The next morning, Cyrielle bumped her head on the table. ‘Shit… What a morning…’

  Having no space in her tiny apartment, Julie had yered the bnkets under her dining table. If sleeping on the floor wasn’t already uncomfortable, Cyrielle had bumped into the table legs all night, and even smashed her head while waking up. Well, the one who is homeless doesn’t deserve to compin.

  She went to the bathroom. Julie had already gone to her job, she was a cashier in a supermarket. Cyrielle, who didn’t have the keys, had to stay inside until Julie came back. It was a lot of time alone in an unfamiliar pce but she was used to it. She started by taking the clothes she had worn the night before, she was now in a pyjama borrowed from Julie, and started to wash her underwear in the sink. It was a habit for her, who was used to being homeless : If you have the opportunity to have running water and soap, wash everything you can, including yourself.

  She followed that rule perfectly, taking advantage of the shower and cleaning her hair that was absolutely disgusting. If she could, she would have gdly washed her pants and shirt, but it wouldn’t be dry when Julie would come back and she couldn’t dry it with a hairdryer like her underwear.

  When she felt much better, smelling the best she had in months, she sat at the dining table and ate a breakfast Julie had prepared for her. She felt like crying and screaming ‘My best friend is so cool !’ for the whole world to hear, but instead she focused on gulping down her orange juice and devouring the toasts. All the urgent fires had been extinguished : She was clean, she had slept and eaten, and even her clothes were not that bad. She could finally rex.

  Instead of doing that though, she recalled something she remembered while sleeping. ‘There was something about a gift to celebrate my first unch, right ? I don’t think it is the singing ability, it was belled differently.’

  Immediately following her thoughts, blue characters appeared.

  [Do you want to open your gift ?]

  ‘Yes.’

  A wheel appeared, like in a gacha game. All the prizes were hidden, but the color seemed to indicate the quality. From bronze to gold, there was even a rainbow one and another that seemed pearly. Under the wheel there was an inscription : ‘3 tries’.

  ‘Do I spin the wheel ?’

  [Do you want to spin the wheel ?]

  Well, she had nothing to lose and she was quite curious about what the gifts could be.

  ‘Yes.’

  The wheel started spinning very fast. If it was that fast, wouldn’t it take longer to slow down ? Cyrielle crossed her fingers, hoping that the rainbow or the pearly ones would appear. When finally the wheel stopped…

  [Congratutions, you have earned the bronze gift ‘Slightly better taste buds’. Would you like to proceed or spin again ?]

  What was that ? ‘Slightly better taste buds’ ? Was it literal ? Could she taste things better ? Cyrielle really wanted to accept the gift and try it right now but she stopped herself. It was a bronze gift, the lowest one, and she still had 2 tries left. If the bronze gift could change her body, what could the other ones do ? Without hesitation, she asked to spin again. Unfortunately, this one was also a bronze.

  [Congratutions, you have earned the bronze gift ‘Slightly slimmer toes’. Would you like to proceed or spin again ?]

  Now that was getting ridiculous. Cyrielle sighed. There was only one try left, but honestly she didn’t have much hope anymore. It was always like that with gacha games. But it was still better than not receiving any gift at all, so she asked to turn the wheel again. And this time, she was surprised.

  [Congratutions, you have earned the gold gift ‘Better skin’. Would you like to proceed ?]

  It wasn’t the rainbow or the pearly prize, but gold was still good compared to the other two. More than that, there wasn’t the ‘slightly’ modifier. Did it mean that it would dramatically upgrade her skin ? Probably not, but if there was any kind of visible difference, it would be a 100 times better than having slimmer toes. She immediately accepted the gift and ran to the bathroom. And then she froze in shock.

  In the mirror was her face, that much was obvious. Nothing had dramatically changed, she was still herself. However, she didn’t have any bckheads on her nose anymore, and her forehead wasn’t dry. Her skin still had that warm vanil tone, but her charming freckles and moles were more defined and visible. Moreover her cheeks and lips were slightly rosier. But that wasn’t all. She pinched her skin several times. Smooth and estic. It wasn’t drastic, and she probably would have had a better result if she had the money to afford skincare, but having all of that naturally when she could only afford to thoroughly wash herself three times a week while sleeping in dust was miraculous.

  Without taking her eyes off the mirror, she asked urgently.

  ‘Instructions ?’

  [Welcome to the instructions section. Please ask any question. To read the general instructions, think ‘general’.]

  ‘How do I get more gifts ?’

  [When you make significant achievements in the direction Path of Destiny has set, you will be rewarded with gifts.]

  ‘Can I do something now ?’

  No reply.

  ‘I guess I have to figure it out, huh…’

  With a newfound energy, Cyrielle ran out of the bathroom. On the dinner table there was a pen and a textbook. ‘Sorry Julie, I’ll just quickly do something’. Her singing ability had been activated when she tried to sing, right ? So if she tried to draw…

  Cyrielle Laporte wasn’t bad at drawing. She was surely good enough to receive praise. But it wasn’t to the point where a professional could hire her. Before the pandemic, she would always draw at home to try and get better, but she hadn’t touched a pen since the first curfew of February 2020 and it was already November 2021 now. She was scared but also excited. If she gained an ability as easily as she had yesterday, she could realise her lifelong dream of becoming an illustrator. With that in mind, she touched the paper with the pen, and…

  Nothing.

