Episode 16

They finally ceased their argument when Ryan's bedroom door was suddenly knocked upon.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

"Dear! Are you awake?" asked a voice from outside, which belonged to none other than his mother.

"Ah! Yes, mom.. I've been up for a while!" Ryan replied, rising from his bed.

"May I come in?" inquired Lastri.

"Of course!" Ryan responded, opening his bedroom door. But his expression changed immediately upon seeing something his mother was wearing.

"Where are you off to?" Ryan asked curiously, noting his mother's unusually tidy attire.

Lastri did not answer right away. She entered Ryan's room and faced the mirror attached to Ryan's closet, busying herself. Ah, such is the way of women! Wherever there's a mirror, there they'll preen! As a man, Ryan was quite understanding of his mother's actions.

After tidying herself up, Lastri turned around and looked at her son with a grin.

"Hehehe.. What do you think about this outfit and my look? Pretty good, isn't it?" Lastri asked, avoiding her son's earlier question.

"Yes-yes.. It's beyond good! But where are you going?" Ryan responded, repeating his query.

"Of course, I'm going to your Uncle Tarjo's wedding celebration! Don't you remember! It's a big day, his son's circumcision ceremony!" his mother explained.

"You mean Kevin? But isn't he grown up already and circumcised? What is there left to circumcise?" Ryan asked, puzzled.

"Hiihh.. Not Kevin! But Dani, his younger brother! How about it? Do you want to join?" Lastri asked, clearly irritated by her son's questions.

"Eh? No, Mom.. No, thank you! Weddings are the last things cool guys like me want to attend!" Ryan declared with an awkward expression.

Why would Ryan ever want to accompany his mother to a wedding? Especially when she meets with distant relatives, inevitable chatter among the host of nosy aunts was something he preferred to avoid at all costs. And certainly, Ryan did not wish to get trapped in such a dreadful atmosphere.

"Alright. If you don't want to come, I should get going now then?" hinted Lastri.

"Sure, Mom! Ask Parman or Prapto to drive you!" Ryan suggested.

"Yes! I've already spoken to Parman!" Lastri confirmed.

"Well then, I'm heading out!" she continued.

"Okay, Mom! Take care on your way!" Ryan said before shaking and kissing his mother's hand in farewell.

"Will do!" Lastri replied before leaving Ryan's room.

Ryan could only shake his head and smile tenderly as he watched the departure of the woman he loved more than anyone else in the entire universe. His usual cool and reticent demeanor outside could not be maintained in front of his mother.

[Ding! An intermediate-level mission has been triggered! Save the children about to be hit by a truck on Kenanga Street, near the bus stop! You will earn 5 system points, 1 charisma point, and 5,000,000 in cash! Should you fail, you will be subjected to a low-voltage electric shock by the System for one minute!]

Suddenly, the System's voice echoed in Ryan's head, informing him that a task had been triggered.

"Kenanga Street? Isn't that quite far?" Ryan murmured before hastily leaving his room.

Ryan spotted Suprapto, one of his subordinates, lounging outside his house, sipping coffee and reading the newspaper.

"Prapto! I need to borrow your bike!" Ryan called out in a hurry, raising his voice slightly.

Startled, Suprapto almost spit out his coffee.

"Ah! You scared me, Boss!" Suprapto exclaimed.

"Where are your bike keys? I need to borrow it for a bit!" Ryan urged, pressing for time.

"Eh? It's in my room, Boss!" Suprapto naively replied, looking puzzled.

"Quickly get them! I need it urgently! It's about someone's life!" Ryan insisted, pulling Suprapto to his feet to fetch his bike keys.

"Y-yes, Boss!" Suprapto, still confused, ran to get his keys for Ryan.

Twenty seconds later, a panting Suprapto returned with keys in hand.

"Here you go, Boss!" Suprapto said, handing the keys to Ryan.

"Great! I'll take it from here!" Ryan said, snatching the keys and running to Suprapto's Ninja bike parked in front of the house.

Vroommm...

Ryan revved the engine harshly and sped off rapidly. He swerved past several vehicles, riding Suprapto's bike like a pro—possibly outdoing even Valentino Rossi due to the urgency.

Within five minutes, riding at high speed, Ryan finally reached Kenanga Street and stopped near the bus stop. He turned off the bike on the side of the road and began scanning for the children he needed to save.

Suddenly, a woman emerged from a store across the street with two little boys in tow—one around eight years old, the other possibly four or five.

The mother paused, a puzzled look on her face as if trying to remember something. Then she told her sons to wait there and not go anywhere because she had forgotten to buy something. The eldest nodded in agreement, and the mother headed back into the store.

No sooner had their mother left the two boys alone than the younger one spotted an adorable cat across the street.

The small boy was immediately drawn to it and darted towards the cat, which meant crossing the busy road.

The elder brother was shocked to see his sibling suddenly take off and break free from his grip. He called out his brother's name loudly but didn't move from his post.

Yes! That's children for you! Adults must understand! Perhaps the boy thought not to disobey his mother's order not to move or maybe he was held back by some other concern.

Ryan, witnessing this, smiled but then his smile vanished as he remembered why he was there in the first place. At that moment, a yellow truck was speeding from the other direction, making it impossible to stop in time.

"Damn! That's the kid!" Ryan exclaimed, leaping off his bike and sprinting as fast as he could.

Thiiiinnnn...

"Watch out!"

Ryan reflexively shouted, continuing to race towards the five-year-old boy. It was his shout and the blaring horn of the truck that caused bystanders to look in one direction and join in the frantic cries.

Instead of running faster to escape the impending collision, the little boy stopped dead in the truck's path, bewildered by the loud shouts from Ryan and the others.

Once more, Ryan had to forcefully empathize with the actions of such a young child. He accelerated his run and, when close enough, grabbed the boy by his underarms and whisked him away from danger.

Thiiiiiiin...

Ryan and the boy narrowly avoided the collision and were safe from the terrible accident.

"Haahh.. Safe!" Ryan gasped, catching his breath.

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