Level Up Love Life System

Chapter 5: Employment Contract and New Rules

"Close off the eastern sector corridor access immediately!" Felisa barked her command. She didn't waste a single second to respond to Saddam's teasing. Her silver armor clattered against the floor as she sprinted toward the armory. Saddam nearly stumbled as he was forced to run, trying to keep up with Felisa's long, rapid strides. The base atmosphere, which had been cold and rigid, turned into total chaos. Soldiers were running with mana weapons drawn. The sound of explosions echoed from the direction of the castle gardens.

Saddam almost lost his balance at the corridor's turn. He grabbed the sleeve of Felisa's uniform to steady himself. Felisa stopped abruptly and turned with a sharp glare. Saddam's heart hammered from the sensation that suddenly surged in his brain. It was a system signal detecting a high stress spike from Felisa.

"Get your hands off my uniform unless you want to lose that arm," Felisa hissed. However, she didn't push Saddam's hand away roughly. She allowed the grip to remain for a moment before she darted off again.

"Captain, my system is telling me there's a larger dimensional rift in the main hall. It's not just a low-level Rift!" Saddam shouted while forcing his thin legs to match the Captain's pace.

Felisa slowed down slightly. She looked back while continuing to run. "How can you know it's not a low-level Rift? You haven't even seen the monster's form yet!"

"I can feel it through the heat in the air! This is different from the one in the alley earlier!" Saddam lied smoothly. His system was currently racing his brain to provide the most logical tactical data so he wouldn't fall victim to the monster's ferocity.

They arrived at the main hall of the castle, which was already in ruins. The beautiful marble floor was now shattered into pieces. The high castle ceiling was covered by a thick purple mist. From there, several creatures resembling giant spiders with crystal-plated shells descended with terrifying movements. General Hanz was already there with his troops. He looked overwhelmed, holding back the onslaught of those monsters with his mana shield.

"Felisa! Focus on the west! There's a more stable portal there!" Hanz shouted amidst the sound of the monsters' roars.

Felisa leaped into the center of the battlefield. She swung her ice sword gracefully. Each slash produced a lethal blue line that froze the giant spiders' legs until they shattered into fragments. Saddam stayed at the side of the corridor because he had no significant physical combat abilities. He could only observe from a distance.

[System Warning: Synchronization distance is too far. Absolute shield effect will thin out. The user must immediately approach the target to maintain synchronization.]

"Dammit! I'll die if I just stand here!" Saddam ran toward the combat area. He slid past the ruins of burning wooden tables and chairs. He saw a stone column about to collapse onto Felisa, who was distracted while facing another spider attack from behind.

"Felisa, look out!" Saddam screamed. He lunged forward without a thought for his own safety. He shoved Felisa until she fell onto the cold marble floor. Saddam landed right on top of Felisa's body.

The incident felt like slow motion. Felisa's blue eyes widened in shock. She could feel Saddam's warm breath in front of her face. Saddam's hand accidentally landed on Felisa's waist, which was slim and hard due to the tactical armor. An electric sensation surged between the two of them. It wasn't just ordinary physical contact. The system inside Saddam blared loudly as if exploding with joy.

[Synchronization increased to 2 percent. Target emotional reaction detected: Highly Intimate.]

Felisa seemed lost for words. Her face, which was usually cold as eternal snow, slowly turned a deep crimson. She didn't push Saddam away. She only stared into Saddam's eyes with ragged breath. The atmosphere around them seemed to stop. The sounds of the monsters and the shouts of the soldiers felt faint to them.

"You..." Felisa started her sentence with a trembling tone. "You truly have no manners at all."

"I saved your life, Captain," Saddam answered, still panting for breath. He was still holding his body over Felisa's. Their position was both humiliating and extremely intimate. Saddam could feel Felisa's irregular heartbeat from behind her armor plating. His tactical empathy skill told him that Felisa was in a state of stress combined with a very confusing sense of arousal.

"Enough!" Felisa finally pushed Saddam away with her subtle yet powerful mana. She immediately stood up and grabbed her sword lying on the floor. She didn't look at Saddam. She simply walked with slightly unsteady steps toward the front lines of the monsters.

