Love Addict's RPG Ch. 44

This one took a while. Went a bit off rails and also I didn't feel very good yesterday, but here it is. Let me know what you guys think, it's a pretty important one.

---

There were no miraculous run-ins with the mysterious Zoe on Oliver's way out the door once he changed back into the other pair of pants from his inventory. He left the building, stretching out and breathing in the evening air after walking out the front door. The sun had long since set, the salty sea breeze was brisk, and everything was perfect.

Oliver felt like the protagonist of one of those old-timey musicals with all the show tunes, dapper fellows, and good-time boys. If Mia had left him any happier, he would've been tap dancing to his car. There was so much to be joyful about that it was all he could do to sigh in utter bliss.

All in the span of a single day, Oliver got his first girlfriend, went on his first date, had his first kiss, and then he and his girlfriend ground the shit out of each other's pelvises until that reached its natural conclusion. Truly, he was living the 'fuck you, I've got mine' lifestyle like nobody else's business.

So this is what it's like to be a normie... Oliver observed. I hate to say it, but I was right to be jealous of all the world's Chads. This kicks fucking ass.

If only he could've stuck around longer and helped out some more.

Now that he was further removed from the situation, Oliver felt sorry for Mia. Living with that high of a libido had to have been torturous. He was still horny, too, but she must've had it a thousand times worse. Oliver looked forward to making himself useful in that regard, and not just because it meant he'd get to feel good. It was more that he'd do anything if it would help make his little kitten's life-

Nope, okay- getting a little out of hand here. Internally referring to Mia as 'my kitten' is a bit much. I mean, sure, she seemed into it, but... Oliver sighed and looked at the nearly starless sky above him. God, being happy feels fucking weird...

He had no idea how he was supposed to get used to this, but Oliver guessed he'd find out.

In the meantime, it was time to head home. Oliver planned to fast travel back to his apartment, text Bradley a bit to let him know how things went, and then see how many times he could jack off back to back while thinking about his girlfriend. Maybe he would poke around his skill menu if he remembered, too. He had tons of LP to burn, but he was tired, and after the tense sexual situation he just got through, he was pretty sure his head wouldn't be in the game.

Oliver crossed the parking lot and approached his car. He heard footsteps coming from behind him but didn't think anything of it until the footsteps became closer and louder. The dull, vaguely coastal-sounding BGM music of Vista Venus at night suddenly stopped, replaced by something that sounded like an old Mexican standoff song out of a culturally outdated cowboy movie, desolate and lonely.

Alerted to the danger, Oliver thought to rush to his car. All he had to do was open the door, and his fast travel menu would appear. He didn't make it more than a few steps until a muscular arm covered in tattoos of naked... skull ladies, apparently... swung around his neck and clasped his left shoulder.

"Hey, hey! Slow down there, hermanito!" The stranger said in a Spanish accent. "What's the rush?"

Terrified, Oliver looked over his shoulder. Standing behind him was a tall, muscular Mexican man, likely in his late twenties. The man had familiar blue eyes, a big, white smile, a face covered in scars, and a shaved head. He wore a tight-fitting white tank top, baggy jeans, and a striking black eyepatch covering his left eye, an embroidered skull design dead at its center. A golden chain dangled from his neck, reflecting under the parking lot's dim streetlights.

And to think his eternal backing track was almost helpful. Oliver could've made it to his car in time to escape if it had kicked in a little faster, but alas. He was really starting to regret having used up all his luck on crane games, coin flips, and blackjack right about now.

"Look, man, I don't have any cash on me but-"

"Not being robbed, ese," another man with a slightly deeper voice and identical accent spoke up a few feet to Oliver's left.

The guy behind him laughed like a hyena straight into Oliver's eardrum, the prick. "Of course that's the gringo's first conclusion, though. Am I right?"

"Just want to talk," the second man continued, ignoring the first.

