I opened my eyes to the sharp, grating sound of people arguing.
"Stop it. Don't you, like, know the word that I don't want to?"
I heard a woman's voice.
My vision came back slowly, like an old monitor flickering to life after being turned off for too long.
Everything felt heavy and sluggish. It was like my brain was still half asleep and refusing to cooperate.
After a few seconds, shapes became much clearer and sounds became sharper.
My awareness settled in just enough for me to turn my head toward where the argument was happening.
The woman looked like she was in her early twenties.
Flashy was the first word that came to mind.
Maybe too flashy.
Her skirt was short enough to catch anyone's attention instantly, and her cardigan, which was tied around her hips, was doing a half-hearted job at covering her legs.
It wasn't exactly failing, but it definitely wasn't winning either.
A lot of skin was still visible, and it was enough to make people look twice, or more than twice if they had no shame.
At first glance, someone might assume she was the type who liked attention, the kind who played around.
But judging by the way this creep had her by the arm, looking like he was about to drag her straight out of the convenience store, that assumption fell apart real quick.
"Come on, just a bit," the man said. "I think you're gonna have some fuckin' fun with me."
"I told you, like, I'm not interested. What kind of word do you even know about not being interested that you, like, don't understand?" she shot back.
There wasn't anything subtle about it. She clearly didn't want this. Not even close.
Normally, this would be the part where I looked away.
I was just a guy working the night shift at a convenience store.
Sleep-deprived, underpaid, and honestly just trying to survive each shift without anything remotely interesting happening.
Most nights were quiet, boring to the point that even staring at the ceiling felt like entertainment.
Trouble was the last thing I wanted.
Anyone would think the same.
Getting involved in something like this could go wrong in a hundred different ways.
The guy could get violent. He could have friends.
Things could escalate fast, and for what? For a situation that had nothing to do with me?
That's how most people think.
That's why most people pretend they didn't see anything.
That's why they look away.
My eyes should have done the same.
Instead, something else caught them.
"What the fuck…?"
The words slipped out under my breath without me even thinking.
It wasn't the argument anymore.
Something was floating right in front of me.
___
Samantha is being bothered by a thug.
Reward: If you help her, you'd gain 5♥︎ on Samantha.
___
My hand moved on instinct, trying to brush it away like it was some kind of weird hallucination or maybe just my brain finally breaking from lack of sleep.
My hand went straight through it.
There was no resistance.
It was there, clear as day, but not actually there at all.
What the hell is this supposed to be?
My eyes flicked back to the woman.
Another one appeared.
Right in front of her face this time.
___
Samantha
Affection: 0♥︎
Mood: 0♥︎
Lust: 0♥︎
Status: Completely not interested
___
A slow wave of disbelief crept up on me.
This didn't make sense.
I had just woken up.
There was no way my brain should already be this messed up.
Floating text? Stats? What was this, some kind of cheap game interface glued onto reality?
Still, it was there.
It was clear and detailed, and more importantly, impossible to ignore.
Figuring it out by standing around wasn't going to work.
. . .
Well, taking action might.
My gaze went back between the woman and the guy again.
"Come on, just once. You'll fuckin' like it."
The way he said it made my skin crawl.
Getting involved still sounded like a bad idea.
He was bigger and probably stronger. The kind of guy who probably won't hesitate to throw a punch just to prove a point.
My body already knew that. My knees felt it before I even moved.
Standing there wasn't going to give me answers either.
My breath came out slow.
Screw it.
"Hey, don't you think you should stop?"
The words left my mouth before I could second guess them.
The guy turned toward me.
Irritation flashed across his face instantly.
"What? Who the fuck are you?"
"I don't think she's interested in whatever you're trying to drag her into," I said. "Can't you just walk away and accept defeat?"
For a second, he just stared.
Then he laughed.
Loudly.
Like I had just told the funniest joke of the night.
"What? You… you tryin' to impress her or some shit? Playin' hero in a fuckin' convenience store?" he said, shaking his head. "That's pathetic, man. You're makin' yourself look worse."
He wasn't wrong.
This wasn't something I did.
My legs were already betraying me, trembling slightly.
Being this close made it worse.
He was bigger than I thought.
And broader.
Still, I held my ground.
"I wouldn't have said anything if this wasn't happening inside the store," I replied. "And honestly, this doesn't seem like the best place for whatever you're trying to do."
His expression darkened.
"You're fuckin' pissin' me off. You wanna get punched or what?"
That question didn't really need an answer.
I stayed quiet, pushing my chest forward a little, trying to look at least somewhat confident.
It probably didn't work.
"You should've kept your fuckin' mouth shut and stayed in your place."
His hand shot out.
Before I could react, my collar was in his grip, and the next thing I knew, my feet weren't touching the ground anymore.
Just like that. I was lifted.
Great. This was going exactly how I expected.
"Now, sleep for the fuckin' whole day!"
