“But if your life is such a big joke, why should I care?”

 

“Where am I!?” I look around at my surroundings, it’s all a haze. Nothing distinguishable in this clouded area. How did I get here? Too many thoughts flow in my head, but none of them I can make sense of. Then, there in the distance three figures emerge from the shadows, I try to get a closer look at them, but I seem to be stuck in place. A sinister smile appears on their faces, all crooked,  glowing red, it frightens me. My heart feels like it's going to explode.

 

“Leif, why can’t you see this is all for you my dear” the voice sounds female, albeit it’s distorted

 

“We just want was best for you honey” another voice joins in

 

“Even if it’s against your will sweetheart” this voice, it sounds so familiar 

 

The figures then come at me full speed. I try to move but my legs won’t budge as if all feeling in them is lost to me. Arms cover my face, as my whole body is being swallowed up by darkness. I try to scream, but to no avail my vision darkens.

 

“Well keep you safe FOREVER” the voices echoed in my ears

 

“ AHH STAY BACK!!!” *gasping for air* I awaken in my hammock, almost falling off from it. I managed to regain my balance luckily. I look around, and see that I’m still in my shack. “Was that all... a dream or a nightmare?”. My heart is still racing, “what the hell was that”.

 

After I calmed down for a bit, I took a look at my watch, four in the afternoon, “Damn, looks like I took a good nap.” I lost the morning, but luckily it’s my day off, besides there's nothing much to do in a village where you’re repulsive to everyone around you. I guess I’ll stick around the shack a little longer till night. In the meantime, I could do some cleaning around the back area of the pub, and my shack does need to be dusted off so it shouldn’t be too bad. “Alright, here we go”. *moving off the hammock* With that, I got to work.

 

*A few hours later*

 

Ahh that was a little bit more tiring than I expected, I probably shouldn’t have underestimated the amount of stuff I had to clean back here, but it looks nicer than before. All the weeds are pulled, the trash is properly sorted, the windows from the shack is properly cleaned, and everything on the inside is all well. I guess coming into this world has made me a bit of a clean freak, maybe. Anyways it’s already night time. 

 

“Well now isn’t this a big surprise” a man says in a deep voice

 

“Oh hey, Boss, good afternoon” I replied back

 

“And here I thought you were gonna spend your whole day cooped up on that shack of mine.”

 

“C’mon Boss, I know I’m lazy but I gotta have some humility at least”

 

“You having Humility, HAHAHAHA” he laughs with some tears in eyes, hey that stings a bit

 

“Erikson, you always seem to keep me entertained, I’m glad to have you under my belt.”

 

“Yeah cause I was forced into it,” I chuckle a bit

 

“Care to repeat yourself BOY!!” He clenches his fist, his muscles expanding, I squirm at the sight remembering his signature move The Grand Slam of Love

 

“I mean, I’m glad to be under it” sweat rolling down my forehead

 

 “ *SIGH* Either way Erikson, you’ve done me a service, I was planning to clean the back lot for a while, but the fair maidens whisk me away with their charm.” Yeah, yeah they just easily seduced you cause you're the ideal man. No need to sugarcoat it Boss.

 

“Anyways, such a service can’t go unrewarded, how about I set you up with one of my regulars-” I frown at such words

 

“Boss I’m gonna have to stop you” I’m always a bit scared to talk back at Pontius, but in certain cases like this one, I have to speak my mind

 

“Have you forgotten about my debuff, Boss!?”

 

“Of course, I haven’t it's just that I-

 

“And you’ve seen first-hand my interactions with the ladies”

 

“Well, yes” Looks like I caught him in his tracks

 

“I sometimes worry about you Erikson, I may not show it, but I do care about you.” wait what, really “The isolation could take a toll on someone's mindset, and I don’t want to see you fall in a dark place.” I had never seen him this serious before. “I just thought some companionship could help solve this issue.”

 

Oh Boss, come on don’t this to me, “Hey, no need to worry about me, it’ll take more than isolation to bring me down, and don’t say I got any companionship, I've got you Boss.” I give him an assuring smile

 

“You bumbling IDIOT!!” He gives me a head bonk, oww that shit hurts

 

“You say the stupidest things sometimes Erikson, but I know you mean well” he said with a smile, “Anyways, I’m going to the marketplace to do some shopping with some of the maidens, I just came back for my jacket, you can tag along if you want.” 

