"Leon?" Lisa called out, her brows slightly furrowed as she looked at me more closely. "Why did you suddenly go quiet like that?"
"Uh… it's nothing, really," I answered, trying to brush it off casually.
Although, yeah… that definitely didn't sound convincing even to my own ears.
Well, I guess that's just how things go sometime.
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⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆
Lisa
Affection: 10♥︎
Mood: 40♥︎
Lust: 60♥︎
Status: Interested
⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆
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I glanced at her stats again, almost out of habit at this point.
Even though her AFFECTION had clearly taken a hit earlier because of the choice I made, her overall status didn't really drop. She was still labeled as interested, which meant I hadn't completely ruined things yet. That was… something, I guess. Not exactly a win, but not a total disaster either.
"So," she continued, shifting her weight slightly as she looked at me, "if you're already trying to woo someone else… why did you even ask for my number?"
. . . . .
It felt like the system had just tossed me straight into a pack of wolves because of my earlier decision.
Great. Really helpful.
It would have been really nice if the system showed up. You know, before I ended up in this situation instead of right in the middle of it.
And right as I thought that, it appeared.
Perfect timing. Almost like it was waiting for the most inconvenient moment to show up, then decided to act like a hero.
Still, I wasn't about to complain.
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⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆
NEW QUEST!
Lisa is asking you why you asked for her number earlier.
Say you are attracted to her and shift her affection from the person you are currently wooing to her
Reward: 10♥︎
Warning: If you fail, she may label you as SCUMBAG, and her QUEST will become significantly harder moving forward.
Say you want her as well
Reward: 10♥︎
Warning: If you fail, she may label you as SCUMBAG, and her QUEST will become significantly harder moving forward.
⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆
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…What the fuck kind of choices are these? No seriously, what kind of options are these?
Seriously.
Either way, I risk getting labeled as a SCUMBAG, and then everything becomes harder after that? That's not even a choice, that's a setup.
So naturally, the safest move would be to avoid picking either option.
But…
As I kept reading, one detail stood out.
"If you fail…"
Which meant there was still a chance to succeed.
So this wasn't just a trap. It was a gamble.
I swallowed, feeling my throat go a bit dry.
If it's a gamble… then the real question is whether I'm willing to risk it.
I didn't know what would happen here.
Sure, there was a chance I'd get labeled a SCUMBAG, but honestly, with my current reputation, that label wouldn't even be surprising anymore. It would just be adding fuel to a fire that was already burning.
But if I won…
Then I'd probably get something good out of it.
So yeah, the risk was there. But the reward too.
Now the question is, what are my chances?
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⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆
First Choice: 25%
Second Choice: 5%
⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆
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…Yeah, that's about what I expected.
The second choice was ridiculously low.
I mean, that option basically translates to asking if she's okay with being one of multiple girls I'm involved with. That's not something you casually agree to, especially not right away. Of course it's sitting at 5%. Honestly, even that feels generous.
The first choice was better, but not by much.
Twenty-five percent isn't confidence. That's just barely enough to convince yourself to try.
Right now, I had… 25♥︎.
Maybe I could increase my LUCK to tilt things slightly in my favor.
Although, thinking about it, LUCK probably wouldn't directly increase the percentage. It might just make the outcome lean more in my favor somehow.
Still, trying wouldn't hurt.
And since this was clearly a conversation-based situation, boosting COMMUNICATION made sense too. If I was going to talk my way through this, I needed every bit of help I could get.
So I went ahead and did it.
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⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆
Leon:
STATUS:
STRENGTH: 110
STAMINA: 130
AGILITY: 60
INTELLIGENCE: 120
LOOKS: 75
S-SKILL: 60
CHARISMA: 15
COMMUNICATION: 66
LUCK: 75
REPUTATION: 6
INFAMY: 88
⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆
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I increased my COMMUNICATION by 10 and my LUCK by 15.
Not a massive change, but it was something.
Still, I couldn't help but wonder if this was actually going to make any real difference or if I was just doing it to feel better about my chances.
I took a slow breath, trying to calm myself down before speaking.
"Well… to be honest, I'm not really the monogamous type," I said.
She immediately raised an eyebrow, clearly caught off guard.
"So you mean… you don't plan on sticking with just one person?"
"Yeah… something like that."
"Oh, wow," she replied, her tone shifting slightly. "So you approached me with that kind of intention?"
Her reaction made sense.
Anyone would be surprised hearing that. It's not exactly normal for someone to show interest, maybe even hint at wanting a relationship, and then casually admit they don't believe in being with just one person.
That's not something you hear every day.
"You're one of those guys I've been hearing about lately," she continued. "The ones who want multiple partners."
She took a sip of her soda while keeping her eyes on me, observing my reaction.
But strangely enough, she didn't sound disgusted.
Not fully, at least.
There was surprise, sure. Maybe a bit of curiosity too.
But not outright rejection.
Was this actually working?
"Well," I said, trying to keep my tone steady and not sound like I was talking out of my ass, "a lot of people seem more open to that idea these days. Some even think monogamous relationships are kind of outdated."
