"Hmm," I mumbled through the toothpaste, opening the system UI with a thought. It flickered to life in front of me.

╭────────────────────╮

- CURRENT STATS

==========================

- Strength: 2

- Charm : 12

- Manipulative Charm

- Emotional Charisma

- Seductive Allure

- Libido : 8

- Pleasure: 5

==========================

- Unused Mastery Points: 5

╰────────────────────╯

I tapped Manipulative Charm, and three skill screens popped up.

╭────────────────────╮

- Honeyed Words

==========================

Your flattery and lies are

nearly irresistible,

boosting deception in

romantic or social interactions.

==========================

+10% to persuasion or bluff

checks in social settings.

╰────────────────────╯

Honeyed Words looked promising. Lately, I'd been lying left and right—covering my ass with the girls, dodging questions about work. A +10% boost to persuasion could smooth things over.

╭────────────────────╮

- Night Owl: Passive

==========================

If your partner lacks

sleep, they open up to

you easier.

╰────────────────────╯

Night Owl seemed… niche. Useless unless I was pulling all-nighters with someone. What, tell Jasmine to stay up so she'd spill her secrets? Pass.

╭────────────────────╮

- Gaslighting

==========================

Change your partner's

sexual fantasies. You can

turn a sub into a merciless dom,

or the opposite.

==========================

- 10% chance to alter fantasies

- Cooldown: 2h

- Duration: 10m

╰────────────────────╯

Gaslighting, though? Holy shit. Making Anotta, Nuppia's stern CEO, melt under my words? That was some next-level shit. I could already imagine her sharp gaze softening, her walls crumbling. Damn.

Emotional Charisma and Seductive Allure were grayed out, locked. It seemed like I had to complete some objectives. I tapped them, and small UI boxes appeared.

"Let's see," I said, spitting into the sink, rinsing my mouth, and setting the toothbrush back in its holder.

╭────────────────────╮

- Emotional Charisma (Locked)

==========================

- Have anal sex in your home (1/5)

- Flirt with a woman (0/1)

- Fuck Jasmine in the public (0/1)

╰────────────────────╯

Anal sex in my home? I'd already checked that box once with Cora, so four more to go. Flirting was easy enough, but fucking Jasmine in public? Shit, that'd be tricky. Maybe a car, like with Tessa, but I'd missed my shot to do it with Jasmine back then.

I walked to the living room, wiping my face with a towel, and sank onto the couch. "What's next…"

╭────────────────────╮

- Seductive Allure (Locked)

==========================

- Fuck Delilah (0/1)

- Get Ivy to send you nudes (0/11)

- (Locked)

╰────────────────────╯

Fuck Delilah? Get eleven nudes from Ivy, my friend? And a locked objective? This system was unhinged as hell. Ivy sending one nude was a stretch, let alone eleven. I shook my head, muttering, "Now… I can have anal sex in my home. I could flirt with a woman… and maybe fuck Jasmine in public. Gotta focus on that."

Time to distribute my mastery points. I had five. I put one into Honeyed Words, confirming it. The UI vanished, then reappeared with updated stats.

╭────────────────────╮

- CURRENT STATS

==========================

- Strength: 2

- Charm : 12

- Manipulative Charm

⤷ Honeyed Words (☐☐☐☐☐)

- Emotional Charisma

- Seductive Allure

- Libido : 8

- Pleasure: 5

==========================

- Unused Mastery Points: 4

╰────────────────────╯

Five empty boxes next to Honeyed Words meant I could upgrade it further. I put one point into Gaslighting, then two more into Honeyed Words, and the last one into Gaslighting, skipping Night Owl for now—it felt too situational. Maybe later.

╭────────────────────╮

- CURRENT STATS

==========================

- Strength: 2

- Charm : 12

- Manipulative Charm

⤷ Honeyed Words (⏹⏹☐☐☐)

⤷ Gaslight (⏹☐☐☐☐)

- Emotional Charisma

- Seductive Allure

- Libido : 8

- Pleasure: 5

╰────────────────────╯

I tapped Honeyed Words to double-check.

