Harem Stealing System

Eiden, who had been relaxing in bed and drifting off to sleep, suddenly jolted upright like he'd been electrocuted. "Sasha's birthday is tomorrow!"

"Damn! What do I do?!" He slammed his face into the pillow. "I completely forgot about it after all the crap that's been going on… I remembered it before Linda rejected me or technically, didn't but then all that cat-glowing-system nonsense happened." He groaned. "Why didn't Sasha even say anything? Gah."

Panic rushed in like a broken faucet, and Eiden began brainstorming the entire night. His thoughts were running a hundred miles per hour, trying to juggle ideas while half his brain begged him to sleep.

The next morning, he looked like a corpse. Dark circles. Slumped back. Barely functioning. Still, he mustered whatever energy he had, forced himself to get washed and dressed, then dragged himself downstairs. Dally, his mom, was already at the table with breakfast laid out. As he sat down, groggy-eyed and dead inside, she smiled gently. "Sooo?" she asked playfully. "What are you planning to give Sasha today?"

" You know her parents has already invited us to the birthday party, " .

Eiden choked on his first bite of toast. "I… it's a surprise."

"Alright then," she said casually, continuing her meal. Eiden sighed. That was too close. As he munched half-heartedly on breakfast, he whispered internally: "System-chan, suggestions please?" He always imagined the system voice as female it just sounded like that. But he also had a weird gut feeling it was sexless. Regardless…

❝ I cannot provide assistance regarding this matter. ❞

"Figured," Eiden muttered, not even disappointed. He'd asked more out of desperation than expectation. Still… what the hell could he give Sasha? It wasn't like she lacked anything. She could afford all the stuff he couldn't as he father Christopher Everine was a wealthy business man who owned serveral stock market as her mother was a former retired acteess Celine Everine who was quite wealthy herself as she still gets offer for ads for some famous products . And worst of all, he didn't want to repeat himself. "I already baked cookies once. Took a whole-ass baking class for that. That was my 'homemade, thoughtful' phase. Then I bought her a dog once. Which, okay, is a huge gift but she got attached immediately. So, not really a rich or poor issue."

He rubbed his eyes. "Come to think of it, all the pets she has are from me. The dog, the cat, the parrot, the hamster, the rabbit…"

Eiden paused and stared blankly at the table.

"At this rate, I'm just turning her into a zoo keeper." He sighed again, internally dying.Before Linda rejected me i was actually thinking of buying her a monkey , now that i think about it ,it was a stupid plan " why didn't i realize that before ? Is it that i was stupid and became less stupid due to the + 3 increase in intelligence? He lampooned for a while . Anyways "I can't gift her another pet. What else… what do girls even like…?" Then it hit him like lightning. "Wait. I don't have to figure this out myself. Girls understand other girls better, right?" With that, he finished his food in record time and bolted out the door. "Be careful!" Dally called after him.

At college, he did everything he could to avoid Sasha. Ducking behind pillars. Pretending to check notice boards. Turning back when he saw her from a distance. He didn't want to face her before he had a gift ready.

He waited instead for one particular person: Harry Stawn. One of his few male friends.

No, Harry wasn't gay. And no, Eiden didn't suddenly want emotional support. He needed a proxy because Harry's sister, Crysty Stawn, was close to Sasha. And more importantly, she was also a girl from a similar wealth background. When Eiden spotted Harry, he sprinted.

"Bro!" Harry greeted. "You look like " Before he could finish, Eiden grabbed him by the neck and dragged him to a corner."I need help," he said seriously. Harry blinked. "What?"

"Sasha. Birthday. Gift. Forgot." Eiden broke it down piece by piece. Harry took a second to compute, then let out a dramatic gasp. "Bro HOW? She's your childhood friend and she's hot! How did you forget?!"

Eiden looked ashamed. "I don't know, man. It just too much happened." Harry raised a brow. "Okay, so what do you want me to do?"

"I need you to ask your sister if she knows anything Sasha might like," Eiden said, desperate. "I mean, I'm close to her, yeah but I'm not a girl. There are things I just don't get." Harry nodded solemnly, clearly understanding that sister logic transcended male friendship.

"Alright," he said. "I'll call her now." He pulled out his phone and dialed. After a couple of rings, Crysty picked up. "What?"

"Hey, Crysty," Harry said. "It's about Sasha's birthday. Eiden forgot "

There was a long pause on the line. "Didn't expect this from him," Crysty said coldly.

That one hit Eiden right in the gut. He looked away, guilt bubbling up. "But… I don't want to see her sad, so I'll help," Crysty continued. "I know your budget isn't high, so you'll have to be clever." "No pets," she added. "I knew it!" Eiden whispered to himself.

Crysty was about to offer more suggestions when Eiden suddenly asked, "Is it okay to… sing?" There was silence. "…You can sing?" she asked, confused. Eiden blinked. "Is it though?" Crysty actually chuckled. "Well, yeah if it's you, it could work. We've never heard you sing before, so if you pull it off nicely, it'll be unexpected and personal. That makes it a pretty great gift." Eiden just said "Thanks" and walked off.

Crysty, still on the call, asked Harry, "Wait does he actually sing?" Harry scratched his head. "I've seen his junk in the shower, but not once have I seen him sing." Crysty hung up without another word.

Eiden, now walking with renewed purpose and gleaming eyes, made his way toward someone who had just arrived. She was standing near the hallway vending machines, checking her phone. Arin. Part of Ruel's group, and from the moment Eiden met her, her Instability was already at 22%. From just existing. He approached her directly, no hesitation.

"Hey," he said. "Are you okay?"