Days passed quietly, and one afternoon Mai ran her fingers over her coin as she did every day, but she dared not flip it, afraid it might bring her misfortune. Her childhood had been fine at times and challenging at others. She hadn't forgotten Anya's words from back then.

"It's either one or the other," she muttered.

"If I flip it twice, I lose my fate for the day, the coin had said."

For many winters, Mai had worn three pairs of socks layered atop one another, so there was nothing in her vocabulary that couldn't be achieved, especially not now with a magical coin.

"What happens if I flip it more than twice?"

She toyed with the idea in her head for a few minutes and decided to test it. She quickly flipped the coin three times in a row, and suddenly it stopped in mid-air in front of her, with one side facing up.

"Now what?"

She touched the coin, and suddenly golden text appeared.

Stats.

She touched it again, and a new golden text appeared above it.

"Master of Disguise."

She touched it, but suddenly it turned red.

Stats is locked.

"What does that mean? Do I need to unlock it?"

Mai touched Stats again, and Master of Disguise disappeared, but another text appeared.

"Summoning. Stats is locked."

"Again? Are they all locked?" Mai muttered as she touched the text several times and got different stats.

Earth Manipulation
Shadow Manipulation
Invisibility
Maximum Sight
Water Manipulation

But they all had one thing in common. Locked.

"Hm, how do you unlock them then? In computer games, you had to complete quests to unlock something, and since there's no description here, it's probably a secret quest or something similar."

She thanked her time with computer games in her other life and wondered why the other stats like Tired, Slow, etc., weren't showing.

"Could these be the special stats? Interesting. I look forward to flying."

Mai hadn't yet written to the CEO from Nen Nord, who was saved as CEO N on her phone. She hoped he had forgotten their appointment, as most men were good at forgetting appointments anyway. Besides, she had nothing to offer him apart from a normal life, which he wasn't interested in.

"It's been a week. He's probably already forgotten about me and found another woman."

On Wednesday, when Mai went to Reddville Library, they asked her if she would move to Redwick Library, located in Redwick. She wasn't keen on it because she had chosen Reddville for its quiet location. But they tempted her with a better salary, so she ended up accepting the offer anyway.

"I've spoken with the manager there. They said you could come over tomorrow for a chat," said Kenn, the manager from Reddville Library.

The next morning, Mai took her bike out of Rosenridd Street to Fredwick Library, and 20 minutes later, she stood in front of a huge round cobblestone square with a large fountain. It was June, so it was packed with people, and it was the strip where everyone chose to hang out even during their breaks because all the big stores were located here.

On the other side of the fountain was a massive black square building, the Diamond, which was Nen Nord's main building, always surrounded by many guards patrolling outside.

"They've boomed and made billions in recent years, so it's not surprising they have so much security," Mai muttered to herself, feeling somewhat lucky she had invested in Nen Nord early on because now the stocks were worth a fortune.

Far to her right lay Redwick's Library, a huge white round marble building resembling a church with a lying tower from the outside.

Mai looked down at herself, and her gaze fell on her long white knee dress and the white flat summer pumps. She had put a small rose in her hair today.

"Should I have worn a suit today? They have no dress code, or at least Kenn didn't mention anything about it.”

In a first job interview, you would normally always wear business attire, but a library wasn't something Mai saw as business but rather a cozy place.

She raised her left eyebrow and muttered, "Can this really work?"

Fuck it.

There was still over an hour until the interview, but the job was already secured. They just needed to see her and get her started.

Mai walked slowly toward the grand building, the sound of her stilettos echoing loudly on the stones. People occasionally glanced at her, but she was only focused on the building. Suddenly, she sensed someone approaching her from the left and at the same time, she slowly turned around but stopped when she saw the person.

A man in a green shirt and black pants was heading towards her while staring at her. He had high temples and tufts of hair on the sides but was bald in the middle.

Johannes?!

Mais heart suddenly galloped, and adrenaline surged. Fuck.

It was the insane ex from her other life.

"What the hell is he doing here?" she muttered.

They didn't know each other in this life.

She slowly backed away, but Johannes quickly approached her, stopping in front of her and smiling broadly at her, sending shivers down her spine.

"What do you want?" Mai asked in a cold, trembling voice.

