[New Quest Generated!]
[Quest: Comfort the childhood friend.]
Rick stared at the glowing blue text.
The system was literally handing him a free quest.
It was telling him to play the good guy, to be the reliable simp he used to be, just to farm some easy points.
It would have been a dream come true maybe a few days back. But no more.
Rick let out a low, cold scoff, as he raised his hand and mentally swiped the screen away.
He refused to accept it.
He had free will.
He wasn't going to be a slave to the system, jumping through hoops for a girl who treated him like garbage just for a few measly points.
He was the boss of this system and not the other way round. He made his own choices.
He looked Emily dead in the eye, his gaze was completely flat, entirely devoid of the warmth and sympathy she was so desperately looking for.
"Let us forget it all," Emily whimpered, reaching out to grab his sleeve, "Come, let us go inside and get wasted. I want to forget all about Roy."
Rick however casually stepped to the side, completely dodging her hand, and her fingers grabbed nothing but empty air.
"I don't have time for this, Emily," Rick said, his voice hard and brutally direct.
"You made a fool of yourself over Roy, and then you tried to use me as a quick fix for your bruised ego."
"I told you last night, I am not your rebound dildo. I decided I had much better things to do than buy you beer."
Emily flinched as if he had just slapped her across the face. Fresh tears immediately spilled over her eyelashes.
'I know! I know I messed up! I am sorry! I just want my best friend back!"
"I will never go back to Roy. Roy is nothing to me."
"Grow up, Emily," Rick stated coldly.
He didn't give her another second of his time. He stepped past her, pulled his keys from his pocket, and shoved them into the door lock.
He turned the key, pushed the door open, and stepped inside his apartment.
"Rick, wait!" Emily cried out, trying to prevent the door from closing, but Rick slammed the door shut right in her face.
"Rick! Rick open the door!" Outside his apartment, Emily banged the door, "Please Rick! Don't leave me alone."
Rick could hear Emily let out a loud, shattered sobs as after a few more bangings, she slumped against the wooden door, sliding down to the floor, completely broken by his coldness.
Rick however didn't feel a single ounce of guilt today. He had spent numerous days and nights the same way.
He walked into his small, cramped bedroom. He immediately started stripping off his clothes.
Soon he stood in the middle of the room in just his boxers, as he stretched his arms high above his head, popping his shoulders.
He was completely detached from the drama happening right outside his door. He had much more important things to focus on.
"System," Rick commanded out loud, "Open interface."
Instantly, the air in front of him shimmered. The highly detailed, glowing blue screen materialized in his line of sight.
[Host: Rick Smith]
[Age: 22 years (Expected: 120 years)]
[Gender: Male]
[Level: 1]
[Experience (EXP): 1500/10000]
[Mischief Points: 3950]
[Occupations: 1 New Unlocked (Pending Title)]
[Skills: None active]
[Summons: ---]
[Inventory: Skill Card - Mischief's Touch (Epic), Rare Skill Book, $80,000 Cash]
[Sexual Encounters: 1 (Dr. Elena Vance)]
[Harem: ---]
[Quests in Progress: ---]
The system had somehow collected data about him, like a digital reflection of his life. It was both intriguing and slightly unsettling.
He couldn't help but wonder whether the system had become a part of him... Like, actually a physical part of his body.
Rick's gaze shifted to the three additional tabs that had appeared on the system's interface: Shop, Lottery, and Inventory.
And just by thinking, he opened the first one—Shop.
The Shop tab shifted the screen from a basic profile layout into a massive, endlessly scrolling digital marketplace. It looked almost like the dark web.
As he mentally clicked on it, the screen opened up to reveal an extensive catalogue of intriguing, albeit incredibly overpowered, offerings.
The Mischief Shop appeared to be a marketplace where he could buy exactly what the God of Mischief had promised. So much was on display in front of him. Everything was divided into categories.
The categories were distinct:
Passive Skills
Active Skills
Physical Items
He was already looking at the Active Skills section, and there were a lot of options in front of him, ready to be bought.
Rick chose to focus on one of them. It was the active skill: Silver Tongue.
[Skill: Silver Tongue (Active)]
[Description: Your tongue vibrates at a micro-frequency. One minute of oral sex will forcefully trigger a mind-shattering, squirt-inducing climax in any female target, regardless of their current arousal level.]
"Ahemm..." Rick cleared his throat.
"It's nice... Very nice..." Rick thought, his mind wandering as he imagined using that skill on Elena.
He scanned the screen to see what it would cost to buy it. There, just below the description of the skill, was the price tag:
[Cost: 15,000 Mischief Points]
"Hmmm...?" Rick was confused. He checked his current balance, looking at the upper right corner of the screen.
[Current Balance: 3950 Mischief Points]
Rick tapped the '?' beside it, and a pop-up opened.
[Mischief Points: The primary currency of the system. Earned exclusively through completing Quests, charming targets, and successfully executing acts of mischief and adultery. Points can be used to purchase skills in the Shop or buy spins in the Lottery.]
"So that's how it is..." Rick nodded as he looked at the information. At his current rate, he was well on his way, but he would still need to complete a few more major quests to afford a skill that costs 15,000 Mischief Points.
Since there was nothing more to see for now, Rick closed the shop.
Rick then turned his attention to the second option... Lottery.
The Lottery interface displayed a massive, glowing roulette wheel in the centre of his vision. Curious, Rick focused on it to explore further.
The Mischief Lottery seemed to be a game of chance, where he could use his spins or Mischief Points for a chance to win exciting rewards.
The wheel was divided into dozens of thin slices, ranging from dull colours to glowing, vibrant ones, each representing a different tier of prize.
Grey Segment (Mortal) - 45%
White Segment (Basic) - 25%
Green Segment (Premium) - 15%
Blue Segment (Rare) - 9%
Purple Segment (Epic) - 4%
Red Segment (Legendary) - 1.5%
Gold Segment (Mythical) - 0.5%
'The chances are quite slim,' Rick thought as he checked and the price of each spin was 1000 Mischief Points, "Nope... Too costly right now."
He mentally closed the Lottery tab for the moment and finally checked the third option... His Inventory.
He had already pulled out the suit and watch, but the digital vault still held his Epic skill card, $80,000 in raw cash, and the 'Rare Skill Book' he had earned from dominating Elena in her bedroom.
Rick's eyes locked onto the glowing book icon. The system wasn't just handing him money; it was giving him the tools to manipulate reality itself.
He looked towards the locked wooden door of his apartment. He could still hear the faint, muffled sound of Emily sobbing in the hallway. He didn't care about her. He was going to pack his bags and leave this miserable life behind forever.
But first, he needed to open that book.
A wide, excited smirk stretched across Rick's face. He reached out his hand towards the glowing interface.
It was time to see just how powerful he could become.