"Thanks for accompanying me home..."

In front of the apartment complex, the two of them simply stood there awkwardly, neither seeming willing to leave first.

Still, Myles had insisted on walking Blake back, all because he thought he might feel sick again on the way home.

"Mh..."

Even now, he looked strangely distracted, as though his mind were somewhere else entirely.

And honestly, that irritated Blake a little.

’From the way he’s acting, you’d think I was the one who kissed him.’

He still couldn’t understand it.

At the very least, he could be sure about one thing, it definitely wasn’t mainly about personal feelings.

"Good night."

"Yes. Good night."

As Myles turned to leave, Blake let out a long sigh.

Then, before he could stop himself, he jogged after him and smacked the back of his head.

Myles glanced back at him slightly, not looking surprised in the slightest.

"I’ll have you know," Blake muttered, "that was my first kiss."

The moment the words left him, Myles went still, gaze shifting away.

"So be prepared, because from now on, I’ll be the one doing it."

"...Blake."

"Good night. Again."

And with that, he finally turned around and headed toward his apartment building, ears burning in embarrassment.

Of course, that was probably the biggest lie he had told all week.

There was no way he would ever gather enough courage to kiss Myles out of nowhere.

Still...

It sounded threatening enough, right?

"I’ll wait."

"Huh?!"

Blake whipped around immediately.

But Myles had already started walking away again, as if casually saying something like that meant absolutely nothing.

He stood there in stunned silence, watching his figure disappear into the night.

And the moment he was finally out of sight, Blake crouched down on the spot and covered his face with one hand, exhaling heavily.

’What even happened...’

His head felt unbearably full.

Why were the two of them acting like this?

Were they actually idiots after all?

After another minute of sitting there in complete defeat, Blake finally forced himself back onto his feet.

Step after step, he slowly climbed the stairs, dragging himself upward with far less energy than before.

By the time he reached his floor, his mind somehow felt even messier.

He unlocked the door quietly and stepped inside.

The moment the door clicked shut behind him, the exhaustion hit all at once.

Blake bent down to remove his shoes near the entrance, movements sluggish.

And for some reason, his eyes suddenly stung.

"...Ah."

He rubbed at them quickly with the back of his sleeve, annoyed at himself.

Why was he getting emotional now?

The two of them had started having conversations like that lately.

It made him so stressed especially since, immediately afterward, they would return to acting almost normal again.

As if neither of them wanted to be the first to destroy whatever strange balance they currently had.

Blake clicked his tongue softly and walked further into the apartment.

Then he threw himself face-first onto the bed without even changing clothes.

Honestly, he was still irritated.

No, irritated wasn’t even the right word.

Frustrated, at Myles.

At the system.

At himself.

Mostly at himself.

Because now there was another issue he couldn’t ignore anymore.

Myles still suspected him enough to never stop thinking Blake had approached him with some sort of goal in mind.

Blake rolled onto his back, staring blankly at the ceiling.

At this point, he could probably just ask him directly.

He could ask what exactly Myles suspected. It was out in the open, anyway. He basically wasn’t even trying to hide it.

To be honest, he was scared.

He suddenly slammed his fist against the mattress.

"Fuck..."

His heart had been beating too fast lately.

Especially around Myles.

And recently, it had only gotten worse.

Blake shut his eyes tightly.

He had been deliberately ignoring it this whole time.

Pretending not to notice and that it was just stress, or irritation, or pressure from the mission.

But he wasn’t stupid enough to lie to himself forever.

He liked him.

Somewhere along the way, things had become genuinely dangerous.

Blake stared back up at the ceiling again, brows furrowed deeply.

"...Spoon."

The familiar silence lingered for a second.

Then the system answered calmly.

[ Yes, Dear Host. ]

Blake swallowed once before asking quietly,

"Can I tell Myles about the system?"

The moment the words left his mouth, something twisted violently inside his stomach.

His eyes widened.

"—Hk—"

A wave of nausea slammed into him so suddenly he nearly rolled off the bed.

Blake covered his mouth immediately and stumbled toward the bathroom.

His vision blurred.

By the time he reached the door, he couldn’t even make it to the toilet properly.

He dropped to his knees and threw up harshly onto the floor.

The bitter taste burned his throat painfully.

"Hah... ah..."