"I couldn't help but notice how beautiful you looked in your dress. Would you like to go out for a meal?" Johannes asked.

"I don't go out with strangers. Have a good day," Mai replied, turning away, but as she took her first step, Johannes grabbed her left arm tightly.

"Wait. I'm not done with you," he said.

"But I'm done with you. Didn't you hear me?" Mai answered without looking at him, pulling her arm away, but feeling resistance.

She tried to push him away with her other arm, but he held on.

"Let go of me, for God's sake. I don't know you. Go away," she said in a trembling voice, feeling her heart crawling up her throat.

Her stomach clenched, and it churned violently as she felt nauseous. She pushed him away several times, but he moved closer, squeezing harder now with both hands. She smelled his awful breath and the strong cologne, wrinkling her nose.

"I wasn't finished speaking. Perhaps you'll listen to me now that we're so close," Johannes suddenly said.

Mai was about to hit him in the chest, but suddenly a man said loudly, "What do you think you're doing with my girlfriend?"

She didn't have time to turn her head before someone came to them, quickly unwinding her hands and standing in front of her so Johannes couldn't see her. His back was broad, he was tall and slender, wearing a white shirt. Mai felt like she had seen his dark hair before. Her hands trembled as she reflexively placed them on his back, feeling it was warm. She grabbed his shirt and tried to breathe normally again. Thank you.

"Are you two dating? Then why weren't you together?" Johannes asked, trying to look at Mai, but the man had blocked him from all sides, and he was taller.

"You're lucky she's not reporting you for assault or something worse. Get lost and stop bothering her. I said she's my girlfriend. Are you deaf?" the man said in a cold, trembling voice.

Johannes furrowed his brows and grunted. "Tch. If she goes out dressed like that, she's asking to be raped someday."

He turned around, but suddenly he felt a hard push in the back, and he was pushed forward, falling with his head on the asphalt.

"Come on, let's get away before the crowd shows up," the man said in a low voice, turning around and holding Mai's left hand.

He pulled her along, quickly walking away from the area.

"Thank you for your help," Mai said after they had walked for a while, and they stopped behind a building far from the bustling square where people were still flocking.

She looked up at the man, and her eyes widened when she saw it was the same person she had spilled her drink on. He was wearing a black tie with golden stripes.

Her heart skipped a beat, and she asked in a low voice, "Are you stalking me too? Are you here for revenge?"

Lin furrowed his brows and replied, "My office is in the Diamond, and I happened to look out and saw that you were in trouble. Since no one intervened, it could have ended badly. So I thought you could use a hand."

Mai was relieved by his words and smiled.

"Thank you, and sorry for accusing you of stalking. I'm not lucky when it comes to men."

She suddenly felt embarrassed, and her cheeks grew burning hot.

Lin handed her a white card and said, "You dropped this at the reception."

Mai thanked him profusely and asked if there was a way to make it up to him.

"You can take me out to lunch. That way, we'll be even with the stalker," said Lin.

He took out his phone, handed it to her, and said, "Give me your number, and I'll contact you."

Mai typed in her number, but when she reached the name, she hesitated on what to write and chose to write 'Miss.'

When Lin saw his phone, he furrowed his brow at the name and looked at her.

"Your name is Mai. Why did you write 'Miss'?" he asked skeptically.

Before Mai could answer, he pressed his thumb on the screen and held his phone up to his right ear.

"What are you doing?" Mai asked, confused.

"Checking if your number is correct," he replied.

When Celestial Being from Princes Kaguya played on her phone in her bag, she asked, "Should I take this call?"

He nodded, so she took out her phone, pressed the green phone icon, and answered the call.

Lin hung up, nodded, and smiled.

"It's for the dinner you owe me. I happen to have a break now, so you can take me out to lunch if you have time," he said as she put her phone back.

They started walking again, and Mai occasionally glanced over her shoulder. Her hands trembled, and she squeezed her nails into her skin. Suddenly, she felt Lin's warm hand hold hers, and he interlocked his fingers with hers. She looked up at him and blinked. Suddenly, she felt more at ease.

"Thank you," she said in a low voice.

"That type doesn't give up after a rejection," Lin said, then asked where they should eat.

All the places here were expensive, but not too expensive for Mai, especially when the person by her side was a CEO, but she chose a small Vietnamese street food restaurant where you couldn't make a reservation.

