The sun set. The singing on the rooftop also stopped.
“Remember, there’s a race tomorrow night. Save your energy tonight, don’t overdo it, my partner.” Her voice held a hint of laughter, and her blue eyes in the twilight were like two stars.
Gwen wasn't one for drawn-out goodbyes. She gave me a swift ponytail flick, her golden hair tips brushing my cheek, carrying her unique scent, a mix of tobacco and a faint perfume.
“Got it,” I replied, unable to resist adding, “Smoke less too. While your smoky voice has a special flavor when singing certain songs, I still prefer your angelic voice.”
A fleeting unnaturalness crossed Gwen’s face, then she quickly resumed her nonchalant demeanor. “Hmm… nagging. Go, go.” She pushed me, as if annoyed by me.
I picked up the trash bag containing pizza boxes and empty wine bottles, turned, and headed for the stairs. But my heart wasn't as empty as usual. This entire afternoon of “free lessons” felt more meaningful than a year spent in a classroom.
Just one floor down, my phone vibrated in my pocket. A buzzing sound, like a restless little bug.
I pulled it out and saw the screen lit up with a text message from Aini.
“Let’s go home together. Need to buy things. Waiting for you at the school gate, hurry! I want to go back early and grind eternal world!”
At the end of the message was a crying panda emoji. Aini was always like this, always in a hurry, like a child who would never grow up.
I glanced at the time, exactly six o’clock. Schools in Sunset Country always dismissed so late.
It was just today that I decided to rent the small single room at Aini’s house. In two months, when the time came, Chen Chang, Aini, and I would fly together to the United States, to Clayton City, to begin a one-year high school exchange student program.
Aini also said she wanted to accompany me to buy some daily necessities, waiting for me at the school gate, hurry up, she wanted to go home early to play the eternal world game. Attached was a little panda's anxious expression.
I skipped an entire day of classes today. In the past, I would probably have been anxious, worried about falling behind in my studies, worried about the teachers’ reprimands. But now, my heart was surprisingly calm, even with a hint of secret, untimely joy.
Accompanying Gwen, listening to her sing, watching her laugh, bickering with her… time passed too quickly.
No wonder she always loved skipping classes, even calling it “free lessons.” This girl, relying on her family’s wealth, didn’t care about repeating two years.
I couldn't do that. My family wasn't wealthy, and weren't the lessons from my previous life profound enough? In the final exam a month later, I had to be in the top five of the entire grade. This wasn't just for the scholarship, but also to prove that I, Wang Allen, wasn't a good-for-nothing who could only rely on fists and racing to get by.
If I could find a stable part-time job… perhaps I could set up a study plan, and also bring Aini and Chen Chang along to have a pre-exam crash course. Maybe… I could even help Gwen improve her grades? Her grades were really not doing justice to her clever mind.
Just as I was thinking, a “ding” sounded in my mind, a message notification from the “Eternal Capture System.”
Ever since this inexplicable system activated, besides being able to see the heart-shaped patterns above the girls’ heads, it would occasionally pop up with messages. This time, it was a series of prompts.
This time, a lot of empathy points rewards popped up again.
What is empathy? It can be understood as making people feel warmth, moved, or shocked, thereby improving their perception of the host. This is also the basic source of favorability for captureable girls.
【Detecting host behavior triggered target emotional fluctuations, empathy points settling…】
【Aini received a letter from you, causing emotional fluctuations — Gained Aini: 1 empathy point】
【Aini was affected by the content of your letter, causing strong emotional fluctuations, empathy 3-hit combo — Gained Aini: 3 empathy points. (Playback available)】
【Gwen was affected by your carefully selected pancakes, causing emotional fluctuations — Gained Gwen: 1 empathy point】
【Gwen was affected by your decision to skip class to accompany her, causing continuous emotional fluctuations — Gained Gwen: 2 empathy points】
【Gwen's heart was affected by your sad expression, causing strong emotional fluctuations — Gained Gwen: 3 empathy points (Playback available)】
【Gwen was very happy to sing her song with you, she enjoyed this afternoon very much. And she greatly appreciated your soul version of the second creation, causing strong emotional fluctuations — Gained Gwen: 3 empathy points (Playback available)】
【When Gwen was reluctant to part with you, she was annoyed by your troublesome concern and created a piece of trash, causing emotional fluctuations — Gained Gwen: 1 empathy point (Playback available, read and delete)】
【Total gain for this round of behavior: 14 empathy points.】
Immediately followed by the settlement of the “Eternal Capture System” Capture Girl Illustration rewards.
Daily settlement — Every day at 6 AM and 6 PM 【Empathy level of each unlocked girl in the Eternal Capture multiplied by the total number of unlocked people = Reward points】
“Aini” is 1 heart (mutual affection), bonus 1x X number of illustrations 3 = 3 points
“Gwen” is 1 heart (mutual affection), bonus 1x X number of illustrations 3 = 3 points.
“Emma” is 2 hearts (what is love), bonus 2x X number of illustrations 3 = 6 points.
The above is the system's certification of his and the target's mutual favorability.
【Remaining available empathy points: 26】
【Host: Wang Allen】
The abilities, Skills, vocabulary, and special Skills listed below require him to learn or comprehend them to 1 proficiency point before he can strengthen them with empathy points.
