William stared at the children his age playing around, not knowing what to do. He realized that he had far more fun learning. Since he didn't really know what to do, he went over to the swings. It was actually... quite fun. He didn't expect that. He found that just doing nothing could be fun. He felt the air rushing against him as he swung on the swing. As he mindlessly swung, his thoughts ran off. He thought of things he wanted to do. He really wanted to learn music, to see how his chromesthesia would interact with music. He also wanted to learn to swim, play chess, paint, and many more things! Man, who knows swinging back and forth like a pendulum could be so entertaining? Should I make all the chairs in the house a swing?

  As he was thinking, he noticed a little girl, also swinging beside him. She looked lonely. Her garments were tattered and dirty. But even as she looked melodramatic, her eyes were cold, as if she had seen immense cruelty.

  He hesitated for a second. He didn't have a friend yet. She could be my friend! Yes, and she looks interesting too! He decided to talk to her, "Hey. Are you here alone?"

  She jolted out of her thoughts, looked around in confusion, and noticed him, "Uhh... are you talking to me?"

  He laughed, "Of course, it's you! Who else would I talk to?"

  She hesitated for a moment before saying, "Why?"

  He tilted his head as he kicked his legs, "Why what?"

  "Why are you talking to me?" She asked, her voice quiet.

  He chuckled, "Who am I supposed to talk to? The tree? They're busy photosynthesizing, so they won't talk to me."

  "... What? You talk funny."

  He grinned, "Funny how? Good funny, or bad funny?"

  She swung higher than him, "Just weird."

  He noticed. He swung even higher, taking it as a provocation, "Hey, I'm an expert at being weird. It's better than being boring, isn't it?"

  She glanced at him, then swung higher again, her hair flying, "Maybe."

  He kicked harder, rising up to match her height, "What's your name then, Mystery Girl?"

  She went quiet for a moment, her grip tightening around the swing's rope, "Why do you want to know?"

  He grinned, "Because I can't call you 'Hey You' forever, now. Well, I technically can, but that'd be too tiring and not fun at all."

  This time, she smirked back at him, just a little, as she kicked off the ground with all her might, the swing going even higher, "I'll tell you if you beat this, how about that?"

  William laughed out loud. She really is interesting! He leaned back, kicked, and rocketed upwards, "You're on, Mystery Girl!"

  The competition went on for about a minute or two before both of them became quite tired from kicking the ground. Still, he managed to last longer than her, crowning him the winner of the little match. "Heh, I won. So what's your name?"

  "My mom called me Eve," she leaned against the rope as she answered, panting.

  Called? He thought to himself. "Then, I'll call you Eve too!"

  Eve crossed her arms, "You only won because I got tired."

  William grinned, "Excuses. That's what losers say."

  She glared at him, "... You're annoying."

  "Annoyingly awesome, yep. That's me," he shot back.

  "I guess... being friends with you wouldn't be the worst thing in the world."

  William nodded, "I agree. Anyone would want to be friends with me, too."

  She snorted, "Sure, buddy. Whatever you say."

  He laughed, "My name's William."

  She smiled, a very small smile, but still a smile nonetheless, "Hi, William."

  "So, do you wanna come and visit us?"

  William's adult mind instantly stirred. What the fuck am I asking a little kid that for? I'd have been labeled a kidnapper if I had asked that. Kid William, don't make this too awkward, please!

  She paused for a second, "Why? You don't even know me."

  William blinked and tilted his head, "Because you're interesting? And besides, I feel like you might really need my help, also, because I'm awesome. And I have snacks."

  AHHHHHHHHHH. Young William! Don't bait little children with snacks!! It's not okay, bro! Big William thought.

  Young William replied, Shut it, big William.

  Eve looked straight at him in the eyes, "...What kind of snacks?"

  NOOOOO. You're falling into his trap!

  "We have all kinds of snacks."

  She tilted her head, "Maybe I'll come. I'll think about it."

  William pumped his hand, "Yes, victory!"

  She laughed, "You're so weird."