"You probably know all the places around here," Mai said as they stood in front of Lille Nim's Nem. "This place has a good soup they call Pho, but their spring rolls are the best."

They went inside, but when they saw the place was packed, Mai wanted to find another place. Lin had a break, and she had a job interview soon. She also didn't like people staring at them, and the women were sending flirtatious looks to Lin, who was only focused on Mai. She bit her lip and was about to leave, but suddenly a young male waiter approached them with tousled dark hair. He looked first at Mai, then his gaze landed on Lin and lingered there.

"Welcome to Nim's Nem," he said, smiling at Lin.

"I can see it's crowded here, so we'll find another place," Mai said, about to pull Lin out, but the waiter held his round tray in front of him.

"If you wait for 2 minutes, I can prepare a table for you," he said.

Mai was fine with 2 minutes, but Lin was another matter. She looked up at him and saw him furrow his brows.

"30 seconds, and not a second more, otherwise we're leaving," he said in a firm tone, and suddenly the room fell silent, and people whispered instead of speaking loudly to each other.

"Understood, please wait here and do not leave the premises," the waiter said, quickly convincing a couple to move from a corner where they were sitting alone with a view of the square.

They nodded and hurried away, but on their way out, the woman turned and took out her camera and took a picture of Lin.

Mai and Lin sat between two tall bonsai trees, which gave it a cozy atmosphere, and it was nice for once that it was quiet.

"It's always noisy here the times I came with friends and we waited for a long time to get a table. I hated it, but the food is worth the wait," she said, looking at the menu.

"It's not worth it if they make you wait so long. But it's a normal concept for street food in Asia. It's small, noisy, and there's a line. Just that would turn me off," Lin said, still not shifting his focus from her.

The water approached them, and when they were about to order, Mai looked at Lin and asked, "What will you have?"

"The same as you," he replied without looking at the waiter.

Their Pho soups were very large, so Mai suggested they share one and then also get a dish of Nem (spring rolls), which he was fine with.

"What would you like to drink?" the waiter asked, now looking at Mai, who asked for a lemonade with ice.

"Unfortunately, we don't have that," he said, his hands trembling.

"So make one. She ordered a lemonade," Lin said in a cold tone.

"Very well. What can I offer you, sir?" the waiter asked, beads of sweat rolling down his forehead.

"I'll have the same with three slices of lemon, and not a slice less or more. Mai will have the same," Lin replied in the same cold tone.

The waiter immediately left, and Mai was surprised they had lemonade when the waiter had said they didn't. It felt a bit like cheating the customers. She couldn't help but furrow her brows, which Lin immediately noticed.

"What's wrong? Do you want to find another place?" he asked.

"Am I being treated differently because of my background?" she asked, looking at him.

Lin blinked and replied immediately, "They don't sell lemonade here. They never have."

He chuckled softly, covered his mouth, and coughed.

Mai snorted, studied him carefully, and looked around at the customers, who occasionally glanced over at them, or rather at Lin.

"Do you come here often? You seem popular," she said, feeling curious.

"I've never been here before. I don't eat out. It must be you they're looking at," Lin replied, smiling at her.

Their drinks arrived quickly along with the food, and they started eating right away.

Mai asked about Lin's name, revealing he was half Chinese, which explained his appearance. She disclosed a bit of her own ethnicity, and they had a good conversation and enjoyed themselves.

When they finished eating and Mai's gaze fell on the food, she suddenly felt sad and didn't want to leave.

Lin escorted her all the way to Redwick Library, right into the building, and at the lounge in the reception area, they said goodbye to each other.

"Remember, you still owe me a dinner for that night. So no running away," He said, smiling at Mai.

"Are you sure I shouldn't follow you home too? That man could still be in the area."

Mai revealed she had ridden her bike here, so he shouldn't worry. He asked her to call him if she felt unsafe, and he promised to come as quickly as possible. It took the police at least 10 minutes to arrive at a crime scene, so Mai doubted he'd be faster.

"Thank you for your help. I've already taken enough of your time," she said, smiling at him.

"If your interview goes poorly, I'll help you find something else."

Mai pushed him toward the revolving door and said, "I've already taken enough of your time. You'd better hurry back."