The next morning at the office felt… weird.
Usually, Aiden moved through the building like a ghost. He was quiet, kept to himself, and was perfectly ignorable.
But today, people were looking at him.
The receptionist, a woman who had never given him more than a grunt, smiled at him. A genuine, bright smile.
"Good morning, Aiden," she said, her voice full of warmth.
"Morning," he replied, slightly taken aback.
As he walked to his desk, he felt eyes on him. He wasn't imagining it.
His new charisma was on. A passive skill. He couldn't turn it off.
It was like wearing a sign that said, 'Please notice me,' which was basically his worst nightmare.
"Isn't it wonderful?" Liora chirped in his head. "You radiate confidence. You have a glow. Before, you were a sad, little raincloud. Now, you are the sun."
"I feel like a walking disco ball," he thought back.
He sat down at his desk, trying to become one with his chair.
Mira was already there, but she wasn't her usual bubbly self. She was quiet, occasionally sneaking glances at him before quickly looking away. Her cheeks were still a faint shade of pink, remembering yesterday's hug.
He had definitely made things complicated.
Before he could even turn on his computer, his boss, Mr. Henderson, a man who typically communicated through stressed sighs, walked over to his desk.
"Vale," he said, his eyes appraising Aiden with a new level of interest. "Got a minute?"
Aiden stood up. "Of course, sir."
"There's a new client. High-stakes, high-pressure. I need someone sharp, someone with… presence to lead the pitch. I think you're the man for the job."
Aiden blinked. Lead the pitch? He was an assistant. He organized spreadsheets and got coffee.
"Sir, are you sure?" he asked. "I'm not really…"
Mr. Henderson clapped him on the shoulder, a gesture so out of character it was like watching a cat bark. "Don't be modest, son. I've seen a change in you lately. A new energy. You've got this."
The boss was practically glowing with misplaced confidence in him.
This charisma thing was seriously overpowered.
As his boss walked away, he saw her.
Chloe Zhang.
She was the firm's other star intern, and she was an absolute shark. She was ambitious, ruthlessly competitive, and viewed Aiden with the kind of disdain usually reserved for insects.
She was standing by the water cooler, her arms crossed, staring at him. Her perfectly styled black hair and sharp business attire made her look like she was about to hostilely take over a small country.
Her eyes were narrowed, filled with pure, unadulterated rage.
She had wanted that project. And he had just been given it.
"Ooh, look at her," Liora purred. "She's vibrating with ambition and fury. It's so… stimulating. I think I have an idea for our next game."
Aiden felt a familiar sense of dread. "Oh no. Don't you dare."
A notification window popped into his vision with a wicked little chime.
[New Quest Issued]
[Quest: Assert your dominance. Generate 150 AP from your rival, Chloe.]
[Time Limit: End of workday.]
[Failure Penalty: Vocal Cord Paralysis for 24 hours.]
Silence for a whole day? That almost sounded like a reward. But he knew Liora would find a way to make it agonizing.
"You want me to get affection points from her?" he thought, incredulous. "She looks like she wants to murder me with a stapler."
"Exactly!" Liora sounded delighted. "Turning hatred into desire is the most exquisite flavor of all. Now go on. Assert your dominance, my vessel."
He spent the next few hours actually trying to work on the pitch, but Chloe was making it impossible.
She was trying to sabotage him. It was blatant.
Finally, he needed to print the project brief. He walked over to the copy room.
And of course, she was there, standing in front of the machine, which was making a horrible grinding noise.
"Oh, what a shame," she said, her voice dripping with fake sympathy. "The printer seems to be broken. Guess you won't be able to get your materials ready for the big meeting."
She gave him a triumphant, venomous smile.
This was his chance. The quest demanded it.
Old Aiden would have just sighed, said nothing, and called IT.
But new Aiden, the Aiden with supernatural charisma and a death sentence hanging over his head, did something different.
He walked into the copy room and closed the door behind him, the click echoing in the small space.
Chloe's smile faltered. Her bravado wavered. They were alone.
"That's not a very nice thing to do, Chloe," he said, his voice a low, calm murmur. He took a step closer.
She instinctively took a step back, her back hitting the humming printer. "I-I don't know what you're talking about."
"Don't you?" he said, leaning in. He placed one hand on the wall next to her head, boxing her in. Classic movie move. He couldn't believe he was doing this. He couldn't believe it was working.
Her eyes, which had been full of fire moments before, were now wide with confusion and… something else.
"You're competitive. I get it," he continued, his voice dropping to an almost-whisper. "It's exciting. The thrill of the win."
He was so close he could smell her perfume. Something expensive and sharp.
"But playing dirty like this?" He leaned closer, his lips near her ear. "It's much more fun when both people are enjoying the game, don't you think?"
Her breath hitched. She was completely flustered. The ruthless office shark was now a deer in headlights.
"That's it, my love!" Liora cheered in his head. "Look at her tremble! She's short-circuiting! How fragile mortals are… how beautiful!"
He saw her gaze flicker down to his lips.
An invitation.
This is insane, he thought. This is an HR nightmare waiting to happen.
But the penalty for failure a day of forced silence with only Liora for company was a worse kind of hell.
He closed the final inch between them.
He kissed her.
It wasn't soft or gentle like with Elena. It was hard and demanding. It was a kiss that was all about power. A direct response to her challenge.
For a split second, she was frozen in shock.
Then, she melted.
Her hands, which had been pressed against the printer, came up and tangled in his hair, pulling him closer. She kissed him back with a ferocity that matched his own.
This wasn't affection. It was a clash of wills. A surrender.
And the points exploded in his system.
[+50 AP]
[+50 AP]
[+50 AP]
[Quest Complete!]
He pulled away, his breathing heavy.
Chloe stared at him, her lipstick smeared, her eyes dazed. She looked completely and utterly bewildered. She had started a fight, and he had ended it in a way she never could have predicted.
He gave her a slow, confident smirk he didn't know he was capable of.
"Now," he said, his voice back to its normal, calm tone. "About that printer."
He reached past her, opened a side panel, pulled out a hideously mangled piece of paper, and closed it. The machine whirred back to life, ready to print.
He hadn't asserted his dominance with anger. He'd done it with charm.
His charm. The system's charm. He wasn't sure where the line was anymore.
He printed his document, leaving Chloe leaning against the copy machine, utterly speechless.
As he walked back to his desk, feeling the intoxicating rush of victory, a chilling thought cut through the haze.
He was getting good at this.
Too good.
And that scared him more than any penalty Liora could dream up.