  He looked out at the sky. "It's getting late. I have to go now."

  She looked down, "Alright. You'll come back, right?"

  He grinned, "Of course."

  After saying goodbye to her, William left the playground with Sarah and Peter. As they got on the car and drove home, a splash of yellow appeared in his sight as Sarah asked from the front, "Master William, did you have fun today?"

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  He nodded, "Yes, Sarah. I had a lot of fun. I made a new friend today!"

  "Oh, really? Who is it?" she asked.

  He rolled his eyes, "It's Eve. She's very interesting. She's not like the other kids I see there." She's more like me, he thought, though he kept that to himself.

  Sarah smiled, "That's great. What would you like for dinner?"

  "Chicken or pork, whichever one is fine. Preferably with a bit of potato." He scratched his head.

  "Alright then."

  The rest of the ride was in silence, each with their own thoughts.

  Pennyworth, which instrument should I learn? I heard playing music is pretty fun.

  [I agree, Sir. I suspect you might enjoy playing the violin.]

  Really? I thought I would enjoy the piano or the guitar more.

  [I'd normally agree, Sir. But your current state suggests that you might enjoy some novelty.]

  Hmm... I see. Let's try your suggestion. If I don't like it, we'll try the other ones.

  "Sarah?" William called out. "I want to learn the violin."

  She looked back at him with wide eyes, "Oh my. Are you sure, Master William? I heard the violin is very hard to learn."

  He nodded, "I'm sure, Sarah. If I don't like it, I'll just learn something else."

  She smiled, "Okay. I'll search for a master violinist tomorrow, okay?"

  "Okay. Thank you, Sarah."

  Time quickly passed. William met up with Eve almost everyday. He had fun with her on the second and third days. On the fourth, she finally told him that she didn't have a place to stay, that she was currently homeless. He managed to convince her to come and stay with him. The mansion was now less empty than before. He also got his first computer in December 1985. While he couldn't even connect to the internet, it was still pretty cool. He hadn't seen such antiques before, so it was very eye-opening, how big they were. A popular game console from Japan was also released in the USA, successfully reviving the gaming industry after the '83 crash.

  William also learned French, German, and Japanese. He was able to read and write fluently, though not yet at the native level. His next goals were Korean, Spanish, and Portuguese. He had also learned to play the violin, though he was still not able to play songs without sheet music.

  Eve was also interested in learning. She tried to learn violin alongside him, but she found out that she wasn't really interested in it. She changed to guitar, and she had progressed very far. Both of them were homeschooled by Sarah. It turned out that she had a background in teaching. Most of the time, William and Eve spent most of their time together reading. The subjects they read vastly differed. While William liked to read scientific books, Eve spent most of her time reading business books. Both of them loved to read fantasy and science fiction books.

  1987, September 16th

  William lay on his bed as he looked at his status.

  [Name: William

  Age: 7

  Race: Human

  Traits: ADHD, Chromesthesia, Child, Genius, No Filter, Introvert, Gamer, Weeb, Caffeine Dependent, Night Owl]

  Stats

  Body: 3

  Mind: 8

  Insight: 6

  Charisma: 3

  Willpower: 7

  Skills: Chromesthesia(LV1 -> 3), Shut-In(LV6 -> 7), Coding(LV9), Gaming(LV100), Languages(LV3){English, French, German, Japanese, Korean}, Speaking(LV10), Crawling(LV10), Walking(LV5)]

  He was frustrated. He had been researching the law lately, and he found out that his guardians could, technically, take control of his company. So even if he invented stuff from the future, like for example, Windows 2000, his grandparents could take control of his company. And the most likely course they would take is to sell the company 'in his best interest'. And there was no way he was going to allow that. Either he was going to have to wait until he was 18, or he was going to have to find another way.

  He read the book again, to see if he missed anything. Turns out, he did miss something. It turned out, guardians cannot be oversea. Which means his grandparents were not his guardians. Then who is it? He frowned. He loathed doing it. It was simply no fun. The book wasn't fun either! It was just a bunch of uptight writing, which he hated so much.

