Brown hair. Blue eyes. A delicate build.

Neville’s reflection on the somewhat reflective table showed him a face with hazel-brown hair, ocean-blue eyes, and a somewhat slender build.

There were really some similarities between them, he realized with a sick feeling. Of course, they were not completely the same.

Elliot’s brown was darker, richer, while Neville’s had more warmth, but because of the dye, it was a little darker. Elliot’s eyes were a deep midnight blue, while Neville’s were the bright ocean blue.

But at a glance in a dim lighting from a certain angle...

Was that why Grayson had been so... different with him?

Since they first met, Grayson had been somewhat in favor of him.

Sometimes he even helped him, even though that was what he got hired for, to be used by Grayson for a specific purpose. He thought that was a clear enough reason when Grayson began to care for him differently and tolerated him at times.

Had any of that been for him? Or had Grayson been looking at him and seeing the ghost of someone else?

"A substitute," Neville whispered the word aloud, and it tasted like poison on his tongue.

His thoughts began to spiral away.

If not for Elliot, would Grayson have ever destroyed this world?

The original timeline painted Grayson as a villain. Elliot had been his light, and when that light was taken away by someone else, Grayson had razed everything in his grief.

Would Grayson even need me?

Would Grayson even do that for me?

The question stuck with him for a long time.

Neville’s hands clenched into fists against his knees.

The answer was obvious, wasn’t it?

He was just here because the protagonists had failed to do their job properly and ended up with a bad ending.

He was just here because he now had to intervene and prevent the world’s collapse instead of the protagonists.

He was just here because ’Grayson Maxwell’ needed to be saved from himself.

But the system had never said anything about Grayson needing him.

Anyone could have been dropped into this role.

Anyone alive and determined enough to survive could do this job.

After all, the system just needed a tool, and Neville had been a convenient transmigrated soul with nowhere else to go.

All this time, he had been agonizing by himself over his progress.

Questioning how he could do better to raise the favorability.

But Grayson himself didn’t appreciate him.

That’s why he couldn’t raise his favorability at all.

He couldn’t even get his name called out in his sleep.

Grayson called for Lysander.

For Elliot.

He probably didn’t want someone like him, who was attached to him like a leech. Nosy from work to private life.

Grayson didn’t need Neville in his life.

Neville stared at the holographic model of Elliot’s innocent face, and something in his chest twisted painfully.

He dismissed the projection with a violent wave of his hand.

✦ ✦ ✦

The crack of dawn brought with it a familiar chime.

A holographic screen materialized before Neville. Golden text scrolled across its surface, accompanied by celebratory sparkles that he absolutely did not appreciate right now.

[SIDE QUEST: Keep Your Chastity! 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Status: COMPLETED

Chastity: Still Intact!

Current Favorability: 20% ▲

Target: Grayson Maxwell

Reward:

Unlocked Heat Pill to prevent heat cycle, estrus period, and susceptible period. (take once a month)

CONS: Abuse of use will affect your mermaid form. Please use it in moderation.

Unlocked Poison Detection, the ability to detect poisons when touched by water.]

A small figure popped out beside the notification screen, spinning in a delighted circle before settling into a floating position.

Shelly appeared with a new body before him. She became a pixie fairy in the cartoons with long twin-tailed hair. Her hair was decorated with pink shells. She even had a pink conch with a white pearl inside for a necklace.

She wore a tube dress that stopped just above the knee. Her dress was adorned and made up with all sorts of shells with a huge ribbon on the back that acted as her wings. Her shoes were even shell-inspired.

Her bright pink animated eyes were practically sparkling with excitement.

[Congratulations, host! ☆*:.｡.o(≧▽≦)o.｡.:*☆]

"Shut up, Shelly."

The words came out flat, devoid of any warmth. Neville didn’t even look at her.

[♪(´ε` )]

Shelly’s petals drooped slightly, but she wisely chose to remain silent.

Neville read through the rewards again, his expression unchanged. Under normal circumstances, he would have been elated because these were genuinely useful abilities.

The Heat Pill alone would solve countless of his future problems, and Poison Detection could literally save his life.

But right now, staring at the cheerful notification proclaiming his intact chastity, Neville couldn’t muster any enthusiasm.

Keep Your Chastity.

The system had created this quest to prevent him from giving himself completely to Grayson during those heated moments. To prevent him from dismissing it at some point, it even raised the penalty to death.

And now he understood why.

A bitter laugh escaped his lips.

"No wonder," he said to no one in particular. "Couldn’t afford premature failure, aren’t you?"

How could he have let that bastard call someone else’s name while almost sleeping with him?

The humiliation would have been unbearable. At least now, with his dignity intact, he could walk away with his head held high.

Shelly remained uncharacteristically quiet, her shell body dimming slightly.

Neville closed the reward notification and turned to face Shelly. His ocean-blue eyes burned with barely contained frustration.

"Shelly. Get me the best medicine to get rid of these." He gestured vaguely at his neck and collarbones, where bruise-like hickeys still decorated his skin like a constellation.

[Aww, host, you really kept going at it without going all the way? That’s some badass restraint right there! o(〃＾▽＾〃)o] Shelly said it playfully to lighten the mood.

Neville turned his head slowly with a look that made Shelly panic. Every ounce of his simmering anger, his wounded pride, his bitter disappointment—all of it condensed into a single, terrifying glare.

His expression was incredibly sharp and frosty. The small red mole under the corner of his right eye suddenly seemed less like a beauty mark and more like a warning.

Shelly’s animated eyes went wide. She curled her body into a ball to make her look smaller.

Shelly sheepishly said, [Host, I found a pill here that can accelerate your already good regeneration ability! ヾ(･ω･`｡);]

The words tumbled out in a rush, accompanied by a hurried gesture that brought up a new product display. A small, pearly white capsule rotated in the holographic projection. Its description said that it could accelerate the healing of superficial skin damage.

"Give it to me."

Neville’s tone left no room for discussion.

A shimmer of light, and the pill materialized in his outstretched palm. He swallowed it without water, without hesitation, without so much as a glance at the instructions.

[Host, you needed to come back home and rest for a day for it to be really effective. If you didn’t sleep within 12 hours from now, the effect of the pill would be nullified. ( ╹▿╹ )]

"Got it."

Neville was already rising from the couch. When he came back, he could face Grayson with clear skin and clearer boundaries.

He didn’t really want to stay here any longer.

Not after what he had heard.

Not after what he had learned.

Neville planned that he would wait until Grayson woke up, confirm that his boss was alive and conscious, and then leave.

And he was done.

Done with him.