To prevent a tragedy, Ryan loyally followed Evan to the campus health center.
Dude was clearly devastated by Arden and Imogen's intimacy. If nobody stepped in, who knows what might happen.
"Young man, your body's fine. Your digestion's a bit weak, so cut back on the late nights."
At the clinic, the doctor smiled as he put away his stethoscope and removed the blood pressure cuff.
Then added, "And maybe lay off the... extracurriculars."
Evan: "..."
"Just to be safe, let's run a blood panel. If you still don't feel right, I'll prescribe some supplements. If everything checks out, you're free to go."
Ryan was confused. He wanted to ask if this was a Western medicine or holistic doctor, but whatever. Point was, Evan wasn't dying.
Sitting on the bench outside the exam room, Evan stared into the void.
Suddenly, he muttered, "Why? Damn it, why is Imogen so into Arden?"
"Uh, who can say for sure about chemistry? Don't overthink it, man."
Ryan offered a word of comfort, though his internal monologue was completely different.
He knew Arden's hidden strengths.
Rich, chill personality, good-looking—dude was clearly a catch for Imogen.
Pennbrook South Gate, Tech District.
The computer market in this era had clearly declined.
With social media information everywhere, everyone knew shady dealers would eat you alive.
They'd scam strangers and fleece friends even harder.
"i9-tier CPUs," "military-grade motherboards," "server-class RAM"—they'd hype their products to the moon, but in reality, it was all e-waste salvaged from god knows where, assembled into seemingly high-end rigs to trick the uninformed.
A computer that cost six hundred bucks to build would sell for five grand, and they'd claim they were barely breaking even.
Nowadays, anyone who watched tech YouTube generally wouldn't walk into a computer store to get ripped off.
But Imogen was different.
She deeply understood hardware and software principles and market pricing.
She'd even helped Dr. Miller with procurement.
So she could actually get good deals at the tech market—basically cutting out middlemen, with prices even lower than Amazon.
This was Imogen's skill.
No wonder Dr. Miller praised his new star student to anyone who'd listen. Of course she was amazing! She could code and handle procurement, plus she was straightforward, honest, and incorruptible. Arden genuinely suspected Dr. Miller was exploiting free labor...
So Arden didn't have to think at all—he just followed Imogen and enjoyed watching her negotiate.
Without question, Imogen had social anxiety.
But when it came to her favorite professional field, she had this decisive, no-nonsense energy.
She'd occasionally turn to ask Arden about his needs, then negotiate with the parts dealer based on those specs.
Soon, a complete build was assembled.
The parts were gathered and put together on-site at a shop that had a long-term partnership with 's lab.
"Oh, Imogen, this rig doesn't look like it's for lab use. With all those RGB strips, Dr. Miller's gonna think you're gaming in the lab," the shop owner—a friendly middle-aged woman—said pointedly while cracking sunflower seeds.
"It's for gaming. I'm building it for him."
Imogen, busy assembling, looked up at Arden.
The owner caught the admiring emotion rippling in her eyes.
She didn't call it out, just chuckled and sized up Arden.
Hmm, not bad.
The kid was good-looking and well-built.
Being able to afford a rig worth tens of thousands, his family probably wasn't hurting for cash either.
Arden was completely oblivious to the owner's assessment. He was focused on watching Imogen build the computer.
She was seriously skilled.
Definitely better than him.
And yet she claimed her hands-on ability wasn't great? Pure modesty.
Or maybe, comparatively, her other skills were even more impressive, so her "not good" was only relative to herself.
"...Why do you keep staring at me?"
"Watching you build is cool! Honestly, before I met you, I never imagined I'd be assembling a computer with a girl. This is awesome!"
"Stop talking nonsense and help me out."
The two worked together removing and installing panels, tightening screws, and so on.
Their fingers inevitably brushed against each other during the process.
An ambiguous atmosphere gradually brewed.
Meanwhile, Imogen's mind kept replaying Arden's words.
It seemed that in Arden's eyes, she was also special. Hmph...
Soon, the computer was assembled and powered on.
Then came OS and driver installation.
Everything ready—time to run a benchmark!
The score came out higher than Arden expected.
He was slightly puzzled, and Imogen explained, "I set up an overclocking profile for you. Performance will be better than stock settings."
"Sounds badass. It won't explode, will it?"
"No, the PSU and cooling have plenty of headroom. After all, you maxed out your budget, and I got you the best components."
Imogen seemed very confident.
The Republic of Gamers rig Arden originally wanted would've cost around $10,000. Imogen said it wasn't cost-effective, and the build she configured for him ended up costing a whopping $14,000—also pretty outrageous.
But its performance was definitely more powerful!
The aesthetics were beautiful too, full of that tech vibe.
Definitely a man's dream gaming rig!
Arden paid up, found a box with foam padding, packed the computer, and carried it to the car.
The heavy tower felt light as a feather on Arden's shoulder.
He also grabbed a top-tier monitor, keyboard, headset, mouse, and other peripherals—fully equipped.
The whole setup cost over $14,000, with cashback around $70,000.
"Where are we going now?" Imogen asked. "Shouldn't be the dorm, right? The power draw on this setup—your dorm's circuit breaker won't handle it."
"Definitely not. I've been staying at a hotel near campus lately. I'll take it straight to the hotel, then move it again when I find a long-term place."
"Oh."
Imogen immediately figured the hotel Arden was staying at must be pretty fancy too.
Sure enough, the car pulled up to the JW Marriott.
Imogen knew the brand—knew it was expensive.
But when she followed Arden into the river-view suite, she didn't feel much about its luxury.
This was a stark contrast to Scarlet's reaction.
After all, Imogen had zero interest in material extravagance—she cared about other things.
If the room had a rack of GPU servers for AI research, Imogen probably would've been as excited as Scarlet was when she first walked in.
After helping Arden set up the computer, Imogen belatedly realized she was alone with him in a hotel room he'd rented.
Normally, Imogen was extremely cautious about being alone with guys in enclosed spaces.
But being with Arden felt so natural—no guard up at all.
Imogen followed rigorous logic. This phenomenon proved that Arden's position in her heart was no longer just "friend."
Or, as Arden put it, "soulmate."
Sigh...
She'd fallen hopelessly for him.
[Ding!]
[Detected: S-class target Imogen Blake's favorability toward Arden West has exceeded 80 points. Intimate relationship binding successful!]
[Reward: +1 Lottery Draw!]
[Now, spending on Imogen Blake and fulfilling her -indulgent desires can earn the host 2-10x cashback!]
Oh?
So she hit 80 too?
Honestly, Arden wasn't surprised. After all, he genuinely felt a strong connection with Imogen.
It's just that for a girl with such strong self-respect and apparently hidden family issues, he couldn't rush things—had to slowly win her over.
Yet she'd fallen this fast, becoming a "deep-rooted passionate attachment."
So Arden gently coaxed: "Imogen, I've got a bold idea..."