The Heart System - Chapter 610

I opened the door and headed inside. Ivy was already sitting at one of the small tables near the window, a steaming glass of black tea resting between her hands. She was focused on her phone, thumb lazily scrolling across the screen, so distracted that she didn’t notice me walking in at first. Still, she looked much better than the last time I saw her. Her eyes weren’t swollen anymore, her makeup wasn’t smeared, and she no longer looked like she was about to collapse from exhaustion and alcohol.

Seeing her break down in my car that night still lingered in my head, though. She’d cried so hard that her whole body shook, and for a moment I genuinely didn’t know what to do other than hold her. Chase really did a number on her. I just hoped she’d eventually crawl out of that hole instead of drowning herself deeper inside it.

I walked up to the table and sat across from her.

Ivy glanced up, noticed me, then immediately locked her phone and slipped it into her pocket. She exhaled through her nose and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear.

“You finally came,” she said. “I got bored waiting, so I just came here early.”

“Hey, this place is literally right next to your apartment.” I leaned back in the chair. “You don’t have to fight traffic like I do.”

“Fair enough.” She tilted her head slightly. “What are you drinking?”

“I don’t know yet. What are you drinking, black tea?”

“Yep.”

“Then I’ll have the same.”

I raised a hand slightly. One of the waitresses noticed and walked over after dropping another order at a nearby table.

“Can I get a black tea too?” I asked.

“Of course.” She smiled politely. “I’ll bring it right away.”

“Thanks.”

She walked off, and I leaned back in my seat again.

God, did Ivy actually remember kissing me that night? I still had no clue. Every time I looked at her, I kept wondering if she was pretending it never happened or genuinely didn’t remember a thing because of how drunk she was.

Part of me wanted to just use Hypnosis and force the truth out of her, but that idea disappeared almost immediately. I was done digging myself deeper into the Villain reputation pit. After getting punished by the system for saving Robert, I’d learned my lesson. No more unnecessary “bad boy” points.

Actually, speaking of that…

I opened the shop menu while Ivy looked out the window.

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SHOP [Page 2]

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• Hypnotic Perfume (100c)

• Time Stop (500c)

• 500 Dollars (150c)

• 1 Ability Point (500c)

• 1 Mastery Point (600c)

• Desire Aura (200c)

• Reputation Point +30 (300c)

• Mastery Evolve (2500c)

• Random Skill (4000c)

• Dungeon (80000c)

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Damn. Three hundred credits now. The price increase still annoyed the hell out of me.

“My mother,” Ivy suddenly said, snapping me out of the menu. “Did she… say anything when you brought me home?”

“Nope.” I shook my head. “Why?”

She scoffed lightly and looked away. “Just asking.”

“Hmm.”

The waitress returned and placed the tea in front of me. I thanked her quietly before taking a sip. Bitter. Strong. Definitely enough to wake someone up.

While Ivy stared down into her own glass, I spent almost all my remaining credits buying reputation points and dumped them straight into my reputation bar. Honestly, I thought it’d at least drag me back to neutral, but apparently I’d done too much questionable shit lately for the system to forgive me that easily.

Still, when the notification appeared again, it looked slightly better.

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REPUTATION SYSTEM

VILLAIN░░░░░███░░░░░░░░ HERO

──────────────────

Current Reputation: BAD

– More EXP gain when cheating

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At least the horrible punishment penalty was gone now. That alone made it worth it. I could finally do something decent without worrying the system would wipe my damn wallet again.

Though… losing the boosted Pleasure stat passive still sucked.

“You okay?” Ivy asked, narrowing her eyes slightly. “You keep staring into space.”

“Huh?” I blinked. “Yeah. Just tired.”

“You sure?”

“Yep.”

Another notification appeared in front of me the second I closed the reputation tab.

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CURRENT STATS

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◆ Strength: 30

⤷ Crushing Presence (▩▩▩▩▩)

◆ Charm: 20

– Manipulative Charm

⤷ Honeyed Words (▩▩▩▩▩)

⤷ Gaslight (⏹☐☐☐☐)

⤷ Emotional Charisma (☐☐☐☐☐)

⤷ Seductive Allure (☐)

◆ Libido: 20

⤷ Endless Vigor (⏹⏹⏹⏹⏹)

◆ Pleasure: 40

⤷ Sensory Overload (☐☐☐☐☐)

⤷ Erogenous Insight (⏹)

⤷ Bliss Multiplier (▣▣▣▣▣)

◆ Luck: 10

──────────────────

◆ Passive Skill: On a Roll

──────────────────

0 Unused Ability Points

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Yep. Pleasure was capped again because of the reputation adjustment. It hurt. Pleasure at ninety was basically cheating at life. I really needed credits again. And for credits… quests.

I quietly opened the quest tab while pretending to casually drink my tea.

“So,” I said, trying to sound natural while scanning the translucent menus only I could see. “How are you feeling now?”

“Better.” Ivy shrugged slightly. “I think. What about you?”

“Same answer.”

“Mmm.”

One of the old quests was still there.

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– Quest Available

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– Title: Probing

– Task: Invite Amelia to your place.

– Reward: 750 EXP

──────────────────

– Accept Quest? [Yes] [No]

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Yeah, that one would have to wait. Amelia and I barely even talked now that I wasn’t working at the company anymore.

Then another quest popped up underneath it.

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– Quest Available

──────────────────

– Title: Drunken Girl

– Task: Talk about the kiss with Ivy.

– Reward: 750 EXP, 2500c

──────────────────

– Accept Quest? [Yes] [No]

══════════════════

I stared at it for a few seconds. That was dangerously easy money. But also painfully awkward.

What if she genuinely didn’t remember it? Then I’d just look like some creep bringing it up out of nowhere. Still… twenty-five hundred credits was twenty-five hundred credits.

I accepted the quest. Then immediately regretted it.

“I… uh…” I cleared my throat awkwardly. “I don’t know if you remember or not, but…”

Ivy instantly looked up at me with wide eyes.

Oh.

She remembered.

Her entire expression changed in half a second. Her shoulders stiffened slightly, and she avoided eye contact almost immediately.

“About that night,” I continued carefully. “You kissed me in the car.”

Ivy shut her eyes so hard it looked like she wanted to disappear from existence itself. Then she covered her face with both hands, letting out a long, muffled groan into her palms.

Her ears were bright red already.

“Well,” I muttered awkwardly. “Guess that answers my question.”

“Please stop talking,” she mumbled behind her hands. “Oh my god.”