The system stirred faintly at the edge of his perception.
> [Uncompleted Quest]
West closed his eyes for half a second and exhaled slowly.
Later, he told himself. I'll deal with it later.
For now, he had to focus on class.
That was easier said than done.
The teacher began the lesson, droning on about college placements and final exams... things that felt increasingly irrelevant in a world where power decided futures before diplomas ever could.
The teacher's voice blurred into background noise as West stared at the whiteboard, pen unmoving in his hand. Words were written. Diagrams drawn. None of it stuck. Every few seconds, his attention drifted inward, toward that quiet, patient presence hovering just beyond his senses.
Seven days.
That was all he had.
Flirt with another man's girlfriend.
The objective replayed in his mind like a bad joke.
West swallowed.
He had never flirted before. Not once. Not consciously, at least.
Lena hadn't fallen for him because he was smooth or charming. They'd started talking over shared classes, shared frustrations, shared silence. It had been slow and awkward but comfortable.
And now that very thing had made him disposable.
'How the hell am I supposed to do this?' he thought.
His fingers tightened around the pen.
Flirting wasn't something you just decided to do. It required confidence. Timing. Presence. All the things he'd spent his life avoiding.
And not just flirting.
Flirting with someone else's girlfriend.
The bell rang, snapping him out of his thoughts.
Chairs scraped against the floor. Voices rose. Bags zipped.
Lunch break.
West stood slowly with his legs feeling heavier than they should've been.
'Just try,' he told himself. One attempt. That's it.
He stepped into the hallway.
That's when the stares started.
They weren't subtle.
Heads turned as he passed. Whispers followed him like a shadow. Phones tilted just slightly with screens glowing.
West kept his gaze forward with a straight expression.
"Isn't that him?"
"That's the guy."
"No way."
"Damn…"
He felt it before he heard it... the laughter.
It was neither loud nor explosive but definitely worse.
Their laughters were contained and mocking... the kind people thought didn't count because it wasn't shouted.
West's pace quickened.
The video was everywhere.
He'd avoided checking it, but he didn't need to see it again to know exactly how it played out. The angle. The timing. The way the moment froze him in place.
Everyone remembers, he realized bitterly.
The cafeteria doors swung open, releasing a wave of noise and heat. West grabbed a tray and joined the line while scanning faces automatically.
Couples. Groups. Laughter.
So many girls.
And every single one of them felt impossibly distant.
He grabbed food he didn't care about and turned, searching for a place to sit.
He spotted a group of students near the windows consisting of four guys and two girls. If he wanted to do this, he had to embrace the one thing he always ran from his entire life... socialising.
'Okay,' he thought. 'Just sit. Don't do anything weird.'
West walked over but the moment they noticed him, the conversation stopped.
One of the girls frowned. Another glanced at her phone.
An awkward beat passed.
Then one of the guys stood. "Uh—hey, we're actually about to move."
They all got up.
Every single one of them.
They didn't even bother pretending.
West stood there with tray in hand, as the table emptied out around him.
Someone nearby snorted.
"Damn," a voice muttered. "Cold."
West's face burned.
He turned away quickly, moving deeper into the cafeteria.
'Okay. Different approach.'
He spotted a girl standing alone near the drink machines. She was scrolling through her phone, earbuds in, shoulders relaxed.
She's taken, the system whispered faintly in the back of his mind... not as words, but as a feeling. A subtle pull.
West's heart rate spiked.
This could be it.
He took a breath and approached.
"Hey," he said quietly. "Um—excuse me?"
She glanced up and her expression changed instantly.
"…Ew," she said, wrinkling her nose.
West froze.
"You're that guy," she continued while pulling one earbud out. "The one who got—"
She made a vague slapping gesture with her hand.
West's stomach dropped.
"Sorry," she added flatly. "I don't talk to guys who can't even keep their girlfriends."
She turned away.
West stood there for a second too long before walking off.
His chest felt tight.
One rejection, he told himself. It's fine.
But it wasn't just one.
Everywhere he went, it was the same.
Whispers cut short. Smiles vanished. Conversations died the moment he approached.
Someone openly laughed when he walked past.
Another girl muttered, "That's embarrassing," without even looking at him.
By the time he sat down at an empty table near the corner, his food was untouched.
His hands were shaking.
'This is impossible,' he thought. 'They already decided who I am.'
The system stirred faintly again.
> [Observation:]
Public humiliation decreases baseline social success rate.
West clenched his teeth. "Helpful."
West looked down at the tray. His appetite was gone.
Across the cafeteria, a familiar presence walked through.
Laughter rippled outward as people made space for him instinctively. He walked in like he owned the place with a relaxed and confident look. His jacket was unzipped just enough to show the faint glow beneath his skin.
Lena was with him.
Her arm was hooked through his.
She looked… fine.
Happy, even.
West's throat tightened but he went back to staring at his food, ignoring them.
Caleb's gaze swept the room lazily and then landed on him.
A grin appeared on his face instantly.
Caleb nudged Lena and tilted his head.
She followed his gaze.
Her smile faltered.
Just a little.
West stood abruptly causing his tray to scrap against the table.
'Don't look,' he told himself. 'Just leave.'
But it was too late.
Caleb was already walking over.
The crowd noticed and phones came up.
Caleb stopped right in front of West's table.
"Well, if it isn't my favorite background character," he said loudly.