20. NEW YEAR, NEW US

Welcome to the New Year with the Drozd family.

Piotr unexpectedly aged up to a child!

Filip: Whoa, little brother! Something must’ve glitched in the game—you weren’t supposed to have your birthday for another four days!

Piotr: Mom! Mom! The game is broken! I didn’t get a proper birthday!

Klara: Oh no, it must’ve been the Watcher adjusting the age settings! Very reckless of her…

Piotr: But moooom... I didn’t get a cake, a party, or presents! It’s soooo unfair!

Klara: We’ll make it up to you somehow. How about we go roller-skating today after Filip gets back from scouts, have some ice cream, and pizza for dinner? And of course, there’ll be a present too!

Piotr: You’re the best!!

Piotr now has the Cheerful trait, and his aspiration is... to become the Class Clown! ;)

As tradition dictates, everyone sets a New Year’s resolution. Akito wants to level up his crafting skills. Filip wants to achieve the next rank in scouting. Piotr wants to complete part of his aspiration. And Klara—she’s decided it’s time to get back to her college shape!

At his scout meeting, Filip noticed that the cookies they were selling were priced too low. Instead of raising the price, he decided to charm customers into buying more, earning a bigger profit that way. It turned out to be a great decision—customers bought cookies in bulk!

Thanks to his charisma, Filip earned the next scouting rank—Unicorn Scout—and completed his New Year’s resolution right away!

As promised, the whole family went roller-skating.

Piotr: Phew… They say this doesn’t require any skills, but it’s actually not that easy.

Afterwards, they had ice cream and other treats. Piotr’s mood improved completely.

Akito: And to end the day, Mom and I have one last surprise for you. Here’s your present!

Boys are still on winter break and are enjoying their time in the park.

Filip: You’re looking at the future captain of a grand ship, the Wave Slayer!

Anna: What waves? In this game, the best you can be is the Slayer of Pixelated Seas, hahaha!

While Piotr plays on the monkey bars, Filip finds a different way to occupy himself...

Filip: My dad is actually a real Conqueror—a Vampire Slayer. When I grow up, I’ll help him, and together we’ll fight vampires!

Anna: You’re very brave! Maybe one day you can show me how to defeat a vampire.

Filip: Sure! Anytime you want!

Piotrek: "Anytime you want!" Hahaha, Filip loooves Anna… Filip and Anna, sitting in a tree! Hahaha!

Filip: Ugh, no way. Girls are soooo dumb! I was just joking!

Piotrek: Yeah, sure you were.

Klara came home from work with big news to share.

Klara: Honey, they offered me a promotion and a position at the university, but I have to choose between administration and teaching.

Akito: That’s amazing news! Congratulations! I’m so proud of you. What will you choose?

Klara: I’m still deciding. I thought you might help me figure it out…

Akito: Choose what’s best for you. Think about where you’ll feel most fulfilled. You have my full support, no matter what.

Akito has been keeping busy too. At night, he fights vampires, and during the day, he wrestles with the fabricator. Unfortunately, the fabricator seems to be giving him a harder time than the vampires…

It might have something to do with his Technophobe lifestyle. Either way, it’s not easy.

They say third time’s the charm, but Akito needed four tries to master the fabricator. Now he’s improving steadily, though he occasionally has to dumpster dive for materials—which he still hates. Nonetheless, he also completed his New Year’s resolution!

It’s Piotr’s first day of school. The boys get ready together.

Filip: You’ll see, school is fine. It’s super easy to get good grades; you don’t even have to do your homework!

Akito: Ahem, you most certainly do have to do your homework every single day! But I’m sure you’ll enjoy school, Piotrek.

Piotr: I’m going to join a comedy club and write my own jokes!

Akito: Unfortunately, I don’t think there’s a comedy club in the game, but I’m sure you’ll find something fun to do.

Akito: Filip, is it just me, or have you started styling your hair differently?

Filip: Dad, come on! I’ll be a teenager soon! I had to change my look a bit.

Piotr: Yeah, because he wants to impress the girls now!

Akito (to himself): (Girls? Already?!!)

Piotr is ready for his first day of school! :)

Klara is working hard on her New Year’s resolution. She jogs every day, sometimes even twice. Even though it’s exhausting, she puts on a brave face and powers through.

But today, Klara came home from work in an excellent mood, and nothing could ruin it. She finally decided to stick with teaching and is about to start her new position as a Intrepid Instructor at Britechester. (Also, I think she’s lost some weight already!)

The boys returned from school with a friend.

Kazimierz: Have you heard? There’s going to be a new expansion pack focused on generations.

Piotr: Ugh, boring! And still no cars.

Filip: But kids will be able to ride bikes.

Kazimierz: Maybe they’ll add more activities and aspirations for kids too.

Piotr: We’ll see about that.

Klara’s days continue to be filled with sacrifices and exercise. With Love Day approaching, she’s determined to complete her resolution by then. The day before, she pushes herself to the limit and… overdoes it a bit.

After coming home, practically at dawn, Klara realizes she can’t make it to work. She takes the day off to rest and get ready for her date with Akito. She’s earned it!

Love Day has arrived!

The boys go to school. Their school allows students to buy flowers to distribute during class. Both Filip and Piotr decide to celebrate by buying flowers for the entire class.

Filip gets lucky—the flowers are handed out during math class, and everyone gets to skip the quiz! But Piotr isn’t as fortunate. He forgets to sign the cards, and another student takes credit for his gesture. What a terrible holiday!

Angry, Piotr draws an inappropriate picture and shows it to his classmates. While it causes much laughter, it disrupts the lesson, and Akito is called to the school. He confiscates the drawing and gives Piotr a weekend-long grounding.

Meanwhile, Klara is at the salon, blissfully unaware of the school drama.

It’s time for the date! Klara and Akito meet at the Salt & Sweet restaurant.

Akito: Darling, you look stunning.

Klara: Thank you, sweetheart. I didn’t manage to complete my New Year’s resolution. I don’t know if I need to lose more weight or if it’s just a glitch in the game…

Akito: It doesn’t matter to me. You’ve always been, and will always be, the love of my life. That’s what counts.