I paused briefly, making sure I wasn't coming off too strong.
"More people are exploring different kinds of setups instead of sticking strictly to traditional ones. It's still not widely accepted, yeah, but things are slowly changing. And personally… I think if someone has the means and the ability, they can manage relationships like that responsibly."
Okay, that sounded a bit better than what I was originally thinking.
Still, I was aware that I was walking a very thin line here. One wrong word and this could go downhill fast.
Honestly, I was half-expecting her to look disgusted or call me out for being weird.
But instead…
"Well… I guess that makes sense," she said.
That caught me off guard.
"I actually have a friend who's in a polyamorous relationship," she added, almost casually.
…Wait, seriously?
That was not the reaction I was expecting at all.
"Although… I haven't really been in a relationship before, so I can't say for sure whether it's a bad thing or not," she said. "I don't really have anything solid to base my judgment on when it comes to relationships. It's not like I have some deep belief or experience about something I barely understand. But…"
"I know what you're trying to do," she continued. "You're trying to bring me into a kind of world that I don't know anything about. And considering that I don't even understand what that world is like, I'm not exactly eager to just step into it blindly. So… tell me. Convince me. Why should I even be interested in that kind of setup?"
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⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆
Your CONVERSATION and INTELLIGENCE are high enough that you managed to successfully pass the first phase.
⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆
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There's a second phase to this quest?
Seriously?
Well, at least things weren't going badly. From what I could tell, she didn't outright reject the idea. She didn't call it weird or completely unacceptable either. If anything, she acknowledged it as something that could exist, even if she didn't fully agree with it yet.
But now, she was asking the real question.
Why should she even bother getting involved with a guy who was clearly aiming for a relationship where he would be with multiple women?
"So… you're interested?" I asked, trying to get a clearer read on her.
"I didn't say I'm interested," she replied almost immediately. "I said it's… interesting. There's a difference. It's something unusual, something that makes you curious, I guess. But that doesn't mean I'm ready to accept it." She crossed her arms lightly. "I don't want to be in a situation where the person I love isn't around, and I'm left wondering if he's off with someone else. That kind of thinking just sounds exhausting. I don't get it."
She let out a quiet breath before continuing.
"So if your plan is to win me over and eventually get me into a polygamous relationship with you at the center, then you're going to have to do more than just explain it. You'll have to convince me."
Yeah… she wasn't wrong.
If anything, she was being way more reasonable than I expected. She wasn't shutting it down, but she wasn't accepting it either. She was asking for something that actually made sense to her.
"Well… I think it would be better if we actually get to know each other first," I said after thinking for a moment. "It's probably easier to understand something like that when you know the person you're dealing with. And honestly… I don't even fully know how it's going to work yet."
She blinked, clearly caught off guard.
"Wait… hold on," she said, narrowing her eyes slightly. "You're going through with this idea, and you don't even know if it's going to work? Are you serious right now?"
"Well, like you… I haven't been in a relationship before either."
The moment I said that, she just stared at me.
It was the kind of look you give someone when you're trying to figure out if they're joking or just completely insane.
To be fair, I probably sounded insane.
"So let me get this straight," she said slowly. "You don't have any experience at all, and yet you're aiming for something this complicated? Wouldn't it make more sense to start with something simple? Like… I don't know… having one girlfriend first?"
That was probably the most reasonable take anyone could have.
Actually, scratch that. That was what most people would say.
And honestly, it was something I had thought about before too.
But ever since I got the system, things changed. The idea of taking the usual route just didn't feel the same anymore. It was like being given a different path entirely, one that didn't follow the usual rules. And well, I'm a guy in the right age range. Wanting something like that wasn't exactly shocking.
"Maybe," I admitted. "But I think going after what you really want matters more. Playing it safe all the time doesn't really get you anywhere. If people want to achieve something bigger, they have to take risks. They have to go against what everyone else thinks is the 'right' way. Otherwise, they just end up stuck doing the same thing as everyone else."
As soon as I finished talking, she looked at me again.
And yeah, that look definitely said she thought I'd gone completely off the rails.
"Wow…" she muttered. "And here I thought I'd already met a lot of insane people before."
Then she burst out laughing.
"Hahahaha! I can't believe I'm hearing something like this! This is actually ridiculous!"
She was laughing so hard she had to hold her stomach, like I had just told the funniest joke she'd heard all day.
Well… at least she wasn't angry.
"Alright, alright," she said after calming down a bit. She rested her chin on her hand and looked at me with a small smile. "Fine. You've convinced me… at least enough to be curious."
She tilted her head slightly.
"If you manage to actually win me over, then I don't mind being one among many. But don't get it twisted. If you don't give me enough attention, I'll leave without hesitation. That is, if you even manage to win me over in the first place."
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⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆
Your CONVERSATION and INTELLIGENCE are high enough that you managed to successfully pass the second phase. Your LUCK is also high enough that your chances of success have increased and are now in your favor.
⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆
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⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆
COMPLETED
Say you want her as well
Reward: 10♥︎
⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆
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…Well, I guess that counted as a success.