When the woman knelt in front of me and smiled, I couldn’t help swallowing.
Now that I could see her up close, she was actually quite beautiful. Her short black hair suited her face, and there was a constant spark of amusement in her eyes. Whenever she smiled, a faint dimple appeared on her left cheek.
She was attractive too, and whether I wanted to admit it or not, that was the truth.
I had no problem with her kissing me. The real problem was figuring out how to get a woman I’d only just met to kiss me within fifteen minutes.
Hello, we only met a few minutes ago, but the System is going to humiliate me in the middle of the street if I fail. So, could you kiss me?
Yes, that would definitely work.
She would either call the police or slap me across the face. Maybe both.
The countdown continued at the edge of my vision.
[14:41]
[14:40]
The woman held out her hand.
"Can you give me your hand?"
After a moment of hesitation, I held out my injured hand.
When she took my fingers into her palm, I noticed that her skin was warmer than I’d expected. She held my hand carefully and began untying the bloody strip of cloth wrapped around it.
The cloth had stuck to the wound. I grimaced when she slowly pulled it away, but I didn’t make a sound.
Once the last piece came free, the woman examined my hand, and her teasing expression faded slightly.
"How did this happen?"
I didn’t like the pity in her voice. She was looking at me as if I were an injured stray cat.
I glanced away and shrugged.
"I saw how cute I was, punched the mirror, and broke it."
The woman paused for a moment before raising an eyebrow as she opened a packet of cotton pads.
"Are you complimenting yourself?"
"No, it’s more like-"
I stopped.
Wait...
When I punched the mirror, I had actually broken it—and that had happened right before I summoned the System.
My eyes slowly widened.
System.
A line of blue text appeared in my vision.
[I’m here, Chosen One.]
What happened to the quest about not breaking anything?
The answer came without even a second of delay.
[Quest Status: Failed.]
[Failure Penalty Activated.]
[Remaining Penalty Time: 46:34:18]
I stared blankly at the words.
What?
[Weren’t you wondering what was causing your headache?]
"Damn!"
My growl echoed through the pharmacy, making the woman flinch and release my hand.
"Ah! I’m sorry. Did I hurt you?"
Panicking, I waved my good hand.
"No, no! It has nothing to do with you."
The woman gave me a doubtful look.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. My mistake." I looked away. "I just remembered something unpleasant."
She let out a deep breath before taking my hand again.
"Please save your unpleasant memories until after I finish cleaning your hand. If you suddenly shout like that, I’ll think I did something wrong."
"Sorry."
After muttering the apology, I continued cursing the System in my head.
It hadn’t told me I’d failed the quest. Worse, when I kicked the nightstand and it didn’t break, the System had told me the quest was still active.
That meant it had already known I’d failed and deliberately misled me.
Why didn’t you tell me I’d failed?
[You did not ask.]
My eye twitched.
I’m going to kill you one day.
[Systems do not possess biological life functions.]
Then I’ll find a way.
The blue words disappeared as the woman poured disinfectant onto a cotton pad and carefully began cleaning the dried blood from my wounds.
Despite the stinging pain, I stayed quiet this time.
"What’s your name?" she asked.
"Noctis."
"Noctis?"
Her hand slowed for a moment.
"Yes. What about it?"
"Nothing." She nodded as though repeating the name to herself. "It’s just unusual."
"Don’t blame me. I didn’t choose it."
Technically, that was true. I really hadn’t chosen this name.
The woman smiled as she pressed a fresh cotton pad against the wound.
"My name is Rose, by the way. You can use that instead of calling me ’woman’ from now on."
"You’re talking like there’s going to be a next time."
"Maybe you’ll pick another fight with a mirror."
"The mirror lost."
Rose looked at my split knuckles.
"I’m not so sure about that."
I didn’t answer.
A brief silence settled over the pharmacy. While Rose continued cleaning my wounds, I watched the other quest’s timer at the edge of my vision.
[11:26]
Time was passing faster than I’d expected.
Rose opened a fresh packet of gauze.
"How old are you?"
"Eighteen."
"So you’re three years younger than me."
She was twenty-one, younger than I’d expected.
As Rose prepared the bandage, she continued asking questions.
"Are you going to university?"
"I don’t know."
The answer slipped out before I could stop it.
Noctis had already made up his mind. He had even been accepted into the music program at the university he’d applied to, and he still had a few weeks to complete his enrollment.
However, the person who had made that decision was the owner of the memories inside me, not me.
Alongside regular universities, this world also had special academies for Nexus users. There, people learned to control their abilities before going on to become fighters, government officials, researchers, or professional Nexus users.
I didn’t have a Nexus yet, but gaining one through the System wasn’t impossible. In fact, it didn’t even seem that far-fetched.
I still didn’t fully understand what Eclipsie Points were for, but the System gave me quests, displayed my stats, and imposed penalties that could affect reality itself.