╭────────────────────╮

- Honeyed Words

==========================

Your flattery and lies are

nearly irresistible,

boosting deception in

romantic or social interactions.

==========================

+30% to persuasion or bluff

checks in social settings.

╰────────────────────╯

Nice—up to +30% from +10%. Honeyed Words and Gaslighting were gonna be fun to test, especially with Anotta or the girls. But for now, I had one goal: grind. Quests, credits, survival. No job meant no excuses—I had to make this system work.

I grabbed my phone, the screen lighting up, and opened X, typing "Julia Becker" into the search bar, my fingers hesitating for a second. I needed to find her, my ex from high school, after that awkward beach run-in.

Her profile popped up, verified by her calm, familiar face in the icon. I tapped it, scrolling through her posts. Just three photos. The most recent was from yesterday—a beach shot, her navy bikini catching the sunlight, her glasses glinting, her long brown hair tied up, standing by the waves with that same unbothered vibe. The second was her in a coffee shop, a latte in front of her, her expression neutral, the warm lighting softening her sharp features. The first was a basic selfie, her face calm, no smile, no emotion, just those piercing eyes behind her glasses.

"Same Julia," I said, nodding to myself, a faint smile tugging at my lips. "Now, I just gotta text her, right? Let's see if messaging her online works…"

I opened the messages tab on X and typed, 'Hey, sorry we couldn't talk much back at the beach,' my thumb hovering before hitting send. The message went through, but no response popped up. No quest completion notification either. I sighed, leaning back, the couch creaking again.

"Shit… I really need to get her number. That's bad," I muttered, staring at the ceiling.

My phone buzzed, Delilah's name flashing on the screen. I answered, sitting up straighter. "Hey, Ms. Komb," I said, keeping my tone light. "What's up?"

"I'm good, Evan," Delilah said, her voice warm, a faint clatter of pots in the background. "Making one of my famous soups right now. You back from the trip yet?"

"I am. Finally."

"Good. Come over then," she said. "I know I promised I'd visit you, but I already kinda did. You weren't home. You still owe me that story about how you fought with Karim."

I nodded, though she couldn't see it. "Well, soup sounds good. I'll do that. When should I come?"

"How about eight?"

I glanced at the time—six. "Sure. Haven't had dinner yet."

"Great. See you here, then."

"Yep. Bye, Ms. Komb."

I hung up, a grin spreading. Delilah's soups were legendary, and catching up with her felt like the right move after the beach chaos. Pity her coworkers were dicks to her—I wished I could fix that. She didn't deserve the shit they gave her.

As if on cue, the system UI flickered into view, sharp and glowing.

╭────────────────────╮

- Quest Available

==========================

- Title: Fixing fixing fixing

- Task: Deal with the problem that

Delilah is having at work.

- Reward: +120 EXP

==========================

- Accept Quest? [Yes] [No]

╰────────────────────╯

I blinked. The system was listening, wasn't it? A quest to fix Delilah's work drama, 120 EXP on the line. I didn't even know where she worked—just some office gig—but the challenge intrigued me. Helping her would feel good, and the EXP was a nice bonus. Fucking David, probably the ringleader of her shitty coworkers. I could already picture his smug face.

"Alright," I said, tapping [Yes] to accept the quest. "Let's see what 'magic fingers' can do…"

I leaned forward, elbows on my knees, thinking. Dinner tonight was the perfect chance to dig into her work situation, maybe get names, figure out who was making her life hell. With my Honeyed Words skill at +30% persuasion, I could probably charm some answers out of her without seeming nosy. Gaslighting might come in handy too, but I'd save that for the real culprits.

A knock came at the door, and I turned toward it. If it were Jasmine, she would've knocked three times. This was different.

"I'm coming."

