Daily Love Roulette System

4 - The Dinner Nightmare

The alleyway air tasted like damp concrete and ozone. Fajar let out a long, shuddering breath, his hand still tingling where Anya’s fingers had been.

"You realize that move with Dika basically turned us into campus legends," Anya said, her voice sharp.

"Legends? Or laughingstocks? There’s a very thin line," Fajar replied, wiping sweat from his forehead.

"Same thing in this place. Keep up, Fajar."

"Keep up? My internal GPS is currently fried."

She tapped her phone screen, and his own device chimed with a harsh, metallic buzz.

[ MANDATORY QUEST INITIATED ]

[ OBJECTIVE: Take Marcus ‘The Hammer’ Vane to dinner at ‘The Golden Sprout.’ ]

[ TIME REMAINING: 02:00:00 ]

[ PENALTY: Total deletion of your cloud storage. ]

Fajar stared at the screen, his face turning an ashen shade of gray. "You have to be kidding me. Marcus Vane? The guy who spent all of freshman year trying to get me expelled for 'breathing too loudly' in the library?"

Anya glanced at the prompt, her expression darkening. "Vane? The lead of the debate team? He’s a shark, Fajar. Why would the system want you to feed a shark?"

"I don't know, maybe because I'm the bait?" Fajar groaned, sliding down the wall. "I can't do this. I'd rather eat my own shoes."

"Check the fine print," she said, nudging him with her boot.

"‘Build bridges or face the digital abyss.’ It’s a literal hostage situation."

"Then you’re going to dinner. And you’re going to be charming."

The Golden Sprout was the kind of restaurant where the salads cost more than Fajar’s monthly grocery budget. Marcus Vane sat at a corner booth, looking like he’d been pressed by an iron. When he saw Fajar, his eyes narrowed into slits of pure, unadulterated judgment.

"Fajar. I assume you’re here to apologize for the acoustics incident in the study hall three years ago?" Marcus said, his tone icy.

Fajar slid into the booth, his heart rate monitor, an invisible, annoying tick in his brain, spiking. "Actually, I’m here because I want to, uh, reconcile. Buy you a meal. Maybe talk about… things."

Marcus leaned back, arms crossed. "Things? You’re acting erratic. Is this some pathetic attempt at a hazing ritual?"

"No! No hazing. Just, you know, personal growth," Fajar stammered, frantically waving for a waiter.

"Personal growth doesn't happen at a bistro with a guy who once tried to microwave a sandwich in a computer lab," Marcus countered.

"That was one time! And I was hungry!"

"You were a menace. Why are you staring at your reflection in your water glass? Is there a hidden camera?"

"I’m just... observing the structural integrity of the ice," Fajar muttered.

[ SYSTEM ALERT: 75% OF CONVERSATION REMAINING. TOPIC: ACADEMIC ADMIRATION. ]

"Look, Marcus, I’ve been thinking," Fajar forced out, his voice cracking. "Your... your debate skills. They're, uh, very aggressive. In a good way. Like a tiger. A very well-dressed tiger."

Marcus blinked, genuinely stunned. "Are you drunk?"

"I’m sober as a judge. I just really respect how you, uh, destroy people’s arguments. It’s an art form."

"You’re mocking me. You’re definitely mocking me."

"I’m not! I’m complimenting your verbal carnage!"

"Verbal carnage?" Marcus sighed, rubbing his temples. "Fajar, you’re making me uncomfortable. If this is about the departmental recommendation, I’m still not signing it."

"It’s not about the recommendation! It’s about... friendship? Can we be friends?"

"I would rather staple my hand to this table."

"See! That’s the kind of commitment I admire!"

A shadow fell over the table. Fajar looked up, and his blood went cold. Anya was standing there, her eyes darting between Fajar’s sweaty, terrified face and the confusion on Marcus’s.

"Anya?" Marcus asked, straightening his tie instantly. "What are you doing here?"

Anya didn't look at Marcus. She kept her gaze fixed on Fajar, her expression unreadable. "I heard Fajar was taking a special guest out to dinner. I didn't realize the 'special guest' was the man who once filed a formal grievance against his own roommate for the crime of breathing."

Fajar gulped. "Anya, wait, it’s not…"

"Not what?" Anya interrupted, her voice dangerously smooth. "A dinner date? A strategy session for your 'cosmic connection'?"

"It’s a mission!" Fajar whispered, leaning across the table. "A literal, system-mandated nightmare!"

Marcus looked between them, his eyes widening. "Wait. You two? Are you... are you seeing each other?"

Anya leaned over, placing a hand firmly on Fajar’s shoulder. Her grip was tight, almost painful. "Let’s just say we’ve been spending a lot of time together lately. Isn't that right, Fajar?"

Fajar looked at the blue screen pulsating in the air behind Anya’s head.

[ SYSTEM ALERT: MAINTAIN THE FRONT. DO NOT DISCLOSE THE SYSTEM. ]

"Yeah," Fajar wheezed. "A lot of... quality time."

Marcus stood up, his face turning a shade of purple that matched the decor. "This is repulsive. I don't know what kind of sick game you two are playing, but keep me out of it."

"Marcus, wait! We haven't even ordered the appetizers!" Fajar shouted, but the man was already halfway to the door.

[ QUEST STATUS: FAILED. ]

[ PENALTY INITIATED: SYNCHRONIZING CLOUD DELETION... ]

"No! No, no, no!" Fajar grabbed his phone, frantically tapping the screen.

Anya grabbed his wrist, her eyes flashing. "Forget the phone, Fajar. Why were you at dinner with him?"

"It was a mission! If I didn't do it, I lose everything! My photos, my notes, my... my backup of my life!"

"You put yourself through that torture for a cloud backup?" She shook her head, though her grip on his wrist relaxed.

"I didn't have a choice! The System is a tyrant!"

Anya pulled him toward the exit, ignoring the confused stares of the diners. Once they were out in the cool evening air, she pushed him into the shadows of a nearby hedge.

"You’re an idiot," she whispered, her voice surprisingly soft.

"I’m a surviving idiot," Fajar corrected, catching his breath. "Why are you actually here, Anya? Did you follow me?"

She looked away, her cheeks faintly flushed. "I... I saw your location ping on the network. I thought you might get yourself into trouble."

"You were worried?"

"I was monitoring a variable," she said, regaining her composure. "Don't flatter yourself."

"You were worried," he insisted, a small, genuine smile breaking through his terror.

"Shut up," she said, but she didn't move away. "Let's go. We have a lot of work to do if we’re going to hack the server that thinks we’re a couple."

As they walked, Fajar reached out, tentatively brushing his fingers against hers. This time, she didn't pull away. She interlaced her fingers with his.

"Does this count as part of the act?" he whispered.

Anya looked at their joined hands, then up at him, her eyes softening in the dim streetlight. "Maybe it stopped being an act twenty minutes ago."

Before Fajar could process the weight of those words, his phone let out a sound like a distorted siren.

[ NEW MANDATORY QUEST: THE SYSTEM IS EVOLVING. ]

[ OBJECTIVE: Kiss the Architect before the clock strikes midnight. ]

[ PENALTY: SYSTEM OVERRIDE. PERMANENT RESET OF ALL USER MEMORIES. ]

Fajar froze, his heart slamming against his ribs. "Anya... we have a problem."