Chapter 11 – Cuteness Overload

Friday was, in a word, unremarkable. The highlight, and I use that term generously, is sitting next to Luna again in computer science. I manage to choke out a "Hello," which is already an improvement over yesterday's strangled "...Hi." I definitely sounded calmer today. A small part of me thinks I'm pathetic for being proud over a single word, but I pointedly give that part of me the cold shoulder. I'll be proud if I want to!

"Hi," she says back, and I swear to god, her voice is the auditory equivalent of a hot tub filled with marshmallows and puppies, cute and sweet enough to give diabetes.

It’s soft-spoken and high-pitched, like a dog's chew toy if you somehow reduced the volume to a whisper but amplified the cuteness by a factor of one hundred. It's almost unfair. How is someone supposed to form coherent sentences when confronted with that level of adorable?

I briefly consider checking out a club today, but my social battery is already running on fumes from saying a single word to this girl. So I decide that I'll tackle that mission on Monday. Probably. Maybe.

Then finally, the weekend arrives.

Normally, Saturdays and Sundays are “family time.” We’d play board games, snuggle up for a movie, or we’d just huddle together on the sofa, talking. It’s nice, cozy.

Sadly, this weekend, everyone's got plans.

Selene's doing a photoshoot on both days. When she finally waltzes home Saturday evening, she's still buzzing with energy, talking a mile a minute about lighting and poses and some photographer who "totally didn't know what he was doing." But she's got schoolwork piling up, so she locks herself in her room with a dramatic sigh and doesn't emerge until morning. Sunday's a repeat performance.

Bianca, meanwhile, has been recruited by her art club for some kind of neighborhood sketch crawl. She leaves both mornings with a backpack full of supplies and returns looking like she's survived a war. Both evenings, she shuffles past me in the hallway and "politely" says, and I quote, "If anyone talks to me, I'm going to kill them." Then she slams her door hard enough to make the walls shake.

I take the hint.

Mom didn't get this weekend off. She's pulling overtime at her job, which means I see her for maybe an hour total across two days. She looks exhausted every time she comes home, but she still manages to ruffle my hair and ask how I'm doing before collapsing into bed.

So yeah. It's just me, my workout routine, and the skincare regimen I'm now fully committed to.

I hit the exercises hard both days. Push-ups, a plank, squats, jumping jacks. My body screams at me the entire time, but I keep waiting for those sweet, sweet system notifications.

And they finally come.

Sunday evening, right as I'm finishing my last set of squats, it happens.

Ding! You’ve completed the quest: Workout II

Rewards:

I nearly drop to the floor in celebration. "YES! Finally!"

Two evolution points. Two beautiful, glorious evolution points. I'm rich.

"Great job, Adam! ???" the system displays.

Then another notification pops up.

Ding! Quest log updated.

I pull up the quest log, curious to see what fresh torture awaits me.

Available Quests:

I tap on "Workout III" to see what fresh hell I've signed up for.

Workout III

Description: You’ve been working out steadily now, but sadly, new habits are truly hard to form. Think about it this way, you’ve been a couch potato all your life, but you’ve only worked out for the last six days in a row! Nonetheless, this is an achievement worth celebrating! So great work! But let’s keep up the momentum!

Quest Details: Workout for 14 days in a row!

Quest Rewards:

Fourteen days. Two weeks straight. I can do that. Probably. Maybe. I mean, I've already done six, this is going to be easy!

(That was a lie. It was an obvious lie. But I'm choosing optimism here.)

And look at those rewards, that’s effectively 15 Evolution Points! I’m going to be rich!

The only thing that stings a little is the lack of stat increases.

But you know what? I do feel stronger. Like, genuinely. My arms don't shake as much during knee push-ups (yes, I'm still doing knee push-ups, buzz off). I can hold a plank for more than ten seconds without wanting to die, and I can manage a full squat now. Progress is progress, even if the system isn't throwing confetti at me.

I also finish all my homework, it doesn’t even take an hour, and I wrap up the freelancing job I was working on: the website. Easy work. Two hundred and fifty dollars richer. Not bad for about five hours of coding.

Then something else happens on Sunday evening.

I'm minding my own business, sprawled on the couch, when a craving hits me like a freight train. Chips. Ice cream. My kryptonite. I can practically taste the unhealthiness already.

I head to the kitchen, grab a family-size bag of chips and a tub of Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup ice cream, the food of champions, and I'm halfway back to the couch when I feel it.

An itch. Not on my skin, but inside me. Like someone's poking at my brain with a very insistent finger.

The system.

I stop walking. "What the heck is this?"

I allow the interface to materialize, and it glows obnoxiously in the dim light of the living room.

Emergency Mission!

Save the Gains

Description: A good body is primarily made in the kitchen. A single snack could take hours of training to overwrite… In other words, do NOT eat any junk food this weekend!!

Quest Details: Do. NOT. Eat any junk food this weekend!!

Quest Rewards: 1 Evolution Point

I stare at it. Then at the chips in my hand. Then back at the screen.

"Are you SERIOUS right now?" I say out loud, my voice rising in disbelief. "It's Sunday night! The weekend's almost over! Don't hurt me like this!"

The system doesn't respond. It just hovers there, judging me.

I look down at the ice cream. It's slowly thawing, condensation forming on the container. It looks delicious. I was really looking forward to this.

But… the system's not wrong. Junk food is bad for me. I know this. Everyone knows this. It's just that knowing something and actually caring about it are two very different things.

