"..."
Zac was now once again a normal human — wearing clothes borrowed from one of the men from the group. The group he happened to come across with was called the Solid Dreams; quite a catchy name for a group of noobs.
They were still inside the mall, with only the light that was coming out of the fire from their camp painting the walls that were already filled with dust. The Solid Dreams were discussing what to do with Zac, almost as if they were completely disregarding that he could hear them.
"Let's bring him tomorrow, it's getting dark out. It would be too dangerous for a Level 4."
"It shouldn't be a problem if we protect him."
"Will you take responsibility if he dies? Even the slightest wind could probably kill the dude."
"..." They were treating him like a child. Zac wasn't surprised or irked about this, however. It's been like this in his previous life — the people with higher levels tend to look down on those lower than them. With good reason, of course. Hundred years into the future, it would still be the same.
20 years. Zac was gone for 20 years. He had already accepted the perverted System that was given to him by the goddess. But 20 years?
His greatest weapon just got nerfed — getting a headstart and knowing things.
Of course, there should still be a lot of major events that will still happen. But 20 years… he could only wonder how strong he would have already been compared to before. Zac could really only hide his frustration as he stared at the campfire.
"You think the dude's even telling the truth?"
"...Why would he even lie?"
"The Zac Baker on the missing person's list should be in his mid-30s already. The dude looks like he just graduated high school."
"Nate has a point… and he couldn't have survived inside a Curtain for 20 years since he's just level 4."
One doesn't get old when inside a Curtain — it should already be common knowledge in this world since 20 years have already passed. There was also the fact that as System holders, the stronger you become, the slower you age.
There are many more factors causing humans not to age — but with him being Lv. 4, none of those reasons would fit him.
Their doubts were completely normal. If anything, the fact that they decided to even give him clothes and food proved they were good people — if this was Zac in the previous life that was 20 years into the apocalypse, he wouldn't even talk and would just kill anyone that even blinks strangely.
But all of those don't really matter anymore, he thought as he just relaxed in front of the fire — drinking the broth the group made. At least it wasn't poisoned, he would know; one of his companions at the end, Chandra, was a poison master, after all.
"..."
"..."
Chandra, Chris, Diana, Tyler, Isabel, and Ai. He could really only wonder where they were during this time. Hopefully… him changing what happened didn't endanger any of their lives — the world would need them in the coming years.
"Your name… is Zac, right?"
"..." And while Zac was reminiscing about the past, or maybe the future — a voice approached him from behind, the only woman of the group.
"And you're Laura?" Zac breathed out as he smiled; not even glancing at Laura as she stood near him, "I heard it while you were talking about me."
"Hm," Laura only giggled a little; before also letting out a sigh and nodding, "It… must have been scary, being alone out there on your own?"
"It was quite peaceful, actually."
"It was a good thing you didn't encounter the two wolves," Laura said as she lightly brushed her blonde hair back, "You… could've died."
"You children owe me for that, by the way. They were supposed to be mine."
"...What?" Laura was a bit weirded out by Zac's words, but she didn't really think much of it as her eyes… accidentally and very subtly found their way just below Zac's waist.
"..." She quickly looked away, of course. She still couldn't get the image of Zac's thing out of her mind. How could she? It was the first time she was seeing one.
Were they… really supposed to be that big?
"..." And Zac, of course, noticed Laura's glances, "...Open Skill Window."
[Passive Skills:
Basic Info: Once an intelligent life form intentionally, voluntarily, knowingly, willfully, and genuinely comes in contact with your bodily fluids, their Affection level towards you will increase. The effects will vary depending on the type of bodily fluid and where it touches > More skills will be unlocked once you reach a certain level.] He stared and once again read the description of his only skill, before glancing at Laura. And with another sigh… …he broke the bowl of soup he was holding in his hand; causing a huge shard of it to go through his palm. "O… Oh my god, are you okay!?" "No," Zac muttered as he casually pulled out the large shard. His blood, almost flowing and spurting out like a fountain as he did so — still, he didn't even utter a word of pain… and instead just stretched his bleeding hand towards Laura. "We… we need to put pressure on this!" Laura immediately grabbed his hand without a second thought; and soon, his blood started to paint Laura's arms as well. "James, I need your help here!" "..." And as Laura slightly started to panic, Zac just continued to watch; waiting for something to happen… but nothing. Nothing happened. Not even a notification from his System that something changed. But didn't she intentionally, voluntarily, knowingly, willfully, and genuinely hold his bleeding hand? By all accounts, his blood should be considered a bodily fluid. So what was missing? "Okay, let go of his hand." "..." The man called James seemed to be their healer; light, appearing from his hands, and flowing towards Zac's wounds... and as the warmth started to enter his flesh, Zac's wound started to close rapidly. "Thank you, James," Zac patted James' arm as soon as he was done healing his hand, "You're a good kid." "Yeah… no problem," James quickly backed away; his eyes squinted as he whispered to Laura, "I think… something's wrong with his head." "He… must just be stressed with everything that's happened to him." "Maybe…" James sighed and shook his head, "The two of you should rest up, we'll bring you to the nearest settlement early in the morning." "Sure," Zac smiled before proceeding to pick up the shards from the floor; throwing them to the fire before just casually lying on the floor like nothing happened. He then looked at his hand, before letting out a short but very deep sigh. This power of his… Did he really need to have intercourse with someone to make it work? It just said it could increase Affection — but aren't there other ways to gain affection from people? But if it turns out that it truly was just a perverted System, then… "..." Zac then glanced at Laura, staring at her for a few seconds… before shaking his head, "...Just a child," he sighed quietly before closing his eyes. And perhaps, if he just continued to observe just a little longer… he would have noticed Laura staring at her bloodied hand, and then towards him. Looking back and forth repeatedly — her breaths, slightly shivering as she slowly opened her mouth… …and lightly touched the tip of her tongue on her finger. **VOTE** Please do vote if you like it! It helps me write more chapters!