Chapter 48: Drunk?
[Mission: Collect 50,000 Fame Points!
Time Limit: 12/20 days
Reward upon completion: "I’m a Seasoned Singer!"
Punishment for failure: Be buried together with this world
Mission Progress: 50,000/50,000]
[Congratulations on completing the mission! The reward has been delivered to your inventory. Please check and claim it!]
Nine finally regained some composure after Joshua’s thirty-minute motorcycle ride with Leonard.
The moment Leonard handed Joshua those flowers, it wanted to strangle itself. Even if that bouquet was meant as a "gesture of friendship," if the Foby-fans ever saw it, it’d blow up online!
And besides, Joshua hadn’t even given him flowers before—so what the hell were you giving Joshua flowers, Leonard?!
[Perfect! The Fame Points this time are off the charts!] Nine shouted gleefully, brimming with excitement.
Joshua also took a look at his current Fame Points.
[Fame Points: 89,609]
In his eyes, they were practically turning into stacks of parallel cash, shimmering with the golden glow of money.
But just then, the number suddenly flickered—before his very eyes, the total of 89,609 split in half and dropped to 45,098. It was still ticking upward, but the fact remained: it had just been cut in two.
Joshua: "..."
Nine chuckled guiltily: [It’s been a month already. You can’t just keep it all to yourself—sharing is caring!]
Joshua: "Did I even say anything?"
Nine: [...] Okay, fine, maybe I’m the guilty one!
Nine felt Joshua was getting less and less cute these days!
Joshua ignored it and turned his attention to the pop-up before him.
[Confirm use of "I’m a Seasoned Singer!" — Yes or No]
He immediately selected "Yes," and the Personal Panel in front of him shifted in response.
[Personal Panel
Name: Joshua Adonis
Age: 17
Height: 173
Sing: A
Dance: A (20/320)
Rap: C (5/80)
Visual: ???]
Only the "Sing" stat showed an apparent change—it had jumped straight from B (80/160) to A.
Meanwhile, "Rap" had gone from 0 to 5—not thanks to the reward, but because Joshua had been secretly learning rap lately, regardless of what others thought.
After all, every time Luther heard him rap, he’d laugh so hard he’d roll on the floor, only to eventually stand up again and, out of "kindness," offer to teach Joshua himself.
However, one thing was sure: Luther was not a good teacher, and Joshua was definitely not a good student in rap.
[Please continue completing more missions to unlock new surprises!]
[Please finish the side mission before unlocking the next one!]
"Side mission?" Joshua stared blankly at the system pop-up.
"Nine, are you sure this is an idol system and not some cursed program?" Joshua finally asked.
Nine: [...] It didn’t know—but it had the distinct feeling that if it answered honestly, Joshua would completely lose faith in it.
In truth, Joshua’s faith in Nine was already hanging by a thread, fluttering in the wind.
Either way, the mission still had to be done.
Joshua flopped down onto the sofa, sighed, and began to think.
Just then, his phone—lying on the table—suddenly buzzed. Someone was calling.
"Joshua, everyone’s waiting for you! You left too early today, so we didn’t get to talk much!"
It turns out that Mnight had arranged a celebration at a big bar downtown, with a private room for more privacy.
Joshua asked, "Is everyone already there?"
Lucian’s voice came through on the other end: "Just missing the leader. You coming?"
Joshua wasn’t enthusiastic but still replied, "I’ll come."
Lucian immediately brightened. "Alright! I’ll call the leader then!"
Even though their group activities were technically over, Lucian kept saying leader, leader, clearly too scared to call Henry by name.
The moment he hung up, he looked around at everyone. "So... who’s calling the leader?"
They exchanged glances, but in the end, Lucian resigned himself to the task.
"Hello, this is Henry."
Henry’s calm, cool voice came through the receiver, instantly silencing everyone in the room.
Lucian swallowed nervously and quickly said, "Leader, we’re throwing a little celebration. You’re really not coming? I just called Joshua—he said he’ll be here too..."
"Send me the address."
Lucian blinked. "It’s fine, I know you don’t like—wait, what did you just say?!"
He shot up from his seat, stunned.
