Much to Xavier's protest and desire to plan games, everyone else had put their foot down and returned to their rooms upon returning, even Rhys.
"We've got our assignments, you should work on your's too." Seth said to Xavier, all of them going into their own rooms to finish up whatever it was they were doing.
Sighing in relief, Rhys closed the door behind him and plopped onto at his desk. "They don't need to know I'm finished. I'll just work on my skills."
Pulling out a notebook and grabbing a pencil, he got to work. At least his load is slightly lessened than one hundred percent, after writing that note, Rhys thought.
For the next two hours, he sat there crying and writing until his hands were cramped, every fifteen minutes soon turned into every five minutes of Kane rubbing his hands, now beyond exhausted.
As the skill finally evolved, Rhys let out a sigh of relief Kane helped him by putting away the notebook, and telling him good job.
Rhys was an absolute mess, his eyes were red and puffy, tears streaming down, with his hand shaking and cramping up, he could even start to feel it in his back, his ears slightly rang too, but it was all worth it, right?
"The abcs skill reached level (5). Requirements met, now evolving." After having said that, the skill evolved and the new screen appeared.
"The abcs now signatures please, host is able to write messy but legible letters in the world's language." The pop up read, and Kane cheered.
"You don't get how great this is, host! If you evolve it one more time I'm sure you won't regret it, I swear!" Kane happily twirled in the air, celebrating to himself.
"Can you stop singing 'I'll be the greatest system' and fetch me a tissue to wipe my tears, I'm done for tonight." Rhys sighed, using his crocodile tears for the last time that night.
Taking a seat on his softer bed, he took the tissue Kane offered him as Xavier walked in, not even bothering to knock.
"Reece's lend me your English assignment, please?" Xavier said, but before Rhys could even reply he was jumped on.
As Xavier rammed into him, it felt as though his ribs were breaking, how could such a tiny person be so rough?
"Are you okay? Why are you crying?" Xavier yelled out of concern, making Rhys wince in pain, his ears still a little sensitive from using his listening skill.
"I'm fine, it's nothing, don't worry." Rhys responded with a smile as Erin now entered, hearing the commotion.
"What are you idiots yelling about?" Erin yelled out angrily as Xavier explained he found Rhys crying in his room.
"So what the hell is wrong?" Erin roared at him, crossing his arms with a huff. As Rhys tried to say nothing was wrong, he felt his affection drop by three from Xavier and two from Erin.
"Well I guess it wouldn't hurt to tell you guys, but you've got to keep it a secret, okay?" Rhys said, immediately changing his attitude, once he noticed his hard work was at stake.
Lying through his teeth, Rhys made up the best excuse he could muster up. "I was thinking back about the time I took care of a dog, but it soon ended up dying before I could even take it to a vet." Rhys said.
This was in fact a half-truth, at least, it is true that Rhys had taken care of a dog in his past a musician, that his parents didn't know of, but it wasn't exactly why he was crying. He can't just say he's a host trying to seduce them with his tears, after all.
Upon saying that, his hard earned affection went back up again, this time Xavier by seven putting his affection at twenty five, and Erin's by five, putting his affection at eighteen, surprisingly higher than Seth's.
"I really want to say good job but it's scary how easy you lied." Kane muttered watching as Rhys shed more crocodile tears, pretending to be sad.
Huffing Erin pulled out tissues from his pocket and threw them at Rhys. "I'm not going to tell anyone so just wipe your damn tears."
As he was about to pull out the tissue, Xavier did it for him and wiped his tears away. "It's okay, I'll do my own English homework, just feel better soon!" Xavier encouraged in his own way as he threw the tissue away.
As the two boys left to give Rhys space, they shut off the light, Rhys sighing in relief. "I can't wait for crocodile tears to evolve already."
As much as he wanted to rest, he forced himself up to take a shower, and clean himself off. "You should just start crying in the shower, Rhys. Or start locking your door." Kane said as he picked out some pyjamas for Rhys to change into.
After finishing, Rhys dried off his hair and made his way to his bed, thinking of ways to just quickly finish the mission.
"How long do you think it would take for me to complete all 100 worlds successfully?" Rhys asked, letting out a small yawn.
"Probably a few hundred years? It's not that easy, once you complete a few easy worlds the system will automatically make you take a harder mission." Kane began, laying next to Rhys.
