Tutorial in session!

As the door opened, Rhys mentally encountered the stages of grief. Even if this is a tutorial, it's too much! They couldn't do this! This system cheated and lied to him, how dare they? It wasn't too bad, right? All he had to do was a simple kiss and he clears it? But he's straight!

Snapping out of it, Rhys noticed the charming man at the door. As his eyes met the man's brown ones, causing the system information to pop up. Theodore Rosera, the bossy CEO. He's almost unapproachable and those who work for him are scared of him, hence his lack of friends. Current affection twenty.

The black haired man was significantly more muscular and toned than anyone Rhys had ever seen in his life. He had a sophisticated yet dominating aura about him, no wonder no one wanted to approach him, Rhys thought. But wait, doesn't he look too perfect? There's no way a normal person can look like that, that's definitely a male lead!

Putting on his best smile, Rhys ran up and hugged Aaron and then Theo, before running back to his seat, grinning at them. "Thank you for the job offer, mister Theo! Aaron!" Although he looked sweet, his tone barely matched.

It didn't matter though, as the two capture targets affection increased. Aaron went from twenty-five to thirty, and Theodore from twenty to twenty-four. Seeing this, Rhys mentally tsk at how hard Theo was being.

Taking a seat in front of Rhys, Theodore began to tell him about the job position, and the minor details. It was quite boring, so he didn't feel the need to pay attention, rather, his mind drifted to just how he would complete the mission. In the end, he couldn't really think of anything, he just knew he needed to act nice.

"And that's all, sign here." zoning back in, he took the paper and signed, not even looking over it. He's going to be done with the tutorial soon anyways, right?

Just then a system hint appeared, as he finished signing the paper. "Theodore likes it when you are casual with him, while being cute! The original female lead was the crybaby type." although it was a hint, it felt like it was just there to insult the female lead.

Determined to just finish the tutorial without doing the mission, maybe there won't be a repercussion then, he continued his act "Done! Here you go, Theo! Thank you both for your kindness." a small smile afterwards adorned his features.

It seemed as though the CEO's type was the weak and cute who depend on him, while Aaron's is the cute and hardworking type. Theodore's affection rose from twenty-four to thirty in a matter of seconds, and Aaron's from thirty to thirty-six.

Nice, just a bit more before he's halfway. The system said he could of cleared Aaron earlier with their brief interaction, so he could probably clear them both now, perfect.

A sudden pang hit him as Kane perked up. "Both targets are at or above the minimum requirement of thirty to unlock information and a system gift." A screen proceeded to pop up with information, with a reward and its contents on the side.

"The host's character is currently being bullied by the female lead and her entourage! Because this is a media company, it produces many actors, including herself. The male leads and female lead have already met." Kane then proceeded to explain that this minimum requirement information will provide him with useful things he doesn't know of when he first enters the world.

"Wait you're telling me I don't know everything despite the information dump at the start?!" Rhys thought, what a scam system! Sighing, he continued to read what the system had given him.

"Female lead and male leads affection towards each other is currently locked! Minimum requirement is fifty. Use this information to seduce the capture targets!"

Although he didn't realise it at first, but now he had a question. "Kane, why is it no one is reacting to the way I'm just staring really hard at the system? They can't see it right?" he whispered.

"When you're in a reward screen, you'll automatically be in the system safe space, only for ten minutes! It's sort of like a pause on your current world, where nothing moves you can thank the all powerful system for saving you from embarrassment!" Kane bragged. "Now, accept your gift already." he added.

What an interesting concept. Couldn't the system just always do this, put him in a pause screen when hints appeared so he could read it? Once again, seemingly reading his mind, Kane explained.

"The system may be powerful, but don't abuse it. Some host once kept using his paused world time to come up with dirty schemes or mess with the world each time for hours on end so we had to add a limit!"

Rhys honestly didn't blame them, though. He too would have probably jumped out the window to find and get rid of the corrupted female lead if the world suddenly paused when he locked eyes with Theodore.

Turning his focus back on the gift reward, he proceeded to read the contents. "Gift unlocks 3 skills at level 0, along with one attribute upgrade for the host." Clicking accept, he received a calming sensation to his head, and another screen popped up in front of him.

"You really should of accepted the gift first, you only have four minutes left to choose an attribute, otherwise the world will return to normal and you'd have to wait to being alone again unless you want to look stupid." Kane sighed at Rhys.

Attributes? What were those, actually? As he looked at the screen, he saw a whole list of different things to choose from which seemed to help him improve, in order to complete higher ranked missions in the future.

Looks, charisma, strength, stamina, agility, defense, and health. Under each had a subcategory to choose from, such as handsomeness or cuteness, physical strength, emotional strength, or where the strength would go to the most.

"There really is a lot to choose from, doesn't this mean I'm basically customizing myself then?" Rhys asked, to which Kane nodded.

"Finally, you're getting it! You're ugly too, now. I suggest you use the point on cuteness, since you already have a small body. Although you do look cute to an average person, compared to other hosts, you're like a bug." Kane explained, more like insulted Kane.

Cuteness, is he serious? If anything he was going to be manly! "But wait, wouldn't they notice my looks have changed?" Rhys asked, as he proceeded to confirm putting in the handsomeness point.

"The female lead will definitely notice, but none of the others will, including the capture target! You haven't met the female lead yet, so she won't notice. The others will remember you with the way you look after the transformation!" Kane explained, slightly running out of breath.

