West’s lips parted slightly.
"...Ah."
Aria.
That explained it.
The system didn’t care about context... Only conditions.
He let out a quiet breath and opened the reward panel.
---
[ Quest Reward Granted ]
Rewards:
+50 Cuck Points
+1 Charm
Emotional Perception Boost (Passive)
[ Skill: Silver Tongue (Lv. 1) ]
Type: Passive
Description:
Your command over words improves significantly. Speech flows more smoothly, timing improves, and your tone instinctively adapts to the listener.
Effects include:
Increased success rate in persuasion-based conversations
Flirting feels more natural and effortless
Higher charm impact during casual, romantic, or social exchanges
Reduced awkwardness, hesitation, or conversational missteps
---
West whistled softly under his breath.
"That’s... dangerous... perfectly dangerous..."
Between the achievements and the quest, the total rolled in quickly.
By the time the system finished tallying everything, a number blinked at the corner of his vision.
Cuck Points: 372 → 492
West let out a low laugh.
"Yeah... that’s a lot."
He already accumulated plenty when Aria was giving him a blowjob and now with the sudden completion of new achievements and quest, he had stacked an even higher number.
West sighed. "If only I had this many when I was in the ruins... I’d have been able to afford 3 branches..."
Nonetheless, West still counted his win. Now he had enough to upgrade substats, buy skills and other things in shop that might be useful.
For the first time since awakening, he truly felt the weight of potential pressing at his fingertips.
But before he could dive into the shop interface, a soft and shy voice spoke from behind him.
"Hey... West."
He turned and spotted Mira Han a few steps away.
She clasped her hands together in front of her with her shoulders slightly hunched and her eyes bright but nervous. Her hair was tied loosely today with a few strands falling freely by her cheeks. She wore her uniform properly, but somehow it still looked gentle on her.
West smiled. "Hey."
She relaxed just a little.
"I... um... I couldn’t really talk to you this morning," she spoke before glancing away briefly. "There were a lot of people around you."
He chuckled. "Yeah. That happens when you almost die, apparently."
Her eyes widened. "Don’t joke about that."
She stepped closer. "I just wanted to check if you were really okay. I heard what happened... about the ruins."
"I’m alive," he said simply. "That counts, right?"
She nodded quickly. "It does."
There was a pause.
Then she smiled softly. "You’ve become really popular these past few weeks."
West shrugged. "Unintentional side effect."
They sat together on the bench with the track field stretching quietly in the background. Mira talked about how chaotic the week had been at school, how teachers were nervous, how everyone kept refreshing the news feeds when the ruins incident first broke out.
West listened without saying much.
"I wanted to text you," she said suddenly. "When you weren’t in school. But... I don’t have your number."
West blinked. "Oh."
Then, he casually added, "You want it?"
Her face lit up so fast it almost caught him off guard.
"Yes."
He took out his phone, and they exchanged numbers as well as social media accounts too. Mira tried to act calm, but her fingers betrayed her excitement, tapping just a bit too quickly.
She tucked her phone away and smiled to herself.
Then West tilted his head. "So... did you finally get a boyfriend?"
Her expression froze.
She shook her head. "No."
West sighed dramatically. "How hard could it possibly be?"
She puffed her cheeks. "Hey."
Then, half-joking, half-pouting, she said, "What, do you have a fetish for girls with boyfriends now?"
West raised an eyebrow. "Do you have a fetish for being single?"
Her mouth opened...
Then closed...
And then, opened again.
"You— you— you—"
She spun around suddenly with a red face and stomped away with quick steps.
"I won’t message you!" she yelled back, pointing a finger at him without turning.
West laughed and waved. "Sure you won’t."
The bell rang.
He headed back to class, deciding he’d deal with the system properly later. The rest of the day passed quickly followed by whispers, glances and quiet conversations.
After school, Nina caught up with him near the gate and they chatted briefly.
She talked about art more freely now especially since West encouraged her about her passion, claiming it wasn’t boring in the slightest.
She unexpectedly pulled out her phone and showed him a picture. It was a detailed sketch of him, standing amid abstract ruins. It was stunning.
"You drew this?" West asked, genuinely shocked.
She nodded shyly. "I want to bring it over later."
"Any time," he said honestly. "I’ll text you our new address."
She smiled and waved excitedly; "Bye."
West waved back and they parted ways as West began to head to to work.
The city streets buzzed with evening life as cars, people and lights flickered by.
Then—
West suddenly slowed his steps slightly as he felt something strange...
The sensation of being watched...
He didn’t turn around but he instantly knew that someone was following him.
And whoever it was...
They weren’t trying very hard to hide it.
West slowed his breathing the moment the realization settled in.
He kept walking but now he paid more attention.
He soon realized that they were at least three of them.
They weren’t trying to hide it particularly well either... just enough to blend into the evening crowd. Their spacing was staggered just right so none of them looked like they were together unless someone knew what to look for.
West knew. The system had sharpened his perception far beyond what it used to be, and now every shift in footfall, every delayed turn, every reflected shadow on a window registered in his mind.
He kept walking with a relaxed posture and put his hands in his pockets.
However, he subtly started to increase his pace after fully confirming their numbers.
He wasn’t scared but chose to be very cautious. Even as an awakened, even with boosted substats, the last two days had drilled something into him:
Carelessness got you killed.
A transparent blue interface shimmered into existence at the edge of his vision as he walked.
> [System Interface Opened]