Levi jogged after Freya calling out to her.
"Hey, Freyaa," he called.
Freya was shocked and suddenly looked back. As soon as her friend saw Levi approaching, she quickly stepped in front of Freya protectively.
"What do you want?" the friend asked trying to shield Freya.
She's trying to protect Freya in her own way, Levi realized respecting the gesture despite the hostility.
"Uh, I wanted to ask if you were free tomorrow."
Freya asked shyly, "Why?"
Levi asked with a slight smile. "Um, I booked a table at Zushin Sushi. Wanna come with me tomorrow?"
"Are you asking me for a dinner?"
Her friend's eyes widened immediately.
"Zushin Sushi, you say? Isn't that the restaurant whose least priced item also costs three thousand Zenni?" the friend said in disbelief.
I need to add more incentive.
"We can go for another trip to buy a gift for my friend at home. You see, Nyx's birthday is coming close too, so I thought tomorrow would be good."
Freya took her time to consider the offer, clearly weighing her options.
"Well, I'm off. You can tell me your answer before classes end."
Levi said giving her space to think.
After Levi left, Freya turned to her friend with uncertainty written all over her face.
"Wasn't I asked out by another guy this morning? What should I do?"
Her friend shrugged.
"What's wrong with going to a top Japanese restaurant? The guys will keep asking you anyway. You lose nothing by going, just eat and take a stroll. I'll message you later. Tell me your answer."
"Okay, fine," she agreed.
Levi entered his home and called out.
"I'm back."
Jessica appeared in an apron, wiping her hands on it.
"Oh, you're here. We cut some chilled watermelon. Eat it."
"Oh, okay," Levi replied, grabbing a slice.
After eating, Levi took another taxi trip to continue progressing through his remaining orders.
[SYSTEM - TAXI MISSION PROGRESS: 90% COMPLETE]
He received a text from Sera.
Sera: "Let's complete the bet."
Hehe, she's cute, Levi thought with a smirk.
He immediately turned his car around and headed to her place. When he arrived, he knocked on the door. Sera opened it with a shy expression on her face.
"Hey," Sera said softly.
"You're shy already. Don't tell me you're going to reject it now."
"No, I just need some time to prepare."
Why text me so boldly then? Levi thought waiting in the living room.
After fifteen minutes Sera emerged wearing some revealing clothes and makeup.
"Should I do it now?" she asked nervously.
"I don't even know what's so shameful about some hip-hop. Any person would do it easily."
She spoke with a blush, "I haven't done this for years, so don't complain if it's bad."
"I won't."
She started dancing, and it was pretty awesome to watch. But Levi immediately understood why she'd been so shy about it. The dance was designed to attract males—the moves themselves were cool, but some of the poses were quite erotic and sensual.
A few minutes passed as Levi watched focused on her movements. Then suddenly, the door slammed open.
It was Nancy, and she took in the scene immediately—Sera in the middle of dancing, Levi sitting on the couch watching.
"What are you guys even doing?" Nancy asked.
"Uhh, why are you here?" Sera asked nervously while trying to catch her breath.
"Why shouldn't I be here?"
Sera said bluntly, "Levi was quite interested in my hobby, so I was showing him."
She came at a bad timing.
Nancy stared at Sera angrily, her arms folded across her chest.
"You think I don't get it?"
"We're not doing something bad, okay?" Sera tried to explain.
"You go to the other room. I have to ask him something."
Nancy sat beside Levi on the couch angry, her hands folded tightly.
"What's your full name? What do you even do?"
Levi felt a slight chill run down his spine.
"Uh, I am Levi Allencraft. Though I'm a student, I do have a part-time job. We met last time."
"Hoh, what job?" Nancy asked leaning closer.
"I drive a taxi too."
Nancy's eyes narrowed suspiciously.
"Don't mess with me. What taxi driver drives a sports car? The one outside is yours?"
"Well, it's my father's gift."
Nancy's mood shifted instantly. Her anger melted away and she put a hand on his shoulder with newfound respect.
"You must be loaded. You're worthy of her now."
So the teacher-student relationship doesn't count now.
Sera came running in from the other room, her face flushed.
"We don't have that kind of relationship."
Nancy waved her hand dismissively.
"Haah, people these days. I don't understand you. You keep talking about him to me till three in the morning—" Sera quickly put a hand over Nancy's mouth.
"It's not real, okay?" Sera said looking directly at Levi with embarrassment.
Levi smiled awkwardly.
Right, right, he thought, trying not to laugh.
Nancy got up and headed toward her room.
"Why don't you invite him to Grandpa's birthday then? It's his eightieth. I won't disturb you guys, hehe."
Sera sat down on the couch embarrassed.
"She seems to have misunderstood us," Sera whispered.
Levi put a hand on her shoulder.
"The misunderstanding seems to be coming true though. Let's continue," he said with a slight smirk.
She blushed deeply and put her right hand on her face looking away.
"What else to continue? We're being misunderstood."
Levi's phone buzzed with a message from Helena.
Helena: "Sir, we need your signatures in some final paperwork."
