The days blurred together in a shaky rhythm — class, guilt, panic, Alex, more guilt, more panic, and the daily quests that were trying their best to kill him before the System ever got the chance.
Magnus woke up sore now. Not pleasantly sore. More like why-do-my-bones-feel-betrayed? sore. But his body was adapting, faster than it had any right to. The grind of twenty push-ups, twenty sit-ups, twenty squats, and a torturous run he refused to measure too closely gradually became routine. STA going up helped. STR helped more. The passive "Enhanced Endurance" popped earlier in the week from daily quests completion — vague description, but he could feel something humming in his muscles, like they had a deeper tank now.
The only thing not adapting was his stress level.
Because Lila Voss might as well have been a ghost for all the progress he was making.
Her stats popped in his HUD every time he saw her:
[Name: Lila Voss | Level: 2
Interest: 0% | Popularity: 40%]
Tuesday morning, he finally made his move. Well — move implied confidence. He bumped shoulders with her while carrying a ridiculous stack of books he absolutely did not need.
"Whoa, sorry… didn't see you." He flashed what he hoped was a harmless smile. "Chem notes eating my soul. You a Bio major?"
She glanced up. Freckles. Soft eyes. A shy smile that barely lasted a second.
"Yeah. Freshman grind. Lila"
"Magnus."
Introduction out of the way. Interest ticked to 2%. He could almost taste relief.
Then her phone buzzed. She muttered something about a lab partner being impossible and walked off just as he got his own summons for a group project. Perfect timing, universe. Really nailing it.
Later that afternoon, invisibility let him tail her into the campus gym — five minutes of feeling like a morally conflicted poltergeist. He tracked her treadmill routine, then reappeared at the smoothie bar and pretended it was all coincidence.
"Pineapple mango? Bold choice," he said, sliding in beside her like someone who definitely did not stalk her here.
She chuckled — a tiny, soft sound.
"Pineapple's superior. It's a fact."
Interest: 5%.
He could work with that.
By Wednesday, they exchanged waves in the hall, shared a quick gripe about a professor's monotone droning, and her interest inched to 10%. Wednesday night, she hit the track; he followed invisibly, nudged her water bottle closer with telekinesis when she looked exhausted, then reappeared at the perfect moment to jog past like he didn't nearly commit supernatural fraud.
"You make running look easy," he said.
She instantly laughed. "Then your standards are too low."
Interest: 12%.
Small wins. Painfully small.
But every point felt like a betrayal when he thought about Alex.
Because Alex was… God! She was becoming essential. She grounded him. She could pull him out of panic spirals with a single look. Their mornings turned into coffee runs and inside jokes. Her head on his shoulder during breaks. Bad puns. The way she'd roll her eyes at him but quietly lean closer.
But she sensed something was off. Of course she did.
During a picnic on the grass, she set her sandwich down and studied him with those sharp brown eyes.
"You've been… somewhere else," she murmured. "Everything okay?"
He forced a smile. "Just classes. Stress."
Her brow furrowed, and it wasn't suspicion — it was worry. Concern. Something warm that twisted painfully in his chest.
She squeezed his hand. "Well… talk to me if you need to."
Later, he kissed her too deeply just to shut up the guilt. She kissed him back just as fiercely, but even through the heat, he caught that flicker in her eyes. A quiet question she wasn't ready to ask and he wasn't brave enough to answer.
Their evenings blurred together — study sessions that ended with books forgotten, her on his lap, fingers pulling at his shirt. They were in their twenties. They liked each other. It was natural. But the secrecy poisoned everything, and he hated himself for ruining the softness in her gaze.
Thursday, Lila hit a wall. Interest stopped at 15% and refused to budge.
He tried everything — smooth texts, casual run-ins at the café, another telekinetic assist during her practice. Nothing.
That evening, invisible in the library, he overheard her telling friends she didn't have time for dating this trimester. That eased his moral crisis slightly, but not his mortality crisis.
By Friday, the timer in his HUD mocked him:
[2 days, 6 hours remaining.]
He knocked out the daily regimen early, jogging around campus until sweat practically stung his eyes. STA kept him going. His STR was finally kicking in. Rewards chimed: +2 points, which he dumped into AGI just to sharpen his instincts, and a random item — a freaky porcelain doll staring at him like I will haunt you at 3 AM.
Great. Perfect. Super helpful.
No matter how many "casual" encounters he engineered, Lila's stats refused to move. Fifteen percent. A brick wall.
He was going to die. Actually die. And not even for something noble — just because he couldn't flirt a girl past "mildly aware he exists."
By dinner, he stumbled into Alex's arms like a man grabbing a life raft. They sat close, thighs brushing, her fingers lacing with his like it was effortless. She talked about her day. He laughed too loudly at her jokes. She noticed. Of course she noticed.
After dinner, they ended up in her dorm lounge, the TV glowing dimly. She curled into him, fitting perfectly under his arm.
He should have felt warm. Safe. Wanted.
But instead, he felt like a fraud.
Her stats glowed in his HUD when he finally checked:
[Name: Alejandra "Alex" Reyes | Level: 9
Interest: 90% | Popularity: 98% | Sexual History: 110 times (5 known partners)
Relationship: Potential Boyfriend / Conquest Target (Conquered)
Trust: 95% | Arousal: 40% | Submission: 45%]
That trust number hit him square in the chest. Hard.
She trusted him.
And he was lying to her every second.
He muted the TV before he lost his nerve.
"Alex," he said quietly.
She looked up immediately, eyes searching his. "Hey… what's wrong?"
He swallowed. "I need to tell you something."
Her brows drew together. She sat up straighter, giving him her full attention. That only made it worse.
He took a breath.
Then another.
Then he told her everything.
Not the sanitized version. Not half-truths. Everything.
The System. The quests. The powers. The deadlines. The death threats. Lila. The way he didn't want anyone but Alex. How the guilt was eating him alive. How he wasn't sure he'd make it through the week, let alone the trimester.
He talked until he ran out of breath.
At first, she huffed a tiny laugh — like she thought he was joking. But he kept going. And her expression froze.
Her eyes widened.
Her lips parted.
Every trace of humor vanished.
She didn't interrupt. Not once. She just… listened. Still as stone, jaw tight, pupils blown wide in shock.
When he finally whispered, "I might die. And I like you too much to lie anymore," the silence after felt like stepping off a cliff.
Alex stared at him — expression unreadable, but mostly… stunned. Like the world tilted sideways and she was trying to find her footing again. Magnus didn't completely trust his sleep deprived brain's judgement, though. He could be reading her expression entirely wrong.
Her breath hitched.
But no words came.
Just that sharp, suspended quiet — charged and dangerously fragile — as the truth settled between them like a weight that could crack the floor.