  He threw the book in frustration. He took a deep breath. His adult memories told him that bottling up frustration wasn't a good habit. He picked up the book, Laws of Florida.

  He checked his stats again. Even with his 8 Min- Huh?

  [Mind: 10]

  How did I get an extra 2 stats in Mind? He frowned as he asked Pennyworth.

  [Sir, it's from one of your traits.]

  My traits can give effects? Would have liked to know sooner. So how do I check it?

  [Just think of the trait and it shall appear with a description and effect.]

  [ADHD - Your attention span is scattered, and your mind constantly jumps between topics and ideas. When something truly interests you, Hyperfocus is activated and can last for hours or days.

  Hyperfocus: +2 Mind when engaged in a topic of interest.

  Cross-pollination effect: When switching between fields of study, gain +20% learning efficiency for 30 days in the new field.

  Occasionally causes impulsive actions or distraction penalties in mundane tasks.]

  [Chromesthesia - Your senses of Sight and Hearing are interlinked. Sounds will have colors.

  +1 Insight engaging in creative or abstract problem solving involving Sound, Colors, or Sight.

  Gives the Skill Chromesthesia]

  [Child - Having survived the newborn phase, you are now a child.

  Grants access to the System Interface.

  Any progress in current life is counted from birth.

  Any progress in stats gained will not be lost.]

  [Genius - You are a natural genius, nearing the human limit of intellect. You can grasp and learn advanced concepts quickly.

  Base stat of Mind is set to 8.

  Gains faster comprehension in scientific, technological, creative, and abstract subjects.

  Limits mundane boredom.]

  [No Filter - You speak without considering the consequences of your words. You may appear charming or abrasive depending on the context.

  Can annoy or amuse people depending on Charisma interactions.

  -1 Charisma.]

  [Introvert - You naturally prefer solidarity activities or small group activities. You don't like talking to strangers.

  +1 Willpower when working alone or focusing on self-driven projects.

  -1 Charisma in social group scenarios.]

  [Gamer - You are a natural gamer, highly skilled at strategy, reflex-based games, and problem-solving.

  +1 Insight while observing patterns or solving complex systems.

  Can only be obtained when the skill Gaming reaches the limit.]

  [Caffeine Dependent - You require external stimulants to maintain peak cognitive output after 6 hours of wakefulness.

  +1 Mind and +1 Willpower when caffeine is consumed.]

  [Night Owl - You function optimally at night and struggle with early morning routines.

  +1 Mind and +1 Insight during nocturnal hours (18:00 to 04:00)

  -1 Mind in early mornings (06:00 to 12:00)]

  I see. I'm guessing I'm Hyperfocus right now? That's why I have the extra Mind, correct?

  [That is correct, Sir.]

  And it says 8 is near the human limit? Then what is the human limit?

  [As you may have guessed, it is indeed 10. 10 represents the peak human intelligence.]

  So that means if I go Hyperfocus at night, with caffeine, I would be above the human limit?

  [Correct, Sir.]

  That's so busted. He was glad to know the effects of the tratis. He was kinda glad he was a hardcore gamer back then. Otherwise, he wouldn't have the Gamer trait. He had tested which stat does. Mind, obviously, controls most of the mental faculties, from processing speed to memory. Body controlled the entire body. From muscles to organs to bones. It strengthened the entire body. Insight was how much information he could gain from something in a single time. For example, the higher his insight was, the more he would learn from reading a book a single time. It also controlled his creative process. Chrisma was very straightforward. It controlled his charm and his natural looks. Despite the debuff from No Filter and Introvert, he still found that he was about slightly below average, making him believe that four was the average of humans, not five, as he had previously assumed. Willpower was the second most important stat for him after Mind. Willpower was powerful simply because he could force himself to do things he didn't want to.

  He sighed. "It seems I can only wait until I'm 18 to create a company. Looks like I'll have to keep learning for now. I'm not going to give up now. I died once without accomplishing anything worthwhile. I will not let that happen again."