I got up from the couch and walked over, checking the peephole. It was Kim.

She was crying.

I quickly unlocked the door. As soon as I opened it, she stepped in and threw her arms around me, burying her face in my shirt. Her whole body was shaking.

I stood frozen for a second, unsure what to do, then wrapped my arms around her. I stepped back, pulling her gently inside, and closed the door behind us.

"Kim?"

"Evan..." Her voice cracked. "Tom had to move. He—he went with his mother."

"What?" I asked. "Wait, how? Why?"

"She never liked me," she said, still holding on tightly. "She always hated that we were together. From the beginning, Evan. She never even gave me a chance. And now tomorrow? Tomorrow I have to go… she is… I can't…"

I placed a hand on her shoulder and guided her over to the couch. "Alright. Sit. Just breathe."

She sat down, wiping at her face with her sleeves. Her breathing was uneven, her hands trembling. I walked over to the kitchen, filled a glass of water, grabbed some tissues, and brought them back. I set them on the armrest beside her.

She took the water and drank, just a sip.

"Calm down," I said, crossing my arms, standing beside her. "Now, tell me what happened, Kim."

"His… Tom's mom is a Christian," she said finally. "A really… old-fashioned one. And she never thought I was good enough. Not religious, not proper, whatever that means. She never said it outright, but she didn't hide it either."

"And now?"

"She's been trying to get him to break up with me for months. And now she's found someone for him. A girl. From their family. Her cousin."

"She wants him to marry her?" I asked.

"She doesn't just want it. She made him. She told him she wouldn't support him anymore if he stayed with me. That he wasn't allowed to live in the same city as me. And he… he listened to her."

I stared at her, stunned.

"He left, Evan," she said, voice rising. "I told him to stop. I told him he didn't have to go. That he could stay with me. That we could figure it out. I begged him."

"Kim…"

"I told him he didn't have to listen to her anymore," she said, her voice speeding up. "I said, 'Come live with me. You don't need her money. You don't need her control. Just stay.' I told him I'd handle everything, we could make it work—"

"Hey, hey," I said, gently putting a hand on her arm. "Slow down. Breathe. Just talk to me, okay?"

She nodded quickly, wiping her face with the tissue, trying to pull herself together.

"I gave him a choice," she said. "Her or me."

I didn't say anything. I let the silence fill the space.

"He chose her," she whispered. "He fucking chose her fucking mother."

She looked up at me, her face a mess of tears and disbelief.

"He's marrying his goddamn cousin, Evan."

"Oh…"

"The apartment was in her name. That bitch's name. His mother." she continued, now quieter. "She paid the rent. She told me I had to leave. I didn't even get to pack properly. Just… shoved whatever I could into a bag and left. That's all I have now. One bag."

"Jesus…"

"I have nowhere to go. No job. No apartment. Nothing. They took everything from me. Everything."

I crouched beside her, reached up, and gently wiped the tears from her cheek. Then I took both of her hands in mine, grounding her.

"You're not alone," I said. "We'll figure something out."

She shook her head, still crying. "I don't know what to do."

"You don't have to know right now. You can crash here as long as you need, alright? You don't need Tom. Or his mother. We'll get you back on your feet."

She looked at me, tired and broken.

"Evan… I feel like I'm falling apart."

"I've been where you are," I said softly. "I lost everything once too. I thought I wouldn't come back from it. But I did. And you will too."

I smiled and bumped her shoulder with my fist gently.

"And honestly? You're stronger than me, Kim. You can do the 'come back from it' part better than me, I'm sure."

She let out a shaky breath. Then a small laugh, the kind you let out when you've cried too much and your body's just trying to reset.

She wiped her face again. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

"You don't have to find out," I said. "We're friends. This is what friends do."

She nodded slowly, still holding the glass in her hand like she didn't want to let go of anything right now.

"Thank you," she said. "Really. Thank you."

‪‪❤︎‬‪‪❤︎‬‪‪❤︎‬

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