ACHOO!
The sneeze tore through Adam's body with violent force, jolting him back to consciousness... to life.
His eyes fluttered open.
Sharp, relentless pain flooded every nerve in his body. His chest burned as if crushed beneath steel, his limbs throbbed with deep aches, and his head pounded like a war drum.
"I... I'm alive?" Adam gasped, dragging in air that reeked of sewage and decay, his voice barely a whisper.
The realization hit him like lightning. He was still in the gutter, submerged in the same filthy water that should have been his grave.
His hands trembled as he touched his chest, his face, confirming his existence. The truck had hit him. He'd felt his life drain away completely.
"How is this possible?"
Before the question could fully form, something appeared before his eyes.
A translucent screen materialized in the air, glowing with an unsettling red light. Adam jerked back instinctively, water splashing around him, but the screen followed his vision, impossible to escape.
Words began forming across its surface...
---
'WELCOME TO THE LUST SYSTEM
Host: Adam Reed
Status: Newly Reborn
Level: 1
You have been granted a second chance. Complete missions to receive rewards. Fail missions to receive punishment.
Your first mission has been assigned.'
---
"What... what is this?" Adam's breath caught in his throat.
The screen flickered, text shifting as if responding to his confusion.
---
MISSION 001: FIRST CONTACT
Objective: Kiss a stranger (female) in the middle of the road. The target must voluntarily give you her underwear as a souvenir.
Reward: $500 deposited into your account
+2 Charm
+1 Magnetism
Time Limit: 8 Hours
---
For several heartbeats, Adam could only stare.
Then a sharp disbeliving laugh escaped his throat.
"Kiss a stranger? Get her..." He couldn't even finish the sentence.
"This is insane. This has to be a hallucination." He pressed his palms against his eyes, willing the screen to disappear. When he opened them again, it remained, patient and unwavering.
"Okay," Adam said slowly, his voice shaking. "Okay, let's say I don't do this ridiculous... mission. What happens then?"
The text on the screen darkened, letters seeming to grow heavier.
---
FAILURE PENALTY
Severe physical pain (Duration: 6 hours)
-10 to all stats
Mandatory mission reassignment with increased difficulty
WARNING: The System cannot be removed or refused. You accepted your second chance. You must honor the terms.
---
"Terms?" Adam's eyes widened.
"I didn't agree to any---"
But the memory rushed back: the void, the voice, the offer.
"I will give you all."
He hadn't said yes, but he hadn't refused either. And somehow, that was enough.
Adam's hands clenched into fists, water dripping through his fingers. This was impossible. Systems like this only existed in stories, in games, in fiction. Not in real life, right?
Yet here it was, glowing before him with undeniable reality.
"Five hundred dollars," he whispered, the number pulling his attention back to the reward line and his mind raced.
That would get him real food, not expired discount items, cover his rent, at least partially. That was breathing room, even if just for a moment. That was the difference between surviving and starving.
"For one kiss and..." His face burned with embarrassment even thinking about it.
The screen pulsed, and a new line appeared.
---
Time Remaining: 7 hours, 58 minutes, 32 seconds
---
The countdown had begun.
Adam sat there in the filthy water, his entire body aching, his mind spinning;
This had to be some kind of head injury, some elaborate dying hallucination.
But what if it wasn't?
What if this was real, and he refused, and the punishment came?
What if he'd actually been given a second chance and he wasted it?
"I've died once, what's the worst that could happen?" Adam muttered bitterly.
He looked down at himself: soaked, reeking of sewage, clothes plastered to his thin frame. Even if he wanted to attempt this insane mission, he couldn't do it looking like this.
"I need to clean up first," he said to the screen, to himself, to whoever or whatever was listening.
With tremendous effort, Adam forced himself to stand. His legs shook beneath him, threatening to give out, but he steadied himself against the concrete wall.
Slowly, painfully, he climbed out of the gutter.
The street was empty, the hour well past midnight now. His apartment was only fifteen minutes away if he walked fast. He could shower, change into clean clothes- worn as they were- and then...
And then what? Actually attempt to kiss a stranger and ask for her underwear?
"I'm insane, I've actually lost my mind." Adam whispered.
But his feet were already moving, carrying him toward home, toward the impossible task ahead.
Because five hundred dollars was five hundred dollars and he had nothing left to lose.
~~~~~~~~
By the time Adam stepped back onto the street, it was fully dawn.