Saddam quickly got up and brushed the dust off his clothes. He felt that he had just made a big mistake but also a major step in his mission to survive. General Hanz stared at them with a confused and slightly angry look. He didn't know what had just happened on the hall floor, but he could see that his top Captain was not in a stable mental state.

"Felisa! What are you doing? Focus on the target!" Hanz snapped.

Felisa didn't answer. She bolted to attack the giant spiders with a rage greater than before. Each slash of her sword was now accompanied by a blast of cold wind that froze the entire room. Saddam watched from the sidelines. He knew that Felisa was trying to hide her embarrassment by taking it out on the monsters.

Saddam was then summoned by General Hanz after the battle subsided. Several parts of the castle were completely destroyed. Hanz looked exhausted. He sat on a stone chair that was still intact in the middle of the hall. Saddam stood before him with his head bowed, trying to appear obedient.

"You're truly strange, Saddam," Hanz began the conversation while wiping grime from his eyepatch. "Your ability to provide tactical instructions is real. You saved Felisa, albeit in a very dishonorable way."

"I only did what needed to be done, General," Saddam answered calmly.

"Starting today," Hanz continued while staring at Saddam with his sharp, single eye, "I won't put you in a cell. You will stay in the dormitory barracks near Captain Felisa's office. You will start undergoing military physical training tomorrow morning at five. If you fail, I will personally handle your transfer to the mana waste disposal unit."

Saddam swallowed hard. Military training for a man with a physical condition like his? That was equivalent to a slow death sentence. However, he had no choice.

"Understood, General," Saddam replied with a voice as cold as possible to hide his dread.

"One more thing," Hanz stood up and patted Saddam's shoulder so hard it made him stagger. "Don't ever make Captain Felisa lose her concentration again with your ridiculous actions. She is this division's most important asset. Don't let any romantic or stupid things interfere with her duties."

Saddam only nodded obediently. But deep inside his brain, the system screen flashed again with a new mission that made his stomach churn.

[New Mission: Gain Captain Felisa's trust. Reward: Physical stat increase +2. Failure: Permanent stamina stat decrease by 10 percent.]

Saddam looked toward Felisa, who was walking away toward her office. The woman looked very beautiful yet also very dangerous from behind.

She walked with an air of arrogance, yet every step betrayed a fragility she kept neatly hidden. Saddam knew he had to get close to her again, by any means necessary.

The next morning, at exactly five o'clock, Saddam was already standing on the vast training grounds of the base. The air was frigid, typical of the Munich mountains in the early hours. Felisa was already there, standing with her arms crossed over her chest. She stared at Saddam with cold blue eyes.

"You're three seconds late," Felisa's voice cut through the silence of the field.

"I apologize, Captain. The alarm clock in my dorm is broken," Saddam offered as an excuse.

"Excuses won't help you on the battlefield," Felisa said, walking closer. She wore a tight military training outfit that accentuated her athletic and lethal physique. She pointed toward a pile of metal weights in the corner of the field. "Run ten laps around the base with that load on your back. If you don't finish within twenty minutes, you won't be getting lunch."

Saddam stared at the pile of iron in horror. It weighed at least fifty kilograms. He tried to lift it, and his arm muscles immediately began to tremble violently. He could barely stand upright once he had hoisted it onto his shoulders.

Felisa watched him with a look of disdain. "Are you really that weak? The delivery couriers in this city truly are pampered."

Saddam didn't answer. He began to run with a staggering gait. Felisa kept her eyes on him, tracking every heartbeat and breathing rhythm through her own sensory abilities. Saddam could feel Felisa's piercing gaze. He kept running even though his lungs felt like they were on fire.

At the end of the fifth lap, Saddam nearly collapsed. He was completely drained of energy. The system within his brain issued another warning.

[Warning: Stamina below 5 percent. Activate synchronization mode to restore stamina?]

"No, I'll try to do it myself," Saddam thought. He didn't want to constantly depend on the system, even though he knew it was the only reason he could still remain standing at this moment.

He kept running until the tenth lap. When he reached the finish line, he dropped the weight onto the ground with a loud thud and immediately collapsed onto the grass. Felisa stood over him, looking him up and down.