Oliver glanced in the voice's direction and saw an almost perfect mirror reflection of the man behind him. Same face, same shaved head, same outfit, even the same necklace. The differences between the two were few but noticeable. The second man had a dull, expressionless look on his face. His scars were in different places, he had no visible tattoos, and while there wasn't an eyepatch, he did have a cast on his left hand.

A lightbulb lit up over his head, but deducing the identities of Tweedles Dee and Dumb they were didn't do much to lessen the tension. He turned to face them as the second man closed the distance.

"You didn't have to ambush me outside Mia's apartment if you wanted to talk to me. Does she even know you guys were out here? Something tells me she wouldn't be thrilled with you if she found out."

"Hear that, Julio?" Asked the eyepatched man with a thing for skull-faced naked ladies, cracking his neck and then his knuckles. "The pasty basement dweller thinks he knows our little hermana better than we do!" Another round of hyena laughter, then he playfully punched Oliver in the bicep.

"Stop being a shithead, Juan," Julio slapped his twin upside the head, and it was anything but playful. Juan responded by shoving his brother and breaking out into a flurry of Spanish, but Julio didn't acknowledge a word of it, his eyes still locked on Oliver. "You heading home?"

"...Yeah," Oliver met the man's gaze. The family resemblance was shocking, especially with Julio. He had the same tired expression and sleepy eyes as Mia. "Why?"

"You deaf?" Juan rubbed his injured head and walked past Oliver, opening the passenger side door, which Oliver could've sworn he'd locked. "We already said we wanted a word with you. Might as well enjoy the scenic route along the way, eh?"

Emphasizing the point, Julio opened the driver's seat and gestured with his cast for Oliver to hop in.

I'm not getting out of this, am I? Oliver sighed. Like it or not, he would have to get acquainted with these guys sooner or later. They were his girlfriend's family, and Oliver wouldn't back down even if the twins were intimidating. If Juan and Julio wanted to grill him over their sister, so be it.

"Fine," Oliver shrugged. "Let's do this."

The moment Oliver sat down in his car and turned on the ignition, Juan pulled two things out of his back pocket. A small block of wood and a butterfly knife. His hands were frozen on the wheel as he stared, blinking occasionally as if he was experiencing a glitch in the matrix and the blatantly illegal weapon would transform into something less threatening. When that failed to happen, Juan dragged it against the wooden block, wearing the devil's smile on his face as a scraping sound echoed out.

Julio got in the back and sat on the middle seat, crossing his muscular arms. "Drive."

"...No seatbelts?"

"Do I look like a coward to you, pendejo?" Juan cackled, then licked the edge of his knife.

Oliver ignored the question and began the route back home. A bead of sweat formed on his brow. It was getting increasingly difficult to pretend that Mia's brothers weren't bothering. Juan wasn't some asshole barista. He was a big dude with a big knife who probably knew how to-

"Mierda!" Juan cursed as his second scrape ended with him pricking his thumb with the edge of his knife. He started sucking on it immediately after, wincing and seething. Oliver saw Julio in his rearview mirror, looking on in complete apathy.

Guess this kind of thing really did happen a lot with them.

"...I think I have some bandaids in the glove box," Oliver offered out of politeness, hoping it might score him the tiniest bit of points.

"Fuck your bandaids, that was on purpose!" Juan howled. "Showing you I don't fuck around, hermanito! You see this?" He shoved his bleeding thumb close enough to Oliver's face that he almost swerved at the wheel, trying to avoid it. "This shit's gonna happen to you if you don't-"

"Jesus, dude!" Oliver shouted.

"Don't go bringing him into this! Get enough of that shit from Abeulito as it is, you-"

"Juan," Julio sighed. "Carve."

Juan poked his head around the headrest and stared down his twin. "Really think you can just tell me what to-"

"Carve," Julio repeated, his voice simultaneously low and resounding.

Juan flinched from the sudden seriousness in his brother's voice but didn't go against the command. After mumbling something or other as a fuck you to Julio, Juan ground his teeth together, took a deep breath, and started whittling right there in Oliver's car despite the mess it made it. It was somehow the least obnoxious thing he'd done in the short time Oliver had known him.

