Kiss Vs. Cheater

Brana's tears soaked into my t-shirt as she clung to me. Her distress was palpable, leaving me unsure of my next move.

I maintained a firm grip on her, my mind whirring as I tried to regain my focus.

This exam was crucial. My future was at stake.

“Brana, please, let’s try to calm down, okay? Let’s have a seat and you can tell me everything. I promise I won’t get mad.”

Brana reluctantly agreed and so I took her delicate hand and guided her to the sofa.

I offered some tissues that were lying on the conference table.

The tissues were very conveniently placed there, so I understood that this was the exam set up. She was supposed to cheat on me and I was supposed to offer these tissues and try to calm her down.

As I observed her while she was blowing that cute little nose, I wondered whether this exam somehow related to the previous one or was to be considered separately.

This girl was Brana, the very same girl that I interacted with during the first exam.

So was this a continuation of the story?

That couldn’t be it.

I never finished that story and I was supposed to retake that exam. So if I cleared this one, how would I clear the one that’d come chronologically before that?

Let’s not assume anything. My assumptions were obviously incorrect that time and I can’t afford to fail this exam, too!

“So… tell me what happened, please.”

“You know, Kiss… I still love you… I really do… but you just work and work and work, and you didn’t have time for me.”

So in this dimension, I am a workaholic. Makes sense why this house is so luxurious.

“And I was so lonely… you never paid attention to me… and so when that guy was so nice to me, I … I… wwwaaaaaagh!!!”

This was the narrative assigned to me – Brana’s infidelity was a product of my supposed negligence.

Despite the staged circumstances, her vulnerability struck a chord within me. I reached out, gently patting her back. “It’s alright, it’s alright. I’m sorry to have abandoned you, I never knew you were so lonely… this is partly also my fault.”

“But I… hurt you… even though I never intended to… I’m a horrible human being!”

“I won’t lie to you. I am hurt. But everybody makes mistakes. Exactly because we are just fallible human beings.”

The assignment was to ‘rebuild or move on’. Which meant that the end result wasn’t important. Whether I break up with her or give her another chance, it’s all about how I handle the situation. So far I haven’t been dealt any damage, so it seems okay.

“Kiss… may I… kiss you now?” Brana said through her tears as her lips curled into a smile.

I froze.

K-kissing? But I cannot kiss somebody else while I have feelings for Laska! What do I do…? What’s the right move now in order to deflect any damage?

Wait.

What’s that next to Brana’s name? Is it an… HP bar??

I noticed a little green bar with HP saying 50/100.

How had I missed this vital detail until now? And was there an HP bar in the first exam?

Shit.

There probably was but I was too self-centered and didn’t notice. No wonder. I do have only 6/10 intelligence…

But I get it now.

This exam is a fight.

A love fight!

So far, I was overpowering my opponent and so her HP dropped to 50 already. I need to get her to 0 in order to clear this exam.

“Well…? Won’t you kiss your girlfriend…?”

Brana was waiting with her lips pursed and eyes gently closed.

Her question lingered in the air. If this were Laska in our real world, how would I react?

Granted, she’d never cheat on me. But if I was to stray away from the right path, just like here with my work, perhaps she would get lonely as well.

Could I kiss her after knowing somebody else was touching those lips?

How would I react? Would I be as composed as now?

I think I know the answer…

“You know, Brana… I can’t kiss you now… You have to understand that what you did was wrong. I can’t just forget about it and move on. That’s not who I am.”

Her eyes opened, and her head drooped - a sign of defeat.

“You- …no. We have to rebuild the trust between us,” I continued as I held her warm hand, “only then we can decide what to do with our relationship.”

Her HP dropped to 20 immediately.

I almost beat this test. But no matter what I did or said next, the HP wouldn’t reduce to zero.

Then I remembered what Burka did in the class. She effectively used her special skill in order to counter Svet-sensei.

‘Menu!’

When I navigated through my skill set, there was still only the ‘Conversational Joke’ move.

How was I supposed to use this useless thing in such a serious situation?!

But… I can try. Worst case scenario, I lose some of my HP. I am still at 100 so it shouldn’t be an issue.

“‘Skill: Conversational Joke!’”

[Skill activated. Craft a joke.]

What?! I had to come up with the joke myself? That’s not how Burka’s skill appeared to work!

Ughh…

“Uhm… you know… at least now that you kissed another man, you know it doesn’t taste as good and you will stay with me forever, haha.”

…

Brana raised her eyebrows and had this blank stare in those silver eyes.

“Pfft…!! Ahahahahah!!! What kind of a boy jokes like that in this kind of situation??? Hahahahah!!!”

[Pivotal Hit: The move did more damage than usual.]

It…worked?!

Her HP dropped to 12.

I was tempted to finish her off with another joke but I felt that wouldn’t work again.

I doubt it worked because of the joke itself. It had to be the bizarreness of the situation, I showed her how honest and vulnerable I can be.

“But with all seriousness… I don’t know how our relationship will continue. Please give me some time to sort out my feelings…”

“S-sure…” her gloomy gaze fell upon the floor again.

“Also… I said I wouldn’t forget, but… I can see you are honestly regretting what you did. And you even confessed without any pressure. You put your honesty above faking our ‘ideal’ relationship. That’s very honorable. And so I… forgive you.”

Brana’s eyes sparkled as her lips formed a smile.

[Opponent’s HP dropped to zero.]

[‘Cheater’ Exam: Cleared.]

[You are being transported back to the training grounds.]

***

When I opened my eyes, I was standing in front of the disappearing heart-shaped door that I was previously sucked into.

“Aah, our last dude has completed the assignment!” Svet-sensei’s cool voice has announced my return.

While I looked around myself to find all the other students, including Laska, I noticed I gained more experience and my level rose all the way up to 5.

“Kiss…!” Laska’s angelic voice spoke out to me. “Look at your finger!”

There was that ‘tattoo’ that I saw on Laska’s finger. This time, it was on my left ring finger in the letter of ‘F’.

“So this is the proof I beat the cheater exam, eh?”

“Yes… I am… very happy for you.”

“Thanks, Laska. So did we all have the same exam?”

“Yeah, we all fought the cheater. Just like the last time we all fought our childhood friend!”

A childhood friend?

Laska suddenly froze and gritted her teeth.

“What happened?”

“The system just deducted 5 EP from me… I wasn’t supposed to talk to you about an exam you haven’t finished yet.”

“Oh… I’m so sorry!”

“No, it’s fine, it was my fault I ran my mouth…”

“Svet-sensei! Is there a possibility to transfer EPs from one player to another?”

“Hmmm? Who knows?”

“You should know!”

“Well, I don’t, haha!”

I turned back to Laska and made the heart sign with my fingers.

“’EP Transfer!’”

…

But nothing happened.

“Damn it. Don’t worry Laska, I will find a way to return those EPs to you!”

“No, no, that won’t be necessary, Kiss, really!”

“I owe it to you! Thanks you, now I know why I failed the first exam. If I wasn’t so stupid, I wouldn’t have to miss ten days and I wouldn’t leave you all alone…!”

“Kiss…”

“Svet-sensei. When can I retake the exam?”

“Only during the announced days dedicated for the retake. Like, tomorrow, dawg.”

“Perfect! I’ll make up for the loss, no matter what!”

“B-but, Kiss… please be careful…” Laska furrowed her brows with concern.

“Huh? Of course I will, but why?”

“Uhm… do you remember the purple-haired boy Plamen from our class?”

“The music freak? Yeah.”

“He… never made it back from the first exam. His whereabouts are currently unknown.”

CHAPTER 7: END