Chapter 13: Side Character x Mafia Boss (13)

The very second Lyra safely reached her small apartment and locked the door behind her, a bright, familiar notification screen materialized out of thin air.

[Ding!]

A translucent blue digital interface floated serenely in front of her face.

[ System Status Update ]

Alastair Voss - Obsession Level: 40%

Main Pair - Romance Level: 20%

Main Narrative - Plot Progress: 30%

Lyra blinked, staring at the glowing numbers suspended in her living room.

"...Huh?"

She rubbed her tired eyes vigorously, leaning closer to read the text again. "Wait a second... wasn’t the Male Lead’s obsession stat sitting at literally zero yesterday?"

The System’s voice answered almost immediately, echoing directly inside her head.

[ Congratulations, Host! ]

[ You have successfully corrected the critical narrative divergence and saved the primary storyline. ]

Lyra’s tense shoulders finally relaxed, a bright smile spreading across her face. "Really?! So everything is completely back on track now?"

[ Correct. The narrative timeline is stabilizing. ]

She finally let out a long relieved sigh, collapsing back onto her squeaky sofa. "Thank goodness... my effort wasn’t completely in vain."

"But..." She sat up, pointing a finger directly at the floating blue screen. "What’s up with that obsession stat? It suddenly jumped all the way up to forty percent overnight! Is that normal?"

The System calmly replied with its usual unbothered tone.

[ Please do not worry, Host. ]

[ That value most likely represents the Male Lead’s rapidly growing intrigue and fascination toward the Female Lead after their intense confrontation in the alleyway tonight. ]

[ It perfectly matches the expected emotional progression of a classic dark romance novel. ]

Lyra nodded slowly, tapping her chin in thought. "...I guess that makes sense. Standard mafia romance tropes, right?"

Still...

For some inexplicable reason...

A tiny voice deep down inside the darkest corner of her heart kept whispering...

Be careful, Lyra. Something is very wrong.

She couldn’t logically explain why she felt so uneasy. But as she stared at that glowing forty percent statistic, she had a deeply unsettled feeling...

Something about this situation wasn’t quite right at all.

The very next morning...

Lyra stood directly in front of the Moonlight Café, the morning sun casting a warm golden glow over the quiet street.

She paused on the pavement, looking up at the cozy wooden sign before taking a deep, steadying breath to steel her nerves.

"Another day..." she muttered to herself, adjusting her apron strap. "...another chance to survive this chaotic story."

Just as her hand reached out for the door handle-

Ding!

[ New Plot Event Incoming. ]

[ Host, please prepare yourself to guide the conversation. ]

Lyra mentally let out an exhausted sigh. Here we go again... no rest for the wicked.

She pushed open the café door.

Ring!

The brass bell above the door chimed softly.

Almost immediately, Elena walked over from behind the counter, greeting her with her usual warm, sweet, and angelic smile.

"Good morning, Lyra!"

"Morning, Elena."

The two girls exchanged their usual friendly greetings and immediately began their morning routine, wiping down the wooden tables, turning on the espresso machines, and stocking the display pastry cases for the morning rush.

After chatting casually about ordinary, mundane things for a little while, Elena’s bright smile slowly began to fade away. Her movements slowed down as she held a glass wiper in her hand.

"Lyra..."

She looked deeply troubled, her brows furrowed as she looked over at her friend.

"I’ve been tossing and turning all night, thinking about what happened in that alleyway..." Elena confessed softly, her voice dropping. "What should we really do about it? ...Are you completely sure we shouldn’t go back to the police station and tell them every single detail?"

Before Lyra could even open her mouth to answer-

The System’s cold voice chimed in her mind.

[ Host. ]

[ Remember to follow the original narrative path and discourage any official intervention. ]

Lyra gave an almost invisible nod of her head.

She turned to look at Elena, adopting a gentle concerned expression on her face.

"We could go back..." Lyra began carefully, speaking with calculated softness. "But just think about the consequences for a second, Elena."

Elena listened intently, holding her breath.

Lyra continued, stepping closer to her. "If we report every single detail to the authorities... the police are going to drag us in for endless official statements. They might even leak details to the press, or put our names and faces all over the nightly news as key eyewitnesses to a mafia dispute."

Elena’s dark eyes widened slightly as she absorbed the words.

"And if that happens..." Lyra pressed on, lowering her voice to an intense whisper, "...what if those terrifying people find out exactly who we are and where we work?"

"They are heavily armed members of the underground world, Elena. They aren’t ordinary petty criminals you meet on the street. What if they come straight looking for us to eliminate the witnesses?"

The more Elena listened to Lyra’s logical breakdown, the more genuinely terrified and worried she became. She slowly lowered her head, her knuckles turning white as she gripped the counter.

Lyra secretly let out a tiny smile inside her mind.

It’s working perfectly... she realized. In the original novel, Elena’s biological father is secretly tied to the underground network. There is absolutely no way she’ll risk exposing her identity or bringing unnecessary danger to the people around her right now!

After a long silence stretched between them...

Elena let out a deep, defeated sigh.

"...I guess you’re completely right, Lyra," she admitted softly, her shoulders slumping in resignation. "I don’t want to drag you or anyone else I care about into absolute danger."

Lyra offered her a bright, wonderfully reassuring smile, patting her on the shoulder.

"Exactly! You’re thinking smart now."

"So let’s just make a pact," Lyra suggested cheerfully. "We’ll leave work a little earlier while it’s still bright outside for the next few days. And we strictly avoid walking down quiet streets or alleys alone at night. I’m completely sure everything will be totally fine if we just keep our heads down!"

Elena finally nodded her head, a sweet, grateful expression returning to her face.

"...Okay," she said softly. "Let’s do exactly that."

She gave Lyra one last thankful smile before picking up a tray of clean coffee mugs and returning to work behind the counter.

Lyra stood by the window, watching her walk away.

The bright, cheerful smile on Lyra’s face slowly, completely disappeared into a flat stare.

Inside her head, she couldn’t help but wildly scream at herself:

"Everything will be totally fine..."

Yeah... right! Sure it will!

We are literally living inside a high-stakes, ruthless dark mafia novel! We are so unbelievably doomed!

----------------------

[Ding!]

A bright translucent blue screen materialized out of thin air directly in front of Lyra’s eyes as she was drying off the last espresso cup.

[ System Announcement ]

[ New High-Priority Plot Event Incoming. ]

[ Host, tonight the Female Lead will be abducted by the Male Lead’s personal security detail. ]

[ Make sure everything goes strictly according to the original plot line. ]

Lyra stared blankly at the floating digital screen, her mouth twitching in sheer exasperation.

"...What exactly do you expect me to do here?" She crossed her arms tightly over her apron, lowering her voice so Elena wouldn’t hear her arguing with empty air. "Help those terrifying mafia men kidnap my best friend? Are you seriously out of your mind?!"

The System remained completely silent.

"..."

"..."

Lyra let out a long, exhausted sigh, rubbing her throbbing temples. "Yeah, okay. I’ll take that deafening silence as a resounding yes."