System Mission: Seduce the Final Boss [BL]-Chapter 38: Messy thoughts

Blake stared at the ceiling.

Then at the wall.

Then back at the bracelet.

"...Yeah. No."

He leaned back further into his chair, letting his head fall against the cushion with a dull thud. The room felt smaller than usual, like the walls had quietly shifted closer while he wasn’t looking.

Seven days.

And a target that was, quite literally, a corporate tower.

"...This is ridiculous."

He dragged a hand down his face, exhaling sharply.

The SSRT tower wasn’t some hidden underground lab or abandoned facility tucked away in the middle of nowhere. It wasn’t secretive. It wasn’t isolated. It was right there. Public. Visible. Functioning like a normal building.

Which somehow made this worse.

Because that meant security.

Surveillance.

People.

A lot of people.

Blake sat up again, grabbing the bracelet and turning it over in his hands. The warped sun shape glinted faintly under the light, the empty slot at its center almost mocking him.

"...And I don’t even know what I’m stealing," he muttered.

He clicked his tongue, irritation bubbling up again.

"Hey," he called out flatly.

A pause.

[ Yes? ]

Blake didn’t even look at it.

"Can you help me with this?" he asked.

[ Define "help." ]

Blake’s eye twitched slightly.

"...Information. Tools. Anything," he said, tone tightening. "Like last time, that you gave a mask, at the auction."

A brief silence.

[ Request denied. ]

Blake’s grip on the bracelet tightened.

"...Excuse me?"

[ This mission explicitly requires infiltration. Assistance that bypasses the infiltration process is not permitted. ]

Blake stared at the wall.

Very slowly, he turned his head toward Spoon.

"...You’re joking."

[ I do not possess the capability to joke. ]

"Yeah, no kidding," Blake muttered under his breath.

He sat up straighter, irritation now fully settled in his chest.

"At the auction, I had to infiltrate too," he pointed out. "And you helped me just fine then."

[ Incorrect. ]

Blake frowned.

[ The auction mission did not explicitly state infiltration as a requirement. Assistance was therefore within acceptable parameters. ]

There was a pause.

Blake blinked once.

Twice.

"...That’s the difference?"

[ Correct. ]

"That’s bullshit."

Spoon didn’t react.

Of course it didn’t.

Blake let out a sharp breath, running both hands through his hair.

"...So basically, you’re saying I’m on my own."

[ That is correct. ]

"Fantastic."

He leaned back again, staring at the ceiling.

For a moment, neither of them spoke.

Then Blake sighed, long and slow.

"...Fine."

If that was how it was going to be, then he’d figure it out himself.

He had to.

Seven days didn’t leave room for anything else.

Blake sat up again, dragging his chair closer to the desk and pulling his laptop toward him.

"Let’s see..."

He pulled up the publicly available layout of the SSRT tower.

It wasn’t much.

In fact, it was clearly limited.

Basic floor distributions.

General-purpose areas.

Public sections.

Nothing detailed.

Nothing sensitive.

"...Figures," Blake muttered.

Still, it was something.

He leaned closer, eyes scanning the screen carefully.

At the lower floors there was the reception offices, meeting rooms, cafeteria.

Normal corporate stuff.

Mid-level, there were more offices, research departments vaguely labeled.

Then the top floors.

Blake’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"...Executive level."

That made sense.

If anything important was being kept, it would be there.

CEO office.

Private labs.

Restricted areas.

Blake tapped the desk lightly.

"...Last floor," he murmured.

It was the most obvious answer.

Which made it both the best lead, and the most dangerous assumption.

"Or..."

He leaned back again.

"...it could be anywhere."

Inside a wall. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Hidden compartment.

Hell, even something completely detached from the main structure.

Blake groaned softly.

"This is impossible."

He pushed himself up from the chair and started pacing.

Back and forth.

Back and forth.

His mind raced, trying to piece together something, anything, that could resemble a plan.

"Alright... think."

Infiltration.

That was the key word.

Not breaking in blindly.

Not forcing entry.

Infiltration.

Which meant blending in.

Getting inside without raising suspicion.

Blake stopped mid-step.

"...The mask."

He turned toward his desk, eyes landing on it instinctively.

The item that had helped him before.

The one that could change his appearance... and outfit.

Into something clean, expensive and convincing.

For a moment, hope flickered.

Then it died just as quickly.

"...No, it’s only convincing for a formal, masked event."

He shook his head.

"That won’t work."

The SSRT tower wasn’t some exclusive underground auction where appearances alone could get you through the door.

It was a functioning building.

People worked there.

Which meant, IDs, clearances and records.

You couldn’t just look like you belonged.

You had to be in the system.

Blake clicked his tongue in frustration.

"...So what? I fake an identity?"

He paused.

"...With what resources?"

Silence answered him.

Spoon didn’t even bother responding.

Blake resumed pacing.

"Less crowded hours?" he muttered.

Early morning.

Late night.

Shift changes.

Moments where attention might be lower.

"...No, that still doesn’t solve entry."

Even if the building was quieter, security wouldn’t just disappear.

If anything, fewer people meant he’d stand out more.

Blake ran a hand through his hair again, more roughly this time.

"And I don’t even know where the piece is..."

His gaze drifted back to the bracelet.

The empty spot.

"...Another sapphire, probably," he muttered.

Or at least something similar.

A gem.

A key component.

Something important enough to be hidden.

Which only made this harder.

"...Even if I get in..."

He trailed off.

His thoughts slowed.

"...I’d be watched."

That was the reality of it.

A place like dealing with advanced research, possibly alien-related wouldn’t just let people roam freely.

Even employees would be monitored.

Blake’s stomach tightened slightly.

"...I wouldn’t last long."

Even if he managed to get inside, even if he somehow reached the upper floors, one wrong move would be enough.

One wrong move and would fall apart.

Blake exhaled slowly, shoulders sinking.

"...This is insane."

He walked back to his bed and sat down, staring at the floor.

The earlier sense of ease, the calm from the morning, was completely gone now.

"...There’s no way. I can’t do this, realistically speaking."

Blake leaned forward slightly, elbows resting on his knees, hands loosely clasped.

His thoughts didn’t stop.

They kept running.

Worst-case scenarios.

Failure.

Getting caught.

Consequences he couldn’t even predict.

"...I can’t do it."

He repeated it, quieter now.

Not out of frustration this time, but something closer to doubt.

For the first time in a while, Blake felt stuck.