The space under the kitchen sink was narrow and cramped.
With the smell of metallic rust mixing with a heavy scent of perfume, my head felt a bit dizzy. Since the repair began, a pair of eyes had been fixed on my every move, tirelessly tracing the curve of my spine as I bent over. The weight of that look was so obvious it felt physical.
"Luke, you've worked hard. Do you want something to drink?"
With a voice that sounded sweet but carried a sticky sense of lust, the landlady Celine spoke from behind me. It wasn't just my imagination. Including this moment, I had lost count of how many times she had tried to signal her interest today. First, she pulled down her collar, claiming it was too hot. Then, she bent over to pick something up, failing to notice as her skirt slid up to barely cover her ass, revealing everything. She even had the nerve to ask me to help her take off her stockings, claiming her hands had no strength.
With the last loop of waterproof tape wrapped around the pipe joint, I pulled my hand back and crawled out from the suffocating darkness. I stood up and began packing my toolbox.
"Thank you so much, Luke. I really don't know how to repay you," Celine said, walking over with a fake air of concern. As she spoke, she suddenly took a clumsy step.
"Oh!"
With a staged cry, she aimed herself perfectly to fall right into me. I moved a few steps to the side with a quick, agile motion.
Thud!
With no one to catch her, Celine hit the floor hard and let out a genuine pain cry.
"Owch!"
That clearly hurt. She lay there on her back with her skirt hiked up past her thighs because of the fall. Deeper shadows were barely visible, creating a picture meant to spark the imagination. With a pitiful expression, she looked up at me while rubbing her ankle with one hand and bracing herself with the other.
"My... my ankle feels like it's sprained, Luke..."
With a flirtatious tone, she acted spoiled. Every movement she made was a clear plea for me to pick her up. I wasn't some socially stunted guy; I knew exactly what the expected response was in a situation like this. So, I put down my tools, slowly leaned over, and reached out my hand.
Just as the lust in Celine's eyes began to spread and she reached out to grab me...
"Pay up."
With the smile frozen on her face, she stared at me. I flipped my wrist, displaying the bright payment QR code on my phone.
"Thank you."
With a shy smile that revealed my desperate need for money, I thanked her in advance. She seemed unable to process the sudden shift from a romantic script to a business transaction. With a slight tremor in her voice, whether from anger or confusion, I couldn't tell, she spoke.
"W... what is the meaning of this?"
"Exactly what it looks like," I explained patiently. "Ms. Celine, let's look at the facts. On the twentieth, the showerhead fell off by accident. The Wednesday before that, the lightbulb just happened to go out. Last Friday, the bedroom door lock mysteriously failed, and a few days ago, the toilet tank float valve got stuck for no reason."
With a steady hand, I kept the phone held up for payment.
"Counting this leaking pipe today, that makes five times in a single month. Now, I strongly suspect you aren't looking for a repairman. You're looking for a good time."
"I am not! It's normal for things to break!" Celine tried to argue.
"Normal screws break because of rust or stripped threads, not because someone snapped them off with pliers. The lightbulb in the living room had a perfect filament but a loose connection. There were bits of paper stuffed into the bedroom lock. And for the fourth one..."
With every detail I listed, I blocked her path to an excuse. After I finished, I looked her in the eye.
"So, don't you think it's reasonable for me to ask for compensation for mental distress and extra service fees?"
With an expectant look, I waited. She was left speechless. Realizing she couldn't win the argument, she tried to use her status.
"Luke." With a faint hint of a threat in her tone, she continued, "Don't forget that I am your landlady..."
As if I gave a damn. I ignored her warning and just shook my phone. The light from the screen flickered across her face. My meaning was clear: stop talking and pay me.
The silent standoff lasted for a dozen seconds. Finally, Celine gritted her teeth and scanned the code with her phone. With a ding, the payment arrived. With a satisfied feeling, I pulled my phone back. I stopped smiling and didn't even bother to look at her disheveled, seductive pose. I turned around and walked straight out of the kitchen.
"Bastad!"
With a look of resentment, Celine scrambled off the floor. Forgetting to fake her sprained ankle, she chased after me, rambling incessantly.
"Stop right there! What kind of attitude is this? Haven't I been good to you? I saw you were just a poor student, so I gave you a discount on rent! I brought you fruit and invited you to dinner, and this is how you treat me? I have money and a great body, and I just wanted you to spend a few nights with me. Is that so hard?"
She threw out her accusations like a woman scorned.
Wow. You really are starving, aren't you?
With total indifference, I walked to the metal door across the hall and pulled out my keys. Seeing that I wasn't paying her any mind, Celine seemed to snap. With a cold voice, she brought out her trump card.
"Don't push your luck. Next month's rent, I'm telling you, I might have to..."
Her threat cut off abruptly. I opened the door. In the entryway sat a packed backpack and a suitcase. Everything I owned was sitting there quietly, as if I had predicted this exact moment. I stepped inside, threw on my bag, and grabbed the suitcase.
"Don't worry about next month," I said flatly. With a casual flick of my wrist, I tossed the keys to her. With her body flinching at the cold touch of the metal, she caught them instinctively. Along with the keys, I left her with two final words.
"I'm moving."
With that, I walked toward the elevator without looking back. The doors slid shut, cutting off the sight of her face, which was twisted in shock and disbelief.