Julio was apparently onto something because it seemed like Juan had lost some of his edge after messing around more with his carving. He wasn't suddenly chill, but Oliver didn't get the sense he was in immediate danger anymore, either.

"So..." Juan spoke up, ensuring he paused his carving while looking at Oliver this time instead of trying to multitask. "Been hearing a lot about you lately. Oliver, right?"

Oliver didn't want to respond and risk him flying off the handle again, but there was no escape from this. He decided to take a page out of Julio's book and not say more than he had to. "Yep."

"Oliver what?"

"Chase."

"Man, I thought Mimi was fucking making that part up," Juan cracked a smile. "The fuck kind of name is that?"

Oliver raised his brow at the mention of the word 'Mimi' before answering. "...Mine?"

"Get the fuck outta here with that Disney Channel shit!" Juan laughed, then looked back at his brother for approval. "Ain't that right, hermano?"

"Name is pretty Disney Channel," Julio shrugged. "Not important, though."

Oliver had no idea what specifically made a name 'Disney Channel' and wasn't interested in finding out. He'd tried staying quiet, but all that got him was laughed at. Feeling daring, he attempted to move the conversation along himself. "So what is important, then?"

Julio looked at him through the mirror. "Our sister."

"Wouldn't stop talking about you yesterday," Juan groaned. "Ollie this, Ollie that, on and fucking on!"

Oliver found that hard to believe. More likely was that Mia probably mentioned him offhandedly, and then Juan grilled her about it. "And what all did she say?"

"That she'd rather be hanging out with you instead of being there for her big brother in his time of need, yeah?" Juan once again looked at the back seat for his brother's approval. Oliver was getting the sense that he did this a lot.

"Cold shit," Julio agreed with a casual nod. He fished something out of his pocket and then held his hand up to his mouth. Oliver heard the sound of a lighter being struck a moment later. The smell of weed exploded into his car, and he was left in disbelief as Julio took his first drag. "Figured we should come and see what makes you so damn special."

"...I wish I could save you some trouble, but I'm not sure what she sees in me, either," Oliver said, sparing a second to roll down the backseat window.

"Mn," Julio closed his eyes, becoming silent as a statue. Some ash fell from his joint and burned his hand, causing him to apathetically shake it in pain as he let out an indifferent "Mierda."

Meanwhile, Juan laughed like his brother's pain was the funniest shit in the world.

Are these guys here to scare me or to ask for feedback on their physical comedy routine...? Oliver's patience was wearing thin, though he had no interest in playing straight man while Juan had out his knife.

Julio continued speaking as if he hadn't just burnt his hand. "Dating yet?"

"Just started today, yeah."

"Shit," Juan let out a long, exaggerated sigh. "That's no good, hermanito. Really not the answer we were hoping for."

Oliver gripped the steering wheel in frustration. His words came out of him before he knew what he was saying. "Well, if you plan on doing something about it, stop wasting my time and do it already. Mia is the best thing that's ever happened to me, and it's gonna take something drastic to keep me away from her."

"...Fuck, hermanito," Juan stared at him, shocked. "Only been dating for a day, and you're already saying shit like that? You got a death wish or something?" He casually pointed the knife in Oliver's direction, like it was an ordinary extension of his hand and not a big deal.

This probably wasn't going to endear him to them, but the idea of these two getting in the way of his relationship was pissing him off, and Oliver continued speaking off the cuff despite his better judgment. "Didn't you hear me? It's the exact opposite. I've never had more to live for than I do right now."

Juan looked back at his brother again, who was just finishing another drag. Julio had the courtesy to blow it out the window this time, looking deep in thought as he did. "Not a bad answer," he admitted. "Might even say I respect it. Still not sure about you, though."

Things got quiet as Oliver made a right turn. The silence bothered him. Made him feel their eyes on him even more than he already did. "Are you saying I have to prove myself to you, Julio?"

