“I didn’t hear it from anyone.”

Su Qia lowered her head, not daring to meet Lin Mo’s eyes. “I figured it out myself.”

“Figured it out? Have you dated before?” Lin Mo asked, puzzled.

“E-even if I haven’t, surely you can get the general idea from books and movies!”

Su Qia was getting a little annoyed.

But the moment she tried to prove she wasn’t an unpopular woman, she only proved that she was.

So she continued where she’d left off. “Basically, you can think of it as a game where you complete things step by step.”

“Like a game where you clear one stage after another. There are ten steps in total. Once your affection level reaches a certain point, you get that stage’s reward, all the way until you get the ultimate prize…”

“Uh, a game?” Lin Mo raised a hand and scratched his cheek. “Life isn’t a game.”

“Uwaaah! I know, I know! I know that already! But could you not say it so bluntly—w-wah, sob… I knew this would happen, that’s why I didn’t want to tell you…”

Su Qia sank into gloomy thoughts again.

Still, Lin Mo found her ridiculous little theory and way of thinking pretty interesting.

After all, he’d always liked people who liked him. As long as someone had that going for them, he could always find something appealing about them.

“Hahaha… I’m kidding, just kidding. All right, go on.”

Thinking about it like a game, huh…

Before he crossed over, Lin Mo had been a huge gamer. The money he earned from his assassination jobs usually went toward gacha pulls, in-game items, and console games.

But there was no way this world had any of the games he used to play. They probably only had simple pixel-art platformers here. And looking at this girl, with her face turned away like that, she really did seem more and more like a shut-in otaku…

“Basically, if I put in enough money and feelings, I’m sure I can move a guy.”

“Then his affection for me will go way up.”

“And then, when a new story unlocks at a certain affection level—w-we can naturally do the things we both want to do…”

The more Su Qia said, the more embarrassed she became.

After all, it felt like she was exposing her kinks to a stranger without permission. It was mortifying.

“Mm-hm, I get the general idea. But you’ve said a whole lot without telling me what the ten steps are.” Lin Mo wanted to know as soon as possible.

“…” Su Qia fell silent.

She was still locked in an inner battle. Her teeth were clenched, and her face had gone bright red. This was clearly putting her through the wringer.

After a long while—

“F-first is, um… holding hands…”

“Just say them all at once.” Lin Mo planted his hands on his hips. “We don’t have time to drag this out.”

“Holding hands. Kissing his hand. Hugging. Touching his waist. Kissing his cheek. Hugging him from behind…”

As she spoke, Lin Mo listened patiently.

He’d thought she was going to say something really raunchy, but it turned out to be nothing like that.

“Kissing.”

See?

They didn’t get to kissing until the seventh step.

Maybe this girl was even more innocent than Lin Mo had imagined.

“More touching—you know what I mean—and more passionate kisses… And finally, that.” By the time she reached the end, Su Qia was so embarrassed she wanted the ground to swallow her.

It was all so ordinary, and yet somehow it made her feel unbearably self-conscious.

From here on, even if Lin Mo used her words to mock her mercilessly—or even humiliate her—she wouldn’t have anything to say.

After all, she was just a useless, pathetic girl…

Even if a boy deliberately toyed with her out of malice, she had absolutely no right to fight back…

“Oh, oh, so that’s how it is.” Lin Mo nodded slightly, looking thoughtful.

He began thinking back to how far things had gone between him and Diona after they first met yesterday.

Holding hands: yes. Kissing her hand: no. Hugging: yes. Touching her waist… uh, maybe. Kissing her cheek: yes.

Had he hugged her from behind or not?

They’d made it to around step seven. But if Diona had been a little more forward yesterday, they’d definitely have completed all ten steps.

(You’re getting played by bad men because you’re treating this like a checklist for achievements…)

Thinking this, Lin Mo glanced at Su Qia with a hint of pity.

He lowered his voice. “What’s your name?”

“Huh—?” (Su Qia)

“I don’t know your name yet, do I? Hey, little simp. Tell me your name.”

“I… I’m Su Qia.” Her face turned red again.

It was the first time a boy had ever asked Su Qia for her name.

It seemed like she’d had a lot of firsts today, and every single one had been with this angel. They’d all happened tonight, too.

If she’d known there were so many unexpected kinds of happiness beyond the romance steps she’d imagined, she would’ve split the affection levels into fifteen stages… no, twenty—or even more!

“I see. Su Qia. That’s a nice name.” Lin Mo nodded.

At least, compared to a name like Diona, hers made him think more easily of home.

“How far have you gotten with that guy over there?” he asked.

“Huh—?”

“Which of those ten steps have you reached? The first one? Or have you made it further?” (Lin Mo)

“W-we’re still at the first step. And honestly, I don’t even know if it counts as the first step, since Little Honey always looks at me like I’m trash. He hates me, and he seems to look down on me a lot…” The more Su Qia said, the more dejected she looked.

“Haaah… Seriously, what’s so great about an idiot like that?”

Lin Mo sighed again, then casually took Su Qia’s little hand.

“Is this right?” He gently held the girl’s fingers and gazed at her delicate, pale hand, smooth as a lotus root. She didn’t look like some pampered rich girl, so why were her hands so soft?

“E-e-eah—ahh!!” Su Qia let out a cry of overwhelming happiness.

Her voice was a complete jumble, and her body started flailing too, as if she’d fallen into an abyss of utter bewilderment.

“You said he’d made it to the first step, right?”

With a soft sigh, he raised Su Qia’s little hand. “I’ve reset it to zero.”

Then, seeing the girl’s excited face as she tried to hide from him, Lin Mo suddenly came up with a rather wicked idea.

He lowered his head and left a faint kiss on the girl’s fingertips:

“My affection for you is probably around twenty percent now.”