The Heart System

Chapter 133: Chapter 133

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EVENT

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Kim’s Interest -2

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”No one, huh?” she said, her tone sharp.

”Y-yeah.”

Fuck. Her interest dropped because she knew I was bullshitting. She wanted the truth, but no way I could tell her about Delilah. That had to stay between us.

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WOMEN - INTERACTIONS

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Jasmine: Interest: 30 / 40★

Kayla: Interest: 5 / 20

Tessa: Interest: 22 / 40★

Kim: Interest: 20 / 40★

Delilah: Interest: 25 / 40★

Cora: Interest: 100 / 100★★★★★

Mendy: Interest: 2/20

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Progress:

★☆☆☆☆ - 20 Interest: Milestone reward

★★☆☆☆ - 40 Interest: Milestone reward

★★★☆☆ - 60 Interest: Milestone reward

★★★★☆ - 80 Interest: Milestone reward

★★★★★ -100 Interest: Milestone reward

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Select a woman to track progress.

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Guess I’d eat that loss for now. I locked my phone, still no clue how to reply to Delilah, and leaned back. Kim mirrored me, exhaling, leaning back too. This was boring as hell. I needed a quest, something to do.

Another buzz. I checked—Delilah again. Her name flashed, and my heart skipped.

’Let’s meet at the coffee shop across from my apartment today. Nine p.m.’

Shit, she wanted to meet? No way I was saying no. I typed, ’Of course,’ and sent it. Awkward as fuck, but whatever. Kissing her had already maxed out the awkwardness scale. Couldn’t get worse.

A UI popped up—a daily task. I usually skipped these; the rewards were shit compared to regular quests. But this one caught my eye.

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Daily Task: Kiss Delilah

Reward: Special Event

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Special Event? No details when I tapped it. Guess I’d find out if I kissed her again. Fuck, what was she thinking of me right now?

”I don’t like this,” Kim said, her voice cutting through. ”You’re hiding something, Evan. Why not just tell me?”

”It’s nothing,” I said. ”Just personal stuff. Trust me, not a big deal.”

”If it’s not a big deal, then tell me,” she pressed, leaning forward, elbows on the table, her eyes locked on mine.

”Kim, really,” I said, forcing a smile. ”Forget it, alright? You’ve got your own stuff, you don’t need mine.”

”What am I to you, Evan?” she asked, her voice sharp, leaning closer. ”Just a fucktoy you don’t talk to? ’Kim, come here, I’m hard. Thanks, now shut up and leave me alone’?”

”What?” I said, caught off guard.

”It was like this with Tom,” she said, her eyes watering, voice trembling. ”He’d act the same. Said it was nothing when he checked his phone, kept secrets, talked quiet. Then he kicked me out.”

I stood, crouched beside her, and grabbed her hands, her skin warm against mine. ”Kim, I’m not Tom. You can trust me, always.”

”Then why won’t you talk to me?” she asked, tears spilling, her voice breaking. ”Huh, Evan?”

Fuck, what kind of an animal I was? I had to tell her the truth, I couldn’t make her cry after what went down with Tom. She was having difficulties trusting others and she definitely didn’t need my lies.

”Fine,” I sighed, giving in. ”It’s about a woman. Yesterday, I kissed her. Shouldn’t have, but I did. I’ve loved her my whole life but never said anything because she’s my friend’s mom.”

Kim’s face shifted instantly, tears gone, her eyes narrowing, half-lidded. Fuck, crocodile tears? She played me?

”Huh. A woman,” she said, her voice icy. ”Well, aren’t you a playboy, Evan. Jasmine, Tessa, and I aren’t enough? Got a second dick we don’t know about?”

”You... tricked me?” I said, stunned.

”Tricked the shit out of you, big boy,” she said, smirking, giving my cheek a playful slap. ”Don’t hide stuff from me again. Now spill—who’s this woman? I want every detail.”

