"Hm? Officer Fang? Weren't you supposed to be—?"
"Oh, it's nothing. I caught a mugger while I was out taking a walk." Faced with his coworker's confusion, Fang Wen smoothly glossed over the matter without changing expression.
The other party was only an office clerk, but still had the basic instincts of a police employee. The more he said, the greater the chance he'd eventually say the wrong thing.
"Oh, right… Chief Zhu Yuan went out on a call half an hour ago. She probably won't be back for a bit."
"Got it. You go ahead and get back to work. I'll take this guy to the holding room first."
After pouring himself a cup of tea in the holding room, Fang Wen didn't sit idle.
Because he had discovered a problem with the system's mission rewards.
Completing missions would let him draw one of his own skills.
So what happened if it drew a duplicate?
[Duplicate skills will be converted into skill fragments. Multiple fragments of the same type can be used to upgrade that skill.]
Oh…
So I can farm myself?
You can do that?!
[System missions are also related to the host's strongest desires.]
[So accept reality.]
The words displayed by the system made Fang Wen raise an eyebrow.
You're trying to say I like Zhu Yuan?
How is that possible? Sure, she's beautiful, kind-hearted, straightforward, never plays games, never keeps people hanging, always helps when asked, has a top-tier figure, and her lower body is especially incredible, but—
[Aren't those all just advantages?]
But romance has to wait until after I deal with my problems, got it?
As for what problems, don't ask.
[…]
After teasing the system for a while, Fang Wen heard the holding room door open.
"Fang Wen? They told me you came to the station… Why aren't you at home resting?"
"Ahem. Well, it's a long story."
"And who is this?" Zhu Yuan pointed at the thief, who had been cuffed by Fang Wen to the interrogation chair.
"A pickpocket I grabbed on the way here. I caught him stealing from someone in broad daylight."
"And he's got signs of illegal modifications too. He almost got away."
Zhu Yuan nodded. Catching a thief was basically routine work for people like them, so there was nothing unusual about it.
"Did you bring in the victim too? We still need to take a statement."
Uh.
Fang Wen's face froze.
What now? Was he seriously supposed to say the victim was standing right in front of her?
"What's wrong, Fang Wen? You don't look so good."
"Nothing. Let this guy explain it himself."
Fang Wen coughed twice, then turned to the thief, who had already completely given up on life.
"You'd better tell the truth."
The thief nodded.
Five minutes later—
"How the hell are you just saying everything?!"
Fang Wen's rage meter hit the ceiling the moment that blind idiot of a thief mentioned that thing.
Of course, he didn't actually shout it out loud, but his expression conveyed just about the same thing.
"Robbed a police officer… stolen property included one credit card and a pack of sanitary pads."
"Let's stop the statement here for now." Zhu Yuan capped her pen and picked up the notes she had just written.
As captain of the Special Operations Unit, something this minor should not have required her personal attention, but she had still taken it over on the grounds that Fang Wen was technically still on medical leave.
Seeing that Zhu Yuan didn't seem to care, Fang Wen finally let out a breath of relief.
"Next time, bring the victim in too, okay?"
Ahem—Fang Wen nearly choked on his tea.
"Zhu Yuan."
"Mm? Go ahead."
"Uh… never mind."
"? Fang Wen, you do realize I'm very busy, right?"
"Alright. Actually, I brought something for you."
With that, Fang Wen shoved an entire plastic bag into Zhu Yuan's hands.
Zhu Yuan gave it a quick glance. It was full of sandwiches.
"Honestly, why are you still acting so formal with me? It's only a few sandwiches—"
Before she could finish, she spotted something familiar.
And something that absolutely should not have been there.
?
Why is that inside the plastic bag Fang Wen gave me?
Zhu Yuan looked up at him in confusion.
"It's nothing. I know you haven't eaten, so just take it."
"Fang Wen, this is…?"
"Oh, come on, no need to be polite with me." Fang Wen kept shooting her frantic looks.
Please, Zhu Yuan, there are other people here. Once we're back, you can ask whatever you want.
Fang Wen even clasped his hands together.
If she kept pressing, he was going to have to break out the full Onegai, watashi…! move.
"…Alright. We'll talk when we get back."
Zhu Yuan turned, but suddenly a stab of pain hit her lower abdomen, forcing her to brace herself against the wall.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. I think… it started."
As blunt and straightforward as Zhu Yuan usually was, even she knew there were some things that were hard to say aloud.
Damn it. I forgot today was my period. I didn't prepare ahead of time.
And this outfit isn't breathable at all.
What do I do?
I guess I'll have to find time to buy a pack of pads.
"Hiss…" She pressed a hand to her abdomen in pain.
No good. The cramps are really bad today.
Zhu Yuan lowered her head and tightened her grip on the plastic bag.
