Joe secretly swiped off a sweat in his mind. He almost blew the entire conversation away. Elara seemed to be very timid and on guard. He should tread carefully instead of trying to brute force his way to her heart.
Joe understood that now. He hadn't had a lot of time to read the book but there was one thing in it that he found very true.
Not all diseases can be cured by the same medicine. Not all seduction can be chased by the same methods.
The realization dawned on him like an enlightenment.
[WISDOM +1]
[TOTAL WISDOM]: 13
"Wisdom went up that easy?! I will definitely pocket this book home." Joe thought.
"I am new here. I just transferred to New Ark yesterday. Have you been here long?" Joe said to Elara.
The current outfit set prevented him from gaining any social stats with her but at least he could still get rich. He also needed to find out as much as possible all the aspects of a social encounter.
"Yeah. I've been here all my life. I used to live with my mom in Far Ark but I moved here because of the university."
"Oh…" A surge of sadness flashed on Joe's eyes but he quickly hid it away. Elara caught the glimpse of that.
"What do you study in university? I have always dreamed of attending Literature there but never had the chance to."
Elara's eyes lit up with glee. "What a coincidence! I major in Literature."
"No way. What made you choose the subject in the first place?"
Joe acted all surprised but he already knew that from profile. That was why he brought it up.
"Well. I just… I thought it'd be cool, that's all."
[INTIMACY LEVEL TOO LOW]
[Elara refuses to share]
"Do you visit your mom often? My new apartment is in Far Ark too. It is in the Commons." Joe said.
"Yeah. My mom is very hard-working. I try to visit her every weekend and help her around the house. Your place is actually very close to our house. We live in the Oaks." Elara said.
[Discovers Secondary Residence of Elara Evans]
[Profile is updated]
• Secondary Residence: Family House, The Oaks, Far Ark District (Weekends)
[Clara Evans has been added as a new Honey]
"Wait a minute…" Joe blurted.
"Is there something wrong?" Elara stared at Joe with her big anime eyes.
"Oh, it's nothing. I just think that we're unofficially neighbors. We live in the same district. Haha…" Joe tried to play it off.
Elara shrugged. She didn't think much about Joe's weird attitude.
Joe actually had a thousand questions inside his head. "Clara Evans? Evans? Can it be her mother?"
"What's your mother's name, Elara?" Joe said.
"Why do you want to know?" Clara said.
"I was just thinking of saying 'hi' in case I meet her in Far Ark." Joe scratched his head. He tried to act as innocently as possible.
"I doubt it. She's a nurse. She works all the time to pay for my tuition. But you probably meet her in the Central Hospital. Her name is Clara Evans."
"I see."
[Discovers 1 Relationship of Elara Evans]
[Profile is updated]
• Relationship:
+ Clara Evans: Mother. Elara is very close to Clara. But Clara can be too protective of her sometimes, which irritates Elara.
Inside, Joe screamed. "I knew it. What game are you playing, game? You tell me to go for her mother?!"
"Oh, I think someone just texted me. Let me have a look." Joe said.
"Oh, okay." Elara returned to her books.
Joe secretly opened the Honey Game app and clicked on profile. On it was a middle-aged woman, around her thirties wearing blue scrubs.
Joe clicked on it.
[CLARA EVANS]
[Personal Details]
• Occupation: Registered Nurse
• Height: Unknown
• Weight: Unknown
• Cup Size: Unknown
• Social Type: Hearth
• Primary Residence: Personal Home, The Oaks, Far Ark District
• Marital Status: Unknown
[Personal Traits]
• Dialogue Subjects: Unknown
• Favourite Color: Unknown
• Favourite Season: Unknown
• Favourite Place: Unknown
• Favourite Food: Unknown
• Favourite Drink: Unknown
• Favourite Gifts: Unknown
• Personality: Nurturing, resilient, pragmatically loving. Values honesty and reliability above all.
• Ideal Partner: Unknown
[Relationships]:
+ Elara Evans: Daughter. They are very close. Clara does her best to provide for Elara and shields her from all the harm of the world.
[Social Stats]
• Intimacy: 0/100 (Stranger)
• Submission: 0/100 (Free)
• Corruption: 35/100 (Flirty)
[CURRENT LOCATION]
"Oh? Her corruption is higher than Clara. Makes sense. She had a baby before, after all." Joe thought in his head.
He clicked on the [Current Location] button. The map revealed Clara was currently inside New Ark Central Hospital. She's probably working at the moment.
Joe tucked his phone away and looked over to Elara again.
"So… Do you come here often?" Joe said.
Elara's eyes still fixated on the book in her hands. She simply shook her head.
"No. I usually study in the Grand Archive but it is crowded today. I heard there is some book event there."
[Discovers Elara's Favourite Location]
[Profile is updated]
• Favourite Location: The Grand Archive, Conorian District
"Ah ha! So that's how you unlock the information in the profile. I need to learn about them myself!" Joe thought.
He was celebrating on the inside but outside he played it cool.
"I see. The place must be noisy then. I assume that is why you came here?"
Elara nodded.
"What is your favorite color then?" Joe said.
Elara squinted her eyes and looked at him. "Why do you want to know?"
[Elara finds you a little bit creepy]
Joe looked away, pretending to be immersed in the book in his hands. "No reason. I'm just looking for something to talk about."
"Right…"
[INTIMACY LEVEL TOO LOW]
[Elara refuses to share]
"Well. I'm going to get going. I have a class in the afternoon." Elara stood up and collected her things.
She respectfully bowed to Joe and walked away. She had a very bad impression about Joe. Even he could tell that she was trying to leave as quickly as possible.
Joe pretended like he didn't notice it and let her go away.
When there was only himself left in the room, Joe grabbed his chest and breathed heavily.
"Holy… I've never talked to a girl before!"
Joe's heart beat like a drum in a rock song. It was his first experience and he didn't know what was going to happen. He felt relieved after everything.
Joe definitely had messed it up but thankfully, the curse of being 'Perfectly Average' was also a blessing.
The intimacy level of Elara with him was still at 0/100 (Stranger).
"Does this mean she won't remember who I am if I meet her again? If that's true, this set bonus is much more powerful than I thought.
I can basically have infinite retries."
Joe took a look at the time. It was noon already and his stomach was growling.
He brought 'The Art of Seduction' with him down the counter at ground floor.
"Hey, can I buy this book? I really like it." Joe said.
"Ah. Those old books don't cost much. Just give me five dollars so I can buy something to replace it."
"Here you go."
[REMAINING CASH]: $454
Joe gave the staff the money then bolted out of the Café. He called the driver from before and waited for his arrival.