[REQUEST DENIED]
Lunessa frowned. "What do you mean, denied?"
[THE SYSTEM CANNOT PROVIDE JULIAN HALE'S RESIDENTIAL ADDRESS]
She stared at the glowing screen, disbelief flashing across her face.
"Why?"
[SHARING PRIVATE RESIDENTIAL DATA CONSTITUTES ILLEGAL ACTIVITY]
Lunessa let out a short, incredulous laugh. "Illegal?"
She turned fully toward the hologram now.
"You tracked him earlier," she said. "You knew when he left his office. You knew when he was heading to his car. You literally followed his movements in real time."
[THAT WAS PUBLICLY ACCESSIBLE LOCATION DATA]
"And his address isn't?"
[NEGATIVE]
Her jaw tightened. "You're telling me you can watch him walk out of his office, but you can't tell me where he sleeps?"
[CORRECT]
"That's ridiculous," she muttered under her breath, her mind spinning as she tried to figure out what to do next.
"Where am I supposed to sleep tonight?" she asked quietly, more to herself than the system.
[CHECK INTO ANOTHER HOTEL, MISS]
She shook her head immediately. "I can't. That money is for Laura's medical treatment."
The hologram hovered beside her, silent for a beat.
[TEMPORARY DISCOMFORT IS ACCEPTABLE]
Lunessa let out a bitter laugh. "Easy for you to say. You don't get tired."
She tightened her grip on her bag and looked around the street. Closed shops. Flickering lights. Strangers passing by without a second glance.
This was what a third-tier neighborhood looked like.
The ironic part was that just a few kilometers away stood a top-tier district, clean, bright, untouchable.
The one who controlled the economy controlled how this country worked.
Lunessa started walking down the street.
Luckily or perhaps tragically, the world was still recovering from the virus that had wiped out most of the male population. Even now, a hundred years later, the streets at night aren't as dangerous as they used to be.
That didn't make them safe. Just… survivable.
She adjusted the strap of her bag on her shoulder and kept moving.
"Should I walk back to the company?" she asked quietly.
[WHICH COMPANY, MISS? IF YOU ARE REFERRING TO JULIAN HALE'S COMPANY, I WOULD SAY YES]
[YOU MAY HAVE A CHANCE TO OBTAIN HIS ADDRESS THERE]
She slowed her steps and tilted her head slightly, staring at the hologram before frowning.
"Are you trying to trick me or what?" she asked flatly. "If I go there and ask for his address, what do you think the staff will say?" She scoffed, "I already announced I'm his girlfriend earlier."
The system paused for a fraction of a second.
[THEN, WOULD YOU LIKE TO MAKE A SIDE MISSION TO OBTAIN JULIAN HALE'S ADDRESS?]
Lunessa squinted in irritation. "You really are tricking me, right? You can just tell me the address, but instead you're asking me to do a side mission for it?"
[NOTHING IS FREE, MISS LUNESSA]
[EVEN PUBLIC TOILETS THESE DAYS REQUIRE FIFTY CENTS JUST TO URINATE]
Lunessa stared at the hologram for a second.
Then she laughed, short and incredulous. "Is this some kind of system humor?"
The hologram didn't react.
[STATEMENT WAS FACTUAL]
"Of course it was," she muttered.
She rubbed her temples, exhaling slowly. "Fine. Then what's the side mission?"
[RECEIVE AN APOLOGY FROM DR. ELIAS VORN]
[REWARD: JULIAN HALE'S ADDRESS, 50 LUCKY CHARM POINTS]
The moment she read the name, her brow furrowed, "Elias Vorn?"
How could she forget it?
He was the doctor who had refused to admit her father two years ago. Even after she begged. Even after she promised to pay the remaining one thousand dollars within a day.
It didn't matter.
Her father had died in the emergency department.
No treatment.
Not even a chance.
Just a flat explanation about policy and payment.
Lunessa's fingers curled slowly.
"Receive an apology," she said quietly. "What's the point? My father is already dead."
The system answered, tone unchanged.
[OBJECTIVE: FORCE ACKNOWLEDGMENT]
She let out a short laugh. "Force?"
Her gaze lifted, unfocused.
"How do you expect that to happen?" she asked. "He's a director. I was nothing. I begged him on my knees before and he didn't even blink."
The hologram flickered once.
[POWER DYNAMICS CAN BE ALTERED]
Lunessa's lips pressed together.
"With what?" she muttered. "My tears?"
Silence.
Then she scoffed softly.
"No," she said. "That won't work."
Her eyes sharpened as she stared down the empty road of the poor neighborhood, streetlights casting uneven shadows across the pavement.
"If I want him to apologize," Lunessa continued, her voice steady, "I need something that makes him bow. Something that forces him to humble himself."
And one name sat above all of it — Julian Hale.
"I know what I need to do," she murmured.
She straightened slowly, her spine stiffening as resolve settled in.
"Let's use the same method I used earlier," Lunessa said. "I don't need him to believe. I need him to hesitate."
The system did not interrupt.
"But…" she added, eyes narrowing slightly, "it would be even better if he takes the bait and lures Julian there too."
Her lips curved faintly, not a smile.
"Then I can finish the side mission," she said quietly, "and make progress on the second one at the same time."
The hologram flickered once.
[STRATEGY ACKNOWLEDGED]
[RISK LEVEL: HIGH]
Lunessa exhaled slowly.
"High risk is fine," she said. "I don't have the luxury of playing safe."
[YOU ARE DOING GREAT FOR AN AMATEUR GOLD DIGGER, MISS]
The words made her burst out laughing.
"Let me correct you," Lunessa said between breaths. "I never agreed to be a gold digger from the start. You forced me into this system."
She wiped the corner of her eye, the laughter fading into something colder.
"But since this is a great opportunity," she continued, voice steadying, "why would I be stupid enough to waste it?"
The hologram flickered, unbothered.
[LOGIC ACCEPTED]
She slipped her phone into her pocket and adjusted the strap of her bag.
"I won't beg," Lunessa said quietly. "And I won't kneel anymore."
Her gaze lifted toward the distant glow of the city.
"If this can change everything," she said, "then I'll use it. Even if it turns me into the most hated woman in this country."