Damn, Kim was sharp. Tricky as hell.

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In order to empty my mind before I talked to Delilah, I decided to head to Burney’s, grabbing myself a black coffee and watching the rainy streets. The cigarette in the ashtray smoked curling up, most of the tables were empty.

And, thanks to Charm, the table across me, there was a woman sitting alone. We kept meeting eyes. At first I’d look away, then realized I actually had a shot. So I started holding her gaze, smiling, nodding. She’d return it, sip her coffee, and go back to her book.

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- Quest Available

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- Title: Say Hello

- Task: Talk to the stranger.

- Reward: +40 EXP

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- Accept Quest? [Yes] [No]

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Of course a quest popped up. With Charm at 12, I might actually pull this off. I hit Yes, exhaled, and steeled myself. Just walk over. Say something. Anything.

”Alright, Evan,” I muttered. ”Just go talk to her. Come on.”

I finished my coffee, took one last drag, crushed the cigarette in the ashtray. Then I stood and started walking. Every step felt like the floor was stretching, the café expanding. And then—she put her book down and looked right at me, a small smile on her lips.

Dark skin, long wavy dark-brown hair, short tight skirt, white crop top. Her ass was huge, thighs thick as hell. My mind flashed to sliding my dick between them, rubbing against that soft skin.

”Hello,” I said, smiling. ”Thought I’d come say hi.”

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Quest Completed

Title: Say Hello

Reward: 40 EXP

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”Hey,” she replied, warm, and gestured to the empty chair. ”Of course. I was getting bored anyway. Wouldn’t say no to company.”

”What are you reading?” I asked, sitting.

”H.P. Lovecraft,” she said. ”You know him?”

”Everyone knows him, right?” I grinned. ”Tried one of his short stories once. Dude really doesn’t believe in dialogue, huh?”

She laughed, soft and low. ”Yeah. That’s what I like, though. The paragraphs are walls of text—hard on the eyes, but immersive.”

I smiled, cleared my throat, and extended a hand. ”Evan.”

”Nala,” she said, shaking it—firm, warm. ”Nice to meet you.”

”Likewise.”

So... now what? Keep talking books? Ask about her day? How the hell did I ever score Julia or Lily with my lame lines? I needed to level up my game. If only the system had a ’Flirt’ skill...

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- Evan Marlowe (Lvl 7)

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- Age: 21

- Height: 180 cm

- Weight: 73 kg

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- EXP: [██████████▒▒] 690/777

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She checked her phone, and slumped her shoulders, shaking her head as she let out a heavy sigh. Well, I guess I could use that subject to keep the conversation going.

”Bad news?” I asked.

”It’s from my work,” she replied. ”I gotta fill in a report for the quarterly client audit. I’m a compliance officer at TechForge, one of those mid-sized software companies downtown. Means pulling all-night shifts reviewing data logs, making sure we’re not violating any privacy regs. Irony, right? After that BrightWave mess.”

”Huh,” I said. ”Glad you don’t work at BrightWave, huh?”

”Oh, god, no,” she chuckled. ”I watched the news. Stock prices of Wave just plummeted down, did you see that?”

”No, but I kinda already guessed it would dip,” I said, leaning back.

”Yeah, there’s like millions of speculations about what kind of videos were shared in that group,” she said, leaning in, her eyes narrowing with curiosity. ”Some say it’s gang-related stuff, like blackmail tapes or something shady.”

”I don’t think it’d be that,” I said. ”Maybe they were selling company secrets? Trade secrets, client lists—something corporate.”

”I doubt that,” she said, stirring her coffee, the spoon clinking. ”I saw the video where Vanessa Harding was getting arrested. The cops told her something about ’illegal surveillance footage.’ I wonder what kind of illegal surveillance he was talking about? Hidden cams in meetings? Or worse, personal stuff?”

