Kiriya finally sat down and gulped down the bowl of vegetable porridge, broth and all. Honestly, he was starving.
Lina sat across from him, carefully picking out the vegetables from her bowl, chewing slowly and gracefully.
In less than a minute, their modest late-night meal was over.
Lina licked her lips with a cute expression and smiled, "Not bad. But next time, go easy on the salt, okay?"
Kiriya gave a helpless shrug. From the look on her face, it didn't seem like she had any intention of going back to sleep.
"You look so silly. From now on, I'm calling you 'Dummy.' Sound good?" Lina said with a mischievous grin.
Kiriya shot back firmly, "That's an insult. No way."
But Lina giggled, dimples showing. "Oh, come on. Sometimes words like that are used as terms of endearment—like 'silly boy' or 'little troublemaker.'"
Kiriya rolled his eyes. By that logic, wouldn't names like "brat" and "blockhead" all become affectionate nicknames too?
Lina's gaze suddenly shifted toward the coffee table, where the "Mind Gear" lay open. Her expression changed instantly. She leaned forward, picked it up, and noticed that the once-blue indicator light had turned yellow.
Her face hardened. She turned to Kiriya with a sharp look. "This… was you're doing?"
Kiriya froze for a second, then scratched his head awkwardly. "It was an accident! How was I supposed to know it would auto-bind the moment I put it on?"
Lina stared at him, biting her lip. Her voice trembled slightly with frustration.
"You idiot… Do you have any idea how hard I worked to get this "Mind Gear"? And now you've already activated it and locked it to your ID… Ugh! Your big dummy!"
Kiriya glanced up at the large clock in the living room. Lina pouted and complained, "Great. Only fourteen hours left before [Eternal Art Online] launches, and now I'll have to line up to buy a new "Mind Gear"!"
He wanted nothing more than to disappear into a hole. Embarrassed, he muttered, "Um… I'll pay you back for it someday. I just… can't afford to right now."
Lina stared at him for a moment, then suddenly shoved the "Mind Gear" into his arms.
Caught off guard, Kiriya quickly grabbed it. "What are you doing?" he asked, baffled.
"Hmph!" she scoffed, turning her face away. "I'm giving it to you. Now that it's locked to your ID, there's no point in my holding onto it. Might as well let you have it."
She crossed her arms, then looked around and asked in a slightly annoyed tone, "Do you have a bathroom here? I reek of alcohol—I need to shower."
Kiriya was stunned for a moment before waving his hands. "You should probably go book a hotel room or something. My place… isn't set up for guests. Plus, I don't have any clothes for women."
Lina raised an eyebrow. "It's the middle of the night—you want me to go out dressed like this? What if I run into someone dangerous?"
Kiriya replied, "Aren't you worried I might be dangerous?"
She glanced at him, then let out a soft laugh. "You? You look so harmless, I doubt you'd even touch free food if it landed right in your lap. I feel perfectly safe around you."
…Was that supposed to be a compliment?
Before Kiriya could respond, Lina marched into his room without hesitation, opened the closet, and pulled out a large white shirt. She looked around for pants, but all she found were loose-fitting summer shorts. Her cheeks flushed slightly, and she chose just the shirt before heading into the bathroom.
The sound of running water echoed through the apartment, and Kiriya sat on the couch, trying very hard not to let his imagination run wild.
Ten minutes felt like an eternity.
When Lina finally stepped out, wrapped only in the oversized shirt and a pair of shorts, Kiriya nearly dropped the pillow he was holding. Her bare, flawless legs peeked out from under the hem, and she looked like something out of a dream—beautiful, effortless, and dangerously distracting.
She strode back into the bedroom, crawled right into his bed as if it were the most natural thing in the world, and with a casual toss, sent a pillow flying toward him.
"You're sleeping outside tonight. And take this with you," she said.
A thin blanket was tossed out by Lina, and Kiriya quickly caught it, smiling wryly to himself—looks like tonight was destined to be spent in the living room.
Clutching the blanket and the "Mind Gear", Kiriya still felt a spark of excitement. After all, with this game helmet in hand, he could roam freely in [EAO]. Rumor had it that top players made a fortune selling gear and gold in the game—maybe he could strike it rich too!
That night, Kiriya had a beautiful dream: in [EAO], he became an unparalleled expert, slicing off a thousand heads with a single sword strike, wealthy beyond measure, surrounded by many companions.
The sound of the doorbell woke him from his dream. Looking up, he noticed his bedroom door was slightly ajar.
He hurriedly got up, only to find Lina had already left. The blanket was neatly folded at the head of the bed, perfectly tidy. The phone and car keys from the bag were gone—likely taken by Lina.
On the bedside table lay a stack of crisp bills, topped by a note. Kiriya picked it up and read the elegant handwriting:
"Dummy, if you want a job, report to the development department at Blue Star Digital Plaza. Also, this thousand bucks is your overnight fee!"
At the bottom was a cute smiley face, eyes like crescent moons, lashes curled just like Lina's charming smile.
Kiriya thought carefully: an overnight fee? Damn...
It seemed Lina had overheard every word of his conversation with the landlord last night.
Looking closer at the handwriting, it was hard to believe such beautiful script came from a girl, especially from Lina, such an elegant and ethereal beauty. Some say that when God gives you beauty, He takes away your wisdom, but that law didn't apply to Lina. Fate was biased, granting her perfection in every way.
Kiriya was curious about Lina's true identity, but since she said he could get a job at Blue Star Digital Plaza, he decided to give it a try.
After washing up and changing clothes, he stepped out the door.
No matter how the job went, he had to be back by six in the evening. [EAO] would open then, and he had to log in as soon as possible to earn his first bucket of gold!