"Not bad for an undernourished courier," Felisa said flatly. She then tossed a water bottle toward Saddam. Saddam caught it with trembling hands. "Tomorrow, increase the weight."

Saddam couldn't say a word. He could only gulp down the water greedily. Felisa then turned to leave, but she paused for a moment and looked back.

"Oh, and one more thing," Felisa said in a lower voice. "Tomorrow morning, I want a glass of herbal tea from the shop near the town square. The correct temperature is sixty-five degrees. Don't get it wrong."

Saddam was stunned. Tea? Sixty-five degrees? Was this another crazy mission from the system, or was Felisa actually trying to torture him with an illogical request? He watched Felisa as she walked away. The system screen suddenly appeared before his eyes.

[Daily Quest: Serve the target's favorite herbal tea at exactly 65 degrees within 24 hours. Reward: Agility +2 and unlock new skill slot.]

Saddam stared at the screen in frustration. How was he supposed to serve tea to a captain who wouldn't even deign to breathe in the same room as him without making her suspicious? He was truly trapped in a complicated game.

That night, Saddam went to the base kitchen. He asked the military chef about Felisa's favorite tea. He learned that Felisa only drank Schwarzwald herbal tea without sugar. Saddam spent the rest of the night trying to brew the tea using a digital thermometer he had pilfered from the medical room.

He had to get the temperature exactly right. Sixty-five degrees. No more, no less. Every time the temperature was off, he threw the tea out and brewed it again. He kept doing it until dawn broke. His hands were blistered from the hot water, but he didn't care. He had to complete this quest to get the agility points he needed to survive.

As the sun began to rise, he finally succeeded. He poured the tea into a thermal cup that could keep the temperature stable. He walked toward Felisa's office with his heart pounding. He knew the risks were high. If Felisa got angry, he might not get training tomorrow, but rather a death sentence.

He knocked on Felisa's office door hesitantly. There was no answer. He knocked once more. Still no sound. Finally, he opened the door slowly. The office was empty. Felisa might be in a meeting room or on the training field. Saddam placed the cup on Felisa's tidy desk.

He was just about to turn around when the office door swung open forcefully. Felisa walked in, looking exhausted and full of rage. She stared at Saddam, who was standing near her desk, with a sharp gaze.

"What are you doing here?" Felisa asked coldly.

Saddam didn't answer. He simply pointed to the cup on the desk. "I... I just wanted to give you this, Captain. The herbal tea you asked for."

Felisa looked at the cup suspiciously. She stepped closer, opened the lid, and caught the aroma. She looked surprised. She then took a small thermometer from her desk drawer and checked the temperature. Sixty-five degrees. Exactly.

Felisa looked at Saddam with an expression that was difficult to read. She didn't look angry, but she didn't look happy either. She slowly drank the tea. Her cold facial expression gradually softened as the warm liquid coated her throat. She could feel an incredible calming effect on her mana circulation.

"How did you know I liked this temperature?" Felisa asked in a very quiet voice.

"I just guessed, Captain," Saddam answered as politely as possible. "And I wanted to make sure you got the best after an exhausting training session."

Felisa fell silent. She finished the tea in a few gulps. When she placed the empty cup back on the desk, she looked at Saddam with a gaze that now felt different. There was something deeper in those blue eyes, something that made Saddam's heart race.

"You really are strange," Felisa whispered. "And I don't know whether I should hate you or let you stay near me."

Saddam didn't answer. He knew this was the beginning of something big. Before Felisa could say anything else, an alarm louder than usual blared throughout the castle. The lights in Felisa's office flashed bright red.

"Class C Rift detected in the center of the Maximilianstraße high-end shopping district!" a soldier shouted frantically from outside the door.

Felisa immediately grabbed her ice sword from the wall. She no longer cared about the tea or interrogating Saddam. She bolted out the door at a speed that was impossible for an ordinary human. Saddam had no choice but to follow. He knew that if he wasn't there when Felisa fought, their synchronization would break, and he would lose the chance to level up.

They ran toward the castle gate where a tactical vehicle was already waiting. Saddam jumped into the vehicle just before the engine roared to life. Felisa was already sitting there with a very serious expression, staring ahead with a gaze locked on the threat waiting for them in the city center.

