The city's night air was warm, laden with that urban scent of asphalt and street food that always signaled the beginning of something.
Tyler walked with his hands in his pockets and his mind revolving around the digital card he had received.
Urban Storage Locker (C).
A storage locker somewhere in the city.
The normal thing would be to treat it as a curiosity... but nothing in his life had been normal since the System appeared.
He stopped at an intersection, watching the crowd flow.
He noticed glances. Several. Too many.
A couple of girls passed by, whispering that he was "handsome up close."
A woman in a suit looked at him twice.
Even an influencer he vaguely recognized from TikTok smiled at him brazenly.
Tyler touched his face, confused.
"Did my face get leveled up without a warning?"
As if the System had been listening, a digital sound emerged:
$$Passive Status Activated: "**Aura of Attractiveness Level 1**"$$
Effect: First impressions improve significantly.
Duration: Permanent.
"Okay... this is officially illegal," he muttered with a half-smile.
He continued walking toward the commercial district when a notification popped up.
$$Compatible Presence Detected: **High Affinity**$$
The arrow appeared on his digital map, pointing him toward a side alley.
"High affinity? With whom?" he whispered.
He had no intention of going into an alley late at night.
But his curiosity overcame even his common sense, so he peered around the corner.
And there she was.
A girl kneeling beside a fallen motorcycle, desperately trying to gather scattered tools.
She wore dark pants, a cropped jacket, work gloves, and her blonde hair tied up in a high ponytail.
Pretty.
Pretty in a dangerous way.
She looked up, surprised.
"You again?"
Tyler blinked.
It was Mira, the mechanic girl from the technical campus, famous for her sharp tongue and her ability to dismantle engines as if they were toys.
"Me again?" he asked with a smile. "I didn't know I already had a reputation."
"We saw each other a few days ago at the campus festival," she replied, trying to lift the motorcycle. "I didn't think I'd run into you again."
Tyler approached without thinking.
"Let me help you."
"I don't need— Ah!"
The bike slipped out of her fingers again.
Tyler simply held it up with one hand.
She stared at him as if he had performed magic.
"How...? You're stronger than you look."
"Emotional... exercise," he replied.
She let out a sincere, clean laugh that brightened her face.
"Thanks. Really."
The System vibrated.
$$Successful Interaction$$
Mira's Initial Affinity: 72/100
Assessment: Very high.
Possible Destiny: "Romantic Partner Branch – Level A" unlocked.
Tyler froze.
"Seventy-two... right off the bat?"
Mira observed him.
"What's wrong? You're red."
"Nothing," he said, coughing to cover his embarrassment.
"Well... do I owe you one?" she asked, leaning toward him slightly without realizing it.
The system didn't even let him breathe.
$$New Special Mission$$
"Intertwined Destiny: Mira"
Objective: Escort her to her workshop and help her with the urgent repair.
Reward:
$3,000
Rarity B Item
+15 additional affinity
Difficulty: Medium
Tyler swallowed.
"Is your workshop close?"
"Yeah. Ten minutes away," she replied with a smile she hadn't shown before. "If you walk with me... I'll buy you something. I don't accept free favors."
"I can't complain," he replied.
As they walked together pushing the motorcycle, the city seemed brighter than usual.
Or perhaps it was simply him, beginning to understand something important:
His life was no longer moving at normal rhythms.
Things were starting to escalate... fast.
Faster than any reasonable person would accept.
And he didn't yet know if he should be afraid... or excited.
Maybe both.
What he did know was that every step led him further away from his old life.
And closer to something that was just beginning.