Did I just screw up?
Why did she suddenly become so possessive?
She leaned closer, her smile fading a little.
"Why aren’t you saying anything? Are you taking back what you said?"
Her fingers tightened around my shirt. "You meant it, right?"
My shoulder hurt from her grip, and the strength behind it was no joke.
"I... I’m just really happy that you said yes."
Her smile brightened. "Really?"
"Really. So, can you get off me now?"
"Sure."
She helped me off the sofa, and it took me a couple of seconds to pull myself together.
"Raven..." She smiled sweetly, holding my hand like she didn’t just nearly crush my shoulder. "Boyfriend."
"...Yeah?"
Her face lit up with joy. "I like saying that."
"Me too." I played along, careful not to upset her.
While her attention was on me, I decided to see if I could finally check her status.
Name: Lea Han
— Personal Attributes —
Strength: C+
Agility: B-
Stamina: B
Intelligence: C
Charisma: A-
— Special Traits —
Possessive Instinct: Unique
Limit Breaker: Unique
You’ve got to be kidding me. Her physical stats were way above average, but those two Unique traits caught my attention even more.
[Possessive Instinct: A rare trait that causes extreme fixation on a single individual.]
[Limit Breaker: A rare trait that suppresses the body’s natural physical limits. Its effects vary depending on the individual’s emotional state.]
’Does that mean her attributes could climb even higher?’
The truth was, I let my guard down because I could always summon Furcas in an emergency. But that was before I knew she was this strong.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"Yeah, I’m fine. I just need to use the bathroom."
I slipped away, keeping an eye on her until I was safely out of reach.
’System. Now that she’s my member, does that mean I can control her?’
[Negative, Host. You have no power over her decisions.]
’Then does that mean she could kill me?’
[Affirmative.]
’What kind of logic is that? Aren’t you the Cult Leader System?’
[Affirmative, Host. However, your goal is to become a worthy leader. One of the characteristics of a leader is being charismatic enough to avoid getting killed by your own members.]
Why couldn’t I have something more useful? Like a System that actually allowed me to mind-control people?
That would make my life so much easier.
’So powerful recruits could be just as dangerous to me as they were to my enemies. Great. I’d have to make sure they actually liked me.’
I headed out but stopped at the door.
"Lea?"
She stood by the counter, a kitchen knife hanging loosely from one hand.
"Raven... you’re finally back." Her lips curled upward.
My eyes dropped to the knife.
Then back to her smile.
The rational part of my brain told me it was probably harmless. The part of me that remembered being stabbed to death disagreed.
"What are you doing?" I asked, ready to activate my trump card at a moment’s notice.
Summoning a literal demon to deal with a girl might’ve been overkill, but my last life already taught me which one I should be more afraid of.
"What do you mean?" She tilted her head, the knife dangerously close to her lips.
She slowly began walking toward me, her playful smile never leaving her face as she hummed a little tune.
My PTSD was kicking in. This was exactly how I died last time.
Fortunately, she stopped two meters away.
"Why do you look so pale?" she asked, looking completely clueless while I stood there sweating buckets.
"I’m not really comfortable around sharp objects. I have a bit of trauma with them."
She raised her other hand, revealing a neatly sliced apple.
"I was just cutting it for you. I thought you might like some."
’You could’ve led with that,’ I grumbled to myself.
"I’ll leave you to it." I headed back to the living room, though I kept a close eye on her every move.
After she was done, she brought out a plate filled with apple slices shaped like little bunnies.
"You’re really good at this," I praised her.
She rested her head against my shoulder and closed her eyes. "I like cutting things."
"Cutting things?" I repeated, my mind immediately conjuring up a few bloody scenarios.
"Yeah. My fingers are pretty flexible too. Would you like me to give you a little hand rub?"
Before I could answer, her fingers were already working over my hand.
I wasn’t going to complain, but if I weren’t already suspicious of her, I probably would’ve enjoyed this a lot more.
"By the way, Lea, is this really okay? I just feel like you agreed to it way too fast."
She let go of my hand and started fidgeting with her fingers. The sudden switch from playful to innocent was starting to worry me.
"I actually liked you in high school."
"You liked me?" I pointed at myself. "Back in high school? Why? I wasn’t exactly the kind of guy people liked back then."
"I know, but to me, you were like a light. You were the only one who talked to me without judging me or being mean to me."
We were both at the bottom of the high school food chain, so I probably gave her more attention than anyone else did. That explained why she grew attached to me, but not why her feelings were this intense.
Just as I was about to bring it up, her phone rang.
She checked the screen, and I caught the name displayed there.
’Mother.’
Her face went blank, and I noticed her shoulders trembling.
"I’m really sorry, but I have to go."
She stood up and left in a hurry.
"Man..." I sank into my chair and sighed.
Somehow, my first member also became my girlfriend, and she was a complete wild card.
I had no idea whether bringing her into my life would turn out to be my luckiest move or the start of my downfall.
After cooling down, I headed back to my room and leaned against my desk, eager to check my rewards.
"Status."