It seemed like she was trying to scare me.
Normally, if someone had said something like that to me, I probably would've tucked my tail between my legs and backed off immediately. Honestly, that would've been the smart thing to do. When a person with power threatens you, most people don't stand there and ask questions. They apologize, retreat, and try not to make things worse.
For some reason, though, I wasn't feeling that way at all.
Strangely enough, I wasn't particularly intimidated.
If anything, I found myself curious.
A small part of me actually wanted to see whether she would go through with it or not.
Maybe that was a terrible way to think.
Maybe I had finally lost my mind.
Either way, I couldn't bring myself to react the way I normally would have.
"Well, you can do something like that, but... are you really sure you want to?" I asked.
The moment the words left my mouth, I could practically see the irritation appear on her face.
She stared at me as though I'd just said the dumbest thing she'd ever heard.
Honestly, if someone had told me that expression alone could slap a person, I would've believed them.
"Why wouldn't I do that?" she asked.
Her tone wasn't particularly loud, but it carried a certain sharpness that made it clear she wasn't amused.
"I don't think it would be very difficult to bring down someone running a low-class business."
That confidence...
The kind that came from someone who genuinely believed they could do exactly what they were saying.
And judging from everything I knew about her, she probably could.
At the same time, however...
Something suddenly appeared right in front of me.
My eyes widened slightly.
The timing was so random that it completely caught me off guard.
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⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆
You have managed to gain quite a bit of interest from Reina. Thus, this has triggered the start of the MAIN QUESTS.
You've Unlocked the MAIN QUESTS!
MAIN QUESTS are QUESTS that differ from the INDIVIDUAL QUESTS you receive from each target you meet. They are also different from MINI-QUESTS.
MAIN QUESTS are on an entirely different level compared to the QUESTS you have taken so far. They are designed to guide you along the path necessary to achieve your dreams.
MAIN QUESTS may involve boosting your reputation, expanding your business, or even leading you to meet a NEW TARGET.
MAIN QUESTS are also significantly more difficult. There is a possibility of life-and-death situations, and you will need to rely on your intelligence to overcome them. Make sure that your stats, especially your STRENGTH and INTELLIGENCE, are high enough to complete them successfully.
⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆
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What the heck was this?
MAIN QUESTS?
I stared at the notification for a moment.
This was the first time I had ever seen anything like it.
The system had given me plenty of things before. SIDE QUESTS. INDIVIDUAL QUESTS. Random objectives. Rewards.
But MAIN QUESTS?
That was completely new.
It honestly felt like the system had suddenly decided to throw an entirely different game mode at me without any warning.
And why now?
More importantly, why her?
How exactly had Reina become the person who unlocked the requirements for something this important?
I didn't understand it.
Was she really that significant?
Well...
When I thought about it carefully, the answer was pretty obvious.
Yes.
She probably was.
If I was understanding things correctly, the reason this happened was because Reina was someone with a considerable amount of influence in the business world.
Meeting her had probably triggered some kind of important event.
Maybe the system considered her an entry point.
A gateway into a completely different path.
Up until now, I'd mostly been focused on smaller objectives and individual targets. Maybe meeting someone like Reina meant I had finally reached the point where the system considered me qualified to step into something bigger.
At least, that explanation made sense.
It was the only explanation that made sense, honestly.
So that had to be it.
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⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆
MAIN QUEST: Welcome to the Business World
Through your connections, you must establish enough influence within the business world to continue climbing higher.
Rewards:
• +5 Reputation
• +5 Charisma
• -3 Infamy
• 20 ♥︎
Requirements:
• 50 ♥︎ Reina's AFFECTION
• +150 INTELLIGENCE
• +80 LOOKS
• +40 CHARISMA
⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆
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Well...
Now I could immediately see why this was considered far more difficult than the INDIVIDUAL QUESTS.
Just looking at the requirements alone was enough to make that obvious.
The rewards were different too.
INDIVIDUAL QUESTS mostly revolved around improving relationships, increasing AFFECTION, and earning ♥︎ from various targets.
