Depending on your age and the societal norms you experienced during your formative years, you might expect that watching a diminutive redhead bring a swift end to an enraged monster would cause nearby men to feel emasculated and eager to express their own strength. And you'd be right. You might also expect such a sight to be found incredibly alluring, and you'd still be right. As to not embarrass or shame either Leo or Igor, I won't go into specifics of who felt what. Suffice it to say both men suddenly became aware of emotions they weren't prepared to handle.
Igor expressed his unspecified emotion by blushing and turning, feigning disgust at the blood now pooling on the floor. He opened his mouth to ask if the rat monster was dead, but Leo spoke before he could.
"Look out, I'll bash down that door," Leo said with artificial gruffness in his voice. Even as he backed up for a running start, he knew his attempt would not go well. What's more, he had a 'Quest complete!' dialogue box floating in his vision that indicated it wasn't even necessary.
"Ooo, I just gained two new skills! Weapon Improv and headshot!" Angie said, "What do you think? Should we loot the corpse? Also, what's going on?"
Name: Angie
Occupation: Checker
Class: Skill Thief
Level: 10
HP: 10
AC: +0
Stamina: ?
Spirit: ?
Physical Stats:
Strength:12
Dexterity:18
Constitution:12
Mental Stats:
Intelligence:8
Wisdom:10
Charisma:10
Trauma:0
Abilities:
Reflex Bar [4/4 slots available]:
Choose a known skill to perform automatically (when appropriate) or when triggered
[][][][]
Skill list:
[x] Claw Machine (10/10)
→ reward: Sleight of Hand: +1
[_]Sleight of Hand:(4/10)[+1]
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
→ reward: Distraction +3
[_] Distraction: (4/10)
[_] Improvised Weapon(33/100)
→reward: from plastic spoon to wooden ladder, everything is a weapon (all damage +20)
[_]Head Shot(7/10)
→ reward: (passive)Accuracy with all weapons increase by half when aiming for a face
[X] ???(10/10)
.
.
.
[X] ???(10/10)
[_]???
.
.
.[_]???
Once again, Igor was interrupted before he could speak. This time, it was by the dull thud of Leo's shoulder hitting the latched door, followed by a series of curses that nearly drowned out the quiet voice coming from the other side of the door.
"Umm? Hello?" Phoebe asked.
Since Angie was otherwise distracted by her character sheet and trying to add skills to her newly discovered 'Reflex Bar'—and Leo was recovering from his ill-advised attempt to bust open an unlocked door— Igor, having already opened his mouth to speak earlier, managed to reply first.
"Phoebe?" he replied intelligently. He'd worked with Phoebe for long enough that he knew her voice and created the schedule, so he'd known she was working. If that hadn't been sufficient, the fact that he'd been the one to send her on break barely 15 minutes ago should have been enough to make the truth obvious.
Still, he reassured himself, it might at least be news to Leo and Angie.
"Umm, yeah. Is the monster gone?"
"I smoked it in the head!" Angie celebrated again, having added the claw machine to her reflex actions. She was set on getting that smartwatch, given the barest opportunity.
Tentatively at first, and then with greater enthusiasm, Phoebe opened the break room door. Leo noticed the door wasn't locked and sheepishly looked around to see if anyone else had. Phoebe had grasped Angie in a hug, partly because she'd saved her, partly because she was there, and largely because she needed a hug from someone who wouldn't read anything into it. Whether or not Angie was the right choice for that act was uncertain, but let it not be said that she was anything but a gentle lady.
Igor was on edge, unsure if he needed to prepare himself for a hug, when he received the popup "Reputation: Phoebe: [6/10][8/10]" that was almost immediately followed by another popup.
"Leo has invited you to join his party."