Eric sat in his car, hands gripping the steering wheel, staring at nothing.
His lips still tingled where Sarah had kissed him. His mind replayed the moment over and over, analyzing it from every angle like it was a problem he could solve with enough intellectual horsepower.
The kiss had been brief. Unpracticed. Almost desperate in its quickness, like Sarah had needed to do it before she lost her nerve.
And then she'd run.
'What the hell was that?' Eric thought for the dozenth time.
He started the car, the engine rumbling to life. The drive back to his apartment felt longer than it should have, every red light an eternity, every turn taking him through streets that seemed unfamiliar despite driving them hundreds of times.
His mind wouldn't shut up.
'She kissed me. Sarah Sterling kissed me. Why? Why would she do that?'
The obvious answer sat there, unavoidable and uncomfortable. Because she liked him. Not as a friend. Not as her brother's buddy. As something more.
'But that's impossible,' Eric argued with himself. 'She hates what I do. She's spent two years judging every choice I make. She thinks I'm wasting my life.'
And yet she'd kissed him.
Eric pulled into his apartment complex, parked in his usual spot, and just sat there. The dashboard clock read 11:47 PM. They'd spent the entire evening together. The amusement park, the movie, the drive back.
Twelve hours.
The quest.
'Right,' Eric thought, latching onto something concrete. 'The quest. That's what this was about. Making her happy. Spending time with her. I completed the objective.'
But that didn't explain the kiss. The system hadn't required a kiss. Just twelve hours and happiness.
Sarah had done that on her own.
Eric climbed out of the car and headed up to his apartment, his body moving on autopilot while his mind continued its spiral.
He unlocked the door, tossed his jacket on the couch, and collapsed onto his bed without bothering to change. The ceiling stared back at him, offering no answers.
'Okay,' he thought, forcing himself to focus. 'The quest is complete. There were rewards. I should check those.'
But he'd been so shocked by the kiss, so thrown by Sarah's sudden confession and retreat, that he hadn't actually looked at the completion notification properly. Just the second ding, the one that had promised a new notification.
Eric focused his thoughts, willing the system interface to appear.
The translucent blue screen materialized obediently.
‐‐‐
New Notification
For receiving a kiss from a prospect partner, you have been awarded:
Mystery Gift Box x1
‐‐‐
'Mystery gift box?' Eric read the text twice, trying to make sense of it. 'What the hell is a mystery gift box?'
Before he could wonder further, another notification appeared.
‐‐‐
Open Mystery Gift Box?
[Yes] [No]
‐‐‐
Eric considered declining, just to see what would happen, but curiosity won out. 'Can't be worse than everything else that's happened today.'
He focused on [Yes].
The screen flashed brightly, almost blinding in the darkness of his bedroom. Text scrolled across it in rapid succession.
‐‐‐
Opening Mystery Gift Box...
Congratulations!
You have received: 4 Free Attribute Points
‐‐‐
Eric blinked. 'Attribute points. Like in the status screen. The stats.'
Another notification appeared.
‐‐‐
Allocate Attribute Points?
[Yes] [No]
‐‐‐
'Hell yes,' Eric thought, focusing on acceptance.
His status screen appeared, the familiar layout now showing additional information.
‐‐‐
[Status]
strength: 7
intelligence: 9
charm: 8
stamina: 8
Available Points: 4
‐‐‐
Eric studied the numbers, his analytical mind engaging fully for the first time since Sarah's kiss. Four points to allocate. The question was how to distribute them for maximum benefit.
'Intelligence is already my highest stat at nine,' he reasoned. 'But more intelligence means better problem-solving, faster learning, sharper analysis. That could be useful.'
'Charm is what I use professionally. Higher charm probably means better success with clients, easier seduction, more money. But it's already at eight, which seems to be working fine.'
'Stamina at eight is good, but more stamina means longer sessions, less recovery time, more clients per week potentially. That translates directly to income.'
