David slammed his hands over the conference table.
"Does she think it's a joke?!" He was infuriated. Since the attendings here were the Luiss staff, all close as a family, he didn't keep up a professional appearance and let out his emotions.
"David, calm down." Steven, the head of the asset management team, said. "Let her ruin her lesson. President Luiss would be observing this conference."
"Why do you think Luiss would be attending this conference? Exactly because it's important. That's the reason we need to make it certain she doesn't make a mistake." David's face was red in anger as he ran his hand through his hair and sighed in frustration.
He was already feeling bummed that Luiss had handed over such an important task to that imbecile. Ariana was smart, but she wasn't exceptional. There were people far better than her in the company who deserved what she had. And she was too arrogant for that.
"Well, it looks like Missy is not coming. We all gathered here for no reason." Steven put down files on the table, disregarding the material he prepared to brief Ariana on.
Unlike David, Steven appeared happy. "This is not a small conference. We all flew eight hours away just for his conference. I doubt she is adequately prepared. Looks like this is going to be her downfall." He got up, gave a tap on David's shoulder, and left the common room.
David, although feeling infuriated at Ariana's attitude, was different from Steverson. He truly cared for the company and Luiss. So after everyone left, he called the attendant. "Wait." He gathered all their files and handed them to her. "Take these to her." He instructed. "Do not tell I was the one who sent these."
As much as he wanted her to lose favour with Luiss, he didn't want it at the cost of their collective failure.
...
Doing a PhD. in a matter of hours wasn't an easy task. So when it came all of a sudden, it overwhelmed her, putting her out. When Ariana woke up, she found a sum of fresh knowledge incorporated into her memory. And it was easy to retrieve as if she had personally learnt over the years.
This time, when she picked up the laptop and started reading the slides, it all started making sense to her.
It was much easier and took far less time.
As Ariana went through the files at a satisfactory rate, she realized she could even find time to practice some stuff. Using her acumen, she even altered and enhanced some aspects of the presentation.
When she was finally done with everything, twelve hours had already passed. Breakfast and lunch were delivered to her room. While she was busy with it, the same girl handed her some additional files. When she asked who sent those, the girl didn't name anyone specifically. Just said. those from the common room.
Ariana didn't need to guess who it was.
"It must be David." She mused as she picked up the files and skimmed through the stuff within. He was a green character who sided with the female protagonist. Of course, he was a man of fine character and someone who was loyal to the male protagonist above everything.
A few of the files were useless, but a few contained useful stuff. She added the points she found useful in her presentation. After the final edit, she laid down on her bed and took a deep breath.
She closed her eyes and called in her mind. 'System'
When she opened, the same virtual screen surfaced across her.
There were several icons.
General information...
Main Tasks.
Side tasks.
Inventory.
She mentally clicked on the main task. There were several categories.
Relationship with Male Lead
Status at her job.
Relationship with her family.
Relationship with side characters.
It was a long list, and many things were still a blur.
"This system is based on her resentment and unfulfilled wishes. Looks like I'll have to work on all aspects of her life and improve on them." Ariel sighed as she clicked on her relationship with the male lead.
'Affection/Friendship: Zero
Romantic Interest: Zero
Sexual interest: Zero
Respect: Ten per cent.'
Ariel couldn't understand how you could put your relationship with someone in numbers. Anyhow, it was these numbers she needed to improve.
"She is his secretary and an important person in his corporation. Friendship/affection is zero? Really? That's so unfair. I have to start from scratch!"
She mentally clicked on the arrow that indicated backwards. Then she clicked on the side tasks icon.
Task 1: Gain the second male lead recognition.
Task 2: Stay in original body character during presentation
Task 3: Make David Steverson get a good opinion of the host.
She mentally noted those little tasks. After all, one of those side tasks had unknowingly saved her today. She clicked on the back button and clicked the general information icon.
'The resentment system was created out of the original soul's sheer disappointment at the wrongs of the world. The purpose of this system is to resolve her discontent by attaining whatever she wished for and couldn't while she was alive. While the new host is unable to break free from the obligations, the system would reward the host with cheats to attain the goals as compensation. The cheats would be granted based on the host's performance in assigned tasks.'
Ariel sighed before switching off the virtual screen. "I'm pretty sure she chose me herself." As she let the exhaustion-driven sleep undertake her, she kept wondering. 'Why? Why her?'