Once the show ended, Rhys told the guys to go ahead without him, since he had to make a quick call, after noticing Serenity glaring into the back of his head.
Suddenly, he heard the voice ring. "OPTIONAL SYSTEM MISSION" As much as he wanted to cry, he couldn't just get.
"Ask for the targets phone numbers, and exchange them while giving the targets the matching items. Reward upon completion, no punishment.." It read.
"Wait, if I didn't give them the items yet, how did I complete the other mission?" Rhys asked Kane, suddenly remember he never actually gave the targets their keychains.
"The mission never said to give it to them, just buy matching items." Kane shrugged, pointing it out as if it were obvious.
"Excuse me for not knowing!" Rhys hissed out at Kane, pulling his phone out of his pocket as he looked at the targets, about to leave.
"Could you give me your phone numbers? I don't think I've ever actually gotten them." Rhys said with a smile, sort of shocked he hadn't asked them for their numbers earlier.
"Now you've got more than just your mom as a friend, host!" Kane said, clapping for Rhys' accomplishment.
The targets happily obliged, forgetting too that they hadn't exchanged numbers, despite being so close to one another already.
"Can I also know Reece's sm?" Xavier asked, giving Rhys a big hug with a cheeky smile on his face.
"I don't have any social media." Rhys replied, showing all the apps on his phone, nothing was downloaded except the basics and YouTube.
"I'm sorry for asking." Xavier said as he tiptoed to reach Rhys' head to pat him, as if he felt pity for Rhys.
"Why is that so pitiful? It's annoying to be constantly pinged!" Rhys whined to Kane, remember how his phone's apps were always filled with notifications before.
"That's considered a good thing though, I think you're the only one with a huge ego that ignores his fans." Kane retorted.
As soon as Erin finished exchanging numbers with Rhys, Serenity chimed in. "Could I get your number too, Erin?"
"Can I insult her now or will you?" Kane asked, looking over at Rhys, huffing and already angry.
"Go for it. I'm starting to feel like this system is getting to me." Rhys said, noting how he even felt slightly annoyed that she was there.
"Oh that's actually the system, since we've taken two of your memories. Remember the deal? Once you lose all memories you're a permanent host?" Kane replied as he gave her the finger, hissing obscenities.
"I hope I never become like you, I know she's the corrupted female lead, but aren't you too aggressive to her?" Rhys thought back to Kane.
"No! All corrupted female leads are scum! You too, would agree if you knew!" Kane replied, although Rhys wanted to retort, he had to pay attention to the scene unfolding.
Erin had moved away from her and stuck close to Rhys, and put his phone back into his pocket, glaring at her. "Fuck off." He growled.
"How feral." Xavier muttered, watching the two with a smile, though his eyes seemed a little distant.
"You don't have to be so rude." A man said as he walked up and put a hand on his hip, he looked to be her older brother, undeniably.
"Did you know she's been stalking us?" Xavier said, Seth now looking uncomfortable, unsure what to do in this situation.
"I didn't! That bastard was the one who set me up! He's now even getting intimate with you three, can't you see I'm trying to help!" She said, her fingernails digging into her skin as she tried to remain calm in the face of family.
"I didn't do anything, I told you my handwriting doesn't even look like that." Rhys said, bringing up his point again.
"You aren't denying you're intimate, then! You seducer!" She whined a bit, her brother still on her side.
"Don't you think you four are too close? It's almost like you're linking hands already." He piped up, making Erin click his tongue.
"I'd rather hold his hand than her's. No way am I touching a shameless woman who crawls around the floor covered in dirt trying to make me pick up her stuff." Erin said, taking a tissue out of his pocket and cleaning his hands, as though the thought alone was enough to anger him.
"You don't have to go that far!" The man yelled, about to swing at Erin, like sister like brother.
"I'm guessing her whole family dotes on her in this novel?" Rhys said, as he was about to use his skill why me?
Kane nodded and let out a small yep. To Rhys' surprise though, Xavier moved much faster and jumped, catching the man's fist before twisting it and causing a loud crack sound.
"I forgot he was a fighter." Rhys thought stunned for a moment, as he watched Xavier smile at the older man.
"Sorry, but would you mind not using violence? There are people around." Xavier said as Seth began to panic over him.
Soon enough, an employee comes and separates the two parties, after hearing the commotion. Serenity leaves with humiliation, while Rhys had a slight feeling of victory.
"You really showed that worthless wrench!" Kane said, punching the air and claiming it was the corrupted female lead.
"You are really just a hostile thing." Rhys thought to Kane as he went back to exchanging numbers with the last person, Seth.
"I am not!" Kane huffed, sitting atop of Rhys' head. It may not mean much to Rhys, or maybe he doesn't realise it but he was essentially saving these people, Kane thought to himself.
"Don't forget the matching items." Kane reminded Rhys, to which he was a little bit thankful for.
Pulling it out of his pocket, Rhys handed a keychain to each of them, giving a smile, telling them he wanted to have a matching item with them.
