I opened the door and headed inside. Ivy was already sitting at one of the small tables near the window, a steaming glass of black tea resting between her hands. She was focused on her phone, thumb lazily scrolling across the screen, so distracted that she didn’t notice walking in at first. Still, she looked much better than the last ti I saw her. Her eyes weren’t swollen anymore, her makeup wasn’t sared, and she no longer looked like she was about to collapse from exhaustion and alcohol.
Seeing her break down in my car that night still lingered in my head, though. She’d cried so hard that her whole body shook, and for a mont I genuinely didn’t know what to do other than hold her. Chase really did a number on her. I just hoped she’d eventually crawl out of that hole instead of drowning herself deeper inside it.
I walked up to the table and sat across from her.
Ivy glanced up, noticed , then imdiately locked her phone and slipped it into her pocket. She exhaled through her nose and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear.
"You finally ca," she said. "I got bored waiting, so I just ca here early."
"Hey, this place is literally right next to your apartnt." I leaned back in the chair. "You don’t have to fight traffic like I do."
"Fair enough." She tilted her head slightly. "What are you drinking?"
"I don’t know yet. What are you drinking, black tea?"
"Yep."
"Then I’ll have the sa."
I raised a hand slightly. One of the waitresses noticed and walked over after dropping another order at a nearby table.
"Can I get a black tea too?" I asked.
"Of course." She smiled politely. "I’ll bring it right away."
"Thanks."
She walked off, and I leaned back in my seat again.
God, did Ivy actually rember kissing that night? I still had no clue. Every ti I looked at her, I kept wondering if she was pretending it never happened or genuinely didn’t rember a thing because of how drunk she was.
Part of wanted to just use Hypnosis and force the truth out of her, but that idea disappeared almost imdiately. I was done digging myself deeper into the Villain reputation pit. After getting punished by the system for saving Robert, I’d learned my lesson. No more unnecessary "bad boy" points.
Actually, speaking of that...
I opened the shop nu while Ivy looked out the window.
══════════════════
SHOP [Page 2]
──────────────────
• Hypnotic Perfu (100c)
• Ti Stop (500c)
• 500 Dollars (150c)
• 1 Ability Point (500c)
• 1 Mastery Point (600c)
• Desire Aura (200c)
• Reputation Point 30 (300c)
• Mastery Evolve (2500c)
• Random Skill (4000c)
• Dungeon (80000c)
══════════════════
Damn. Three hundred credits now. The price increase still annoyed the hell out of .
"My mother," Ivy suddenly said, snapping out of the nu. "Did she... say anything when you brought ho?"
"Nope." I shook my head. "Why?"
She scoffed lightly and looked away. "Just asking."
"Hmm."
The waitress returned and placed the tea in front of . I thanked her quietly before taking a sip. Bitter. Strong. Definitely enough to wake soone up.
While Ivy stared down into her own glass, I spent almost all my remaining credits buying reputation points and dumped them straight into my reputation bar. Honestly, I thought it’d at least drag back to neutral, but apparently I’d done too much questionable shit lately for the system to forgive that easily.
Still, when the notification appeared again, it looked slightly better.
══════════════════
REPUTATION SYSTEM
VILLAIN░░░░░███░░░░░░░░ HERO
──────────────────
Current Reputation: BAD
- More EXP gain when cheating
══════════════════
At least the horrible punishnt penalty was gone now. That alone made it worth it. I could finally do sothing decent without worrying the system would wipe my damn wallet again.
Though... losing the boosted Pleasure stat passive still sucked.
"You okay?" Ivy asked, narrowing her eyes slightly. "You keep staring into space."
"Huh?" I blinked. "Yeah. Just tired."
"You sure?"
"Yep."
Another notification appeared in front of the second I closed the reputation tab.
══════════════════
CURRENT STATS
──────────────────
◆ Strength: 30
⤷ Crushing Presence (▩▩▩▩▩)
◆ Charm: 20
- Manipulative Charm
⤷ Honeyed Words (▩▩▩▩▩)
⤷ Gaslight (⏹☐☐☐☐)
⤷ Emotional Charisma (☐☐☐☐☐)
⤷ Seductive Allure (☐)
◆ Libido: 20
⤷ Endless Vigor (⏹⏹⏹⏹⏹)
◆ Pleasure: 40
⤷ Sensory Overload (☐☐☐☐☐)
⤷ Erogenous Insight (⏹)
⤷ Bliss Multiplier (▣▣▣▣▣)
◆ Luck: 10
──────────────────
◆ Passive Skill: On a Roll
──────────────────
0 Unused Ability Points
══════════════════
Yep. Pleasure was capped again because of the reputation adjustnt. It hurt. Pleasure at ninety was basically cheating at life. I really needed credits again. And for credits... quests.
I quietly opened the quest tab while pretending to casually drink my tea.
"So," I said, trying to sound natural while scanning the translucent nus only I could see. "How are you feeling now?"
"Better." Ivy shrugged slightly. "I think. What about you?"
"Sa answer."
"Mmm."
One of the old quests was still there.
══════════════════
- Quest Available
──────────────────
- Title: Probing
- Task: Invite Alia to your place.
- Reward: 750 EXP
──────────────────
- Accept Quest? [Yes] [No]
══════════════════
Yeah, that one would have to wait. Alia and I barely even talked now that I wasn’t working at the company anymore.
Then another quest popped up underneath it.
══════════════════
- Quest Available
──────────────────
- Title: Drunken Girl
- Task: Talk about the kiss with Ivy.
- Reward: 750 EXP, 2500c
──────────────────
- Accept Quest? [Yes] [No]
══════════════════
I stared at it for a few seconds. That was dangerously easy money. But also painfully awkward.
What if she genuinely didn’t rember it? Then I’d just look like so creep bringing it up out of nowhere. Still... twenty-five hundred credits was twenty-five hundred credits.
I accepted the quest. Then imdiately regretted it.
"I... uh..." I cleared my throat awkwardly. "I don’t know if you rember or not, but..."
Ivy instantly looked up at with wide eyes.
Oh.
She rembered.
Her entire expression changed in half a second. Her shoulders stiffened slightly, and she avoided eye contact almost imdiately.
"About that night," I continued carefully. "You kissed in the car."
Ivy shut her eyes so hard it looked like she wanted to disappear from existence itself. Then she covered her face with both hands, letting out a long, muffled groan into her palms.
Her ears were bright red already.
"Well," I muttered awkwardly. "Guess that answers my question."
"Please stop talking," she mumbled behind her hands. "Oh my god."
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