Hm?
That… that pack of sanitary pads?
She couldn't help glancing sideways at Fang Wen, who was supporting her. There was nothing on his face except urgent concern.
"I'll help you to your office. Sit down and rest for a while first."
"Mm."
"Oh, right." Fang Wen spoke as he helped Zhu Yuan walk.
"Didn't you guys confiscate a batch of old videotapes the other day? I borrowed a playback device for them."
One of Zhu Yuan's hands covered her lower abdomen, while the other rested across Fang Wen's shoulder.
She was tall, and standing beside him, the two of them were nearly the same height, so walking like this didn't feel awkward.
"So… you still remembered that. I was planning to ask around about it later. This really helps a lot."
The two of them walked quietly down the hallway. From time to time, they could feel the amused or encouraging smiles coming from other officers.
Fang Wen handled it fine enough, but Zhu Yuan's face—which had already turned pale from pain—was now reddening like a ripe apple.
"I'm going to the pharmacy in a bit."
"Mm…" Zhu Yuan answered softly, so softly Fang Wen almost didn't hear it.
"And later…" Zhu Yuan continued in an even quieter voice.
"Come to my office. We'll check them together."
"Alright. Leave it to me." Fang Wen agreed at once.
…
"Painkillers, painkillers… found them."
Fang Wen couldn't help feeling relieved. Fortunately, there was a pharmacy right across from the station.
Earlier, he had been so focused on that thing that he had forgotten Zhu Yuan often got bad cramps during her period.
Luckily, it still wasn't too late.
[Tsk tsk. A man who says one thing and means another.]
As if not wanting to give Fang Wen a chance to complain, the system immediately followed up with another notification.
[Completed: 'The Trouble with Closed Clothing.']
[Reward obtained: Denny x2000, Zhu Yuan Affection +3. Current Zhu Yuan Affection: 45.]
[Note: Affection above 40 = liking, above 60 = being in love, 100 = lifelong devotion.]
What?
So the friendship had already crossed the line?
Then again, the two of them had already slept in the same bed, so maybe that did make sense.
[Random skill draw in progress.]
[Drew target character "Fang Wen" skill — Basic Hand-to-Hand Combat (White).]
[Duplicate skill detected. Converted into skill fragments.]
[Skill can be upgraded.]
Oh?
Without hesitation, Fang Wen chose to upgrade the skill.
[Skill obtained — Combat Proficiency (Green).]
In an instant, a flood of familiar yet strangely unfamiliar combat memories poured into Fang Wen's mind. Perhaps because they had originally belonged to him in the first place, his brain didn't feel overloaded at all. On the contrary, everything felt even sharper and clearer.
So it can work like this too!
The fighting techniques he had never fully understood back in school suddenly became much more natural, and his thought process when responding in combat grew far more precise.
Fang Wen could clearly feel that the current him could probably fight his old combat instructor to a draw.
Though he probably still couldn't beat Zhu Yuan.
"System, what rank is Zhu Yuan's combat skill?"
[Combat Master (Blue). She can probably take down five hosts with ease.]
Fair enough. Fang Wen wasn't surprised in the slightest.
Back when they had been learning combat at school, there had only been two people in the class capable of flooring the instructor.
One of them had been Zhu Yuan.
And with more experience and more time under her belt, her fighting ability could only have gotten stronger.
[However, Zhu Yuan is currently in a weakened state. The host would be barely capable of suppressing her.]
Alright, you can stop talking now.
Fang Wen rubbed his hands together.
The stronger Zhu Yuan was, the better it was for him.
So now, what he was really looking forward to was finding out which of Zhu Yuan's skills he would draw.
This was the main event!
[Random skill draw in progress.]
[Drew target character "Zhu Yuan" skill — Cooking Proficiency (Green).]
?
It was the same kind of memory transfer as before, yet completely different in feeling.
Fang Wen felt as though he had just watched an entire movie, observing Zhu Yuan's cooking life from childhood all the way to adulthood.
But this time, his head very obviously felt swollen and heavy.
He closed his eyes and took a moment to recover.
Which made sense. After all, he had never really cooked before. Making instant noodles and scrambled eggs with tomatoes had already been about the limit of his abilities.
"…System, I want to ask something."
[Please do. This system knows all and answers all.]
"How many skills does Zhu Yuan actually have?"
[Approximately 25 can currently be recorded by the system. Among them: one purple Grandmaster-tier skill, four blue Master-tier skills, eight green Proficiency-tier skills, and twelve white Beginner-tier skills. There are also more attributes that cannot be judged as skills.]
"What do you mean by 'cannot be judged as skills'?"
[For example, the host's record of taking off seven times in one day cannot be classified as a skill.]
???
System, do you have some kind of voyeurism fetish too?!
-------
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