His breathing turned ragged instantly.

Cold sweat covered the back of his neck.

Then the system window appeared before him.

[ Dear Host, disclosure of information regarding the System and Mission to the Target is strictly prohibited under all circumstances. ]

Blake stared at it in shock, breathing unevenly.

Then slowly, he pushed himself upright with trembling arms.

"Are you serious right now?!"

His voice echoed weakly in the bathroom.

"You seriously made me throw up over that?!"

[ Dear Host, the System did not induce any physical reaction. ]

"Bullshit."

[ The Host’s body reacted independently after attempting to violate restrictions. ]

His head still spun slightly.

Annoyed beyond belief, Blake grabbed some paper towels and crouched down to clean the floor.

The smell alone made him grimace.

"This is insane..."

The system remained silent.

Blake wiped the floor harder than necessary before throwing the used towels away.

Then he leaned over the sink and rinsed his mouth thoroughly.

After a moment, he squeezed toothpaste onto his toothbrush and started brushing his teeth aggressively.

His expression remained dark the entire time.

"Then why can’t I say anything about it?"

[ Dear Host, that is disclosed information. ]

Blake nearly snapped the toothbrush in half as he glared at his own reflection in the mirror.

So that settled it, then.

There really was no shortcut.

He couldn’t tell Myles anything.

Couldn’t explain the mission.

Couldn’t explain the system.

Couldn’t explain why he had approached him in the first place.

He had no choice but to continue following the original plan, which well, was infinitely more dangerous, at this point.

Blake spat into the sink before washing his mouth again.

Then he let out a heavy sigh.

"Spoon."

[ Yes, Dear Host. ]

"Take out the blueprints."

The moment he said it, the ring fell down.

Blake sat, staring at hologram, his eyes scanning over the underground sections first.

The tunnel system beneath well, the whole country, had multiple entrances and was all connected.

The problem was getting there unnoticed.

His finger traced along one of the marked paths quietly.

"Sewers."

One entrance connected directly through the city sewer system.

Of course, every accessible opening had already been sealed off heavily.

He had checked personally before.

’Who cares.’

If they were sealed, he could just break them open.

It was that simple.

His gaze shifted toward another section of the blueprint.

There was also an alarm system installed throughout the underground tunnels.

Meaning the second he broke through an entrance, alarms would most likely activate immediately.

Blake stared at the map silently for a while.

Then he sighed.

"Whatever."

At this point, avoiding detection completely was probably impossible anyway.

I’m near death situations, the system always intervened. At least that’s what it said.

Blake looked down at his own hand.

Then he called out again,

"Spoon."

[ Yes, Dear Host. ]

"Level up my strength skill to B-rank, I’ve got fifty coins."

[ Yes, Dear Host. ]

A strange sensation immediately spread through his body.

Warmth flooded through his muscles all at once.

Blake flexed his fingers slowly.

The difference was instant.

"Whoa."

He stood up from the bed and glanced around the room.

Then his eyes landed on a random ceramic plate left near the desk from earlier.

Blake walked over casually and picked it up.

"Let’s see..."

Then he punched directly through the center of it.

Crack.

The plate shattered almost effortlessly.

Several broken pieces clattered onto the floor.

Blake blinked once.

"Okay, nice."

That was definitely stronger than before.

If he hit hard enough now, destroying a sewer entrance probably wouldn’t even be difficult.

He crouched down to inspect the broken pieces briefly.

Then he nodded slowly to himself.

’Okay. Fine.’

At least something was finally going according to plan.

Blake stood there quietly for a while longer before finally cleaning up the ceramic fragments.

Afterward, he returned to the bed and dropped backward onto the mattress once more.

"Take the blueprints away."

[ Yes, Dear Host. ]

The room was silent again.

But his mind absolutely wasn’t.

Myles’ face kept appearing no matter how much he tried not to think about him.

Especially those last words.

"I’ll wait."

Blake covered his eyes with one arm immediately.

"Idiot."

He wasn’t even sure which one of them he meant anymore.

The room gradually grew quieter.

His body still felt tired from throwing up earlier.

Combined with the emotional exhaustion, his eyelids slowly started growing heavier.

Even so, his thoughts continued drifting endlessly, his heartbeat sped up again at the memory.

Blake groaned softly into his arm.

"This is seriously awful..."