 

“I’m good Boss thank you, enjoy your night”

 

“Well then, if by any chance you head out, be careful, they say there is a shadowy figure lurking around the village preying on the weak.”

 

“Ooh scary” I say sarcastically. “C’mon Boss, trying to scare me with a weak ass story like that.”

 

“Just trying to keep you on your toes, Erikson”

 

“Yeah, yeah just get going”, He walked back inside of the pub, and he came out with his jacket, he locked up and got going, we waved at each other goodbye. Knowing him, he’s probably going to sleep in one of the ladies' homes tonight. I’ll see him till the next day in the afternoon.

 

I take a look at my watch. It's 10:30, there's still some people still walking around the village, but luckily being here for a while, I was able to memorize a pathway I could take for a night stroll that is isolated from the rest of the village folk. 

 

I quickly headed inside my shack, and changed into some new clothes, thankfully provided by Pontius. Nothing fancy, just some basic clothing. I head out, and lock up, I start walking along the cobblestone pathway.

 

Such a nice breeze, having walks like this relaxes me, and clears my mind for a bit. A life of adventure would’ve been awesome, but fate wasn’t in my favor when I came to this world. Ehh, can’t complain about what I have, for now, I just gotta make the most of it.

 

Heading towards an alleyway, I started to tinker with my watch. I was in awe yesterday when I learned about the debuff decreasing over time. The screen comes up, and I go over the stats, “wait a minute what’s that” I say in confusion. In the skills section, the text ‘none’ doesn't appear, what does appear is a small text. “I wonder if I can zoom in” I take my right finger tips, and spread out the screen. Looks like it’s working. The text gets bigger with each movement until it gets readable. “Infatuation kiss?” “Passive?” What does that even mean?

 

Before I can take a closer look at it, from the corner of my eye a shadowy figure rushes at me, and quick as the night snatches my watch from my wrist. “Hey!!” I yell to the figure. It ignores my plea, and proceeds to run away. Oh hell no, that thing may be cheap, but it’s still my artifact in this world, and I ain’t gonna lose it to some thief. I gave chase to the figure. 

 

Chasing them along the edge of the village, every time I would catch up to the figure, it would make a hard turn catching me off balance, but I’m too stubborn to give up quickly.It quickly reaches a gate that leads to outer grounds. What kind of game is the figure playing at. Either way, I’ll keep following it till I get my watch back.

 

Now outside of the village the figure keeps on going until it reaches an abandoned building, and it quickly goes inside through a little crack. I stop, and catch my breath. Never in my life had I ran like that before, my legs are tensed up, my breathing is out of whack, and I’m sweating like crazy. Looks like the chase is over, but now comes the hard part. 

 

Looking at the building gives me an eerie feeling. It makes my skin crawl. Why couldn’t this night just be a peaceful one? C’mon Leif man up, if you can’t do this, how are you expected to survive in this world. *sigh* if things go south, just run back with what your nimble legs can do.

 

I slowly approach the building, and hesitantly take my first steps through the same way the figure did. Of course, it wasn’t easy. I had to twist and turn my body to make it through the entrance, but once I made it through, what a sight to behold. The inside of the place was well lit with candles, well designed rugs covering the floor, furniture that are well conditioned, and a King size bed in the middle of the room. Does someone live here?

 

Suddenly, I get tackled to the floor, and see that figure on top of me. I clenched up in fear, OK that was a shit idea to come in.

 

“Careful sweetheart, coming in recklessly is not such a smart thing to do” a feminine voice comes out of the figure. Wait a minute, that voice it sounds familiar.

 

“Vivian?” I called out

 

“Guessed right” she proceeds to take off her hood, and reveals her face. Fucking hell this chick, what does she want from me now.

