A male college student

You had so many questions... questions about Emilia, about the mansion, about that box! Why start with questions about you? You looked down at yourself, seeing a pretty normal-looking guy of average build, dressed in a green hoodie with the logo SCU on the front.

"Uh, well, I'm John, I'm a student at Spiral City University. You... I mean, you already knew all that, didn't you?"

Emilia nodded, clasping her book shut as she sets it to the side. She replaces it with a cup of tea, and then motioned to one of her various assistants. A woman dressed in a modest black dress approached you and held out a glass of Burst Cola, one of your favorite things to drink. You took a cautious sip, as Emilia silently watched you for a moment through a sip of her own. "You're right, John, I do already know that. I know you're a student, you haven't committed to a major, you're barely clinging to a B average. You used to be quite the party person, from what I understand, but now your coursework dominates your free time. I wanted to know... something deeper. Something about your hopes and dreams. If there was something you do or would like to do that you wish you could do better."

"For the record, it was, like... a party a month, that's hardly a lot! And I don't think it's fair to count the ones I don't even remember. And, uh... what?"

Emilia smirks, and then reaches slowly into the box near her. All of her movements were slow and deliberate--you noticed bandages on her wrist, recalling from those tabloids at the supermarket that she's never been photographed without some sort of bandage or cast on her. A moment of pity for her was replaced with confusion once more as Emilia pulls out a small pouch from the box, untying it, and emptying its contents on the coffee table near you.

"I have something here for you," Emilia says, but this time your eyes don't return to meet hers. You stare at the golden coin on the table, with foreign inscriptions and what looks like a portrait of a beautiful woman on its face.

You stare at it, and then reach out for it, before Emilia touches your arm to stop you. "I just wanted a better look," you said, slightly annoyed. "What is this, like a quarter-Euro?"

"That's not a thing." Emilia pulled her hand away. "it's definitely from Europe, yes, but I wouldn't go shoving this in a vending machine, it's far more valuable than a midday snack. The coin has magic within it, and a mere flip of it can increase your abilities of any talent you wish--even if you currently don't have any skill in it whatsoever."

That was enough to make you look back at Emilia. Your puzzled expression came level with Emilia's face again, and it was clear she was serious. Even so, you couldn't just believe something like that! "So, am I on some sort of prank show or something? Are there cameras around here? I'm not going to sign a release or anything."

Emilia rolled her eyes and shook her head a little. "You're not even the first person to say that this week to me. So I will keep this short. I will give you this coin, you can choose whatever talent you want to have, you flip the coin every so often, deal with the side-effects, and all it will cost you is a favor sometime down the road." Before you can even respond, Emilia was slowly standing up, bracing herself on the back of her chair briefly as she seemed slightly winded from even that amount of effort. Despite her appearance as a slim and healthy woman--ignoring the bandages--she moved like she was a century older.

As Emilia started moving toward the door, you set down your glass and stood up. "Hey, wait! That's it, you're leaving? What side effects? What favor?"

Emilia turned back around, and smiled at you--this time it was much more obvious that it wasn't genuine. "I tell that to the ones who take me a bit more seriously. Honestly, I'm not going to waste my time setting up an elaborate way to embarrass you for a video. So you can either take the coin, pick your desired talent, and start putting it to good use regardless of what might happen, or Alice is right outside the door when you're ready to leave, just leave the coin on the table."

And then she was gone.

It still felt like some sort of trick, or some joke. Or, maybe a test? Was she trying to hire you for something? Turn you into a lab experiment? Maybe the coins were radioactive and they emit an energy that fries your brain into thinking you're good at something, like it causes you to experience the Dunning-Kruger effect.

The coin was right there. If she's lying and there's no magic attached, then wishing for your talent wouldn't matter, right? Plus, a free coin. What's the harm in taking the coin and trying? You wish you had a better understanding of what you were getting into, but you could think of a few things you wished you were good at and you felt like maybe you should just humor Ms. King in this instance...