"Haaa, this is troubling," he muttered.
"What happened?"
"I'm buying a few places," Levi replied.
"Not one but a few?" Sera asked suspiciously.
"I just got a bit of money from the part-time job."
Sera stared at him suspiciously, her expression saying she didn't believe a taxi driver could earn that much to buy houses.
Later, Levi entered the real estate office to complete his paperwork. A girl from his college was there with her father who worked there, and she immediately recognized him.
"Levi, what are you doing here?" she asked curiously.
"I'm here to see your manager. Gotta pick up the real estate license."
The girl stared at him weirdly.
"Levi, who are you fooling here? Even a single unit costs three hundred to four hundred thousand zenni."
Helena came from behind holding Levi's arm closely. Her breasts touched him slightly as she stepped forward.
"What are you doing? Don't argue with customers," Helena said.
The girl scoffed, "He's so poor now. He might be scamming you."
Why is this NPC acting so much?
Helena turned to the girl with a sharp look.
"He is a potential customer and has already bought more than one property of a million each."
The girl's jaw dropped. She'd heard that Levi had gone broke, and this information shocked her.
Helena turned back to Levi and smiled.
"I'm sorry. Her father is also a manager at the firm. I will ask him to talk to her."
"Come on, don't be that harsh," Levi said, defending the girl despite her rudeness.
After that Levi got a call from a passenger. It was apparently the last one required to finish the taxi task, but he'd actually grown to enjoy the job quite a bit. He decided to keep doing it once in a while.
He opened the location on his app.
"It's the Lex Hall, huh? It's not too far. Let's take it."
He picked up the call.
A girl's voice came through, "Hello, are you the taxi driver? I saw your car on the app. How old are you?"
"Um, I'm still in my early twenties," Levi replied.
"Can you please come pretending to be my boyfriend?" she asked desperately.
"What?"
"Pretty please. I've got no experience even talking to boys properly."
"Alright, alright. Don't start crying now."
He drove to the location, and the girl called him to her room. He went up to the sixth floor and knocked. When the door opened, Levi finally understood why she needed him.
The girl was Ruth Harrison—a social media creator with quite a big following. She'd also done some anchoring at award shows. Her stunning appearance made the request suddenly make more sense.
"Were you the one talking?" Ruth asked charmed by his appearance.
Before she could say anything else, a woman's voice called from inside.
"Are you Ruth's boyfriend?" It was her mother.
Levi nodded.
"Ah yes, I am."
"You're quite spirited. What do you do?" Ruth's mother asked.
"Uh, currently I am a driver," Levi said, not lying since she could have told them about his job.
Ruth came close to Levi and explained the situation.
"Actually, I was going to be forced to go to a wedding, but I told them I'm going on a date."
"Is that why they're angry? Your mom and dad?" Levi asked.
While her parents went to their car, Ruth and Levi walked to his Aston Martin. Ruth's father stopped dead when he saw the car.
"This must be costly," her father said, his expression completely changing.
Ruth looked at Levi eagerly, "Can I make a few short clips in your car?"
"Well, why not?"
He dropped her at the mall afterward, and as soon as she got out, the system notification appeared.
[SYSTEM - TAXI MISSION COMPLETED: 100%] [TOTAL REWARDS COMPILED] [REWARD 1: 3% LCO COMPANY SHARES AND SECURITIES] [REWARD 2: HELLFIRE RACING CIRCUIT OWNERSHIP] [REWARD 3: 5,000,000Z CASH BONUS]
"A racing circuit? For real? Man, you're too rewarding just for some taxi drops."
At night, Levi arrived at the Zushin Sushi restaurant he'd booked for Freya. The place was quite authentic with tatami mats lining the floor and traditional Japanese decor throughout.
A waitress in a kimono approached him.
"Mr. Levi, here's your menu. Please enjoy your meal," she said with a bow.
Levi scanned the menu and thought, Well, this isn't a surprise, but these costs. I could actually buy another house with such money.
Freya arrived a few minutes later looking nervous. She sat down across from him, and Levi couldn't help but notice her ass as she settled into her seat.
Gotta keep my eyes in control. Damn, it's irresistible.
Freya spoke, "I heard your family is going through some hard times. You don't need to spend that much."
"Don't worry. The food here is good. It's totally worth it."
They started with the starters, and Freya asked a question that made him pause.
"Tell me, you never invited me. Why suddenly? Was it really for a gift?"
"Well, I always wanted to go out with you but never got the time," Levi replied.
"Aah, is that so?"
[SYSTEM - FREYA AFFINITY: 73 → 68]
Isn't the answer good? Why is it dropping?
He quickly added, "Ahem, you always helped me out. We even kept chatting late at nights in first year. I remembered that and so asked."
She blushed at his words, touched that he remembered their late-night conversations from so long ago.
[SYSTEM - FREYA AFFINITY: 68 → 83]
Seeing her blush... calm down. I need to calm down, Levi thought keeping his composure.
They had the meal and chatted the whole time, their conversation flowing naturally as the evening wore on.