*Chapter 15: Cool... What the Heck?*

It was 1 PM, and Cody finally returned to the grimy residential area of the East End on his beloved ride.

Don't misunderstand, it wasn't because picking a ride took them too long. Actually, the car-buying process only took about 10 minutes. The reason he got back so late was because the ride Cody picked had a slight disadvantage in the speed department.

"Ha, ha, ha..." Cody, panting and completely soaked as if he'd been dunked in water, pushed a folding bike like a dead dog and stopped by the side of the road.

A taxi leisurely followed closely behind and finally also pulled over. The door opened, and a relaxed Drake stepped out.

"You alright? You just rode from Otisburg to the East End, why do you look like you're about to kick the bucket?"

"I, I had an 8 AM class back home. You wanna try riding the whole way? Go ahead, try it!"

Cody's physical strength wasn't exactly bad, but it wasn't excellent either. The only way he managed to ride that distance was by taking frequent breaks.

And you know what? Because the taxi Drake took followed him the whole way, the fare was unusually high. Before getting out, the bitter look on Drake's face as he paid did slightly balance out Cody's mental imbalance.

"See, I told you! Either buy a cheap motorcycle or a cheap used car. But no, you had to get a folding bike."

Drake shook his head and sighed. "Driving a car in Gotham is great. It protects you from guys on motorcycles trying to jack you, and you can use it as temporary cover during a shootout to limit people's shooting angles. It's basically a win-win-win deal."

Cody finally caught his breath. After holding it in for ages, he finally managed to spit out, "I don't know how to drive."

He genuinely didn't know how to drive. The driver's license was given to him by the system, he hadn't earned it himself, and back home he'd only passed the written test; he hadn't even learned the practical driving part yet – let alone that cars and driving styles are a bit different in America compared to his home.

Drake was stunned when he heard that. "? Where's your license?"

"The license is real, but I really can't drive – so if I bought a car, we'd be able to randomly pick some poor soul on the road who's about to get hit tomorrow and start our second gunfight."

Cody had originally thought he could check the system store for the price of driving skills, and maybe find a cheap ride along the way.

But when he walked down the street and opened the system store again, then saw the number in his asset points section, his eyes bulged like copper bells, and he felt like the sky had fallen.

Because at that moment, the system showed his asset number was still the same three dollars as yesterday.

Hold on, where's my four thousand-plus bucks? The four thousand-plus dollars he'd just gotten were still in his bag. How come his asset points hadn't gone up by even a dollar?

Did you pocket it?

[Scratch-Off Starter System Reminder: You reap what you sow. Those who work shall gain, those who do not work shall gain nothing.]

[Your asset points will only increase after you have completed work that matches the compensated time duration.]

[Therefore, the settlement time for this sum of asset points will be after completing four weeks of work, i.e., after the next month.]

"You son of a......"

Cody's mindset instantly underwent a slight change.

"What about my tips?"

[Your tips will be settled after each task is completed, and the corresponding asset points will be added to the system.]

"Okay. No. Problem. Then." Cody spoke slowly, word by word, grinding his teeth as he tried to calm himself down.

This system wasn't a complete jerk. At least he could still get some asset points for emergencies within a few days of starting work.

Since the system's asset points hadn't increased, the plan to buy a cheap ride from the store or learn driving skills had to be put on hold for now.

So, what should he use for transportation before he learned to drive or bought the driving skill?

Gotham's infrastructure wasn't completely terrible. The East End had buses and a subway. But both of those occasionally had 'good guys' who liked to do some free shopping hanging around, or just groups of guys from the street.

He was a bit introverted personally. He didn't really want to have friendly chats or intense exchanges of views with these people like Old Jack did, but he still had to take cash tips home every day.

After all, the real-life wages didn't need to be, and couldn't just be thrown into the Scratch-Off Starter System randomly. As long as he earned money from work, the asset points in the Scratch-Off Starter System would automatically increase. But if he wanted to deposit the cash dollars he earned into the system, he'd have to spend a certain amount of asset points.

So, a bicycle, motorcycle, or taxi wasn't a bad option. He just had to hold out for two months until he finished learning to drive.

Thus, Cody ended up honestly buying a cheap sixty-dollar folding bike. As for why he didn't buy a motorcycle, it was because the bicycle could be taken directly inside his place, while a motorcycle had a higher risk of getting messed with.

Also, the more basic his transportation, the safer he'd be in the East End. A poor guy on a cheap bike would automatically be prioritized lower by muggers than someone in a car.

The only downside was that cycling was hard work and took a lot of time.

So, the two of them slowly made their way to the East End. What Cody didn't expect was that Old Jack's bus, which only had two flat tires that morning, took a shaky forty minutes to cover the distance, but he somehow ended up cycling until 1 PM.

All you could say was Old Jack still had it; even with super loose tires, his reliable driving skill made up for it.

"If I commute to work at this rate, I'll be fired by Donald within three days."

Just as Cody was feeling down, the system's voice suddenly sounded in his ear: [Scratch-Off Starter System Reminder: The store is dedicated to providing you with Cool Bicycle services, starting price 50 USD asset points; Cool Electric Wheelchair services, starting price 100 USD asset points; Cool Car services, starting price 1000 USD asset points.]

"Now that's some serious BS!"

Never mind what the heck a "Cool Car" for only a thousand bucks is supposed to be, what in the world is a "Cool Electric Wheelchair" option?

He looked closer at the wheelchair's description.

["Top speed eighty miles per hour, mood is completely free, awesome, auto, awesome!"] (- a meme/slogan often associated with low-end/modified vehicles)

[Please note: This Cool service should be used in conjunction with the Electric Wheelchair Driving Proficiency skill. Driving unsafely, two streams of tears from loved ones.]

Honestly, in a city like Gotham, the downside is running into all sorts of crazy people. The upside is that when you act crazy, everyone just looks at you, the new crazy person, with a look of 'seen it all before'.

Anyway, Cody was actually a little tempted right now.