Cassius awkwardlyughed while averting his gaze from the pushy beauty. "...The truth is that I saw her from afar, instantly became enamored by her appearance, and then shot my shot! Unfortunately, I was turned down… all because of mycking wealth."


    "Why not yourcking appearance!?"


    "Well, that''s naturally because I''m extraordinarily handsome. Who would find fault in my appearance…? A blind person?"


    Silence.


    Be coldly harrumphed, not believing a single word that came out of his shameless, lying mouth. "I am merely trying to watch out for you and make sure you don''t get mixed up with the wrong people, as any good coworker would do. And yet here you are lollygagging with random women in dark alleyways! What a lousy human being you are!"


    Oof…


    If there was one thing Be was good at, it was nailing stakes into Cassius''s heart and pride. Even though everything he said was supposed toe off as a joke, everything Be said was certainly her truth. Yet, knowing this only made his pain all the worse.


    [You obtained 0.7 AP for trolling {[Be]}]


    "Be…"


    "Don''t even bother with the pleasantries!" shouted Be, clearly irate. "We have the same shift tomorrow morning, so I expect to see you there bright and early! And if Ie to find that you are hanging around any more flooz— unsavory women, then I will personally visit your house and embarrass you in front of your stepmother and stepsister!"@@novelbin@@


    *Ding!*


    [You received 1.7 AP for trolling {[Be]}]


    With that, Be stormed off while stamping her feet on the hot pavement.


    ''She''s obviously annoyed about several different matters,'' thought Cassius. But little did he know that every single one of those matters was one way or another rted to him.


    After watching Be''s graceful silhouette fade into the distance, Cassius''s bitter smile morphed into something a bit more apathetic. He looked toward the east, sensing several strong surges of inter-dimensional energy sprouting up.


    It was highly possible that one of those surges was due to the appearance of the High Yellow Gate Tyrant''s Obsession. As for the other two…


    "It seems like something is rapidly changing in Japan, and perhaps the entire world," Cassiusmented inly, his voice seemingly emting hisck of concern. "I worry about several things, but what good does worrying do? Will worrying stop something from happening? Will worrying make all my problems disappear?"


    The answer was no.


    Cassius, having realized this during his further tempering by the system over thest week, once again brought himself to another pivotal character development moment. He made his choice on this particr day, with the Idle Evolution System supporting his decision enthusiastically.


    He definitely earned some character development brownie points for that decision, which may or may not lead to… increased difficulty in something system-rted?


    And for some reason, that was considered to be a good thing? Your next read awaits at empire


    Cassius momentarily wondered where exactly he had gone wrong on his path to be led so astray.


    Sometimeter.


    While Cassius took long, heavy strides toward the source of three inter-dimensional aura signatures, Lilith, who was in arm tattoo form, vibrated with greater intensity the closer they got to the first of the three signatures.


    During thest week, she managed to advance from the D++ Rank to the C- Rank with the help of hundreds of thousands of gallons of blood. However, since then, she hadn''t been able to further advance into the neutral C-Rank. And though she was close, she still needed thosest few massacres to push her over the edge.


    By the time Cassius arrived just a few hundred meters away from the massive five-story-tall High Yellow Gate, he saw the gorgeous Ste, who was currently attending to her other party members like a ve. She carried food, followed their stupid requests, and even catered to theirck of entertainment by dancing and singing, which she was proficient in.


    A few dozen meters away from the quarantined Gate area was another group of people, this timerger than before.


    Dominic enjoyed the attention he was receiving, lounging back and munching on grapes, all while watching Ste embarrass herself. He didn''t even bother to hide his lust as he traced her devastatingly beautiful curves with his lecherous eyes, wondering just how much longer it would take before she fully submitted to him. That, as well as his naturally pompous nature, was why he acted like he did around her.


    It was all to eventually get into her pants! And for it to all be her own choice!


    Scandals weren''t good, ya know? And he didn''t want any more of them. Thus, things had to be done differently this time around.


    Cassius narrowed his eyes at this sight, immediately understanding many of the underlying intents swirling around.


    ''So that is why she wears something she obviously doesn''t want to wear—ironically, it''s to wear down her will,'' he scoffed, not bothering to conceal his immense disdain for the man who was far stronger than he was.


    ''He might be part of the reason she fakes everything, but I suspect the root of the problem goes much deeper than just an arrogant man who''s had everything handed to him.''


    Cassius, tired of watching this show, slipped past them and entered the High Yellow Gate. But before fully vanishing, he left behind a mental message:


    "If you ever need help dealing with those supposed ''teammates'' of yours, then feel free to contact me. I have a very specific set of skills, and with these skills, I can solve a wide array of issues."


    Ste, although ignorant in a lot of things, knew right away what that reference was to. A small pout formed on her enchanting face, causing Cassius to softly chuckle before entering a different dimension.


    For a moment, Ste stood there and absentmindedly stared in the direction where shest felt his faint presence. That was until her teammates strung out several more demands, forcing her to bend to their will. Yet, even as she ran all over the ce like an overworked pack mule, her mind always seemed to trace back to the mysterious hooded man.


    She became increasingly curious about his appearance, wondering if he was as handsome as he sounded…


    ...