Xavier's affection rose by three, at forty five, Seth's by four, at forty four, and Erin's by two, now at fifty two.
As Rhys finished giving the items, there was a "MISSION SUCCESS" as the world froze thanks to the safe space and Rhys looked at his rewards.
"Rewards upon completing exchanges! mission, one attribute point." The screen read, making him sigh.
"I dealt with the female lead, for one attribute point? Should I be glad or angry the female lead is easy to humiliate." Rhys said, looking at the options.
"She would of approached you eventually so be happy you even got one attribute point." Kane replied, hitting Rhys' head.
Rhys let out a small ouch as he spent it on agility, looking at Kane for an answer to his predictable question.
"You can run a mile within ten minutes." Causing Kane to roll his eyes. It was a good start, but he definitely needed more if he wanted to be balanced.
"Well maybe you shouldn't of put so many in handsomeness!" Kane said, reading Rhys' mind.
"And choose to be ugly? No." Rhys replied, not even thinking about it for a second, causing the two to argue.
"One day you'll have to reverse the handsomeness and put your points into cuteness! What will you do then?" Kane questioned, a bit aggressively.
"That's not going to happen, everyone prefers a handsome man over a cute one." Rhys retorted.
"No! There are plenty of worlds that prefer cute fragile heroines than handsome men!" Kane said, his voice cracking a little from how unreasonable Rhys was being.
Rhys was about to counter, but he had nothing to fight back with. Most of the easy world were third rate abandoned novels, so of course.
"It's too late to change now!" He insisted, being stubborn and changing the topic of debate.
"No, it isn't. You have the option in front of you right now! You've spent twelve, twelve whole attribute points on handsomeness!" Kane hissed, stopping for a second to catch his breath before continuing.
"The system doesn't even make you that ugly, the your skin would still be soft from the skin care routines! Just try to cut down on handsomeness." Kane finished, reading to argue again.
"I regret doing missions to let you evolve, now that you have energy you yell a lot more than before." Rhys said, completely ignoring everything else Kane had said.
As the safe space ended, Rhys asked the targets to pick out a place for dinner while they went on ahead, while he pretended to make a phone call to his mom.
About five minutes after they left, he was ready to face them again, "I really wasted five minutes doing nothing for a consistent lie." Rhys muttered to himself, making Kane laugh.
"You should be glad she never mentioned the kissing!" Kane said, causing Rhys to redden up a little and curse at Kane's existence.
As Rhys made his way out, he texted Seth for their current location, and started to head there.
Much to his surprise, Seth's affection rose by two, putting him at forty six affection points. "It works despite us being this far apart?" Rhys asked Kane.
"You're still communicating, he was your first choice, so thats got to mean something to him." Kane replied.
Humming as acknowledgement, Rhys made his way to the boys and continued to look around for the next hour, before they decided to go for dinner at a local family restaurant nearby.
It was a nice and quiet place, not too many or too few people around, and it had a rustic feel to it.
After the waiter dropped off the menus, Rhys once again, heard a mission had popped up. "OBLIGATORY SYSTEM MISSION" the voice said.
"Share a plate of food with at least one of the targets, there is no reward upon completion, failure to complete the mission results in one (1) memory loss." It read.
"This is a scam!" Rhys thought in his head. He didn't mind sharing a plate of food, but what does it mean an obligatory mission with no reward? That's just forcing him to do it!
"I guess obligatory system missions don't always have a reward." Kane replied to Rhys' complaints.
Crying to himself, Rhys opened the menu and flipped through the options, looking at the fettuccini carbonara, a good sized portion that could be shared easily.
Sucking up his pride in order to save his memories, Rhys put on a smile. "The fettuccini carbonara sounds really nice, but it's a little large for me alone, does anyone want to share?" He asked.
Almost immediately, Erin and Xavier both said they would, the Erin part shocking Rhys. "Well his affection is now over fifty, and Xavier likes to eat." Kane said.
It made sense, of course the targets would oblige to some of his requests if his affection met a certain requirement target, even if their personalities weren't always the best.
"Valuable knowledge can't replace attribute points." Kane said with pride, as though that was the systems intentions from the start.
"Then let's share, we can get a large plate, it should serve all of us!" Rhys smiled brighter, giggling a little at the end.
"Maybe you don't need to watch romance movies, you need to star in one." Kane thought, changing his opinion on what he said to Rhys earlier at the dolphin show.
As the targets agreed, Seth also joined in, maybe feeling a little peer pressured, and decided to eat the fettuccini carbonara as well.
"I swear I'll cook something delicious for you next time, Seth." Rhys said in his head as he watched Seth take one for the team.
And so, when the waiter returned to take their order, they ordered a large bowl of fettuccini carbonara, some breadsticks, and a few drinks to share around.
Rhys smiled just the tiniest bit as they went over their day trip to the aquarium while waiting on their order, it wasn't too bad of a time, in his opinion.