“Ok, out with it”

 

“Huh” giving me a confused look

 

“You make me go in this wild goose chase after you, and you bring me here in the outskirts of town to what I can assume is your hideout”

 

“Well I prefer the term home than hideout” she said smuggling

 

“That’s not the point” I state back

 

“Well, just wanted to have a little chat with you that’s all”

 

“A chat!, you're telling me the reason you took my artifact, had me chasing you, through the village at full speed, ran out of the village and into a dark abandoned building, for a CHAT?!”

 

“Yep”

 

*Sigh*This girl is a little devil, isn’t she

 

She then gives me a flick on my forehead

 

“I overheard you and Pontius talking about a debuff, quite an interesting topic”

 

“Oh that, wait you were stalking me?”

 

“Oh please, I was just passing by when I overheard you two, I didn’t take you as the paranoid type, Leif”

 

I just rolled my eyes. Should I open up to this girl about me. Even though we clash with every meeting, she makes an effort to talk to me even with my debuff affecting her. I’m not oblivious that she puts her best efforts to interact with me, even though it’s a bit harsh, but it feels different from the rest of the ladies in the village.

 

“*Sigh* I guess I have no choice, but can you get off me? this is a bit awkward.”

 

“Ohh someone’s nervous” she says smugly

 

“Never mind” I say annoyed

 

“Jeez, learn how to take a joke” she gets up, and I do the same.

 

“Now explain”

 

“Ok but my artifact first” I reach with my hand open

 

“Why”

 

“So I can explain properly duh…”

 

She hands me back my artifact, and I strap it on on my left wrist. I explain to her that it is a watch that also functions as my stats menu. I showed her the menu screen, and she laughs at how weak I am. Maybe this was a bad idea. Moving on, I show her the debuff, and explain to her from my knowledge what it does to me.

 

“Really now?, so this is the reason you’re disliked in the village”

 

“Funny isn’t, can’t even have a social life after being killed from my old life.”

 

Shit, I accidentally blurted out

 

“Old….life?” *giving me a confused look*

 

“I mean after killing my old social life hahaha” *laughing nervously as the words left my mouth*“Either Way, it isn’t all bad, I’ve made a shocking discovery, I realized that debuff is slowly decreasing, and I should be able to experience life as it should be.”

 

“Huh… so what you're saying is your debuff is going down, the repulsiveness will go away” she says stoically

 

*BEEP* *BEEP*

 

My alarm goes off on my watch, shit it's close to 12 in the morning, The village is quite safe at this time, but you do get some low level monsters lurking in the area at night. Knowing how weak I am, I think it would be best going back to the village for now.

 

“Well I got what I wanted, and you got what you wanted, so I’m gonna head back, uhh... nice talking to you I guess...” without hesitation leaving the premise, I start running back to the village.

 

Once inside, I slow down my pace and recollect my thoughts, “Damn was that a dick move leaving Vivian behind, but it seems she made refuge there, so it should be fine… hopefully.” Remembering what I was doing earlier in the day, I open up my stats menu, and check the infatuation kiss passive skill, I put my hand over it, and more text appear, “Woah” since when can you do this, It now shows descriptions for certain things on my stats, and the dates they were active, wait a minute, the infatuation kiss passive skill was active four months ago...

 

~Vivian's’ POV~

 

“Well I got what I wanted, and you got what you wanted, so I’m gonna head back, uhh... nice talking to you I guess...” he proceeds to leave through the same way, he came in

 

“If the repulsiveness goes away, then that would mean the women from the village would become attracted to you”

 

“And I would see you less and less”

 

Dark thoughts flow in my head, that little debuff of his, has protected him from the harlots of the village, but once it's gone, my little Lief will get easily seduced by those whores. What is this feeling in my chest?. It's like having something that I care about being taken away from me or the thrill of a good chase, “and I can't have that happen again, not this time” *clenching my fist, gritting my teeth*. Looking out the broken window, seeing him running back to the village, *images of when the debuff is gone, the many women surrounding him*. “They can't have him, no one can, he's mine, my greatest heist” feeling a wide smile forming on my face. Looking down at my plum body, “the excitement of this is getting to me” *hugging myself*. “I'll make sure to steal not only your heart” *starting to giggle* “BUT...YOUR...VERY SOUL.”