The vehicle sped through the base gates. Along the way, Saddam could see civilians running in fear under the pouring rain.

The sky above Maximilianstraße was now shrouded by swirling dark clouds, creating a terrifying sight. A massive dimensional rift had opened in the middle of the main thoroughfare.

"This isn't just some ordinary monster!" Felisa shouted over the roar of vehicle engines. "This is a medium-scale invasion gate!"

Saddam stared at his system screen, which was now flashing red with a barrage of danger notifications. He knew the battle ahead would be far tougher than anything he had faced before. At the same time, he felt that he had to do something incredibly reckless if they were going to survive.

Their tactical vehicle came to a halt right in front of a completely demolished shopping mall. Stone gargoyle-like monsters with wide wings began to fly down from the tall buildings surrounding them. There were dozens of them. Felisa leaped out of the vehicle, her sword already poised to strike.

"Stay behind me, Saddam! Don't make me regret bringing you along!" Felisa shouted as she charged into the thick of the battle.

Saddam jumped out with a profound sense of uncertainty. He was in the middle of an actual battlefield, weaponless, armed only with a crazy system that demanded he keep interacting with the woman currently fighting for her life in front of him. As he looked toward the building next to him, he saw an elegant woman in a black dress standing on the rooftop with a truly sinister smile. Zara, the Succubus, was staring at them both with a gaze full of malevolent intent.

Zara waved her hand toward Saddam, and a dark shadow shot rapidly toward his position. Saddam felt an overwhelming sense of danger. He tried to run, but the shadow was faster. Before he could even scream, the ground beneath him cracked and crumbled, swallowing him into the thick darkness. Felisa, who was busy cutting down gargoyles in the middle of the street, turned around with a look of shock when she saw Saddam's now-empty spot.

"Saddam!" Felisa screamed, her voice thick with anxiety. But she couldn't get close, as more stone gargoyles began to descend from the sky to surround her.

Saddam slumped in a dark, damp basement. He felt incredibly dizzy and was in pain. He tried to call out to the system, but there was only darkness around him. He heard very soft footsteps approaching. Someone was walking through the gloom.

"Welcome, you poor little courier," a deeply alluring female voice whispered right in his ear. "I've been waiting for this moment to meet you and that cute little system of yours."

Saddam tried to stand up, but his body felt incredibly weak. He could see the figure of a woman in a black dress with small, shimmering horns in the darkness. Zara. The Succubus stood before him with a gaze that made Saddam feel like prey that had walked straight into a trap.

"Who are you?" Saddam asked, his voice trembling.

Zara leaned in and touched Saddam's chin with her long, sharp nails. "I am the one who will help you get what you want. But of course, there is a price. Do you dare pay that price just to stay by the side of that arrogant Valkyrie?"

Saddam swallowed hard. He knew this was the start of a true catastrophe, but he had no way out. Above him, he could hear the sound of Felisa's sword repeatedly clashing against monsters. He had to get out of here immediately, no matter what it took. He looked up at Zara with a gaze now filled with reckless courage.

"Tell me what you want," Saddam answered firmly.

Zara smiled—a smile that was breathtakingly beautiful yet deadly. She whispered something that sent chills through Saddam's entire body. Something about Felisa's mana core, something no one had ever known before. And just as she finished whispering the secret, the basement wall suddenly exploded from a powerful attack from above. Dust and debris filled the room, and through the haze, Felisa appeared with her glowing ice sword, though she didn't see Saddam. She stared with eyes full of rage at Zara, who was beginning to vanish into the shadows.

"Who are you!" Felisa screamed, her sword ready to strike, but Zara had already vanished.

Saddam struggled to stand behind the rubble, trying to get Felisa's attention, but before he could make a sound, a massive stone collapsed from the ceiling right toward him. Felisa saw it happen, but she was too far away to help. She could only scream with a tone of pure terror, a sound she had never shown before.

"Saddam! Get out of the way!"

The stone slammed into the floor exactly where Saddam was standing, kicking up an incredibly thick cloud of dust throughout the hall. Felisa froze, staring at the plume of dust with bated breath, waiting to see if Saddam was still alive or buried forever beneath the ruins.