"Well," their eyes met in the rearview mirror. "I'm not saying you don't."

Desperate to be included, Juan piped up, "Gotta prove yourself to me, too, pendejo! And it ain't gonna be easy."

"It ain't," Julio agreed. "Thing is, we weren't even gonna talk to you tonight. Supposed to just be observing and gathering intel, si?"

Gathering intel, huh...? Oliver remembered what happened in his apartment building when he stopped to pick up his Odyssey.

"Why the change of plans?"

"Got a look at your smarmy face when you were leaving the building," Julio remarked. "Didn't like it."

"And neither did I!" Juan echoed. "You got that scrawny, pasty-ass lookin' face..."

"Wouldn't have been a big deal if pasty or smarminess were the only marks against you,"

"But they ain't!" Juan snapped.

"They ain't," Julio agreed.

Oliver laughed uncomfortably again. "So you ambushed me because I looked a little smug? I was just happy I got to spend so much time with Mia today, that's all. Unless there's something else about my face that bothered you?"

The Rosas brothers became silent, drawing out the tension until it was unbearable for Oliver and then past that point. Julio finally told him when the car was stopped at the next red light.

"Could say that. Saw too much of ourselves in you and realized we needed to step in."

It was good that the car had already stopped because Oliver would've accidentally swerved with how fast he looked over his shoulder in disbelief. He knew that weed kicked in a lot faster than gummies, but Julio had to be really damn high for that claim to make any sort of sense. "What?"

"He's saying you're just like us, hermanito!" Juan punched Oliver in the bicep again, and although Oliver wasn't used to this sort of gesture, he could've sworn he felt some genuine fondness coming from the eyepatch-wearing knife wielder.

"More like you will be," Julio corrected between drags. "In time."

"Does being vague and cryptic all the time run in your family, or something? Because I get more than enough of that from Mia, thanks."

"Come on, ese. You know where we're going with this! You want to fill the little guy in, mi hermano?"

"Saying you've got the makings of a scumbag," Julio shot straight.

"Si, si! A Casanova!"

"A skirt-chaser,"

"A real Don Juan!" Juan winked at his own joke.

"A straight-up womanizing sleazeball," Julio flicked some ash out the window. "Sound about right?"

Oliver stared into Julio's familiar eyes even while the light turned green behind him. The weed fumes were probably getting to him because he couldn't help laughing at this ridiculous accusation. "No, it doesn't sound right. What the fuck are you guys on about?"

"No shame in being what you is, hermanito! We ain't ashamed of it, are we?"

"We ain't," Julio agreed. "But we also aren't gonna roll over and let a fellow player mess with our sister, either."

"Okay," Oliver laughed again as he turned his attention to the road. They were close to his place by now, so he tried to focus as best he could in the face of this outrageous claim. "I don't know how you think you can make these crazy guesses about me just from my face, but needless to say, you're wrong."

"Are we?" Juan clicked his tongue and tilted his head. He looked confident for a few seconds until doubt appeared on his face, forcing him to check back with Julio for validation.

"We aren't."

"Okay," Oliver turned another corner. "How do you figure?"

Julio pointed down the street towards Oliver's apartment, suggesting he already knew the destination. "Go ahead and park first."

"...So that really was you guys earlier today, huh?"

"Ah, you saw us? Thought we were smoother than that!" Juan smirked, nearly avoiding cutting himself again with his knife. "No big deal, ain't like it's illegal to knock on a few doors and ask your neighbors a few questions, is it?"

Julio answered before Juan inevitably needed him to. "It ain't. Now park."

Well, at least they didn't break in... Oliver thought while driving into the parking lot and finding a spot. He only hoped none of his neighbors got the wrong idea about the two huge Mexican dudes going around asking about him.

The three of them got out of Oliver's car, Juan pocketing his illegal weapon and Julio snuffing his joint. They quickly blocked him off, keeping him pinned against the driver's seat door. Rather than acting intimidated, Oliver crossed his arms and leaned against it. Despite first impressions, he didn't explicitly feel threatened by either of them now since they weren't putting up a front or acting hostile, so he was somewhat snarky when he finally spoke up.

