They continued with tests, but the results kept coming up with no positive glows. It was like trying to find a needle in a haystack made of more haystacks.

  ‘This task sucks!’ thought Maluck, the frustration building inside him like a pressure cooker. He could practically feel the glows taunting him, or rather, not taunting him. Nothing was happening. No good vibes, no exciting powers, just pure, unadulterated disappointment.

  Maluck huffed, filling with frustration. “Well, it’s almost lunch. Do you want to eat here, or do you want to go out? I can take you out for lunch.”

  Chloe shrugged, looking disinterested as she spun a pen between her fingers. “Hey, if you’re buying.”

  Maluck smirked, leaning back in his chair. “Sure, but I wouldn’t mind something healthy.” He paused. “You know, just in case we’re not getting glows, maybe I should at least get some good karma out of this.”

  Chloe rolled her eyes, but there was a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips. “All right,” she said, her voice deadpan but with a hint of amusement. “Healthy it is.”

  “But first, can I get that thousand bucks in advance?” Chloe asked, raising an eyebrow. “Just in case you really are a skeezy creep who likes to take advantage of innocent goth girls?”

  Maluck blinked, momentarily stunned. “Well, when you put it like that…” he trailed off, then shrugged. “Fine.”

  They headed to a nearby sushi spot, one of those tiny, family-owned places tucked between a vape shop and a questionable massage parlor. The kind of place where the fish was either incredibly fresh… or you’d be spending the next 24 hours in the fetal position praying to the porcelain gods.

  Thankfully, as soon as they walked in, the rich smell of perfectly seasoned rice and fresh seafood filled the air. Maluck exhaled in relief—this was real sushi, not some sad grocery store sushi that had been sitting in a plastic box for days.

  Chloe glanced at the menu and immediately zeroed in on the most expensive roll. “Ohhh, they have A5 Wagyu and uni sushi.”

  Maluck arched a brow. “You know, just because I offered to buy doesn’t mean you have to order the most bougie thing on the menu.”

  She smirked. “Oh, I absolutely do.”

  Rolling his eyes, Maluck waved the waiter over, and they ordered a feast—an assortment of sashimi, some specialty rolls, and of course, Chloe’s ridiculous gold-plated, A-list celebrity, definitely-don’t-look-at-the-price sushi.

  When the food arrived, it looked glorious. The fish practically glistened under the soft lighting, the sushi rolls were neatly arranged like tiny works of art, and the miso soup was steaming, filling the air with its rich aroma.

  Maluck popped a piece of salmon sashimi into his mouth and nearly groaned. “Okay. This is the good stuff.”

  Chloe, already three bites ahead of him, nodded while chewing. “Mmhmm,” she mumbled, before swallowing. “See? Fancy sushi is always worth it.”

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  Maluck eyed her ludicrously expensive Wagyu sushi and reached for a piece.

  Chloe slapped his hand away with her chopsticks.

  “Buy your own rich-people sushi.”

  Maluck scowled. “Unbelievable. I feed you, and this is how you repay me?”

  She smirked, popping another piece into her mouth. “Yes.”

  Maluck sighed, but as he bit into a spicy tuna roll, he couldn’t be mad.

  This was damn good sushi.

  While eating, Maluck kept thinking about the System task related to charming Chloe.

  He decided to give it another shot—why not? He was already spending the afternoon with her, eating fancy food, and trying to pretend he didn’t feel like he was on a weirdly awkward date. Maybe the task would work if he just really leaned into the moment. He flashed Chloe his most dazzling, magnetic smile.

  She looked up from her quinoa bowl and raised an eyebrow.

  “You good?” she asked, her voice dry.

  “Oh, yeah,” Maluck replied, trying to sound casual, “just thinking about how my charm could probably melt glaciers, you know?”

  Chloe’s eyes flicked to the plate of Wagyu in front of them and then back to Maluck. She gave him a bemused look, her smile almost imperceptible. “Uh-huh. Sure you are.”

  He grinned and waited, expecting some magical burst of charisma to flow through him. But… nothing. Absolutely nothing.

  It was like trying to start a car that ran on luck, only for it to sputter out and die.

  “Well,” Maluck muttered to himself, “fancy pants Wagyu wasn’t enough to tip the scales.” He sighed dramatically, reaching for his water. “Guess I’m still just… average, huh?”

  Chloe looked at him, barely hiding her smirk. “Guess so.”

  After finishing their meal, he stretched. “Let’s head back and do some more tests. We haven’t really tested anything outdoors yet. There’s a park nearby, right?”

  “Yeah, there is, right around the corner ,” Chloe confirmed.

  They walked out to his car, and just as Maluck reached for his keys—plunk!

  “Oh, shit,” he muttered.

  He looked down just in time to see his keys disappear through a storm drain.

  Chloe smirked, arms crossed. “Damn. That sucks.”

  Maluck exhaled slowly, staring at the drain like it had personally insulted him. He checked his stats.

  Bad Luck Points (BP): 8 → 4

  Of course his bad luck was responsible for this.

  Maluck groaned, staring down at his lost keys, which had somehow managed to find the tiniest, most inconvenient hole in the entire parking lot. “Of course,” he muttered. “Why wouldn’t this happen?”

  Maluck let out a long sigh, shaking his head. “Yeah, sometimes I’m not that lucky.”

  Chloe arched an eyebrow. “Sometimes?”

  Maluck pointed dramatically at the drain. “Okay, most of the time.”

  He pulled out his phone. “Guess I’ll call AMMA.”

  Chloe gave him a side-eye. “You really wanna wait an hour?”

  Maluck hesitated. “…Not particularly.”

  She gestured at the car. “You got a spare?”

  “Yeah, but it’s in the glove box.” It had been a habit of his ever since he lost his first car keys inside a vending machine. He was the king of backup plans.

  “In that case, wait here,” she said and disappeared back into the sushi shop.

  Maluck stood there, confused. “Uh… okay?” ‘Did she just abandon him in his time of need? Should he really have given her the thousand bucks in advance?’

  A minute later, she returned—holding a metal coat hanger.

  Maluck blinked. “Uh, what’s that for?”

  Chloe rolled her eyes. “What do you think? I’m getting your damn keys.”

  “…By breaking into my car?”

  “Do you want to sit here like a dumbass, waiting for some dude named Gary from AMMA to take pity on you?”

  That was a strong argument.

  Chloe expertly bent the hanger, slid it through the crack of the window, and within seconds—click!—the door popped open.

  Maluck stared in shock. “Holy shit.”

  Chloe smirked, tossing the hanger aside. “You pick up a few things working in a pawn shop.”

  Maluck wasn’t just relieved he didn’t have to call AMMA, whose slogan should have been “Got car troubles? We can help… as long as you don’t mind waiting an hour!” No, what really got him excited was what he saw as Chloe stepped back from the car.

  A glow.

  A freaking glow.

  He mentally fist-pumped. ‘Oh hell yes. We got something.’

  Maluck turned to Chloe, his face lit up with excitement. “Okay, slight change of plans.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

  “You ever think about a career in crime?”