His arm pulled back, muscles tightening as his fist aimed straight at my face.
It looked huge up close.
It was big enough to completely block my view.
My eyes shut instinctively.
This was it.
"Urk!"
The sound cut through everything.
The grip on my collar vanished.
My feet hit the ground as his body dropped instead.
He crumpled, knees hitting first, then everything else following like his strength had just been erased.
"You're the one who should sleep for the fucking whole day."
I heard the woman's voice again.
I opened my eyes.
She stood there, arm slightly extended, a taser still in her hand.
So that's what happened.
A small, almost disbelieving breath escaped me.
That could've gone way worse.
"T-Thanks…"
The words felt awkward, like they didn't fully cover what almost just happened.
"Well, I'm, like, the one who should be saying thanks," she said. "If not for you, he wouldn't have been distracted, and I wouldn't have been able to, like, attack him. By the way, are you okay? You're, like, shaking a lot."
"I'm fine," I said, though my body clearly disagreed. "That was my first time dealing with something like that."
And hopefully the last.
"That's good, I guess. I should, like, call the police and report this guy. Leaving him here feels, like, a really bad idea."
"Yeah, that sounds right."
She pulled out her phone, already dialing.
While she did that, my attention drifted back to the floating text.
It had changed.
___
Samantha is being bothered by a thug.
COMPLETED!
Reward: If you help her, you'd gain 5♥︎ on Samantha.
___
It really said COMPLETED.
What does this even mean?
My head felt a little heavier just trying to process it.
If I tried to look at everything from a normal, everyday perspective, then this whole situation just collapsed into nonsense. It honestly sounded like something you'd laugh off if someone else told you about it.
But if I thought about it like a game…
Then suddenly, it started making a weird kind of sense.
The structure was there.
A situation, a prompt, and a reward.
It lined up.
Almost like I had stepped into something that followed rules I already understood, just placed in a setting where it absolutely shouldn't exist.
So the easiest way to deal with it was to accept that idea, at least for now.
This is like a game.
Except it's happening in real life.
What exactly is this, then?
My attention went back to the the reward.
I had gained five of these ♥︎.
What the hell do I do with them, though?
___
Samantha
Affection: 0♥︎
Mood: 0♥︎
Lust: 0♥︎
Status: Completely not interested
___
A thought crossed my mind.
Could I… actually use those hearts? Could I just add them to her status?
I did the only thing I could think of.
I focused on increasing her Affection to 5♥︎.
The moment I did, the values shifted.
___
Samantha
Affection: 5♥︎
Mood: 0♥︎
Lust: 0♥︎
Status: Stranger
___
My eyes locked onto the new values.
So that's it…?
That's really how it works?
Her Affection increased, and along with it, her status shifted into something else entirely.
The change was small on the surface. I mean, it's just a single word, but... Before, there was nothing. It was Completely not interested.
Now there was something.
Stranger.
It sounded basic, almost meaningless at first glance, but compared to before, it was a step forward. There was clear difference, I guess.
So the status… it probably refers to what she is to me. Or what I am to her.
That had to be it.
Otherwise, why would it change alongside affection?
What the hell is this?
A chill ran through my spine, not exactly out of fear, but definitely something close to it.
Don't tell me… this is actually real?
This wasn't just some weird visual glitch or a trick of my imagination. I mean, it responded, changed, and reacted to what I did.
That meant it followed rules.
And if it followed rules…
Then it could be used.
This was just like those eroge systems.
Affection points. Progression. Status changes.
All of it.
Except there was no screen separating me from it.
I had no controller in my hand.
And of course, there was no reset button.
This was happening here.
Which meant…
If I could increase her affection like this…
Then it wouldn't stop at five.
It could go higher.
Much higher.
And as it did…
Her status would change again.
From stranger… to something else.
My throat felt dry all of a sudden.
I glanced back at her without really meaning to.
And then I swallowed.
Harder than I expected.
Now that I had a rough idea of how this worked, even if I didn't fully understand it, there was a clear possibility in front of me.
Her status wasn't fixed.
It could change.
Again and again.
Depending on what I did.
Depending on how I used this.
With something like this, I could actually change things.
That thought alone felt dangerous.
I wouldn't have to stay the same.
I wouldn't have to be stuck as the guy who barely gets through his shifts, who avoids trouble, and who doesn't stand out in any way.
Maybe I could be more than that.
Maybe I could actually become someone.
"Hey, like, are you even listening to me?"
"Wha…? Ah, yeah, I am," I said, blinking a couple of times as I straightened up.
My awareness rushed back all at once, and with it came the realization that I had probably been staring at nothing like an idiot.
Or worse, staring at her.
That would've been bad.
"Like I said, I'm thankful that you helped me," she continued. "I'm pretty sure it would've been, like, really ugly if you didn't interfere back there."
She brushed her hair back slightly.
"So, like, as a thank you… do you want my number or sumthin'?"