"Okay. Ready for you to explain your deductive reasoning any second now, Sherlock."

Julio gave Oliver that same vaguely amused smile that Mia always did. God, it was weird seeing that on a bulky dude almost a whole foot taller than him. His stupidly pretty eyes weren't helping, either, especially not with how Julio refused to break line of sight with him, staring like a sleepy hawk.

"Look in the mirror lately, by any chance?"

"...Fairly often, yeah?"

"Then you should've seen the same empty eyes I'm looking at as we speak. Got that hurt look in 'em,"

"Got that deep hurt, hermanito," Juan crossed his arms and parroted his brother's words with a nod.

"Look that screams someone stole all the light you had in you a long time ago, and now you're fixing to make it everyone else's problem."

It turns out that calling Julio Sherlock might not have been far from the mark. He didn't know how Mia's older brother had him pegged as closely as he did, but it affected his composure and made Oliver deeply uncomfortable. "You're... not wrong, but I'm actually past the part where I made it everyone else's problem. I've changed."

"Changed, sure," Julio admitted. There was some warmth in his voice. Like he didn't believe that was impossible. "People can change. Doesn't mean you got your light back. Just means that when you end up hurting someone, it's not gonna be on purpose."

"Unless you think you got your light back?" Juan asked. "Did you?"

Oliver's fists clenched. He managed to break eye contact with Julio, but it didn't help. "I'm guessing you'd find it pretty fucking stupid if I said that Mia was my light?"

"Nah. I'd empathize. Even understand why you'd think that. Think we both know the truth isn't that romantic, though. Mimi only means so much to you because she ended up being the first girl to show an interest in you, yeah?"

Things had moved so fast. It'd only been five days since Valentine's Day, the day Mia told him she started making a conscious effort to try and talk to him more often. Oliver thought back to his thoughts and feelings at the end of his shift that day. They'd barely interacted, and yet he went home thinking, 'maybe I'll try and hit on Mia tomorrow'.

Why was that?

"If it wasn't her, it would've been someone else," Julio claimed.

"But it was her!" Oliver snapped, forcing himself to look back into Julio's uncomfortably familiar eyes. "Why should anything else matter besides that? I'm serious about Mia. Dead serious."

For the first time, Julio sighed and showed signs of disappointment. "Need to stop thinking I said shit that I haven't, hermanito. Didn't say you weren't serious. Problem's that you are."

"I've yet to hear a solid explanation of why you think I'm gonna end up hurting her."

"Think you know why I think that, though. Eyes as empty as yours? Well. Empty eyes are often lazy, and lazy eyes are prone to looking everywhere 'cept where they're supposed to."

"I... I wouldn't..."

"No? Sounds more like you already have."

Oliver stood completely still as his memories of hanging out with Stacy yesterday flashed across his mind. He remembered the photo of Tessa with her cats and the fleeting moments of tenderness he'd seen from her as of late. The way his heart raced every time a heroine's affection rose. He even found himself thinking back to Rebecca earlier and how he openly admitted to his girlfriend that he thought her friend he'd just met was pretty cute.

His heart sank, falling lower and lower until the creeping realization waiting for him at the bottom of the abyss grasped and tore it to pieces.

I'm shallow.

The heart wants what the heart wants.

One will never be enough.

"It's okay, hermanito," Juan stepped in and clasped Oliver's shoulder. The gesture was somehow comforting, as was Juan's typically manic grin. "We ain't gonna pretend like we know your whole story, but we know enough to be concerned about our little hermana, yeah?"

"...Yeah, okay. I'll admit there might be some truth in what you're saying. I've gone through a lot of shit, and it's left me pretty empty inside, and I'm a little desperate for attention."

"Makes sense," Julio nodded somberly. "Gotta fill yourself up with love wherever you can get it from when you're hollow."