He'd showered until the water ran clear, scrubbing away every trace of the gutter. His clothes were clean- threadbare and worn, yes, but no longer reeking of sewage. His hair was combed back, still damp. He'd done everything he could to look presentable, even though not much.
The screen remained in the corner of his vision, persistently reminding him that...
Time Remaining: 2 hours, 17 minutes, 43 seconds
---
Adam's stomach churned with anxiety. He'd spent six hours working up the courage to actually attempt this, and now time was running out.
The street was alive now with morning activity. People hurried to work, joggers passed by, vendors opened their shops and he could see his target... Women.
"Just one," Adam muttered to himself, eyes scanning the pedestrians. "Just one person crazy enough to say yes."
But who would say yes to someone like him?
He had looked at himself in his landlord's car mirror before leaving and his appearance was still painfully average, still forgettable. No amount of cleaning could change the fundamental truth: he was nobody.
"The reward is five hundred dollars," a voice whispered in his mind.
Adam's jaw set with determination. He'd come this far. He'd died and come back. He couldn't give up now.
His eyes continued scanning until they landed on someone who made his breath catch.
A woman, mid-twenties, walking down the opposite sidewalk.
She was strikingly beautiful: Long dark hair cascaded over her shoulders. She moved with confidence, completely unaware of Adam's existence, her heavy bosoms jiggling despite being constrained by her fitted outfit.
The screen in Adam's vision pulsed suddenly, text appearing.
---
TARGET IDENTIFIED
Approach and complete mission objective.
---
"You want me to approach her?" Adam's voice came out as a strangled whisper.
The woman was completely out of his league. She looked like she belonged in magazines, not walking down ordinary streets.
"Okay, I can do this... Just... walk over there. Say something. Anything." Adam said as if assuring his panicking mind.
His feet moved before his mind could overthink it further. He'd never spoken to a woman before, not like this, not with intent. His entire life had been a study in invisibility.
When Adam walked closer, the woman was checking her phone, still unaware of his approach.
He finally got there and stopped directly in front of her, blocking her path. But when he opened his mouth no sound came out. His throat had gone completely dry.
The woman looked up, her eyebrows raising slightly in surprise. Up close, she was even more stunning: dark eyes framed by long lashes, full succulent lips, skin that seemed to glow in the morning light.
"Can I help you?" she asked, her tone polite but guarded.
Adam's brain short-circuited.
He'd had a plan: something about asking for directions, maybe a compliment, easing into conversation. But standing here, faced with actual human interaction with an actual beautiful woman, every coherent thought evaporated.
"I... you... I mean..." He stammered, words tripping over themselves.
His eyes, operating independently of his better judgment, dropped down.
The neckline of her outfit was dangerously low and his gaze fixed there, watching the exposed juicy flesh of her bosoms.
His mind went completely blank.
"Excuse me? My eyes are up here!" The woman's voice turned sharp.
Adam's gaze snapped up, face burning red; "I'm sorry, I didn't mean---"
"Yes, you did. I've met plenty of perverts, but you're not even trying to hide it." Her nose scrunched up in disgust.
"No, wait, I just---" He tried to deny it but couldn't complete his sentence before...
Gbarrrr!
The woman's hand had shot forward and landed across Adam's left cheek. His head snapped to the side from the force, his ears ringing.
"Get out of my way, creep!" the woman spat.
The slap had knocked him off balance. Adam staggered backward, then lurched forward involuntarily, his feet tangling beneath him.
And then he was falling, his body pitching forward. The woman's eyes widened in alarm as she realized what was happening, but she couldn't move fast enough.
Adam crashed into her.
They went down together in a tangle of limbs. His hands caught her shoulders instinctively, trying to break their fall, but gravity was merciless. They hit the pavement hard, Adam landing directly on top of her.
And in that moment of chaotic impact, their lips met.
Soft. Warm. Utterly accidental.
Adam's mind registered multiple sensations at once: the softness of her body beneath him, the press of her supple chest against his, the taste of her lip gloss, the shock in her wide eyes inches from his own and lastly, the twitch of his d--k.
For one frozen heartbeat, neither of them moved.
Then reality crashed back in.
"Get Off Me!" she shrieked.
Before Adam could react, rough hands grabbed him from behind. He was yanked upward with bruising force, arms wrenched behind his back.
"Police! Don't move!"
Instantly, cold metal clicked around his wrists tightly.
"You're under arrest for assault, you pervert!" a female voice barked in his ear.
"What? No!" Adam's heart jumped.