---
-----
With the cool night breeze blowing against me, I walked down the quiet street. My head, which was usually foggy from a lack of sleep, felt a bit clearer. The reason I could leave so boldly was simple: there was no security deposit. In this world generated by power-fantasy novels, many rules were absurd. For example, landlords cared more about their first impression of a tenant than a legal contract.
With long bangs and a pair of glasses, I looked like a complete loser in the mirror. Perhaps Celine thought I had nice skin or looked young and innocent. Regardless, she had waived the deposit. In her mind, it was the bait. She never expected the fish to unhook itself so easily. You want to be a cougar? Go eat dirt.
Soon, I arrived at my new place in the old district. It was sixty square meters with a bedroom, living room, bathroom, and kitchen. Small, but complete. The landlady was a kind old woman. Seeing that I was a student living alone, she didn't take a deposit and set the rent at a ridiculously low price. With a mental note to buy her some health supplements later, I started setting up my new home.
Why did I reject Celine? To any normal adult man, being pursued by a wealthy, attractive woman might seem like a dream. It's a shortcut in life. But I only found it troublesome, an intense physical and mental exhaustion.
The reason? I am a misogynist at my core. It wasn't something I was born with, but a result of my life experiences. There are three main reasons.
First, my family in my past life. My father was an honest worker who spent his life toiling away. With the cheapest cigarettes and the cheapest liquor, he saved every penny for my mother. In the end, she used that money for beauty treatments and luxury, eventually cheated on him, and ran off with all the family savings. During the divorce, she blamed my father, saying he was useless and couldn't provide the life she wanted. I still remember the day the divorce papers came. With a hunched back that looked like an eighty-year-old man, my father sat on the balcony smoking from dawn until dusk. That image is a thorn I can never pull out.
Second, my simp friends. They were cheerful guys, but once they got girlfriends, they turned into shells of themselves. Some ran across the city to buy a specific cake, others skipped class to wait in line for concert tickets, and some lived on scraps just to buy their partners gifts. And the result? Upon graduation, the girls said they didn't want a hard life and married local guys with property. My best friend got blackout drunk on one of those wedding days. With tears streaming down his face, he hugged me on the curb and cried like an idiot, asking why his devotion wasn't enough. It's because in this materialistic age, feelings are the cheapest thing there is.
Third, the internet. Every time I open my phone, I see news about people jumping off buildings over dowries, wives faking cancer to steal assets, or girls using their boyfriends money to support a side piece. These stories are like needles piercing my last illusions about women. I know you can't generalize everyone, and there are bad men too. Good, loyal girls exist, but why would a bottom-tier loser like me ever meet one? It's better to let those fantasies drown in reality.
Of course, those are just the mental factors. The physical reason I have no interest in women is that for three years, I have only slept three hours a day. It's not that I don't want to sleep; I simply can't. With severe sleep deprivation, I spend my days like a zombie in a daze. In this state, the most primal urges have been erased by exhaustion.
Why am I not dead? A normal person would be in a grave by now. I'm standing here because of a damn talent.
[Ding!!!]
With a mechanical chime that only I could hear, a semi-transparent screen appeared in my mind.
[Achievement Unlocked: Saint of Purity]
[System Note: User has rejected dozens of direct or indirect advances from the opposite sex over the last 1,095 days.]
[With a heart that remains steadfast against temptation, you have maintained the noble standards of solitary living even as a modern loser. This record surpasses all peers in this world.]
[Title {Impenetrable Human} promoted to {Absolute Defense: Saint Virgin Barrier}]
[Special Reward: Unlocked exclusive skill {Goblin Hero}]
With a cold, metallic resonance, the data loaded.
[Skill Details: Goblin Hero (Passive/Active)]
[Background]: Within the goblin race, which lives on instinct and plunder, a rare few outliers are born. They discard the primal urge to capture maidens and pour all their life force into endless battle. They become war machines that terrify the Adventurer's Guild.
[Active Effect]: Intimidate. Release a mental pressure to inflict {Fear} on a target.
[Passive Effect]: Unyielding. Permanent enhancement to physical functions, including dynamic vision, reflexes, muscle power, and bone density.
[System Comment]: Don't compare me to those trash kin. Capturing maidens? No. Fighting? Hell yeah!
With a calm motion, I tapped my status bar.
--User Panel--
Name: Luke
Age: 18
Height: 181cm
Weight: 73kg
Title: Absolute Defense: Saint Virgin Barrier (Mythic Unique)
Effect: With a will tempered beyond human limits, Stamina +30%, Stamina Recovery +20%, Immune to most mental charms.
Talent: Gift of the Grind King (Anomaly/Curse)
Description: You only need 3 hours of sleep. The remaining 21 hours can be used for self-improvement. With 5 extra hours a day, you will be the king of the grind!
Mechanism: At sunrise, you absorb cosmic sunlight to force-charge your body, repairing organ damage and cell death caused by lack of sleep.
Note: This only affects the body. It cannot restore mental fatigue. With an eternal lack of rest, your soul will bear the burden of exhaustion alone.
--0--
That is my secret. When the morning sun hits me, a warm current flows through my body like a portable charger. It fixes my liver and my failing heart, but it cannot erase the weariness in my soul.
So, I am a woman-hater. Mentally, it's because of my past. Physically? With sleep being my only luxury, how could I ever have the energy for the most complicated creatures on earth?