Lying on his bed, Winston scrolled up and down the Core System's loading screen. It was still stuck there, and he wondered how long it would remain like this. Of course, Winston had started relying on the system. To be honest, anyone would. It tracked his stats, monitored his progress, and showed him exactly how far he had come.
Now bored, Winston realized this was the first time in a long while that he had been away from football. He had barely had a chance to unwind. He was always either training, practicing on the playground, or playing football with the local children. At some point, football had stopped being a hobby.
It had become his life. His sister used to tease him about it. Come home, eat, sleep, repeat. Winston never saw anything wrong with that routine. As he tossed onto his right side, sunlight streaming through the window blinded him. He quickly turned onto his left.
Bzzzz!
A buzzing sound jolted him. Winston raised his head and looked around the room, trying to figure out where it was coming from. Then his eyes landed on his phone.
Winston hoped the coach was calling him back to training, but disappointment quickly crossed his face when he saw the messages were from his sister. The disappointment soon turned into annoyance. She had been sending him a series of one-word texts.
Seriously?
Dragging himself out of bed, Winston sighed and massaged his temple before swiping open his phone. As if his sister possessed some kind of telepathy, a long message immediately popped up.
He sat up and quickly skimmed through the important parts. His sister and her friend were on their way to a theme convention downtown. Winston immediately texted her back, asking what had happened to the friend who had been there earlier that morning.
His sister explained that her friend had a family emergency on the way there and was now stranded at the bus station. Winston sighed and typed back. Fine. I'll come get you.
He grabbed his sneakers, which were neatly placed beside the door. Outside, the summer sun had begun to lose its warmth, and a chilly breeze swept through the streets. Winston tightened his tracksuit jacket and pulled up the zipper.
After completing a few quick stretches, he smiled. At least this is an opportunity to jog.
His parents lectured him when they came to pick him up from the club hospital. To be fair, Winston's mother was furious. She still hadn't recovered from the initial accident, and his two recent reckless incidents had done little to reassure her.
Winston had to repeatedly promise them that he would stop being reckless. A huge, relieved smile spread across his sister's face when she saw him.
"Whew, thank God you came, big brother. I was worried I'd have to drag you here."
"But you did—with those hundred messages. I was trying to sleep."
"Oh, sorry. I already texted Mom to tell her you're with me."
Winston yawned and stretched, causing his bones to pop loudly. His sister furrowed her brow at him.
"How long are we going to be there?" Winston asked. He glanced at her backpack. "Judging by that, I hope it won't be long."
"Well, the theme convention is enormous this year. My favorite shows are hosting a meet-and-greet, and I bought all this stuff for them to sign."
"Jeez, sounds like this is going to take a while."
Lucky for Winston, jogging there had been the best idea. The bus arrived just as they reached the stop, saving him from having to wait around for God knew how long.
Once they boarded, his sister took the window seat. Winston sat beside her, pulled out his phone, and performed the same trick he'd been using for a while—pretending to text while secretly opening the Core System.
Disappointment plastered across Winston's face. The system was still stuck on the loading screen, though this time the bar had reached seventy-five percent.
Hopefully, I won't be bored to death being dragged around this theme convention by my sister.
Winston looked up at the bus ceiling and slowly began to doze off. He woke up disoriented when his sister tugged on his arm. She had a huge smile on her face, and Winston guessed they were getting close. He leaned toward his sister and glanced out the window. A billboard showed how far they were from the theme convention.
Seeing his sister's excitement, Winston felt his energy draining. He longed to be back on the training ground, doing something productive. But watching his sister's excitement made him realize something.
He couldn't remember the last time he had spent time with her. The last time they had really played together was when they were children. After stretching, Winston turned toward her.
"So, what are we starting with?"
His sister rummaged through her backpack and pulled out her phone. "Oh, let's see. The group I want to see won't be performing until later, so we'll start with some games. I remember there was a roller coaster I wanted to ride the last time we came here, but I was too young."
"What time does the theme convention close?"
"I think eleven. Or midnight. I don't remember exactly. Don't worry, it's only one o'clock right now. I don't think it'll be too crowded. Usually, people start coming in around six."
When they arrived at the theme convention's parking lot, Winston realized his sister had been right. The area was filled with young people, some around his sister's age, others much younger and accompanied by their parents. Groups of friends walked toward the entrance, chatting excitedly.
His sister pulled out two tickets and handed one to Winston. He stared at it, taken aback. "I thought these theme conventions were free."
"They aren't anymore. Some people crashed the convention last year, and several people got injured." She paused and looked at him. "Wait, you didn't see that on the news?"
She shook her head. "Actually, don't answer that. I already know the answer."
His sister sighed. She knew how lucky she was to get her brother to answer his phone at all. Winston had a phone, but getting him to respond was practically a matter of luck. He was always training, and social media was something he barely bothered with.
"Did this happen after you left, or were you still here?"
His sister looked at him, surprised by the question. Their relationship was complicated in a simple way. They had once been extremely close, and they were still close, but life had become busy for both of them. There were simply too many things happening for them to spend much time together.
"No, it happened around six in the evening. We were long gone by then."
"And it took me forever to convince Mom to let me go out. You should've seen the videos on the news and social media. The whole scene looked like something from one of those huge zombie movies. There was chaos everywhere. There were even bonfires in some areas."
"I'm glad you were safe. You know Mom—she doesn't like violence. And how did you convince her to let you come?"
"I'm not telling you. You'll have to figure that out yourself."
She smirked at her brother. Winston handed his ticket to the security guard, who was wearing the convention's uniform. After the guard checked their tickets and searched their backpacks, they passed through the rotating gate.
Finally, they were inside. Winston had barely taken a step before the noise hit him. It was deafening. Children shouted and ran between the attractions while cheerful music blasted from speakers mounted on tall poles. Crowds moved in every direction, filling the convention grounds with energy.
Before Winston could even take it all in, his sister grabbed both his arms and dragged him toward one of the games she wanted to try.
The theme convention was a dual-purpose attraction, combining a theme park with a popular entertainment convention. The first game his sister wanted to play was Ring Toss. Winston stretched his arms and prepared to throw the rings over the bottles. His sister had her eyes set on the small, fuzzy animal dolls that were popular among collectors.
Fortunately, before it was his turn, Winston noticed the person ahead of him using a peculiar trick. The player twisted his arm slightly before releasing each ring, giving it a different trajectory.
Winston studied the technique carefully. When his turn came, he imitated the movement.
One ring landed, Then another and another. Before long, Winston had won several of the popular fuzzy animal dolls his sister wanted. His sister's face lit up as he handed them to her. Winston smiled and gently patted her head.
For the first time that day, he was genuinely glad he hadn't skipped the outing. Seeing his sister so happy made him happy too.
"What's next?"
His sister surveyed the surroundings, apparently impressed by how quickly her brother had mastered the first game. She spotted another attraction and pointed toward it.
"Oh, let's go on that one. It looks interesting."
She grabbed Winston and yanked him along again. This time, he was prepared. Instead of being dragged behind her, Winston matched her pace as they both bolted toward the next attraction. Both of them were grinning with excitement.
Wow. Winston couldn't help smiling. This is actually fun.
It had been a long time since he'd done something that wasn't related to football or training. Maybe this is what Mom and Coach wanted me to do. For once, Winston wasn't thinking about his stats, the Core System, or his next match. He was simply enjoying himself with his sister.