”Yeah, I don’t know,” I lied, my stomach twisting slightly, but I kept my face neutral. ”Probably some tech espionage gone wrong. BrightWave’s always been in the spotlight for that kind of crap.”

”True,” she said, nodding, her spoon pausing mid-stir. ”Speaking of crap, remember that storm a few weeks ago? The one that dumped rain for days? My basement flooded—had to call in a crew to pump it out. Cost a fortune, and I’m still drying out old boxes of files. What about you? How’d it hit your place?”

”Bad,” I said, rubbing my neck. ”Leaked through the roof in my apartment—water stains everywhere, mold starting to creep in.”

”God, that sounds miserable,” she said, wincing. ”My commute was a nightmare too—the subway flooded, trains stuck underground. I walked ten blocks in that downpour, soaked to the bone, looking like a drowned rat. And the power outages? I lost half my fridge—milk, eggs, everything spoiled. Had to eat out for a week, which isn’t cheap.”

”Yeah, power flickered out for me too,” I replied. ”Candles and flashlights for two days straight. It sucks.”

”I still need to buy new cosplay stuff for the convention,” she muttered, her fingers drumming on her coffee mug, her eyes flicking back to her phone. ”God, that’s money, too.”

”You cosplay?” I asked, leaning forward, genuinely curious, the café’s hum fading around us.

”Oh,” she said, as if she hadn’t meant to let it slip, her cheeks tinting pink. ”Just, you know, a little. My friend Emma cosplays and goes to these conventions. I just go along with her. To—eh, just... I don’t know. Escape the office life.”

”You really don’t like working at TechForge, huh?”

”No, sir,” she chuckled, shaking her head. ”It’s miserable. I mean, it pays well. But I’d rather earn less and not hate my life. Just saying.”

”I hear you.”

Another text pinged, and she grabbed her phone, exhaling sharply. She snatched her purse from the chair, her apologetic eyes meeting mine. Damn, this was it, huh? I missed my shot.

”I’m so sorry,” she said, standing. ”I need to go. Online meeting.”

”It’s cool,” I said, standing too, my chair scraping the floor. ”I’d actually like to see that cosplay event, though. Never been to one. Sounds fun.”

”Really?” she asked, pausing, her hand on her purse strap. ”Emma and I are doing ’My Life in Zararo’ right now.”

”What’s... that?”

”It’s an anime,” she said, smiling. ”I’m cosplaying as one of the teachers. Emma’s a student. It’s happening at the City Center Convention Hall in two days. Starts at nine in the morning.”

”Sounds fun,” I said. ”Can I get your email?”

”My... email?” she asked, tilting her head.

”Y-yeah,” I said, clearing my throat. ”Didn’t want to—uh, get your number straight away. Might come off as a creep. You gotta be careful these days.”

She laughed, soft and easy. ”How about my Instagram? Better than email, right?”

”Oh... yeah,” I said, my face warming. ”Am I that old?”

”Hey, I’m thirty,” she said, grinning. ”How old are you?”

”Stopped counting after twenty,” I chuckled.

She laughed harder, shaking her head. ”You should cosplay as Mr. Nawia. He’s a teacher in the anime—all the girls chase him.”

”I’d have the opposite effect,” I said, smirking. ”They’d run the other way.”

”What? You look good, Evan,” she said, her eyes sparkling. ”Trust me. Check Mr. Nawia, grab a uniform close to his. Join us at the convention in two days. You can DM me anytime—@M.Nala, that’s my username.”

”Got it,” I said, nodding. ”See you in two days, then.”

”Yup,” she smiled. ”See you, Evan. And don’t forget that cosplay.”

”I won’t,” I replied. ”Bye.”

I watched her hurry to the exit, her skirt swaying, then sank back into my chair. Damn, she was beautiful. And a cosplayer too. I wasn’t into anime, but for her? I’d binge the show.

My Life in Zorro? Wasn’t Zorro that Robin Hood’s buddy?

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