  Not a blue character in sight.

  ‘Why ?!’

  She tried again, starting to doodle on the page, earnestly drawing as best as she could with her shaky hands but… Nothing happened.

  ‘Is it because I want it ? You don’t want to give it to me ? Are you making fun of me ? Is it not my path to become an illustrator ?’

  Cyrielle was desperately retaining her anger and sadness that tried to escape out of her eyes. She couldn’t irritate the beautiful skin she had just gotten, it would be even more unfair. After taking a few deep breaths, she settled down and tried to think rationally.

  What was the condition to acquire an ability ? It was an ‘opportunity’. She couldn’t acquire what she wanted however she wanted. That meant that an opportunity for drawing didn’t exist yet. She had to take it slow. Life is a marathon, not a sprint. Soothing herself with that mindset, she stood up. She just needed to do what she could, as she had always done. If an opportunity came, she would take it. And if opportunities didn’t come to her, then she needed to go to the opportunities.

  ‘I need to go out more often.’

  Staying at home wasn’t going to bring her anything. But she didn’t know much of the outside world, so she would have to rely a lot on Julie from now on.

  ‘My best friend is really the best after all.’

  In that spirit, she started to fold the bnkets she had used as a mattress.

  ‘She needs to do things for me, so I also need to do things for her. It’s only fair.’

  Cyrielle immediately started running around Julie’s apartment. She folded clothes, cleaned the kitchen, swept the floor, and organised all the stuff that was lying around.

  ‘Honestly, she would have more space if the table was this way…’

  And then…

  [Sensing an opportunity for destiny. Acquiring ability : Home design.]

  She stared bnkly at the blue characters. Home design ? What was that again ? Was her destiny to be an interior designer ? No, but it didn’t make sense to have that with singing abilities ! Or do you gain abilities no matter the domain if there is an opportunity ? And what opportunity would there be with ‘Home design’ ?

  Before she could finish her thoughts, she suddenly felt her head becoming hotter and hotter, as if it was about to split open at any moment. It felt as if a thousand books worth of knowledge were crammed into her brain. Colors, textures, contrasts, luminosity, arrangement, subtleness… She wanted to scream but she couldn’t. Once again, time slowed down so much that she felt she couldn’t move. And the knowledge continued to be ingrained with different artistic movements and their corresponding designs, Art Nouveau, Rococo, Art Deco, Modernism… She knew every style of chair, every way to make a room look bigger using colors, and every texture of pillows that existed and how they took the light.

  When time was flowing normally again, she was exhausted.

  ‘Why was it so painful ? It wasn’t like that with ‘singing’…’

  Maybe because ‘singing’ was body based and ‘home design’ was knowledge based ? Whatever the case, Cyrielle didn’t want to go through this pain ever again. But now that she looked at it…

  ‘The table should indeed go this way. And if she rearranges her sleeping corner like that…’

  Before she could stop herself, she had started moving all the furniture around. If she had been in her right mind, she would have never touched someone’s home without their permission, but she was still feeling a bit lightheaded because of the pain of ‘home design’ so she wasn’t thinking straight.

  When she finally finished, she realised her mistake. ‘Oh no, I hope she doesn’t kill me !’ but in all honesty, Julie’s small one room apartment was so much better. It felt bigger, more stylish, and more cozy. Nobody would have disliked the change. And there was room for a small couch.

  ‘No more sleeping under the table, hehe !’

  If there was just one thing…

  ‘That wall is so bare. There’s already a nail in it, if only there was something…’

  She looked into the pile of random objects Julie kept in her closet because she didn’t want to throw things away. And she found exactly what she wanted. It was a beautiful wooden frame which would have elevated the interior. But unfortunately it was broken.

  ‘It’s so cute… I wish I could repair it.’

  And as if replying to her…

  [Sensing an opportunity for destiny. Acquiring ability : Handicraft.]

  ‘No, are you kidding me ? How is that an opportunity ?! I only have 20 abilities left and I still haven't learned to draw !’

  Same time, another pce. A man was tuning an electric guitar in a bar near Bordeaux. He seemed to be in his te thirties or early forties. Looking around him at the empty room, he tried to mentally rehearse for the concert he was to give with his band tonight. Then a thought interrupted him. An imposing woman with a strange aura and wonderfully low and raspy voice. He had seen her the day prior at a karaoke. He could not get her out of his mind, and could not help feeling that, if she performed with them, they might attract a crowd rger than the one or two dedicated fans who always followed them..

  Thinking for a bit, he made up his mind and sent a text.

  [Hyena : Hey Julie, can you tell me if your friend from yesterday is interested in performing on stage ?]