Only silence came from the other end. Regaining his wits, Lucian nodded furiously—even though Henry couldn’t see him—and hurried to send the location.
Lucen, sitting beside him, couldn’t help commenting after Lucian hung up, "It’s not like Henry’s ever eaten anyone alive."
Lucian rolled his eyes dramatically. "Then you call him next time!"
Someone else chimed in, "That’s what you call aura! Honestly, the leader’s vibe totally reminds me of my grandpa." The poor guy had been strictly disciplined by his grandfather since childhood.
Not long after Joshua arrived, Henry showed up too. By then, everything was nearly ready—the drinks were poured, the BBQ Lucen ordered had arrived—and the celebration could finally begin!
Lucian stood up, holding his drink high, and shouted, "Here’s to our success! Thank you all for your hard work, leader, and thank you, Joshua!"
Everyone cheered along, clinking glasses, and the atmosphere naturally loosened up after a few rounds.
Someone yelled, "We should’ve had white liquor! This stuff isn’t doing it at all!" Their face was flushed bright red, clearly not very sober.
Joshua sipped the cocktail in his hand, feeling a little strange. Each sip made his eyes grow slightly wider, round, and curious.
Henry, sitting beside him, couldn’t help asking, "Joshua, are you old enough for this?"
Joshua waved him off. "I’m older than you."
Nine was convinced Joshua was already drunk. Every time it tried to get his attention, Joshua would loudly scold it for being noisy, leaving Nine frustrated and silent, furiously scrolling through the network instead.
"Alright, alright, who’s still sober? Let’s play a game!"
"Truth or dare! No hiding, everyone come over here!"
Lucian, clearly drunk, shouted so loudly it filled the room, grabbing everyone’s hands—though he remembered well enough not to pull Henry along.
Henry watched Joshua’s tousled hair sway before him, and instinctively steadied him a little. Then he looked at Lucian: "I’m not joining. Joshua’s already drunk; I’ll take him home first."
With that, he stood and left. No one dared to stop him.
Joshua leaned against him without protest, his round eyes sparkling strangely. Aside from the faint flush on his cheeks, he looked remarkably obedient—unlike someone drunk.
The door closed behind them, cutting off the noise from the teens inside. Henry guided Joshua through the staff corridor, where a company car had been waiting for some time.
Joshua looked at the car, then tilted his head toward Henry, a doubtful expression on his face. "Henry... Henry, are you trying to kidnap me?"
Henry, fastening Joshua’s seatbelt, lowered his gaze. His face remained stern and serious as ever, and his voice carried the same tone: "Is that okay?"
Joshua didn’t answer. Instead, he stared at him wide-eyed, then suddenly lifted both hands to hold Henry’s face. Henry flinched slightly, though his expression remained calm. His ears flushed, and sweat broke out on his forehead.
Perhaps the air conditioning wasn’t working? Joshua didn’t care. His thumb gently brushed the mole beneath Henry’s left eye, which immediately caught his attention when they first met.
"What’s wrong?" Henry’s voice came out hoarse, almost like a thirsty traveler in the desert.
Joshua said nothing. Suddenly, he leaned up. Before Henry could react, a soft, gentle kiss—sweetly scented—landed on the corner of his eye, right on the mole. Joshua nuzzled like a tiny chick pecking at grain, and Henry felt nearly pinned under him.
He saw Joshua smile, the dimple on his cheek showing. "Beautiful."
Henry’s heart raced painfully, his face flushed bright red—no, right now he looked like a cooked shrimp. For the first time, a different emotion appeared in his eyes. His pupils trembled, an overwhelming feeling breaking through the barriers he had long maintained.
He wrapped his arms around Joshua, preventing him from causing more mischief.
"Joshua, you—"
Before Henry could finish, he felt Joshua relax against him. Looking down, he saw Joshua had closed his eyes, sleeping, lips curled in a slight smile, head nuzzled into Henry’s chest, dreaming of something delightful.
Henry parted his lips and could only sigh helplessly.
All the way home, Joshua rested his head on Henry’s shoulder, while Henry remained stiff as a board, too tense to move, only his pinky slightly raised to touch Joshua’s pinky resting on the seat.