Cheat Million Love

Emily walked into the living room and found Nic's house in absolute chaos—pillows everywhere, empty cups cluttering the tables, and random stuff scattered across the floor. She sighed deeply, then started waking everyone up.

"Get up! Come on, guys, this place is a disaster!!" she shouted, yanking the blanket off Vivi and Nia.

Nic woke up groggily, rubbing his head. "Eh… did I fall asleep last night? What the heck happened here?"

Everyone quickly got moving, cleaning the living room and picking up every corner of the house. After the mess was handled, some of them decided to head home. The only ones left at Nic's house were Emily, Leona, Vivi, Nia, Julia, Charlotte, Zestia, Monica, and Bella.

Once things settled down, Emily casually spoke up. "Oh right, by the way, nice to meet you all. I'm actually Nic's personal secretary," she said with a mischievous grin.

Vivi turned around sharply. "What?! Is that true, Nic?!" she asked, grabbing his shirt collar with a suspicious glare.

Nic quickly raised his hands in surrender. "No, no! She's joking! Emily's the secretary of the agency, not my personal assistant!"

Vivi let go with a sigh of relief, while Emily laughed at her reaction. "Jeez, chill out. That was hilarious!"

They chatted for a bit, then Nic brought up an idea. "I was thinking… maybe we should build a special place where we can all hang out. Not just at home or school."

Leona nodded. "Good idea. If you need help, I can—"

"Hold up," Nic cut her off gently, patting her head. "Let me handle it this time. I don't want to always rely on my girlfriends."

Leona gave a small smile, though she looked a little disappointed. Julia, lounging on the couch, leaned in. "Then what should I do?"

Nic replied, "Find a pro who can design a cozy and cool hangout space for all of us." Julia nodded and teamed up with Leona to search for references on her laptop.

Meanwhile in the kitchen, Zestia came in with Charlotte, carrying a simple breakfast they'd prepared. "Too bad we can't all eat together…" Zestia muttered as she sat down, looking a little glum.

Nic ruffled her hair. "Don't worry. We'll all eat together again soon. They probably had stuff to do."

At the table, Vivi and Nia nudged Nic from either side. "Hey, feed me," Vivi said playfully, grinning.

"What? You two are acting like kids," Nic muttered, raising an eyebrow. But in the end, he gave in and started feeding them. Internally, he grumbled, If I keep feeding them, when do I get to eat?.

Emily, watching from nearby, handed him a spoon. "Here. Eat something already." Nic took a bite straight from Emily's spoon without thinking, making Vivi pout.

"Hmph! Seriously?!" Vivi whined.

In the other room, Monica and Bella were streaming live on their social media. "Hi everyone! Soon, we're gonna have our own cool private space to go live from! We'll be singing new songs and dancing in style!"

The day went by peacefully. Everyone helped Nic study for the upcoming exams that would decide if they'd move up to the next grade.

---

The Next Day: Exam Day

Nic arrived at school early to return a book he'd borrowed from Nia. "Just drop it off at the library, she said. Easy enough," he mumbled, walking inside. But once he reached the far end of the bookshelf rows, something felt… off.

Between the shelves, he noticed a shadow. When he got closer, a girl suddenly popped out from behind the shelf, startling him so badly that he fell to the floor.

"The evil spirit has arrived to haunt you!" the girl shouted in a creepy voice before laughing eerily and walking away like nothing happened.

"What the heck was that? Is she crazy?" Nic scratched his head in confusion and headed back to class.

When he arrived, Leona welcomed him with a warm hug around the neck. "Welcome back, Nic~"

Instantly, the classroom erupted in noise. Everyone wanted to know if the rumors were true—had Nic really fought a tiger during the camping trip? Before he could say anything, Olivia walked in with her usual grace and said, "Nic is tired. Don't bother him."

Everyone instantly obeyed. Nic smiled at Olivia in thanks.

But then, from the corner of his eye, Nic noticed someone peeking in through the classroom window. "Leona, who's that?" he asked, pointing.