"You're also pretty slow, some high ranking hosts could of already been done with the system by now. You still always have the option to murder the female lead, you know?" Kane said, turning on his side to look at the tired man.
Although he just took a shower, it seemed like his exhaustion has reached his limit, he was just way too tired. "I wonder whats a hard world like." He muttered, before falling asleep.
"Considering all our hosts are from S ranked worlds or higher, you don't really need to wonder." Kane muttered before snuggling against Rhys.
The next morning, Rhys woke up a bit earlier than he anticipated and decided to spend it coming up with a game plan with Kane.
"What's the best way to get them to fall for me without actually doing anything more than holding hands?" Rhys asked, his arms folded under his chin, staring at Kane.
"You're asking the wrong person, Rhys," Kane replied, letting out a small yawn. "What's the point of even asking if it's all going to be rejected, anyways." He finished.
"I don't want to do more than hand holding and I don't want to murder the female lead yet! But I don't want to be here longer than a month." Rhys groaned.
"You got this, host." Kane said, giving a small cheer of motivation. It was up to Rhys alone now, Kane gave up trying to help.
It took another five minutes, but Rhys finally groaned and said a "I'll do it." Causing Kane to perk up and look at him, head titled.
"I'll flirt!" Rhys said really quickly, his face flustered. Morally, he was opposed to this, but he knew he had to if he wanted to finish quickly.
"Oh I thought you were going to murder her." Kane said, causing Rhys to lightly glare at him.
"For the sake of returning to my body, I'll embrace the rumors. I won't deny it, but I won't say it, I'll let them spread. At the end of the day we can pick up Seth too, and I can cling to him a bit, the only problem is Erin is a bit unpredictable." Rhys said, obviously putting a lot of thought and effort into this.
"I can't wait to see this award winning act you put on, host." Kane snickered at the thought of it. He couldn't wait until the harder worlds came up.
"Oh shut up. I can't tell if you like or hate me." Rhys muttered as he went to take a quick showering, before making breakfast.
As he made his way down, he did his usual with Kane, a bit of back and forth talking and cooking before finishing, and Seth coming down to take the plates.
Brushing his hands lightly against Seth's, Rhys gave an innocent smile and greeted him a good morning, as he ran a hand through his hair.
"I think that technique only works in novels, host." Kane said looking at Rhys attempt to be alluring yet cute. Surprisingly though, Seth's affection went up by one, putting him at seventeen.
As he walked up the stairs to wake Xavier, a thought suddenly crossed Rhys' mind. "Of course! This was called target capture system for a reason!" He said in his head.
"So.. you're understanding the system name now, Rhys? Are you still tired?" Kane asked, trying to feel if he had a fever.
"No, not that! The reason it's taking so long is because I'm letting them capture me, they're doing all the work to get close to me, I should go on the attack instead, that would be quickest to gain their affection, right?" Rhys began to explain.
"The system forced me to protect Erin, Xavier got us the games to play together, and we even watched movies by his suggestion. The only thing I've done so far is try to keep the female lead away, instead of trying to do subtle acts of capturing." Rhys continued, sort of losing Kane.
"But haven't you tried to get close to them, though? You've been smiling and even oh I see it now." Kane thought, noticing how Rhys hasn't even actively tried to get close to them, just isolate them instead, while acting innocent.
"Wait isn't this what I've been telling you to do this whole time? To flirt" Kane said as Rhys rolled his eyes and continued.
"You've been telling me to kiss them, intimately! I just mean subtle flirting like slight touches, idiot!" Rhys scolded.
"So when I suggest it it's a dumb idea but when you finally comprehend it you're a genius?" Kane thought to himself.
"I've got to start multitasking, now that I've decided to start flirting. I must maintain my innocent facade while subtly leading them on." Rhys concluded as he enter Xavier's room, telling Kane not to use a pillow today.
"Based on everything so far, their affection goes up when I'm innocent or flustered, so let's use it to my advantage." Rhys said in his head to Kane, who only nodded excitedly.
"You're going to kiss him then? Good luck! I approve!" Kane said, wishing he had popcorn and movie glasses, this would be entertaining, seeing the regret on Rhys' face.
Leaning down, Rhys gently shook Xavier awake, closing his eyes, Xavier's cold lips hitting his own. Pulling apart, he was blushing hard, but continued.
Leaning in, his mouth next to Xavier's ears, "Please, wake up. I finished making your breakfast." he stammered out, leaning back up a bit to look Xavier in the eyes.
