Chapter 46: SLASH

I kept walking. My building was visible at the end of the street, the familiar ugly concrete block waiting for me under the weak streetlights. Snow still drifted down in light flakes, settling on the shoulders of my jacket.

From the corner of my eye I caught movement near a trash bin. A cat. I slowed for a second, half-expecting those glowing purple eyes again. But it was just a regular stray, skinny, gray, watching me warily before slipping away into the alley. Not the one that had started all of this.

I reached the building, pushed open the heavy front door, and turned right. My flat was the first one on the ground floor, right next to the entrance. Convenient and depressing at the same time. I unlocked the door, stepped inside, and shut it behind me.

The silence of the small apartment wrapped around me. I dropped onto the couch with a long exhale. My legs ached. My lungs still felt the cold from the run. I was completely beat.

A shower first. No way I was meeting Star looking and smelling like I’d just crawled out of a gym.

I headed to the bathroom, stripped off the damp clothes, and stepped under the hot water. It felt good, almost too good, after the freezing air outside. I stayed there longer than necessary, letting the heat soak into my muscles, before finally turning it off. I dried off, pulled on clean sweatpants and a plain black t-shirt, and ran a hand through my wet hair.

There. Presentable enough.

A few hours left until eight. Until Star showed up.

I felt a strange mix of things sitting in my chest. A low, reluctant excitement... and a quiet embarrassment for feeling it at all. I was about to pay a woman for sex just to complete a system quest. The old me would’ve been disgusted. The new me just wanted the EXP and the level-up.

I walked into the bedroom and opened the old wardrobe. Way in the back, behind clothes I barely wore anymore, was a bottle of cologne I’d bought back when I still had money. Before my sister started draining every spare dollar I had. I sprayed a little on my neck and wrists, then put it back and closed the door.

My eyes drifted to the bed.

It was barely big enough for one person. Two people on that thing would be a joke. If things actually went somewhere with Star tonight, it wasn’t going to happen there. Couch, maybe. Or against the wall. The thought was clinical more than anything else.

I sat down on the edge of the mattress and closed my eyes for a moment.

I missed my old place. The two-bedroom apartment with actual space, actual quiet, actual sunlight in the mornings. No Hubert stomping around upstairs. No Karim turning the entire floor into his personal brothel every other night. Just... peace. I’d had a life that felt like it belonged to me. Now everything felt temporary and small.

As if summoned by the thought, the familiar sounds started up across the hall.

Moans. Soft at first, then louder. The rhythmic creak of a bedframe. A woman’s voice rising higher.

I exhaled through my nose and lay back on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

Karim. Again.

Where the hell did that guy get his money? I’d never once seen him leave for a job. Never seen him in anything that looked like work clothes. Yet he had a different woman over constantly, paid them, and somehow still afforded to live here, even if "here" was a dump. Either he had a side hustle I couldn’t see, or he was burning through someone else’s money.

The moans grew louder.

I closed my eyes and tried to ignore them. A few more hours. Then Star would be here.

And after that... hopefully a level-up.

Before Star arrived, I wanted to check if there were any new quests. If I could level up first, I’d have points to spend. I sat back up on the edge of the bed and opened the quest menu.

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NEW QUEST

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[!] MISSION:

Before & After

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> OBJECTIVE:

Level up before Star

arrives at your house.

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> REWARD:

+100 EXP

+ 5 Points

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Shit. That was too good to ignore. Level up before she got here and I’d walk away with an extra hundred EXP plus five free points. I confirmed it immediately and started scanning for something I could actually finish in time.

Most of the options were impossible or suicidal. One wanted me to have sex with Sarah while Hubert was still in the apartment, 450 EXP. Yeah, no. I needed something simpler. Something that wouldn’t end with me getting my face rearranged.

Then I found it.

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NEW QUEST

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[!] MISSION:

Worked Tirelessly

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> OBJECTIVE:

Slash up Hubert’s tire.

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> REWARD:

+50 EXP

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Fifty EXP. Exactly what I needed to cross the threshold. Manageable... but risky as hell. If I got caught, Hubert would call the cops without hesitation. And Sarah would definitely hate me for it.