Except now I have a reason to care. A tangible, points-based reason.

I sigh so hard I'm pretty sure my soul tries to escape through my mouth. "Fine. FINE. You win, you stupid… system… You know what? You're a… biiiiiiitch…"

The system responds with a simple "?"

"Okay, I didn't really mean that. Sorry."

"?"

I trudge back to the kitchen, shove the chips and ice cream back where they belong, and start rummaging through the fridge for something that won't sabotage my gains. I find some baby carrots in the back, probably left over from one of Mom's "we're eating healthy this week" phases that lasted approximately three days.

I grab the bag and crunch down on a carrot stick. It's definitely not as good as chips or ice cream.

But hey, at least I'm getting that evolution point.

Monday morning arrives, and something weird happens.

I feel… excited?

About school?

What is this sorcery?

It takes me a second to figure it out, but then it clicks: computer science. Fourth period. Luna.

I actually have something to look forward to. It's a novel sensation.

I breeze through my first three classes on autopilot. I ask a few questions about topics I'm interested in, but for the most part, I keep my head down and count the minutes until fourth period like a prisoner marking days on a cell wall.

Then, the bell finally rings.

I grab my stuff and practically sprint to computer science. Well, not sprint. More like a brisk waddle. But the intent is there.

I walk into the classroom, and there she is. Luna. Sitting in the same spot as always, hoodie pulled up, fingers flying across her keyboard. Today's hoodie is a slightly different shade of purple, lavender, maybe, and her cargo pants are a darker gray than last time.

"Hi, Luna!" I say, dropping into the seat next to her. My voice only shakes slightly this time. Progress. I said two words in greeting this time, that must count for something.

She looks up, and her face immediately goes red. Like, tomato red. "Hi, Adam."

Her voice does the thing again, the cute thing, and I have to resist the urge to squeeze the cuteness out of this cute cutie sitting in front of me. I'm getting a terrible case of cute aggression.

I feel a confusing cocktail of emotions swirling inside me. Excited to see her, but also stupidly nervous. My brain is basically a spinning loading icon right now.

Then I notice something. A sticker on her backpack. Small, rectangular, with a stylized red and black design. I squint at it.

Is that…?

"Uh… so, uh…" I clear my throat. "Have you… seen the… new episode of Devil Killer?"

Smooth, Adam. Very smooth. You sound like a robot learning human speech.

But then her eyes light up. Actually, light up. It's like someone flipped a switch.

"I… I love that anime!" she exclaims, her volume doubling. Though considering how she normally talks, this would still probably be classified as a near-inaudible whisper.

"Really? Me too!" I say, probably way too enthusiastically.

And just like that, we're off.

We lean in close, whispering so we don't get yelled at by the teacher, and start gushing about the latest episodes. The plot twists, the fight scenes, the character development. She's got opinions, and they're all wrong, but I love hearing them anyway.

"Okay, but… hear me out," Luna says, her hands gesturing animatedly. "Matsuki is obviously… the best waifu… Her personality is adorable… and she's a hopeless romantic... No one… beats that."

I nearly choke. "Are you kidding me? Incest is wincest, Luna. Niisuko is clearly superior. She's adorable and strong-spirited, fighting against the evil within. Peak storytelling."

"Did you just say… 'incest is wincest'... out loud?" Luna stares at me, half-horrified, half-amused.

"I stand by it," I say, crossing my arms. "Niisuko is best girl, and I will die on this hill."

"I see..." she says, lips quirking into a smile. "I’m sorry... but your opinion... is just plain wrong."

She's smiling now, though. Actually smiling. At me. I might pass out.

We go back and forth, bickering and joking, our fingers still flying across our keyboards as we work on our respective side projects. I'm still working on the AI stock market helper. She's working on… it looks like an AI vtuber. Impressive work, truly.

Time flies. We're laughing, whispering, arguing about anime waifus and the hottest guys in anime, and suddenly—

RING.

The bell.

Lunch.

I blink. "Oh. It's lunch already?"

Luna looks just as surprised. "Oh…"

My heart does a little flip. She seemed to be having fun. With me. Talking to me.

Me too, I realize. I really enjoyed talking with her, and I don't want the conversation to end just yet. In that case, all I have to do is ask her to sit with me at lunch.

Easy.

Simple.

I'm joking, of course. This is absolutely terrifying.

"Oh my god, here goes nothing," I mutter under my breath.

Ask her now, or you're a little bitch, I tell myself mentally.

I take a deep breath, summon every ounce of courage I have, which, to be fair, isn't much, and turn to Luna.

"Hey, uh…"

She looks at me, slowly blinking with those big, beautiful violet eyes.

Come on, Adam. You can do this. It's just words. You've been using words your whole life. You're great at words. Maybe the best at words.

"Do you… maybe… want to sit together at lunch?"

There. I said it. It's out there. No taking it back now.

Luna's face goes red again. She opens her mouth. Closes it. Opens it again.

I'm going to die. This is how I die. Waiting for a response from a girl so cute she could be classified as a lethal weapon. I am having far too many near-death experiences recently, and they're all pathetic. I really need help.

She fidgets with the strap of her backpack.

"I… um…"

Oh no. That's not a good start. That's the start of a "no." I can feel it coming. I'm about to get rejected in the gentlest, most soul-crushing way possible.

But then she looks up at me, and she's smiling. Just a little.

"Yeah," she says quietly. "I'd like that."

My heart flatlines.