Kane was actually quite impressed with the fact Rhys hadn't run away or jump away by now. Xavier too, found it cute how Rhys looked so nervous with a blush adorning his face, to the tips of his ears, normally it was always Xavier clinging close.
"Good morning, Reece's!" Xavier happily said, rubbing his eyes as Rhys got up, only to be pulled into an embrace by Xavier. The small boy soon wrapped his body around Rhys like he did before, and asked to be carried.
Wrapping one arm to support Xavier's waist, his other hand held onto Xavier's head, entangling his fingers in Xavier's hair, purposely ruffling it slightly every few seconds, making his way downstairs.
"Thisistofinishtheworldquickly" Rhys chanted in his head, his bundle of nerves never calming until he reached the bottom of the stairs, putting Xavier down at his seat.
"You should really start setting alarms." Rhys whispered, used his charm skill as his face was in front of Xavier's, before making his way to his seat, a hand covering his mouth, not even believing he did that.
It was then Xavier's affection rose by two, putting him at twenty-seven. It really did work, going on the offense was the best choice! Even if it meant scarifying his personal space.
"I swear you two get gayer everyday." Erin muttered as he took a bite of his pancakes, rolling his eyes, getting used to this new everyday.
"What? I'm not! I just helped him wake up." Rhys said, pouting a little, his blush starting to clear up a little.
The banter went on back and forth, eventually ended with a red Rhys and three laughing boys. "It's the systems fault." Rhys thought to himself.
Kane clapped, what an award winning performance. From a man who'd yell and throw a tantrum each time someone said he gave off a homosexual vibe, to a man who could now hold a man's hand and give a chaste kiss, how amazing!
"How did you like the kiss, host? This was the first time you went for the lips and willingly." Kane asked with a smile, taking a small bite out of one of Rhys' fruits.
"Oh shut the hell up! I said I'd go on the offensive, only for the sake of my past self!" He hissed in his head, barely paying attention to the conversation at the table.
As much as Rhys wanted to blame the fact he did it solely for the sake of finishing up the first world quicker, before any more trouble arises, he couldn't deny the fact his heart was racing for many reasons.
Reading his thoughts, Kane tried to hold his laughter to himself before having to leave the room in general to do it.
Rhys' mind was thinking at the speed of 100 thoughts per second. The loudest thought being how he didn't hate it, and how soft Xavier felt, which only made Rhys angry at himself.
He swore up and down, even to hell that he was straight. There was no way the system was right about him being gay, and yet, he didn't hate it as much as he originally figured, why?
Xavier was obnoxious and annoying, he didn't normally want to get close, and yet he even liked holding the tiny boy. Xavier's soft hair, and the warmth emanating from him.
When Kane returned, he continued to eat the berries on Rhys' plate, laughter out of his system. "Maybe it's because you want to be hugged?" Kane suggested, trying to calm Rhys' heart down.
"That's it! It doesn't have to be a man to make me feel this way, it's just because it was a hug, it's human nature to like hugs." Rhys defied all the logic he had earlier.
"Weren't you the one who said you don't need friends? Make up your mind, either play offensive or stop having a heart attack." Kane thought to himself, sighing. He knew this phase would end by world five, welcome to the homosexual life, host.
When the four boys finished, Seth and Rhys went to wash the dishes, Rhys deciding to pull another fast act.
Done scrubbing the plates, Seth was about to hand them to Rhys to dry them off, before Rhys trapped him between his arms.
Pressing his chest against Seth's back, he tiptoed a little and reached for the plates himself, and turned back around to dry them off.
"I'll just take a second to dry these off, could you put them up for me? I've got a few things to do this morning." Rhys asked, a small blush on his face as he used his smile skill to charm Seth.
"Oooh! An indirect back hug, nice one, Rhys! And using a busy excuse to why you did that, you really thought this out!" Kane said clapping once more.
Seth blushed in return, before shaking it off. He thought that Rhys was only blushing since he wasn't used to touching others, as always. Of course it wasn't anything flirtatious, right?
Seth's affection soon raised by two points, putting him at a nineteen. "Perfect, it's working." Rhys thought to himself now determined, as he made his way to his room.
Once he closed to the door, he screamed into his pillow, blush all over his face. "I'm only doing this for my affection points!" He cried, reverting to his same self now that he's alone.
"Your acting skills are truly terrifying, Rhys." Kane said patting Rhys on the back.