"I won't be attending," Suzy replied without hesitation.
Derek froze for a moment. "Why not?"
Suzy cleared her throat lightly and explained, "I haven't been feeling well lately. I'm planning to take a leave of absence for a while."
Suzy's poor health was common knowledge. She was beautiful, yet perpetually pale and sickly. At A University, many students privately referred to her as the frail beauty.
Seeing the concern in Derek's eyes warmed Suzy's heart. "Don't worry," she added gently. "It's nothing too serious."
Derek nodded. "I understand. If you need help with anything, you can always come to me."
They arrived at Suzy's car.
Derek lifted the box from his arms and placed it carefully into the trunk. At that moment, a cold, mechanical voice rang out in Suzy's mind once more—
[Handsome Men Collection Codex successfully activated!]
[Suitable target detected: Derek Martin]
[Level: SSS]
[Affinity meets requirements. Binding conditions fulfilled. Proceed with binding?]
Suzy's mind went blank. She didn't even know what this system actually did yet!
But instinct answered for her before logic could catch up.
Suzy: Bind.
[Target Derek Martin successfully bound.]
[New function unlocked: Bound target receives supplies → tenfold rebate upon consumption.]
Suzy sucked in a sharp breath.
Wait—what?! Tenfold rebate?!
That meant if she gave Derek supplies, once he used them, she'd receive ten times the amount back?!
[Correct.]
The system's confirmation made Suzy's fingers tremble with excitement.
Then what was there left to worry about? Give one—get ten back! A walking treasure generator!
Suzy's eyes practically lit up.
When Derek turned around, he saw Suzy staring at him with an intensity that made his ears heat up.
A rare flush rose to his pale face. He didn't dare meet her gaze, shifting his eyes aside as he asked, "Senior… is something wrong?"
Suzy worked hard to suppress the grin threatening to curve her lips.
"Thank you for helping me carry the box. Have you eaten yet?" she asked.
"I already ate—" Derek had been about to say he had, but halfway through the sentence, his stomach betrayed him with a loud growl.
He froze, visibly embarrassed.
"You don't have to be polite," Suzy said with a smile. She opened the box and took out a packed meal. "Take one with you and eat it later. I picked the dishes based on my own taste, though… I don't know if they'll suit you."
She handed him the boxed meal, and Derek accepted it immediately.
"I'm not picky at all. I'm sure it'll be great. Thank you, Senior," he said, breaking into a bright smile.
"Alright then, I'll get going." Suzy lifted a hand in farewell. She still had a packed schedule ahead of her.
After getting into the car and saying goodbye to Derek, Suzy started the engine.
Once she'd driven away from campus, she stored the boxed meals from the trunk into her space.
Then she headed straight for a luxury resale company she'd contacted earlier.
Suzy still owned plenty of luxury items—bags, jewelry, watches, and more. Those things would be useless in the apocalypse.
It was better to convert them into cash now and stockpile supplies while she still could.
Along the way, Suzy also gained a clearer understanding of the system's basic rules.
The Handsome Men Collection Codex System, in simple terms—was exactly what it sounded like.
Collect handsome men.
As long as Suzy successfully bound a qualifying target, she would receive rewards.
Affinity of 40 points or higher was required for binding.
After binding, different features of the codex would unlock depending on affinity level.
Every 20 points of affinity unlocked a new stage.
Each successful unlock granted a random reward.
And the higher the level of the bound target, the more generous the rewards.
If Suzy wanted to obtain more benefits, she would need to bind more target individuals…
Suzy sucked in a sharp breath.
Wasn't this basically telling her to become a heartthrob collector?!
Her gaze flickered.
But then again… maybe that wasn't entirely unacceptable.
She'd already confirmed it with the system. The rebate function applied to every bound target.
The more "treasure basins" she had, the more she stood to gain.
After thinking it through seriously, Suzy found herself growing even more excited.
Half an hour later, she arrived at the resale company.
She parked the car and took out her phone. Several unread messages were waiting.
Suzy first sent a message to the company manager, then opened the unread messages one by one.
Five minutes earlier, Derek Martin had sent her a photo of a boxed meal, saying he'd made it back to the dorm and was about to eat.
Suzy replied with a sticker.
[Suzy: Is it good?]
[Derek: It's delicious!]
He replied almost instantly, sending a second photo—half the meal was already gone.
[Derek: All the dishes you picked suit my taste perfectly!]
[Derek: happy.jpg]
Suzy couldn't help but picture Derek's bright, amber-colored eyes.
Come to think of it, she'd been able to bind him the very first time they met. Which meant his affinity toward her had already exceeded 40 points back then…
Curious, Suzy asked the system to check the exact number.
She discovered that Derek's current affinity toward her was 56 points. Once it reached 60, she'd receive another reward.
After a moment's thought, Suzy sent him another message.
[Suzy: The weather's been a bit strange lately. You might want to stock up on some supplies, just in case.]
After sending it, she exited the chat. The remaining unread message was from Wendy.
Wendy had sent a photo of the gold pendant.
[Wendy: Suzy, are you sure you didn't give me the wrong pendant?]
Suzy opened the image and immediately noticed a faint trace of blood caught in the pendant's carved patterns.
She raised an eyebrow and typed a quick reply.
[Suzy: The wrong one? Sis, isn't that the pendant you wanted?]
If her guess was right, Wendy had already tried using blood to claim ownership. Too bad the pendant was fake—she could bleed herself dry and it still wouldn't work.
What surprised Suzy slightly was that Wendy had come straight to her with the question. That meant she hadn't yet grown suspicious of Suzy herself.
Otherwise, she wouldn't be asking so openly.
Suzy let out a quiet breath of relief. Maintaining her usual persona, she added an innocent, confused sticker, and even proactively asked Wendy what kind of pendant she'd been looking for exactly.
After sending the message, Suzy noticed Manager Williams walking toward her.
With a casual wave of her hand, the back seat of her car instantly filled with an array of bags and boxes.
She put her phone away, stepped out of the car, and greeted Manager Williams. He then called over several staff members.
Together, they carried her luxury items—bags, watches, jewelry—into the shop for appraisal.
The appraisal process took quite some time, so Manager Williams arranged a private lounge for Suzy to wait in.
While waiting, Suzy took the opportunity to ask Malcolm Brone for contact information for several large supermarket suppliers in A City.
She was just about to reach out to them when Manager Williams knocked and entered the room.
"Miss Suzy, all your items have been appraised."
"They're all authentic—no issues there. However…" He hesitated slightly."The total value is quite large. Our shop doesn't have enough cash on hand to buy everything at once."
Suzy's heart sank. If they couldn't complete the transaction in one go, it meant she'd have to make another trip. She'd chosen this place precisely to save time and effort.
Manager Williams noticed the change in her expression. Unwilling to lose such a major client, he quickly offered a solution he'd already prepared.
"If you don't mind, I can help contact another jewelry resale shop to handle part of the purchase."
Suzy smiled. "That works. Thank you for the trouble."