Carl watched as Alex perused the contracts and documents of his artist. If he didn't know this person, he would've been pissed with his half-assed attitude.
"If you really hate it, why don't you complain and refuse like what you've always been doing."
A mysterious look flashed past Alex's eyes.
"How can I pass up the opportunity of managing Brother Carl's treasure? With her looks and abilities, it wouldn't be a loss for me for sure," he playfully said.
If not for the lazy look he had, Carl would have almost believed it. He internally rolled his eyes.
"You're i-don't-give-a-f**k face betrayed your sweet mouth."
Alex shrugged in response. He, obviously, wasn't keen on divulging his reasons. And Carl wasn't also too nosy to pry information out of him. He respected his choice.
They discussed all the relevant materials. Carl stood up to leave and took his coat that he had left on the armchair.
He walked toward Alex and placed a hand on his shoulders. "Please take care of Lilian."
That enthusiastic and honest kid has been under his wing for a couple of years. He felt like a father entrusting his daughter to her husband. He was reluctant—bitterly reluctant.
Alex was aware of how Carl valued Lilian.
He raised his head and stared at him straight in the eyes. Alex wanted him to see his resolve. He promised. "Leave her to me."
He chose this. Of course he needed to take responsibility.
Carl was relieved by his reassuring words and laughed. "Good, good. As always, you never disappoint."
He was worried that Lilian would be wronged. He trusted Alex, but his fatherly affection couldn't sit still when he knew that this man in front of him was notorious for rejecting other artists. Maybe in the place where he couldn't see, Lilian would suffer.
But with Alex giving his word, he could now rest his worries.
He was just three years older than Alex, but managing Lilian made him feel more mature than his age. Heh, should he now start worrying about his hair turning gray?
***
Alex was left alone. He put down the papers he had been holding and stretched his arms up. The stiffness slowly subsided. After a long day of work, he could now take a breather.
He wasn't in a hurry to go home as he hummed softly and swiveled in his chair a couple of times.
Under a dim light in the spacious room, an upbeat tone could be heard from the man. His eyes were closed, and his mouth was shut. He was lost in his thoughts; no one knew what he was thinking. The only hint was the sorrowful smile that didn't fit him at all.
***
The sunlight fell upon Irene's cheek.
Sleeping for over eight hours invigorated her. She stared dazedly at the white ceiling and released a long sigh.
"I'll save you." Irene smiled.
She had already come to terms with everything during the couple of minutes that she was awake. At present, she was ready to feed her rumbling stomach.
Before she could lift herself up, the mechanical sound reappeared.
Her temple twitched. She was getting ticked off by the system's way of communicating.
[Good morning, host. I see that you've totally assimilated.]
Irene had guessed that she would have to find ways to talk to this system again; she didn't expect that it would contact her by itself this soon, especially after leaving her like that yesterday.
A little irritated, she responded, "What do I have to do?"
The system had previously given her information regarding the protagonist and the male lead of this world. She had seen Lilian. What was left was the male lead. Aside from those two, no other character was mentioned.
According to the monotonous voice of the system, [They're irrelevant.]
If this system had a physical body, Irene would surely punch it squarely in the face.
002: [I'll be now integrating myself to you.]
In the next moment, a sharp pain stabbed Irene's temple, spreading throughout her head. The excruciating pain made her curl up in a ball, trembling.
A few minutes later, it didn't hurt as much anymore and Irene was left with a game-like panel occupying her mind.
002: [Integration complete.]
What a heartless robot. It didn't even wait for the sudden sting to settle before it spoke further. [Do your tasks perfectly and you'll have your sister back.] Its voice was like a blaring megaphone, prolonging her pain.
Irene gritted her teeth.
"I assure you, you're doing a stellar job. You'll get that employee of the month with no problem at all," she sarcastically stated, full of indignation. She knew it was a system, but couldn't it be more sympathetic to her? Just look at her situation!
Not to disappoint, the system kept quiet.
002: [...]
It was still early in the morning, and Irene was unwilling to let her blood pressure go through the roof. She took deep breaths. Inhale. Exhale. Once she tempered down. She coolly stated, "That's it?"
002: [Yes.]
For Irene, this type of mission was comparable to acting, though longer. A couple of months or maybe years of non-stop filming. Perhaps this would become her magnum opus.
Not an hour into the conversation, Irene had found another thing she disliked about the system. She begrudgingly determined that this system was way too casual, far from the ones she'd read before. She needed clarification. It was too vague.
She narrowed her eyes and said, "Do I have to do something specific to accomplish the tasks?"
[As long as the main purpose is achieved, your completion rate will naturally grow. The cause doesn't matter. But of course, once something needs to be explicitly done, a prompt will turn up.]
Irene was relieved to hear that she had the freedom to make choices about how she could approach the situations. She expected the latter part of its explanation, so she didn't bother with that. She continued, "And how would I know my progress?"
[In front of you is your progress bar, and it will appear and disappear on the upper right side of your field of vision when you picture it.]
Irene listened and practiced. She pictured the progress bar disappearing. True to its words, it was gone. Still, she was worried something might get out of hand later.
These handfuls of interactions she had with it proved that she must not place her trust in this lousy system, appearing whenever it wanted. Or else she would be driven mad by it even before maxing out the bar. So she spoke further. "How can I contact you?"
It would be a nightmare if she couldn't reach the system when she needed to. The status quo had to change.
The system was silent for a few seconds, then it monotonously said, [I am already a part of you. You can just call my name.]
"You do know that Villainess System 002 is a handful to say, right? How about just 002 (two)?"
"Sure." It didn't care.
Irene was glad that she wouldn't become a headless chicken in the days that followed.
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