Dad’s 30th birthday. His side of the family came over to celebrate—Grandpa Milton and Grandma Rose, Aunt Kat and my cousins, and even Uncle Ben with yet another different girlfriend. Uncle Dave couldn’t make it but otherwise the family was all together.
While Dad and Uncle Ben were outside working the grill, I sho...
2024-11-01 16:00:09 +0000 UTC
View Post
Two days later, Grandpa Joe picked me up from Dad’s trailer. He was beginning to look older. I didn’t think one year had been a long time. His face looked like it had aged five years in that time. If my memory was right, he was nearing the end of his life. He’d live another four or five years but then that would be that. I wanted to learn as much as I could from him before that happened.
“Hey kid,” he said. “You ready to go shooting?”
“Yeah,” I said with ...
2024-10-30 16:00:07 +0000 UTC
View Post
Mom had words for us when we returned from the trip. That meant I was on a short leash for a while. The rest of the summer passed without incident, as did my final year in school. I turned nine over the winter and celebrated my fourth year after returning. Though I was unhappy about it, Mom and Dad insisted that I actually attend my graduation. Finishing my last classes did give me something that had been years in the making.
Excel in School Complete
2024-10-28 16:00:06 +0000 UTC
View Post
That night, I learned Grandpa Joe snored. Like intermittent rumbles of thunder—only far less calming. The heat kept me awake for a while, too. Eventually, though, I was able to ignore both and sleep until just before dawn.
He was still sleeping when I snuck out of the tent to piss. I used a nearby tree to relieve myself. I didn’t want to be too far away. Not after what Grandpa Joe had warned me about. On the way back, I checked out the fire pit. The fire had burned down to ash o...
2024-10-25 16:00:08 +0000 UTC
View Post
Extra chapter! Don't always expect them weekly. If I do have them every week, I will stop when Patreon is 15 ahead of RR. This makes y'all 12 ahead.
-------------------------------------
I hoisted my backpack and stomped off after Grandpa Joe. The rocky trail continued across the increasingly windy peak. Then it went down before rising to the top of the next hill. As soon as my head was shielded by the rock behind me and shrubs to either side, the wind was attenuated...
2024-10-23 16:00:11 +0000 UTC
View Post
I ended up with an A for the project and good feedback from the professors who had both graded the written and witnessed the presentation. I was happy with the results and sent a thank-you note to Dinesh for the hard work he did in getting the project done on time. He responded in kind and offered to hang out again sometime—however I was already home for the summer. I had plans with Grandpa Joe.
“What’s the plan with Grandpa Joe?” Dad asked me the morning after I returned ho...
2024-10-21 16:00:10 +0000 UTC
View Post
I met up with Dinesh a week before finals to see where we were for the project and what still needed to be done. I was done with my business plan and with the logistics around sourcing materials or outsourcing manufacturing. The numbers weren’t amazing—which really meant that while the whole thing was a fun exercise, it wasn’t an actually strong plan long-term.
“I have the prototype working,” Dinesh said, showing me video of it working.
The thing was a mess of wi...
2024-10-18 16:00:10 +0000 UTC
View Post
Surprise extra chapter!
--------------------------------------------------------------
My first semester went well. I went home for winter break and returned after the new year for the start of the spring semester. I marked my second year back in the past with an extra scoop of ice cream.
It was around that time where I noticed a few stories being written that looked like they’d taken inspiration from mine. That didn’t mean I was going to stop my own st...
2024-10-16 16:00:10 +0000 UTC
View Post
After a week of classes, I considered my situation. The university had almost everything I needed to get my quests done every day. From a pool and a gym to solid wifi for puzzles and arithmetic, I was well equipped. The classes weren’t too bad—after explaining who I was to the professors that is. I was getting solid experience from the classes—more than I had at the community college. I had a hunch that it was from just how much I was learning and relearning.
Like with the com...
2024-10-14 16:00:07 +0000 UTC
View Post
The rest of the summer slipped by. I enjoyed the second session of the summer camp more than the first. Mac returned, as did Micah—though he ended up in the other group. My increased stats allowed me to excel in the physical activities. The ones that needed finer control—like art—suffered. It was a struggle to use as the right amount of force to do what I wanted. I was happy to note that I didn’t break anything at least. By the time I went to school, I was finally used to my ...
2024-10-11 16:00:15 +0000 UTC
View Post
