The "#KissGate" incident went viral, sweeping through the entire campus forum.
In just twelve short hours, the name Shawn O'Pry went from being an unknown nobody to a legendary figure on campus—albeit in a way he would have rather died to avoid.
He locked himself in his dorm room, pulling the covers over his head and trying to pretend he no longer existed in this world. However, his roommate Leo's loud voice mercilessly shattered his illusion.
"Dude! You're famous!" Leo kicked the door open, excitedly waving his phone. "The forums are blowing up! Some people are calling you a warrior charging forth for love, others are calling you a premeditated pervert, and someone even started a betting pool on whether Eric Dane will put you in the hospital!"
Shawn let out a whimper from under the covers.
"The best version is this one," Leo said, shoving his phone in front of Shawn's face and reading with great relish. "They're saying you've had a secret crush on Eric for ages, and at the charity carnival, you used a kiss filled with passion and despair to declare your forbidden love for him! How romantic!"
"Romantic, my ass!" Shawn threw off the covers and roared frantically. "It was an accident! An accident! My foot was tripped by my own brain!"
"The details don't matter," Leo said, patting his shoulder earnestly. "What's important is that you're a celebrity now. You have to learn to use this heat."
Shawn only wanted to use this heat to cremate himself.
Meanwhile, in the large, empty villa on the outskirts of the city, Eric Dane was venting the inexplicable frustration in his heart on a punching bag, one punch after another.
He should have been angry, offended. His first kiss, that sacred kiss he had always treasured and planned to save for his future wife, had been stolen in such an absurd way by a clumsy weirdo, right in front of everyone.
But... why wasn't it anger replaying in his mind, but another feeling?
The softness of the other person's lips, those eyes wide with panic, the sound of his own heart beating out of control.
Eric stopped, breathing heavily, and wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. He irritably touched his own lips, where a strange sensation seemed to linger, making his heart skip another beat.
"Damn it..." he cursed under his breath. He had to be possessed.
The next day, it took all the courage Shawn had ever possessed just to step into the lecture hall for An Introduction to Sociological Theory. He wore a hat with the brim pulled down low and slipped into a corner in the back row like a thief, praying he could turn into a puff of air.
However, fate was never one to let him off the hook. Professor Marshall seemed to have a special "fondness" for him and called on him to answer a question.
Shawn stood up stiffly, stammering, his mind a complete blank. Just as he was about to give up and accept his fate of a zero, his gaze drifted uncontrollably toward Eric Dane in the center of the classroom.
Eric was looking at him, too, his expression as complex as an advanced calculus problem.
Their eyes met.
One second.
Two seconds.
Three seconds.
The instant Shawn was about to look away in fear, the system interface in his mind went "ding," and a line of small, flashing green text popped up.
["Gaze of the Succubus (Beginner)" has been triggered! 5% probability... Success!]
At almost the same moment, Eric Dane felt as if his heart had been squeezed hard by someone, and then it began to pound wildly. An inexplicable wave of heat shot up from his chest to his cheeks.
Startled by his own sudden physical reaction, he quickly averted his gaze, the tips of his ears turning uncontrollably red. He couldn't figure out what was wrong with him, only that the idiot's gaze... seemed to hold a strange kind of magic.
Shawn didn't notice Eric's strange reaction at all. He only saw the other guy quickly turn his head away, as if in disgust.
It's over. He must hate me even more now. Shawn's heart sank.
After class, Leo scurried over to him like an excited groundhog.
"I saw it! I saw it all!" Leo grabbed Shawn's shoulders excitedly. "That look you two just shared! The sparks! The tension! It was incredible! He's totally into you!"
"He was trying to kill me with his eyes!" Shawn retorted in despair.
"No, that was love!" Leo said decisively.
Shawn couldn't be bothered to argue with him anymore. Exhausted in mind and body, he returned to his dorm and collapsed onto his bed, wanting only to sleep until the end of the world.
However, that devilish system never let him rest.
[Ding!] [Main Mission has been updated.]
Shawn opened his eyes, resigned to his fate.
[Mission 3: His Scent.]
[Objective: Wear an item of the conquest target's clothing for at least one hour.]
[Reward: HP +3, Charm +1.0, access to the System Shop (Beginner) unlocked.]
[Failure Penalty: In the men's locker room, stuff yourself into a locker (body will be completely taken over by the system).]
[Countdown: 47:59:18]
Shawn looked at the mission description and imagined the scene: in a locker room packed with muscular guys, he would be controlled by an invisible force, folding himself up like a flexible gymnast and stuffing himself into a small metal locker.
He let out a scream more bloodcurdling than any he had ever made before.