This was different.
This felt much bigger.
The rewards weren't focused on individuals.
They were focused on status.
Reputation.
Influence.
Things that affected my overall position rather than my relationship with a single person.
It honestly felt like I'd finally finished fooling around with SIDE QUESTS and had somehow stumbled into the main storyline.
Of course, if this really was the main storyline...
Then my start wasn't exactly impressive.
Because right now...
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⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆
Reina
Affection: -10 ♥︎
Mood: 5 ♥︎
Lust: 10 ♥︎
Status: Annoyed
⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆
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...things were not going particularly well.
A negative ten AFFECTION wasn't exactly what I would call a strong start.
In fact, it was probably the opposite of a strong start.
I was pretty sure most people tried not to make important business contacts dislike them within the first conversation.
Apparently, I had decided to take a different approach.
"Why did you suddenly go quiet?" she asked.
I blinked and looked back at her.
"Have you finally realized how ridiculous you look trying to do something like this when you don't even have a proper business to begin with?"
She crossed her arms.
"It might look good in the short term, but eventually it'll fail in the long run. If you wanted to pursue business, you should've created something better from the start."
For a moment, I simply stared at her.
Because despite how harsh her words sounded...
She was actually giving me advice.
That was a little unexpected.
Sure, it wasn't exactly wrapped in kindness, but advice was still advice.
"Well, I didn't go quiet because I was scared," I said.
That much was true.
"But I do apologize for what I said earlier and for challenging you like that."
For now, it was probably a good idea to step back a little.
There was no point pushing the situation further than necessary.
Especially when I was already sitting at negative ten AFFECTION.
I really didn't need to find out what negative twenty looked like.
"However," I continued, "I don't think I can just hand over my business to you."
She didn't say anything.
She simply listened.
"Like I said, I only just started. It's still very small."
That part wasn't even debatable.
Compared to the people operating at her level, what I had probably looked tiny.
"But even if it's small, I don't think I can simply give it away."
I shook my head.
"Maybe it isn't much right now, but it's still mine."
I looked directly at her.
"And honestly, before I give up on it, I'd at least like the chance to make it bigger."
That wasn't arrogance.
It wasn't confidence either.
If anything, it was probably stubbornness.
But it was how I felt.
No matter how small it was.
No matter how insignificant it looked.
I wanted the opportunity to see how far I could take it first.
She let out a sigh.
"Well, I guess I should revise my opinion of you a little," she said. "Even though I still think it's stupid, I have to admit that I find it somewhat admirable that you're trying to become a businessman from the ground up."
She crossed her arms and looked at me for a few seconds before continuing.
"So yes, I'm changing my opinion of you. A little."
The way she emphasized the last part almost made me laugh.
"But that doesn't mean I'm going to allow you to continue this foolishness," she added immediately. "If you're really going to be this stubborn about it, then I'll just buy this establishment myself."
She paused.
"One million credits."
A million credits?
For a second, I genuinely wondered if I'd misheard her.
A million.
Not one hundred thousand.
Not five hundred thousand.
A million.
Honestly, if I was being completely objective here, that was an absurd offer.
I had only started this business with around a hundred and fifty thousand credits. But a million credits? That wasn't just a generous offer. That was the kind of offer that made people suddenly reconsider their entire life philosophy.
I wasn't going to lie.
It was tempting. Very tempting.
The kind of tempting where your brain starts doing mental calculations before you've even consciously decided to do them.
But at the same time, I couldn't help feeling that if I sold now, I'd regret it later.
I didn't start this business because I wanted a quick payout.
I started it because I wanted to build something.
And honestly, I felt like I could go much higher than where I was now.
"Well, even with that, I don't think it's going to work," I said.
She raised an eyebrow.
"I already told you. I'm not willing to give this establishment to you just because you asked for it or because you're willing to pay for it."
I shrugged.
"I don't know if you realize this, but I'm an aspiring businessman myself. I want to become successful. How am I supposed to get big if I fold under pressure every time someone with more money than me tells me to?"
