Bianca drops me off at my next class, acting as normal as ever. Like we didn't just spend the entire lunch period with our tongues down each other's throats.
"Have fun, dork." She gives me this little smile that makes my heart do stupid things, then turns to leave.
"Yeah, see you."
I watch her go, admiring the way she walks with that confident swagger, and then I turn to head into the classroom.
My mind is completely checked out.
I mean, can you blame me? I'm apparently dating Selene and Bianca now. With their full knowledge and enthusiastic consent. Both of them. Both sisters who I've considered family since forever. Both girls I've had hopeless crushes on for years. Both of whom are objectively, scientifically, mathematically gorgeous.
I'm still having a hard time convincing myself that this is real life and not just an elaborate dream. Like, maybe I'm in a coma somewhere and this is all just my dying brain firing off feel-good chemicals to make the transition easier.
I walk into the classroom in what can only be described as a fugue state. My body is on autopilot while my mind is somewhere in the stratosphere, trying to comprehend my new reality.
"Yo, Adam! Did you—" Theo starts, then his eyes widen. "Dude. What happened to your hair?"
Oh heck.
I can feel my face go nuclear as I remember exactly why my hair is messier compared to the carefully styled look I was sporting earlier today. Flashbacks hit me like a freight train: Selene's soft lips in the library, her fingers tangling in my hair. Then Bianca, intense and desperate, her hands pulling at my hair as we kissed.
"Uh..." My brain scrambles for an explanation. "I fell asleep. At lunch. It just—got all messed up when I woke up."
"You fell asleep?" Theo squints at me. "For like, what, forty minutes? And your hair's that messed up?"
"...Yes?"
From her seat, Phoebe raises an eyebrow at me. There's a knowing smile on her face that makes it very clear she's not buying my lies for even a second.
I feel myself blush even harder as I basically flee to my seat next to Theo. Smooth, Adam. Real smooth. Master of deception over here.
"Okay, okay, whatever. Forget your hair." Theo's already bouncing in his seat with excitement. "Do you have any idea what a big deal you are right now?"
"What?" I blink at him, my brain still buffering from the whiplash of going from 'making out with a gorgeous goth girl' to 'normal school activities.' "What are you talking about?"
"Bro, everyone's talking about you! Here, look—" He whips out his phone and shoves it in my face.
A TikTok video is playing, replaying the altercation I had with that handsome asshole this morning. I watch myself on screen, listening to him comment on Selene's "nice ass." Then I watch myself deliver what I thought was a pretty solid burn about his mother not being present in his life.
Oh. Right. I forgot people were recording that. That's... kind of embarrassing.
"Wait, there's more." Theo swipes to another video. This one's from lunch: Bianca and Selene are taking turns shoving Troy against the wall like they're playing some kind of aggressive game of hot potato, while I stand behind them looking vaguely confused.
When I look up from the phone, I realize I'm drawing way more attention than usual. A few students are glancing over at me periodically. A couple others are straight-up staring, whispering to their friends.
"Yikes," I mutter. Though honestly? I don't mind the attention too much. I don't regret standing up to that asshole.
"Are you kidding? Yikes?" Theo looks at me like I've lost my mind. "Dude, you're a badass! Everyone's on your side!"
"He's right." Phoebe chimes in, her tone matter-of-fact. "That guy's a total dickhead. You did good, standing up for them."
"Thanks." I smile, happy they've got my back. "By the way, who even is that guy? Do we know anything about him?"
Theo shrugs. "Transfer student, I think? Pretty sure his name's Troy. Somebody said he's joining the football team..." He pauses, tapping his chin. "Yeah, that's all I got."
"Cool. Hey, if you ever get the chance, like during practice or whatever, could you tackle him for me?"
Theo laughs. "What? Hell no! Are you trying to get me killed?"
"Wow." I shake my head sadly. "And here I thought we were friends."
"We are friends!" Theo puts a hand on my shoulder with mock sincerity. "Which is why, if you ever fight that dude, I'll be right there with you."
"Really?"
"Yeah… I'll be on the sidelines. Cheering you on." He nods solemnly. "And afterwards, I'll drive your broken body to the hospital. That's what friends are for."
"How generous." I say dryly. "In that case, if I ever do fight him," I put my free hand on his other shoulder, mirroring his gesture. "I'm using you as a human shield."
"You two are such idiots," Phoebe says, laughing.
That gets all three of us cracking up.
Then class officially starts, and once again, I pay approximately zero attention to whatever the teacher is saying.
I can feel my system nagging at me again.
Shit. Again? This is the second time today that I've completely missed my system notifications. I guess I was too focused on the whole "trying to fix my relationship with Bianca" thing, and then the whole "having a really hot makeout session with her" thing.
But this is kind of outrageous. I'm usually way more on top of this stuff.
I mentally allow the system to appear in my vision.
Ding! Quest log updated.
New Quest: Confess to Bianca
Objective: Let Bianca know that you're attracted to her by the end of the day.