Leona looked but saw no one. "Huh? There's nobody there."

Nic sighed. "Maybe I'm just seeing things…"

In the school hallway, a girl with long purple hair and faint red eyes walked slowly, smiling to herself. "The evil spirit lives inside him… I must capture it," she whispered.

Her name was Selene from Class 12. And she had set her sights on Nic.

The exams began and went smoothly. Nic flew through all the questions with ease and confidence. After finishing early, he asked for permission to go to the bathroom.

On his way, he felt a strange presence. His instincts screamed that someone was watching him. He quickly activated his Love map to scan the area—and sure enough, someone was tailing him. But when he turned around, no one was there.

Turning back—bam! A girl stood right in front of him, making him jump. It was Selene—the same weirdo who'd spooked him in the library.

"What do you want?!" Nic demanded, taking a step back.

"Silence! I must exorcise the evil spirit inside you!" she shouted, trying to grab his shoulder.

Nic swatted her hand away, irritated. "What spirit?! I'm just trying to pee!" He stormed into the boys' bathroom, hoping she'd leave.

As he was about to unzip, Selene's face suddenly appeared above the stall door. "Let me capture the spirit!" she cried excitedly.

"ARGH!! You perv!! Get out!!" Nic screamed.

Right then, two other students walked into the bathroom and saw Selene.

"Uh, what the heck are you doing in here?" one of them asked.

Nic seized the moment. "Please get this crazy girl out of here!"

Feeling cornered, Selene yelled, "I'm not a pervert!" and stormed out, flustered.

After she left, Nic asked the two guys, "Who is that girl, anyway?"

One of them answered, "Oh, that's Selene. She's a Grade 12 students. She's obsessed with spiritual stuff. She says people who visit the library get possessed or something, and she tries to 'save' them."

Nic let out a long sigh. "So she's just… weird."

But outside the restroom, Selene was still waiting. She suddenly grabbed Nic's wrist and started pulling him away.

"Hey! I've got exams to finish!" Nic protested.

Selene didn't listen and dragged him to the now-empty library. Unbeknownst to them, Lily had seen everything and started quietly following.

In the library, Selene tied Nic to a chair with cloth strips so he couldn't escape. Nic decided to just go along with it for now.

Right as Selene was about to start some weird ritual, Lily burst in. "Hey! What are you trying to do to Nic?! Let him go!"

Selene glared at her. "He's possessed by an evil spirit! If you don't believe me, I'll show you."

She placed her hands on Lily's face, closed her eyes, and whispered, "Imagine the spirit…"

Lily, always the imaginative one, was instantly affected. Her eyes shot open and she shrieked, "Nic! There's a spirit on your shoulder!!"

Nic rolled his eyes. "Oh come on, Lily… not you too."

All the noise attracted Nia, who was nearby. She stormed into the library with a cold glare and slammed her hand on the nearest table.

"Just because there's no staff here, you guys think you can do whatever you want?" she said sternly.

Nic chuckled. "Whoa, scary. Nia, mind helping me out here? I'm kinda tied up."

Nia glanced at Selene. "What are you doing?"

Selene explained her mission to banish the spirit inside Nic. Nia, already used to Selene's antics, just sighed. "Nic, you might as well go along with it. Otherwise, she's never going to leave you alone."

Selene began chanting some strange mantra, then pretended to yank something invisible from Nic's shoulder and trapped it inside a bracelet. Out of nowhere, she smacked Nic on the back.

"OW! Why'd you hit me?!"

"That was me transferring my energy into your body, to protect you from spirits!" Selene said proudly.

Nic just shook his head. "Whatever. Can I go now?"

Selene shrugged. "Sure, go ahead."

Nic, Lily, and Nia left together. But just before they exited, Nic glanced back and saw Selene looking strangely lonely.

He asked the system, "What do I get from her?"

The system replied simply, "Unknown."

Nic groaned. "Ugh, useless system. How come you suddenly don't know?!"

To be continued…