Hollow, Oliver thought. That was a good word for it. I'm so hollow that I've even been having stupid thoughts about the person who made me this way... what a fucking joke.

He shook the thought from his head and focused on the brothers.

"How do you guys even know all of this, anyway? You said we had a lot in common, so, what... are you hollow, too?"

"Si, just not in the same way. Guys like us? We can't stop ourselves when it comes to the señoritas!" Juan barked out in laughter, extending his fist for Julio to bump. "Ain't that right?"

"That's right," Julio confirmed their shared degeneracy and took his brothers up on the offer to bump it. "Mierda!" He shouted out in pain loud enough for the entire apartment complex to hear him after slamming his cast into Juan's fist.

Juan broke out into hyena laughter again at his brother's stupidity, and this time, Oliver actually joined in, albeit in a much lesser capacity. As awful as he felt, it was hard not to appreciate a chance to discuss his feelings with people who understood them. How it happened was anyone's guess, but he felt a strange solidarity with Mia's brothers.

"Think we made our point by now, si? You understand what you gotta do?" Juan asked.

"I'm guessing you want me to break up with Mia?"

"Certainly what we're hoping for," Julio confirmed. "But something tells me we don't see eye to eye on this, do we?"

Oliver closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and really thought about what the twins wanted from him.

Julio was right about a few things. It wasn't up for debate that he had some lingering mental shit going on in the form of a deep, compulsive need for affection. Oliver felt more alive than ever before after having finally gotten some from his newly minted girlfriend, but even now, all he could think about was more. His reactions to seeing Stacy and Tessa's affections go up was proof enough.

It was one thing to raise a mirror up to Oliver's imperfections, however, and another thing entirely to suggest that he would ever act on them.

More than gaining LP, raising his stats, or pushing the extent of his powers, making Mia happy and keeping her close was Oliver's biggest priority.

She'd done so much for his hollowed-out heart in only a few short days that he couldn't imagine returning to the way he was without her. Whether it was lounging about in bed together, holding hands while watching shitty isekai anime, visiting shady steakhouses, or even just sitting on a bench before the morning shift while talking about his problems with someone who actually cared, these memories were something he would treasure for the rest of his life.

They were wrong. Mia was special to him, and it wasn't just because she was the first girl who showed him kindness. She was special because of everything that happened after he decided to go for her, and if Mia's brothers were dead set on keeping the two of them apart, they'd best be ready for an all-out war.

When Oliver opened his eyes, he stared straight into Julio's. A spark had ignited inside him, and it didn't go unnoticed. He stepped forward with blazing confidence, getting straight up in the twin's business. Though small and scrappy, Oliver felt like a mountain of a man for the first time in his life.

The old western-styled BGM swelled as he made his stand.

"You're goddamn right, Julio. We don't see eye to eye. If you guys think you can just show up, threaten me, throw around baseless accusations, and then expect me to turn my tail and run away from the best girl in the whole damn world, then I've got three words for you. Fuck off, hermano." Oliver compulsively jabbed Julio in the chest. "Mimi might be your sister, but Mia is mine."

Juan and Julio stared back at Oliver in quiet astonishment. This wasn't an outcome they saw coming. The twins exchanged looks, then started arguing in Spanish for a moment. Juan sounded somewhat heated, but Julio didn't. They were going so fast that Oliver couldn't have followed along even if he knew the language.

Whatever they were saying, it didn't matter. Oliver didn't back down, keeping his position while he waited for them to finish debating amongst themselves. When they did, they both turned to him with serious expressions.

"Got yourself some serious cojones," Julio remarked. "Whole lot more than we gave you credit for, ain't that right?"

"Mn," Julio gave an imperceptible nod. "Get you thinking about Mimi long enough, and your eyes suddenly shine. Could always be brighter, but you got some light in you after all. Who knew? Not above admitting I was wrong about a thing or two. Thing is, still not convinced I am actually wrong. Not about the important part."

"How are we going to settle this, then?"