Reward: 50 Evolution Points
Ding! Quest log updated.
New Quest: Communication is Key
Objective: Confess that you also like Luna to Selene and Bianca.
Reward: 25 Evolution Points
Ding! Your Charm has increased by 1
Ding! You've completed the quest: Confess to Bianca
Rewards: 50 Evolution Points
Ding! You've completed the quest: Communication is Key
Rewards: 25 Evolution Points
Holy shit. What the hell. I just completely missed receiving two new quests? And I already finished them?
I open my status menu, checking out everything that's changed.
Adam Gray
Age: 18 | Height: 5'2"
Dick Size: 3.5 inches (flaccid), 5 inches (erect)
Current Occupation
Student
Part-time worker at the Midnight Café
Inventory
Minor Shop Voucher [Appearance]
Evolution Points: 312
Attributes
Appearance: 14
Charm: 14 → 17
Strength: 14
Dexterity: 13
Endurance: 15
Willpower: 28
Intelligence: 29
Body Enhancements
Optimized Body (All workouts become more effective; much faster recovery from fatigue)
Improved Hearing (Heightens ear sensitivity, offers minor protection against loud noises, and improves ability to distinguish between overlapping sounds)
Intuitive Thinking (Sharpens intuition and quick thinking, improving predictions about situations and people based on the Intelligence stat and available information)
Enhanced Recovery (Slightly speeds up natural healing from minor injuries or physical fatigue)
Active Skills
Will of Iron (Dulls negative sensations and emotions based on Willpower stat while active. Drains energy and Willpower while in use. Automatically deactivates when energy or Willpower is depleted)
Passive Skills
Expert Programmer (Greatly increases programming ability)
Novice Cook (Slightly increases cooking ability)
Novice Sneak (Slightly increases effectiveness of stealth, enhancing your ability to move undetected when desired)
Novice Pickpocket (Slightly enhances your ability to steal items unnoticed)
+ Novice Kisser (Slightly enhances your kissing abilities)
Perks
Advanced Sleeper (+15% Sleep Efficiency)
Genius Intellect (+50% effectiveness for all intelligence-based activities)
Training Expert (+50% Workout Efficiency)
Increased Training Effectiveness (+10% Workout Efficiency)
Damn. 312 Evolution Points. That's the most I've ever had at once. I'm rich!
I also gained three points in Charm today, which... yeah, that tracks. Between confessing to both Selene and Bianca, kissing them both, and apparently becoming TikTok famous for standing up to an asshole, I guess I've had a pretty charismatic day.
And there's the newly acquired Novice Kisser perk from this morning in the library with Selene.
Nice.
Though honestly, the system should've upgraded it to Intermediate Kisser after what happened with Bianca. That was some advanced-level stuff.
I close my status menu and try to refocus on class for exactly five seconds before giving up. As always, they're covering stuff I already know, so I tune out again and open my system shop instead.
As I previously planned, I want to save two hundred Evolution Points for the Wakeful Physiology perk.
Wakeful Physiology - Sleepiness accumulates significantly more slowly, and negative effects from sleep deprivation are reduced [200 Evolution Points]
With that perk, I'll have even more hours in the day to work on my projects, study, work out, or (and I'm just spitballing here) make out with my gorgeous sisters… er, girlfriends. The possibilities are endless.
But I'll still have another 112 Evolution Points left over to spend.
I wonder if I should invest in combat upgrades. I did just antagonize Troy. Twice. On camera.
I think I can hold off on perks for now, I can buy them instantly when I need them.
So instead, I turn my attention to body enhancements, active skills, and passive skills.
I scroll through the menus, looking for upgrades that would be generally helpful while also improving my odds in a fight if it comes to that.
Unfortunately, these upgrades all seem to be purely physical ones. Nothing magical. No fireballs, no telekinesis, no summoning lightning to smite my enemies. Which is incredibly disappointing. How the hell am I supposed to fight those eldritch monsters from my nightmares with purely physical enhancements?
I shake off those thoughts. Maybe I'll unlock more supernatural abilities when I upgrade my system with "Divine Power," but there's no point obsessing about it anymore.
For now, I'm stuck in the boring "human" power tier, and I need to work with what I've got.
To be fair though, the sheer amount of options I already have is kind of overwhelming.
For body enhancements, I can improve my eyesight or enhance my hearing even further. I can boost my reaction time or improve my muscle control. There's even an option to increase the amount of adrenaline my body can produce and handle, which would boost my physical abilities during stressful moments.
For passive skills, I can become proficient in any weapon I want. Swords, knives, spears, bows, even firearms. Though I do wonder about the effectiveness of guns against eldritch horrors.
Active skills are the most interesting though. I can learn "Dash," which lets me quickly accelerate and move a short distance. Or "Adrenaline Rush," which massively boosts all my physical stats for a short time but causes injury and fatigue afterward.
I lean back in my chair, thinking this through, mentally piecing together a build path.