Alex stayed in the shadowed alley for a few more minutes, waiting for the flush on his face to die down and adjusted his black robes, making sure the hood cast enough shadow to hide his overly pretty features.
He stepped back onto the main street, blending into the flow of people.
He wasn't heading home yet. He had one more stop to make.
The huge, white dome of the Gene Association loomed in the distance, looking like a giant egg made of glass and steel.
The largest building in the entire city, even bigger than the city lord's mansion.
Walking toward it, Alex felt a wave of nostalgia.
Since he woke up in this world two years ago, he quickly realized that the original Alex's body was trash.
He was just an F-rank awakener with a useless "Recovery" gene, that only helps to slow recover physical injuries or energy depletion.
He was also short, lean, and lacked the brute strength needed for hunting or forging weapons like Uncle John or Marcus.
Not to mention with the rising technology, traditional forger's popularity began to go down unless they were Master level Blacksmiths.
So, to survive and not be a complete burden, he worked as a delivery boy, running packages between the commercial district and the crafting guild.
He helped organize inventory for shopkeepers who were too lazy to do it themselves.
Because of his honest face and polite "office worker" attitude from his past life on Earth, he also made a lot of connections.
He knew which guards could be bribed with a pack of cigarettes, which merchants sold the authentic goods, and he knew a few people inside the high-and-mighty Gene Association.
"Money makes the world go round," Alex muttered, clutching the small pouch hidden inside his robe.
"If I buy a Skill Stone from a shop... it costs 15,000 to 20,000… It's nothing but a robbery."
Normally, if an awakener found a Gene Core in a monster, they had to pay a certified Gene Master.
They could process the raw DNA inside the core and turn it into a Skill Stone or Talent crystals.
Usually, the refining fee was expensive, too. It was designed to keep the poor weak and the rich powerful.
"But not if you know the refiner," Alex smiled faintly.
He walked up the Association. It was a massive, pristine white building that looked more like a hospital than a guild.
The automatic glass doors slid open with a soft whoosh, blasting him with freezing cold air conditioning.
"Nnngh..." Alex shivered, his arms instantly wrapping around his chest.
The sudden cold felt like ice water was being poured down his back.
His nipples, which had just calmed down, snapped back to attention, hardening against the soft fabric of his shirt.
"Cold-blooded..." Alex thought miserably. "I really am turning into a snake."
He kept his head down and walked past the main reception, ignoring the long line of adventurers waiting to register.
He headed straight for the elevators in the back, flashing a delivery badge he had kept from his old job at the scanner.
Beep...
The gate opened. He took the elevator down to the "Logistics and Research" floor, B1.
He walked past the busy reception desk.
"Hey, Alex!" a security guard called out. "Long time no see…"
The guard frowned, squinting at Alex's hooded figure. "Wait... is that really you? You look... different."
"Just recovering from a flu," Alex lied quickly, keeping his head down. "I'm here to see Sister Mira."
"Ah, Senior Researcher Mira is in Lab 3. Go ahead." The guard responded back not minding much as he allowed Alex to enter the lab.
Alex walked down the hallway until he reached a door marked "Materials Processing - Lab 3."
He knocked.
"Come in! It's open!" A mature, slightly tired female voice called out.
Alex pushed the door open and slipped inside, closing it quickly behind him to block out the cold hallway draft.
The room was cluttered with piles of paperwork, glowing vials, and disassembled machines.
Sitting behind a desk, buried behind a mountain of papers, was a woman.
She looked to be about thirty-five, with messy auburn hair tied up in a loose bun held together by a pen.
She wore a white lab coat that was unbuttoned, revealing a tight black sweater that struggled to contain her generous curves.
She wore thick-rimmed glasses and looked exhausted.
This was Mira. A senior-level researcher at the Association.
Alex had delivered lunch to her nearly every day for six months. She was one of the few people who tipped well and didn't treat him like invisible trash.
"Hey I haven't seen you in a while... wait." Mira didn't look up from her papers at first. She sniffed the air.
Her nose twitched.
"Alex?" she asked, blinking.
She stood up slowly, her chair squeaking. She walked around the desk, squinting at him.
"Is that you, kid? I barely recognized you." She stopped a few feet away, her eyes scanning him from head to toe.
Mira didn't stop at a polite distance. She walked right up to him, invading his personal space with the casual familiarity of an older sister, though the look in her eyes was far more analytical.
"You smell..." She paused, leaning in closer.
Her nose was inches from his neck.
"You smell incredible," Mira murmured, her eyelids fluttering slightly. "Did you start wearing perfume, Alex?"
"Nope.." Alex lied, taking a half-step back.
"No?" Mira raised an eyebrow. "Then how did you change so much?"
She reached out, her hand moving faster than Alex could dodge. Her fingers brushed against his cheek, pushing back the edge of his hood.
Mira's fingers were warm, "Nnn..." Alex bit his tongue to suppress a whimper, his knees knocking together under the silk robes.
"Hey, Sister Mira," Alex said, trying to keep his voice steady, though he felt a bit dizzy from her proximity.
His [Pheromone Secretion] was passive, but he tried to dial it back mentally.
She looked into his eyes, and for a second, she seemed lost.
The pheromones were working. Mira, usually a workaholic who cared more about data than men, was currently looking at him with a flushed face and slightly dilated pupils
"I... uh... I got lucky. Found some good herbs in the Mist Hollow."
"Lucky indeed," Mira murmured, shaking her head as if waking up from a trance.
"Something like that," Alex squeaked, pulling his hood back down aggressively. "Listen, Sister Mira. I need a favor. A big one."
"A favor? Right. Of course." She cleared her throat and leaned back against her desk, crossing her arms.
The movement pushed her heavy breasts up, straining the fabric of her black sweater.
"What do you need? Another loan? Or did you finally decide to apply for a job here as my assistant?" She teased, though her voice was huskier than usual.