Why couldn’t it give me a Nexus?
Until then, it made no sense to completely throw away the life Noctis had built.
"I’ll probably go," I said at last. "I was accepted into the music program."
"Oh..."
Rose looked at my face.
"I can actually see you studying something like that."
I frowned.
"What’s that supposed to mean?"
"You have a nice voice, and your appearance suits the stage."
"So you’re saying I look like a girl again."
"I didn’t say anything like that."
She didn’t need to. The smile on her face made it obvious enough.
Rose began carefully wrapping the bandage around my hand.
"It must be difficult living away from your family at your age."
"Who said I don’t live with my family?"
Rose giggled.
"Come on. If you lived with your family, I wouldn’t be the one bandaging your hand right now."
"Why not?"
"Because someone at home would’ve seen you, brought out a first-aid kit, and stopped you from tying a piece of your shirt around the wound."
I couldn’t think of a response, so I clicked my tongue.
"Tchh."
Rose studied my face for a few seconds.
"Are you always like this?"
"Like what?"
"You know. Like this."
A confident smile spread across my lips.
"Handsome and charming?"
Rose made a pained expression.
"Tsundere and... Hmm, how should I put it?"
"Don’t."
"Grumpy?"
"I said don’t."
"Someone who hides his shyness behind rudeness-"
"Rose."
"Fine, I’ll stop."
She pressed her lips together to keep herself from laughing, while I turned my head away.
[07:03]
The quest was running out of time, and I needed to do something.
But what?
A normal person wouldn’t kiss a stranger just because they’d bandaged their hand. At least, I didn’t think they would.
All I knew about Rose was that she was twenty-one, worked at a pharmacy, and enjoyed making fun of me.
Maybe I should ask her directly.
No. Absolutely not.
I would die of embarrassment before I managed to say it. But the alternative was shouting, "I’m gay!" in the middle of the street.
A cold shiver ran down my spine when I imagined myself doing that in this body’s cute voice.
After securing the end of the bandage with a small strip of tape, Rose held my hand from both sides and inspected her work.
"Move your fingers."
I did as she said.
"Is it too tight?"
"No."
"Good."
She released my hand and stood up.
"All done."
Rose smiled down at me while I remained seated.
[04:18]
The quest was still active.
What was I supposed to do now? If I thanked her and left, I would fail. If I asked her to kiss me directly, I would probably leave the last of my dignity behind in this pharmacy.
There was no other choice.
I took a deep breath and stood. Avoiding Rose’s eyes, I scratched my cheek with my good hand and tried to sound as uninterested as possible.
"You did a good job."
"Thank you?"
"So..."
My throat went dry.
Just say it.
"As a reward, I’ll allow you to kiss me."
Silence.
The moment the words left my mouth, my cheeks began to burn.
What was I saying? How could I be this stupid? What did I’ll allow you to kiss me as a reward even mean?
Rose’s smile instantly disappeared, and she stared at me without saying a word.
Damn it, she was definitely angry. Maybe she thought I was a pervert, and I needed to get out of here immediately.
"Whatever. Forget I said anything."
I quickly reached for the bag on the counter and tried to head for the exit, but before I could even take my first step, Rose grabbed my uninjured wrist.
"Where are you going?"
I froze, then slowly turned toward her.
Rose was wearing a teasing smile, her eyes shining with amusement.
"I haven’t claimed my reward yet."
I wanted the ground to swallow me. She was making fun of me, but I had brought this on myself.
"I was joking," I muttered.
"Too late."
Rose gave my wrist a gentle tug, making me lose my balance and stumble a step toward her.
Before I could understand what she was doing, she leaned closer and planted a quick kiss on my cheek.
My heart slammed against my chest, and my entire body locked in place. I could still feel the warmth of her lips against my cheek.
Blue text appeared before my eyes.
[Side Quest Completed.]
[Playboy Femboy]
[Reward: 3 Eclipsie Points]
[Current Eclipsie Points: 3]
At that moment, however, I couldn’t have cared less about the System.
Rose took a step back. When she saw the frozen expression on my face, her smile grew even wider.
"What?" she asked. "Were you expecting me to kiss you on the lips?"
Then she burst out laughing.
"No!"
My answer came far too quickly.
"Absolutely not!"
Rose only laughed harder.
"Maybe I’ll consider it the next time we meet."
Her laughter stopped when she noticed my eyes light up. She raised an eyebrow and clasped her hands behind her back.
"I guess you really are a man."
Her gaze was no longer on my face. It had dropped much, much lower.
I followed her eyes and saw the obvious bulge at the front of my black sweatpants.
My brain stopped working.
Someone please kill me.
It wasn’t just my cheeks anymore. My entire face burned all the way to the tips of my ears.
The instant I heard Rose giggle, I grabbed the bag without saying a word and fled the pharmacy without looking back.