"Like men," Juan slammed his fist against his chest, then took a fighting stance. "How else, hermanito? You wanna earn our approval, then you gotta show us our sister means so much to you that you're willing to put your body on the line!"

"What, right here?" Oliver looked around. He didn't see any neighbors, but a public parking lot wasn't the best place to throw down, regardless.

"Nah," Julio shook his head. "Got a boxing gym we go to. Real nice sparring ring there. We'll pass along the details as soon as you're ready."

"I thought you would've wanted to get this over and done with."

"Didn't expect you'd stand up to us. That earned you a bit of respect, but only a bit. Figured we'd give you a few days first."

Oliver had hoped this situation wouldn't come down to some bullshit macho slugfest, but such was his luck. He wasn't scared of getting beaten up if it meant getting the twins off his back, but he was five foot three, scrawny, and had never thrown nor taken a punch in his life. On the other hand, Juan and Julio were probably about six foot two with bodies so muscular that their tank tops looked liable to tear in half if they flexed hard enough.

It would've been straight-up suicide to enter the ring with Juan under ordinary circumstances, but they didn't know Oliver wasn't playing by normal rules. He figured he had a much bigger chance at pulling this off than the twins could possibly know and couldn't wait to pull the rug out from under them.

"So what's it gonna be?" Julio loomed over Oliver. He made like he would crack his knuckles but stopped himself short before doing anything stupid with his cast. "This really worth it to you, ese? Plenty of other fish in the sea."

Oliver belted out with no hesitation, "Damn straight, it's worth it. You two better keep your word and stay out of our way when I'm done wiping the floor with your ass, Juan."

"Hah! Careful with all those cojones, hermanito. You'll be tripping all over 'em if they get too big for your pants!" Juan made no attempt to conceal his amusement over Oliver's newfound confidence, and the crazy look in his eye suggested he wouldn't be pulling any punches.

"That's that, then," Julio announced, turning around and heading for the streets with his brother in tow. "This is your only chance, hermanito. You better be ready to risk it all."

As the Rosas twins departed, a surprising notification popped up. It was Mia's mini profile, the one that appeared whenever there were changes in her affection level. The first of the five empty heart silhouettes had been filled out by a pink heart icon, signifying the completion of her first heart event, whereas the second had something going on that he hadn't seen before.

Instead of an empty silhouette, there was a grayed-out heart with an icon depicting a padlock placed on top of it. In the center of that padlock was a barbell, the same graphic representing his strength stat. An additional notification appeared that elaborated on what he was seeing.

--- Mia's Second Heart Event Locked!

There will be occasions when progressing through a heroine's route where heart events become locked off until a certain challenge is resolved or a specific stat is raised. How you go about these situations is up to you, though it's advised to train your stats naturally or purchase tier-one skills for quick stat boosts. Furthermore, don't be afraid of switching targets and farming LP off of a different heroine to help further your progression with the locked heroine. ---

Oliver exhaled out his nose and dismissed the notification. He was trying to prove that he wasn't the kind of guy Mia's brothers thought he was, so yet another reminder of the vast stacks of LP the other heroines had up for grabs went unappreciated. He didn't need more LP, anyway. Three hundred points were ready and waiting to be spent at his discretion, and it was high time he used them.

Mentally exhausted, Oliver went to his apartment on the third floor and sat down on his bed. All he wanted was a simple night alone to himself where he could jack off to the thought of his horny girlfriend for as long as he damn well liked. Was that really too much to ask?

Instead, Oliver had to call reinforcements and have himself a good old-fashioned war council.

"Hey, man," Oliver said into his phone after pressing the call button. "You're not busy, are you? No, everything went good with Mia. I'll tell you everything once you get here. It's really important." Understanding how this worked by now, Oliver stared at his door.

Bradley barged in not even a second later, smiling wide and full of uncanny vigor. "Say no MORE! What's happening, [My Dude] of [Dudes]?"

"What's happening, my friend, is that you and I need to discuss battle plans."