“Damn clay…” It wasn’t until he felt that he had run far enough that he noticed his hands had patches of clay on them.
Zane, an office worker who had never even played with mud, found out for the first time how much of a hassle it was to wash off.
The clay stuck to his skin, refusing to wash off.
The sink he was using wasn’t much better.
To preserve water, the faucet had a preset that allowed a tiny bit of water to run whenever it sensed someone’s hand.
It will take a couple of seconds before it can be triggered again.
This world is doing too much.
It was good to try to save water, but Zane was inconvenienced and was slowly growing more frustrated by the second.
“I have shit under my nails.” He had been so focused on his hands that he failed to notice a figure approaching.
“It’s the junior who kissed C.”
C?
That was a nickname for Clyde that only one character used.
“The fuck…?” He looked up with a start, only to see a handsome face appear across from him.
[TARGET Michael is currently two feet away.]
You don’t say…
Can’t you notify me sooner or something?
The sink was an outdoor amenity that was set up in different corners of the campus.
This is to promote cleanliness amongst students and teachers alike.
It was a rectangular structure, with the faucet in the middle.
The structure was separated into two sides, each with multiple faucets to accommodate multiple people at a single station.
Michael leaned forward against the middle part, eyes watching every reaction Zane had with great interest.
As one of the most popular guys on campus, he had never seen someone react with such fear to his existence before.
“Do you do sports?” Zane’s black T-shirt was wet from all the splashing he did.
The wetness clung to his skin, outlining his muscles.
To Michael, archaeologists were nothing but studious and boring.
They were normally stick figures, so having seen one with a defined figure was intriguing.
“I work a lot…” His hands were still not clean, and now this person was bothering him.
Not only did he mess up his chance with Clyde, but he now had to deal with the most love-brained out of the two male leads.
“Work out a lot?”
Is he stupid?
“No…” He wondered if he should even bother correcting the dumb misunderstanding.
“I mean…I work three jobs.”
“Three jobs?” His eyes widen in surprise.
He no longer leaned forward.
Instead, he walked around to Zane’s side.
“On top of being an aspiring archaeologist?”
Why did he have to come over here?
What would a golden spoon like him know about working three jobs to survive?
“Yeah.” Zane resumed washing his hands.
“I’m busy trying to get this off.
Go talk to someone else.” He really wasn’t in the mood to converse with the main characters.
“That’s not how you wash clay.” Before Zane could even protest, his hands were already gripped by Michael.
His hands were warm, the complete opposite of the cold water that had long chilled his hands.
“Don’t move.” His grip tightened at the other’s struggle, only loosening when Zane settled down.
They were shoulder to shoulder, a little too intimate for Zane, who was still reeling from his embarrassing kiss with Clyde.
“Instead of scratching it, you need to use pressure from your fingertips.
Rubbing it in circles will break it up.” His warm breath tickled Zane’s neck, causing him to squirm a little.
If it weren’t for Michael’s firm hold, he would have long escaped.
The pressure of his fingers worked like magic.
The clay was quickly removed, as if Michael had done this a thousand times already.
“You’re good at this, Senior.”
“I did pottery back in the day.” He let go of Zane’s surprisingly rough hands.
It was clear that he was someone who had done hard labor, as evidenced by the callouses felt during the wash.
“You figure out the clay under your nails.
Coach is blowing up my phone.”
“Wait!” Seeing him about to sprint off, Zane quickly grabbed hold of his sleeve.
His dripping wet hands only let go once he finished what he wanted to say.
“Thanks.
You can leave now.”
Michael stared blankly at his wet sleeve before turning to leave.
[TARGET Michael’s current goodwill towards Master is -5%.]
Good grief.
I just thanked him, and he feels negatively about me.
What is up with these dudes?
[…] The system was yet again speechless at its host’s stupidity.
He opened up his board and wrote another complaint.
After finally getting all the gunk out from under his nails, Zane went home and sat back down at his table.
His brows were furrowed, and his eyes showed a level of seriousness.
“Tell me honestly…are both the male leads crazy?”
[Master is the crazy one.]
“Nothing you say is true!” He was trying to come up with a game plan, but the system doesn’t seem to be on his side.
“You’re hoping for my failure, aren’t you!?
Shitty system.”
[You are overthinking.]
“I have to go to work in an hour, and then do night studies.
Tomorrow I have to go to my other job in the morning, and then another one at noon.
Say…”
The system listened on with anticipation.
It wondered if the host finally had an epiphany and was now smart about how to complete the mission.
“With my looks, three days should be enough to get them to fall for me.”
[I suggest that Master get professional help regarding your narcissism.]
“A string of data like you doesn’t understand beauty!”
[You are also a string of data, Master.]
“I was once alive as a human.
It’s different from you.”
What Zane said wasn’t wrong.
The system looked at the data it had about its host and sighed.
It wondered how someone, who was once human, had become an unfeeling block of wood like this.
The networks pulled dead souls from their realm and offered them different positions.
Most would choose to be contracted and bonded with a system to complete missions and earn a chance at revival.
But there are some, like Zane, who choose to abandon life and work behind the scenes.
They are the ones responsible for sending the contracted souls to course-correct plot points depending on their respective departments.
Whether it was an appropriate boost the hosts needed to complete the mission, or a carefully constructed situation, they all needed to be approved by those who worked in the departments.
Occasionally, there would be an offer from the creator of the novel, born by a strong desire to change their works, which then spawns special systems like itself.
The dislike that multiple authors of these worlds had for the protagonist they created manifested the ‘Stealing the Male Lead(s) System’ into existence.
“If I keep having to deal with these impossible schedules, I won’t have the time to get closer to the targets.”
[Master can find other means of earning money.]
At first, the system thought of suggesting the idea of abandoning the sick brother, but seeing how he has kept up with the insane work life made it rethink.
Even if the host had very low EQ, the fact that he hadn’t abandoned the brother of the original body was telling of his past humanity.
“What other jobs pay well?”
[With Master’s looks, you can do some modeling to earn money.]
“Do I look like someone who knows how to pose?” Zane shuddered at the thought of making cute faces in front of the cameras.
Regardless of what he thought, Zane still looked up modeling gigs and agencies near him.
If he could earn the same amount of money, maybe even more, he would have more freedom to do things.
[Do you plan on visiting the sick brother?]
Visit?
Zane had been avoiding it as much as possible.
He knew that the system had already altered people’s memories of this face and body to match himself.
But the only thing the system is unable to alter is the personalities.
It was the sole reason so many contractors fail at their mission.
The moment suspicion occurs, the chance of the world collapsing on itself also skyrockets.
He could fool the professor because the original owner also prioritizes his jobs above his classes.
He could fool the protagonist and the male leads because they never interacted in the book.
But fooling the kid?
A child he raised would certainly notice the slight difference, regardless of how good he acted.
“Not yet…”
[Master should ask for half the shift off and participate in the casting call tomorrow evening.]
The system didn’t press on and changed the topic.
The casting call was a major event in the novel.
This was the career pivot for the protagonist, boosting him to stardom from his very first gig after being signed.
“You just want me to clash with the protagonist.” The system’s intentions didn’t go unnoticed.
[Yes.
This is a good opportunity to steal the protagonist’s fame.]
“It’s not part of the mission.”
[It is not.
Master can think of it as crushing the protagonist to earn higher chances at completing the mission.]
“…” Knowing that the system was right, Zane silently dug a grave for his ideal slacker life.