【??? ??? serum (level ?): 7 / 500】
【Learning Ability (D-rank): 278 / 300】
【Hand-to-Hand Combat (D-rank): 230 / 300】
【Driving (D-rank): 295 / 300】
【Cooking (D-rank): 187 / 300】
【Jeet Kune Do (D-rank): 130 / 300】
【Music (E-rank): 167 / 200】
【Fitness (E-rank): 196 / 200】
【Painting (E-rank): 116 / 200】
【Photography (E-rank): 156 / 200】
【Computer (F-rank): 87 / 100】
【Massage (F-rank): 15 / 100】
【Yoga (F-rank): 7 / 100】
It seems the “Eternal Capture System” is quite satisfied with my versatility; so many Skills have been quantified. Although I'm not sure what these F to D ranks specifically represent in terms of strength.
In two lives, I was quite proud of my learning, combat, driving, and cooking abilities. F-rank is probably entry-level, E-rank is stronger than average, and D-rank is considered excellent.
The only glaring one is the 【??? ??? serum】.
What in the world is this thing? When did it get into my body?
I tried to ask the system with my mind, but it played dead, only prompting
Not enough permissions, please explore or upgrade yourself, host.
Alright, I have to figure it out on my own again.
I originally wanted to ask Aini why her empathy level was 2, higher than both Gwen and Aini.
I thought about it again, what exactly does Aini count as in my heart? Forget it, don't ask for trouble.
I opened the Eternal Capture Illustration and saw two pages.
On the first page, the avatars of two girls had already lit up the originally dark illustration. There were a total of eight girls' albums, the first on the left was Gwen, and the third was Aini. There was an exclamation mark on each of their albums.
In the system's illustration function, there were several prompts marked “Playback available.” My heart stirred, and I first clicked on Aini’s 3 empathy point reward regarding the letter.
The scene before my eyes instantly changed, like watching a first-person recording.
The screen froze at Aini's desk in the classroom. She pulled out two letters from her desk. One was beautifully packaged, and the envelope even carried a faint scent of perfume, clearly Papa John's handiwork, a thick stack, God knows how many sappy words he wrote.
Aini didn't even look at it, directly handing the
love letter
to Emma next to her. Emma expressionlessly took the letter, turned around, and stuffed it into a small shredder nearby. With a soft
whirr,
Papa John's feelings turned into shreds.
That's ruthless enough. Brother, I can only help you this far.
Then, Aini picked up another letter, the envelope simply bearing the three characters “Wang Allen.” She seemed to pause, instinctively looked up at my empty seat, then turned her head and quietly asked Emma something. Then, she carefully opened the envelope.
She read very slowly, very carefully. My vision (or rather, the system’s perspective) could clearly see her slightly trembling eyelashes. When she read the last few lines, she suddenly pressed the letter to her chest, her whole body slumped over the desk, her shoulders almost imperceptibly shrugging.
The camera moved silently, switching to her lower side. I could see Aini biting her lip tightly, desperately suppressing her sobs, but tears still uncooperatively slipped from the corners of her eyes, dampening the desk.
This scene tightened my heart. I understood a little, and was a little confused. At least, I could be sure that the girl I once deeply loved was not completely unaffected by me. That was enough, for now.
“That was also… an unforgettable and beautiful experience for me…”
A nearly inaudible voice came, thick with a nasal tone. If it weren't for the system's built-in sound amplification function, I wouldn't have been able to hear what she was saying at all.
After a while, Aini composed herself slightly, sat upright, and roughly wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, then handed the letter to Emma, softly instructing, “Help me keep this safe.”
Emma took the letter, her gaze sweeping over the paper, a rare, complex, almost sympathetic expression appearing on her face. She looked at Aini, and ultimately said nothing, just nodded gently, carefully folded the letter, and placed it in the interlayer of her school bag.
Playback ended.
This system is really good; all future beautiful memories can be relived anytime.
The second and third playbacks were exactly the scenes of Gwen and me on the rooftop, but the camera was mainly focused on Gwen, so I could watch this playback in the future to relive it.
Then there was the special playback. Read and destroy, only one chance.
The screen cut back to the moment I left the rooftop. Gwen had her back to me, about to bring a cigarette to her lips. She heard my superfluous concern, and her movement paused.
The next second, she snapped her head around, spitting the unlit cigarette onto the ground, as if discarding something scalding hot.
She cursed at the empty stairwell, in a voice only she could hear: “Annoying… hateful… idiot.” The voice carried a hint of annoyance, and a touch of helpless petulance.
She neatly packed up her guitar and the remaining pizza, then turned and left.
On the rooftop, only that abandoned cigarette remained, lying lonely on the concrete, like an unwanted question mark.
I closed the playback. My fingertips glided across the system interface, stopping on the second page of the illustration. Aini's avatar was lit up, occupying the first position on the left. That face carried her unique playfulness and warmth, standing out prominently among a row of still-locked dark silhouettes.
“Buzz…” My phone vibrated, interrupting my thoughts.
When using the system, time flowed as usual. The phone vibrated, the screen lit up, it was Aini's Urge text message.
“It’s been ten minutes already! Not out yet? My legs are numb…” The text was followed by a little panda lying prostrate on the ground, looking pitiful.
I quickened my pace and ran out of the school gate. I immediately spotted Aini; she was carrying a small backpack, her originally listless expression bursting with vitality the moment she saw a certain someone.