Chapter 5: No.5: How Not to Pick Up Girls by the Streets
Barely suppressing the growing cringe at the thought of approaching a girl, Bruce finally made his move toward his first target, doing his best to appear as gentle and non-threatening as possible.
.....
Standing by the roadside, an average-looking young lady scrolled through her phone, seemingly immersed in its contents, when a sudden raspy voice drew her attention.
"Hey there, miss! Nice to meet you."
Glancing toward the source of the voice, the young lady visibly paled upon seeing the towering figure looming before her.
Cheeks mildly flushed, the figure’s breathing appeared visible as he slowly inhaled and exhaled. Coupled with his size and appearance, his expression appeared somewhat depraved, as though he were desperately trying to suppress dangerous thoughts while staring at her.
"I was wondering if I could maybe buy you a drink or something. Don’t worry, I’m not a bad guy."
Shuddering at his words, the young lady immediately took several steps backward to distance herself from the ’Predator’.
Noticing how quiet the street was at the moment, she tightened her grip on her handbag.
Clutching her phone close to her chest, she turned and ran for her life, fearing the beast disguised as a man might assault her in broad daylight.
Baffled by the sight of the young lady desperately fleeing from him as though being chased by a pack of hungry wolves, Bruce froze in place. His arm remained raised in a polite wave while a gentle smile was still plastered across his face.
Unable to understand what he had done wrong, Bruce quickly realized he had his work cut out for him.
At this rate, he might run out of time before he even got the chance to buy a girl a drink.
’No! She’s only one girl. There are plenty of others. Best keep trying. Eventually, I’ll get the opportunity I’m looking for.’
Making up his mind, Bruce decided to continue his search for a suitable Target.
One major factor he had identified from his failure, aside from his appearance, was his questionable choice of words.
This was largely due to his lack of social interaction throughout his life.
As such, he decided to keep that in mind as he approached his next victim.
’No pain, no gain.’
With that, he steeled his resolve. Confident that at least one of his attempts would eventually yield results, he proceeded once more.
.....
Thirty revolted rejections, five harassment claims, three attempted murders, and over a dozen suicidal thoughts later...
Gasping for breath after narrowly escaping arrest for ’sexual harassment,’ Bruce finally realized a disturbing fact he had completely overlooked.
If high Charisma positively influenced how others perceived him based on appearance alone...
Then wouldn’t an extremely low Charisma do the exact opposite?
Much less his own, which had fallen into the negatives.
Although he had expected it to hinder his progress, Bruce had vastly underestimated just how terrifying the effects could be.
Even his harmless intentions were being twisted into something sinister.
What’s worse, most of the women he had approached weren’t even suitable Targets.
The vast majority ranged between 2.8 and 3.1 Stars, causing Bruce to realize just how rare a true 4.0 Star Beauty actually was. A fact he had already suspected while still at the park.
Other than Sydney, who barely qualified with a 4.0 Star Beauty Rating despite wearing thick layers of makeup, everyone else had fallen below the requirement.
However, knowing how socially inexperienced he was, Bruce had decided to learn how to walk before trying to run.
His plan had been to use lower-rated women as target practice so he could build enough confidence before approaching the main dish.
Now, however, even his so-called ’target practice’ viewed him as human garbage.
Many didn’t even give him enough time to introduce himself before either running away, attacking him, or threatening to call the authorities.
How was he supposed to approach an actual Beauty under these conditions? Much less convince one to let him spend his already pitiful savings on her?
Worse still, time was quickly running out.
He needed a solution.
And fast.
Before deciding to approach women directly, Bruce had initially considered supporting beautiful Streamers online after learning that streaming culture still existed despite the world being post-apocalyptic.
Unfortunately, he quickly abandoned the idea after recalling the former Bruce had already considered it before as well.
Only official members of the platform could financially support their favorite streamers and receive ’special’ thanks in return.
The problem was that becoming a member required a one-time payment of one million Kepto (1,000,000 KPT).
One million!
Although membership was permanent, the price was still absurd.
Based on Bruce’s understanding, one Kepto was roughly equivalent to one dollar from his previous world.
As such, he found the entire concept difficult to comprehend.
’How can people casually throw away that much money on someone they might never even meet?’
Unable to understand the logic behind it, Bruce could only conclude that the system was designed to favor the wealthy.
After all, he highly doubted if any ordinary middle-class citizen would be able spend such an amount simply to support a Streamer.
Though members couldn’t physically meet the Streamer unless she agreed to it, they were granted various exclusive benefits.
Private videos.
Sneak peeks.
Feet pictures.
And other R-rated content.
In short, it was essentially this world’s version of OnlyFans.
One where Streamers primarily catered to the visual desires of their audience.
’But who actually asks for feet pictures? What do they even see in those?’
Shaking off the thought, Bruce had also considered visiting a red-light district.
Unfortunately, the city’s largest, and only district was located near the outer edges of the city.
Travel expenses alone would cost a fortune.
Much less, the price of simply sitting and dining with one of the women was even worse.
And home visits?
Those cost enough money to make him question whether selling both kidneys would be sufficient.
Not that the women there would even be interested in him anyway.
After all, they had standards.
And Bruce didn’t meet any of them, nor did he have the funds to make himself an exception.
Sighing heavily, Bruce slumped into a chair beneath a large umbrella while trying to think of another solution.
Then a gentle voice suddenly called out.
"Bruce?"
The voice was soft and uncertain.
Yet somehow, it felt like the most mesmerizing voice he had ever heard.
A soothing sensation spread through his body, washing away much of his stress and frustration.
However, what truly surprised him was the fact that he actually recognized it.
Merely hearing that voice triggered a flood of memories, causing him to absent-mindedly mutter a name in response.
"Summer?"
Turning around, a gorgeous young lady came into view.
The sight of which caused his body to react instinctively. His pulse quickened as he stared at her delicate features.
Before he could understand why his body was reacting so strongly, a notification suddenly appeared.
[Name: Summer Monroe]
[Age: 20]
[Affinity Level: 45]
[Beauty Rating: 4.5/5.0]
[Target is Eligible to Bond!]
[Would you like to Initiate Target Bonding with Summer Monroe?]
{Yes} {No}
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