Ethan was lying by the edge of one of the couches in the room the next morning. Awake, he had nothing to set up for at that moment.
After all, the Daily Intelligence Alert for today had not dropped.
As he glanced around, his gaze randomly landed on Anna, who was still sleeping on one of the couches.
Ethan always preferred to sleep on the floor just to give the ladies space on the couches. Even then, not all of them were able to secure a place for themselves.
Nina and Helen also slept on the floor, but they distanced themselves from Ethan.
As the only guy around, Ethan still wondered why they were not rushing toward him. He knew for sure how every other guy would be surrounded if they were in his shoes.
However, his case had always been different, and it was no longer a surprise to him.
This was something he had faced since the very day he joined New Land University.
Ethan was pushed to check her Girlfriend stats again, hoping to see any slight changes.
However...
[Anna Voss.]
[Love: 11%.]
[Loyalty: 50%.]
The stats were still the same, and Ethan's jaw dropped the moment he discovered this. But he did not dare to feel bad for himself.
He decided to check the Girlfriend stats of the rest of the girls.
'Perhaps there could be someone secretly crushing on me,' he thought with a dry smirk.
A smirk that held almost no hope.
Gracie was first on the list, and Helen was next.
[Gracie Evans.]
[Love: 10%.]
[Loyalty: 14%.]
.
[Helen Reed.]
[Love: 7%.]
[Loyalty: 6%.]
"Crap…"
He let out a painful sigh and shook his head. Ethan did not really know how to react to that, but he reasoned that perhaps he had not impressed them enough to boost their stats.
He then moved on to Eva's stats.
'Little sister's namesake. Let's see what she's got.'
[Eva White.]
[Love: 12%.]
[Loyalty: 26%.]
'Wow.'
Ethan was a little surprised until he remembered what they had both gone through at the Pharmacy Store. So far, she was the one he had faced the toughest moments with, and he believed that had affected her more than the others, except for Anna, who was his childhood friend.
[Mella Andrews.]
[Love: 10%.]
[Loyalty: 12%.]
Mella's stats were not bad compared to some of the others, but it reached a point where Ethan started wondering why almost all of them had more Loyalty than Love.
It was not looking good for him anymore, as he feared that all of them might eventually end up as Loyalty Girlfriends.
One of Ethan's greatest fears…
Not ending up with a softening kiss on his already dried and tough lips...
Not ending up getting a taste of what lay beneath a woman's legs...
Not ending up with a "real" girlfriend he could call his lover...
It would be no different from death if that happened to him.
With one final cling to hope, he checked the last lady on his list, and the moment he caught a look, his face could not darken any further.
[Nina Ortega.]
[Love: 0.4%.]
[Loyalty: 2%.]
Ethan's eyes widened instantly.
'What the hell?!'
Nina's Girlfriend stats were the lowest of all, and the fact that her Love stat was not even up to one percent was insane.
Ethan felt his heartbeat pause for a moment, his jaw dropping.
He did not know when he dismissed the interface, frustration crashing hard into his mind, almost driving him to hopelessness.
He thought it would never be possible to make them Loving Girlfriends or even Loyalty Girlfriends, given how low some of their stats were.
He thought he would remain the rejected single guy he used to be, even if he became one of the last men standing.
But then…
[It's crazy how Mister Host doesn't want to know how he can solve this.]
The familiar voice of the system sounded.
Ethan furrowed his brows.
"I won't bother asking if I know your replies will end in mockery," he said.
[Yes, you are right. But isn't it better to get the solution behind the mockery?]
Ethan glared.
He would not say the system was right, but he would not say it was wrong either.
He really needed a way to push some of these girls into the Love category.
"Okay," Ethan hesitated. "Can you help me out, please?"
[Great plea, dummy…]
Ethan shrugged and nodded, already expecting it. He did not bother responding, because at this point…
He needed the guide badly.
[First of all, I'm going to remind you of the Core Mission, because I noticed you forgot.]
[First Core Mission!]
[Save all surviving girls in New Land University and get them out safely without leaving a single one behind. Make them all your girlfriends.]
[Rewards: 15,000 Boyfriend Credits, +20 points to every Attribute, +3 Boyfriend Skills, +1 Gacha Allowance.]
[Penalty for failure: You're going to lose your d*ck!]
That last line made Ethan clench his fist as his heart raced violently.
[Keep every detail in mind, Host. To complete the mission, you must save every surviving woman on campus, get them out, and make every one of them your girlfriends, whether Love or Loyalty.]
[If you plan to remain here, keep in mind that you will lose IT. You know what I mean.]
Ethan flinched, realization hitting him as he remembered the mission terms.]
He did not just have to save the surviving women. Getting them out of New Land University was also part of the mission.
And to make it worse, failing meant losing his d*ck anyway.
How much more frustrated could he get?
At that moment, Ethan realized they were not only fighting for survival, but for freedom as well.
It reignited his determination to find Mom and Eva.
"Is that the solution?" Ethan asked. "Because you haven't said anything related to what I asked."
He questioned the system again, this time more serious, as though his life depended on it.
Fortunately…
[To win the ladies' hearts and loyalty, you must sustain high-impact Attributes.]
[This is where Attribute explanation comes in.]
[Charm: With low Charm points, you will struggle to influence emotions quickly, resulting in Loyalty Girlfriends instead of Loving Girlfriends.]
[Trust earning events: Loyalty is influenced less by Charm and more by memorable and successful shared experiences, especially one-on-one moments. Intelligence and Strength sometimes play minor roles.]
"So in short, I can only achieve this by increasing my Attributes?" Ethan asked.
[What did I just explain?]
The system's response came with a heat but Ethan only nodded, ignoring the insult. He was already used to it.
In the end, he finally understood what needed to be done.
And he would try to do it.
He had to.