I smiled.
"If I give up now, I'd basically be admitting that I was never serious about this in the first place."
She looked at me.
And kept looking.
For a moment, neither of us said anything.
Then suddenly...
[+5♥︎ Reina's AFFECTION]
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⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆
Reina
Affection: -5♥︎
Mood: 5♥︎
Lust: 10♥︎
Status: Annoyed
⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆
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Oh.
Well.
That was unexpected.
Apparently, I'd managed to gain something out of this conversation after all.
Sure, her affection was still sitting in the negatives, which honestly wasn't exactly a great achievement.
But progress was progress.
At this rate, maybe I'd only need another thousand conversations before she stopped wanting to destroy my business.
"Oh, I see..." she said.
Then she smiled.
Unfortunately, it wasn't the reassuring kind of smile.
It was the kind of smile that immediately triggered every survival instinct I had.
The kind of smile that told me I absolutely had not seen the last of her.
She turned around.
"Keep in mind that I'll come back one of these days to claim what I want."
Her voice remained calm.
"Nobody gets away from me forever."
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⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆
NEW QUEST
Reina seems like she's willing to do anything in her power to get what she wants.
Make sure you won't budge under pressure.
Reward: +10♥︎ Reina's AFFECTION
Requirement:
200 S-SKILL
150 STRENGTH
200 STAMINA
190 INTELLIGENCE
100 AGILITY
⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆
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What the fuck were those requirements?
I stared at the interface for a few seconds.
Then I stared some more.
Was she seriously going to use every possible method available to force me into giving in?
Because looking at these requirements, it honestly felt less like I had accepted a business challenge and more like I'd accidentally triggered the final boss route of an RPG.
What exactly was she planning to do that required two hundred S-SKILL?
Actually, no.
I didn't want to know.
She eventually left the establishment.
And while I was still standing there trying to process everything that had just happened...
[+1 REPUTATION]
Well.
At least something good had happened.
My REPUTATION had increased.
So, overall, I guessed that counted as a victory.
Probably.
· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·
"I'm heading home now. Take care," I told Denise.
Denise was the one who would be handling the internet cafe during the night shift.
Honestly, that was probably the most dangerous part of the job.
Even so, she didn't seem bothered by it at all.
"Yup," she replied cheerfully. "Leave everything to me from here on out. Just go home and stay safe, Boss."
It seemed that, just like Charlotte, she'd decided to call me Boss too.
"You stay safe too," I told her.
After that, I left the internet cafe.
The sky hadn't completely darkened yet.
The sun had already started sinking below the horizon, leaving behind that strange period where everything was still visible, but only barely.
As I walked, I couldn't stop thinking about those ridiculous requirements.
I figured the reason the QUEST was so difficult was because Reina's AFFECTION was still in the negatives.
Or maybe she was just an incredibly difficult person to win over.
Or maybe both.
Maybe I needed to become so absurdly competent that she wouldn't have any choice but to acknowledge me.
Honestly, I had no idea.
While I was thinking about all of that, I opened up the MINI-QUESTS menu.
And then I found something that I absolutely wasn't expecting.
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⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆
MINI-QUESTS!
• Spend 2 hours in the gym
Reward: +10 STRENGTH, +5 STAMINA
• Have a threesome
Reward: +50 S-SKILL
⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆
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I stared at the screen.
Then I blinked.
Then I stared at it again.
My brain completely stopped functioning for a few seconds.
A threesome?
That was the recommended option?
I slowly looked around.
And only then did I realize exactly where I was.
The Red Light District.
I had originally been planning to increase my S-SKILL by visiting Dina again.
That had been my plan.
A simple plan.
A straightforward plan.
Apparently, however, the MINI-QUESTS menu had looked at my plan and decided that it wasn't ambitious enough.
Instead, it was practically pointing me toward the "have a threesome" option.
Almost like the universe had decided to make things even more suspicious, the door of the establishment opened.
Dina walked outside.
She noticed me almost immediately.
Then she smiled.
"Came back for another round, eh?"