"It should be fine," I muttered. "It should be fine..."

I walked to the bedroom window and looked down. His car was right there, parked along the narrow street. One clean cut and I’d be done.

I went to the kitchen, grabbed a knife, and slipped it into the inner pocket of my jacket after putting it on. One more check out the window, the street looked empty. I left the flat, stepped out of the building, and walked toward the car with my hands in my pockets, fingers brushing the hilt.

Halfway there, a couple turned the corner and entered the street. I kept walking past the car like I had somewhere else to be. Only when they disappeared around the next corner did I stop and look back.

Clear.

I walked up to the rear tire, dropped to one knee like I was tying my boot, and made sure no cameras were pointed this way. In a neighborhood this neglected, there rarely were. The knife came out, the blade bit into the rubber, and I dragged it in one hard motion.

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LEVEL UP ! [9➔10]

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> LUST REFILLED

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[!] UNSPENT POINTS: 10

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> [CHA] : 22 [+]

> [END] : 11 [+]

> [PER] : 22 [+]

> [LCK] : 4 [+]

> [IBE] : 1 [+]

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The quest completion window flashed. I dismissed it instantly, stood up, and walked back toward the building at a normal pace, heart hammering harder than I wanted to admit.

The second I was inside my own flat I locked the door and leaned against it, exhaling hard.

Fuck. That had been nerve-wracking.

"Worth it," I whispered. "It’s worth it..."

Hitting level ten did more than just give me points. A new core stat appeared: IBE. I clicked the little question mark next to it. ’In Bed Experience, increases the amount of sexual pleasure your partner feels during encounters with you.’

Interesting.

Even more interesting were the ten points I suddenly had to spend. Five from the level-up itself, and another five from the "Before & After" quest for leveling before Star arrived.

"How about Luck?" I muttered.

I’d been neglecting it, but I still didn’t want to dump points there. Perception had been carrying me. Charisma was close to a milestone. And now this new IBE stat sat at a pathetic 1.

Choices.

In the end I put three points into Perception, three into Charisma, and the remaining four into IBE. No milestone this time, but it still felt like the right call.

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MAIN MENU

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NAME: Chance Brooks

LVL: 10 [115/557]

RANK: Homewrecker

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[ CORE STATS ]

> CHA: 25

> END: 11

> PER: 25

> LCK: 4

> IBE: 5

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[ ENERGY ]

> LUST: 180/180

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[ACTIVE PERKS: Expand]

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SIN POINTS: 1370

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Not hitting a milestone stung a little. Still, having a stat that directly made sex better for the other person felt more valuable than another empty threshold.

"Now..." I muttered, staring at the new number. "I wonder if this IBE shit actually works on Star tonight."

Hopefully it did. Hopefully she wouldn’t just fake it the way she probably did with Karim.

❤︎‪‪❤︎‪‪❤︎

I was just setting my cold sandwich on a plate when the knock came.

Star was here.

I gave the table a light tap, stood up, and opened the door.

She stood in the hallway wearing a long open jacket. Underneath was a tight white t-shirt with no bra, her nipples faintly visible through the fabric, and dark yoga pants that clung to her hips and thighs so tightly I could clearly see the outline of her pussy. The cameltoe was impossible to ignore. My cock twitched the second I noticed it.

"Yo," she said with a short nod. "You got the money ready?"

"Yep."

She stepped inside. I closed the door behind her. She crossed her arms and looked around the tiny apartment with open dislike before meeting my eyes again. I couldn’t even blame her. I hated the place too.

"This place gets smaller every time I see it," she exhaled. "Anyway. Where do we fuck?"

"Bedroom?"

She walked over and peeked inside, then let out a short, unimpressed laugh. The bed was barely big enough for me alone. Two people on it would’ve been a joke.

"Nah. Floor’s better." She turned back to me. "That thing’s a pathetic excuse for a bed."

"Y-yeah."

"Pull the curtains. I’ll get ready in a minute. Where is the bathro... yeah, I see it."

She disappeared into the bathroom and shut the door. I grabbed the sheets off the bed and spread them across the living room floor, trying to make the whole thing look less pathetic than it was.

This was already awkward as hell.