'Strength is my lowest at seven. And while I'm not trying to be a bodybuilder, being stronger has practical applications. Plus...'
Eric thought about the amusement park. Carrying that ridiculous stuffed elephant. Walking for hours without getting tired. His feet had hurt by the end, and his shoulders had ached from various rides.
'If I'm going to be doing more physical activities, strength and stamina matter.'
He made his decision.
'One point to intelligence. Keep that sharp edge. One point to stamina for professional reasons. And two points to strength because I'm tired of being the weakest stat.'
Eric focused his intention, willing the points to distribute.
The screen flickered.
‐‐‐
[Status]
strength: 9
intelligence: 10
charm: 8
stamina: 9
Available Points: 0
‐‐‐
The effect was immediate and overwhelming.
Eric gasped as sensation flooded through his body. His muscles tensed, then released, feeling suddenly denser, more capable. The fatigue from today's outing, the pleasant ache in his legs and shoulders, vanished completely. He felt energized, alert, like he'd just woken from the best sleep of his life instead of lying exhausted in bed.
His mind sharpened too. Thoughts that had been sluggish and circular suddenly snapped into focus. The fog of confusion and overthinking cleared, leaving pristine clarity.
'Holy shit,' Eric thought, sitting up in bed and flexing his hands experimentally. 'This is real. This is actually real.'
He stood, testing his balance, his strength. Everything felt different. Better. More. Like someone had taken his body and upgraded it to a premium version.
Eric walked to his bathroom mirror and stared at his reflection. Same face, same copper-orange hair, same crystalline blue eyes. But something was different. He looked more vital somehow, more present.
'The system is real,' he thought, the truth of it settling into his bones. 'Which means everything else is real too. The quests, the rewards, the progression.'
And the partners requirement.
Eric's mind went back to Sarah. The kiss. The way she'd looked at him before running away.
'The system identified her as my first partner,' he realized. 'Which means it expects me to... what? Seduce her? Sleep with her?'
The thought made something uncomfortable twist in his chest.
Sarah wasn't like his clients. She knew him, really knew him, beyond the charm and the performance. She'd seen him at his worst, judged his choices, called him out on his bullshit. She was Rafe's sister, which made everything complicated in ways Eric didn't want to think about.
'And the system wants me to pursue her.'
Eric sank back onto his bed, running both hands through his hair.
'This is a problem,' he thought. 'A serious problem.'
Because the system was clearly designed to push him into relationships. Not just transactions, not just professional encounters, but actual connections with women. Partners, it had called them. With affinity ratings and everything.
'I didn't sign up for this,' Eric thought, frustration building. 'I have money to make. An empire to build. I need to focus on work, on clients, on actually making something of myself beyond this apartment and my PhD gathering dust on the wall.'
'I don't have time for relationships. For feelings. For complications.'
And Sarah Sterling was the definition of complicated.
'Plus, Rafe,' Eric thought, guilt creeping in. 'What am I supposed to tell Rafe? Hey buddy, I know Sarah's your twin sister, but the mysterious system that appeared in my shower wants me to sleep with her, so that's happening now?'
Rafe would kill him. Or at least try to. Their friendship would be over, absolutely and completely.
'So there's only one solution,' Eric decided, his newly enhanced intelligence cutting through the emotional mess to find the logical path forward. 'Pretend it didn't happen. Clean slate. Yesterday was a one-time thing, a weird anomaly. Sarah probably regrets it already. She'll want to forget it too.'
'And I need to start avoiding her. No more hangouts, no more one-on-one time. Keep everything in group settings with Rafe present. Keep it safe. Keep it manageable.'
The plan was solid. Logical. The smart move.
So why did it feel so wrong?
Eric dismissed the thought, too tired to deal with it. He closed his eyes, intending to just rest for a moment.
Sleep dragged him under almost immediately, his upgraded stamina not enough to fight off the emotional exhaustion of the day.