Chapter 3

The world dissolved into a swirl of light and color, then solidified. I was standing in a room that was both familiar and impossibly grand. It was the student council office at school, but magnified. The mahogany desk was the size of a car, the bookshelves stretched up to a cathedral ceiling, and the city lights twinkled outside a massive window.

And there, sitting at the desk, was Liam Hayes.

He looked exactly as I remembered, but younger, without the faint lines of stress around his eyes that I'd seen in my past life. His dark hair was slightly messy, and he was completely absorbed in a complex physics textbook, his brow furrowed in concentration. He was in his element, a king in his castle of knowledge.

I took a deep breath. I was wearing a simple, slightly risqué nightgown-the system's default dream attire, apparently. I clutched the stack of papers to my chest, partially covering myself.

I walked towards him, my bare feet silent on the polished floor.

He didn't look up, not even when I was standing right in front of his desk.

"You're very focused," I said, my voice a soft murmur.

He still didn't look up, just turned a page.

I leaned forward, placing my hands on his desk. The silk of my nightgown shifted, exposing the curve of my shoulder. I was close enough to smell the faint, clean scent of his soap.

"Am I distracting you?" I whispered, my voice intentionally sultry.

Finally, he reacted. A muscle in his jaw twitched. His eyes, a deep, intelligent gray, slowly lifted from the page and met mine. He scanned me from head to toe, his expression unreadable. I saw his gaze linger for a moment on my exposed skin, and his Adam's apple bobbed slightly as he swallowed.

Success. I had his attention.

Now for the real test.

"I need your help with something," I said, my voice still a breathy whisper.

He raised an eyebrow, a flicker of what looked like disappointment crossing his features. "Let me guess," he said, his tone flat. "You're lost? You need me to... carry you somewhere?" His voice was laced with a tired sort of irony, as if he'd had this exact dream a hundred times before.

I smiled. "Not exactly."

I straightened up and slammed the thick stack of papers down on his desk. The loud thud echoed in the quiet room, making him jump.

His eyes widened in surprise as he looked at the mess of diagrams, equations, and code.

"I can't solve this recursive function," I said, my voice now clear and direct, all traces of seduction gone. "The time complexity is a nightmare. I was thinking of using a dynamic programming approach to optimize it, but I keep hitting a wall with the memory allocation. I need a second opinion."

Liam stared at me, his mouth slightly agape. He looked from my face, to the scandalous nightgown, then down to the complex algorithmic problem on his desk. The confusion on his face was priceless.

He blinked once, then twice. "You... you came into my dream... to ask me for help with a computer science problem?"

"Is there a problem?" I asked, feigning innocence. "You're the smartest person I know. Who else would I ask?"

A slow smile spread across his face. It transformed him, chasing away the aloofness and revealing a genuine, boyish charm. He leaned back in his chair, a real laugh escaping his lips. It was a warm, rich sound.

"No," he said, shaking his head in disbelief. "No problem at all."

And so, for the rest of the night, we didn't touch. We didn't exchange a single flirtatious word. Instead, we worked. We argued over optimization strategies, sketched out data structures on the back of his textbook, and celebrated with a quiet high-five when we finally found an elegant solution.

In his dream, surrounded by the symbols of his intellect, I didn't try to seduce his body. I seduced his mind.

As the dream began to fade, the edges of the room blurring into the morning light, the system chimed in my head.

[Target Liam Hayes's affection has increased by 10 points. Current affection: 10/100.]

[Points awarded: 100.]

I smiled. A good start.

[Special Achievement Unlocked: "Not Like Other Girls"!]

[Description: You successfully subverted the target's expectations in a dream scenario. You didn't just play the game, you changed the rules.]

[Reward: 200 Bonus Points. Current Points: 300.]

I couldn't help but laugh. It seemed the system appreciated my creativity.

As I fully woke up in my own bed, I felt a sense of satisfaction I hadn't experienced in years. This was fun.

I immediately opened the system store, my new points burning a hole in my virtual pocket. I scrolled past the "Enchanting Perfume" and "Irresistible Lingerie," my eyes searching for something else.

Finally, I found it. "Advanced Learning Capability (Temporary)." It promised to boost comprehension and memory for 24 hours.

The price was steep: 500 points.

A wave of frustration hit me. I was so close. I remembered my last life, how I struggled through every exam. I wasn't naturally gifted like Liam. My success came from brute force, from memorizing things I didn't truly understand. The thought of effortlessly absorbing knowledge was a temptation I couldn't resist.

I needed more points, and I needed them fast.