A bright white light enveloped Rhys' body as he suddenly grew a little taller. He went from 5'4, to 5'6, with nothing else changing. "What a scam! I thought I was going to be handsome, I want a refund!" He cried out.

"Although your points are refundable, you're going to have to do that later, right now, the safe space is about to end. You should receive your skills right about now that you've transformed. No more questions!" Kane huffed. Rhys talked way too much for his liking.

With a minute left, three skills were sent to his head, causing the calming sensation he felt earlier to vanish, and instead replace itself with a sharp pain once more. Just how cruel was this system to its host?

"Skill unlocked, okay smile level 0. This skill lets the host charm one his capture targets in the moment. More affective the higher the target's affection. Using this skill repeatedly allows the host to level it up." So essentially, it's just a really charismatic smile? Then does he even need the charisma attribute?

"Skill unlocked, ugly crier level 0. This skill lets the host cry on command, but it's very unattractive, might lose affection points. Using this skill repeatedly allows the host to level it up." What even is the point of this skill if it loses affection points?

"Skill unlocked, victim card level 0. This skill helps the host look like a victim, even if they were the instigator, and has a thirty percent chance of succeeding. Using this skill repeatedly allows the host to level it up." Isn't this skill too specific?

Within five seconds, the safe pause on the world had vanished and Rhys was back to the office, though now standing up with his fingers pointed weirdly at the air, causing Theodore and Aaron to look at him weirdly.

"Ah sorry, I was just thinking! Thinking about how cool you both are." Rhys tried to play it off, small embarrassment and panic arose in him. He was so caught up with the safe space he forgot that he needed to kiss at least one of them before they left, or clear the world! And they were already heading for the door!

As Theodore's affection raised from thirty to thirty-two, and Aaron's from thirty-six to thirty-seven, they left the room, causing a big "MISSION FAILURE" to pop up and ring in his head.

An overwhelming amount of pain surged throughout him causing him to fall onto his knees, he tried crying out but no sound came out. The pain was extreme, even more than when he first appeared in the tutorial world, even Kane looked down sadly at him.

"The more memories you lose, the more painful it'll be, host. We're slowly stripping away who you once were, after all. This time, you've lost the memory of the first time you've ever played an instrument, since it seems to be a key memory for you."

The memory suddenly flashed before Rhys' eyes of what he once held dear to him, his father taking him to work and a grand piano in the centre. There was a man who he just couldn't exactly name, teaching him about how it works and how to play it.

"Because this man appears in your memory many times, you'll only remember him as your teacher, noting about the first time you've met, or why you're so affectionate towards this teacher in your other memories." Kane explained, tired of floating, he sat back on Rhys' shoulder.

"It... hurts." He gasped, finally able to shout and scream all he wanted again. It seemed like the system blocked out his screams to prevent him from alerting those around him.

Finally able to get back up, he wiped the dirt off himself, a little confusion settling in. What was he just so panicked about a moment ago? He failed the mission, and he lost a memory? Well he still had 98 more, so it was fine for now. So long as he doesn't lose anymore memories, he should be good.

Leaving the room, Kane proceeded to make small conversation with Rhys, in order to make sure he knew what he was doing. At this point, he would of teased the host for not being able to give a simple kiss on the cheek, but after seeing the immense pain he was in, he decided against it.

"You know where your apartment is, right? It should of been sent to you with the information dump at the start." Kane mumbled, trying not to give him a headache.

"I know. But I thought you said this would only take a day?" Rhys sighed, annoyed that he was spending longer on this tutorial than most.

"It's at your own pace, if you're fast and a good actor you could of probably done it, but you're just a musician, don't rush yourself. Just focus on levelling up your skills when you get home." He responded, trying his best to be useful. Maybe if he didn't sleep so much earlier, he could of helped him instead, like a proper system, Kane thought.

Rhys rolled his eyes at the levelling comment, but thought for a second about him being a musician. He was a musician, he knew that, he remembers his fans and glory, his countless hours of piano playing, but when exactly did it begin, or rather, why did he like it? He couldn't remember. It was such a long time ago, anyways.

"How do I level up those skills? Aren't they sort of worthless? Why do I want to be able to have the skill ugly crier." He hissed out, annoyed at the system for giving him such a worthless skill.

"Please don't blame me, host! That skill would be incredibly useful if you level it up, I can't tell you what it turns into per our rules, but your skills can evolve into better one!" Kane explained, trying to lighten to mood.

So it's like a game with various stat options? Well that certainly makes things easier. If he was going to clear this tutorial world, he was going to have to take it seriously from now, he couldn't afford to be the idiot who failed a tutorial!

But now that he thought about it, it seemed like Kane had always read his mind, could he actually do that? On cue, he got a response. "I can read your mind, Rhys. Although you can't read mind, or communicate with me telepathically, I'm able to read your mind in situations so when we aren't alone I can answer you!"

Great, so now he doesn't have to waste his time speaking to air when people are around. Leaving the building, Rhys flagged down a taxi and went back to his apartment, desperate to rest up.

Taking out his keys, he unlocked the door and shut it behind him, before plopping down on the nearest couch. Today had just been a wreck. Not only did he die, but he got transmigrated into a whole new world thanks to some system, he's been given side missions and the overall mission to capture the hearts of men, even though he's straight! Today was just not going well.

Sighing, he rolled onto his back as he rested his arms on his stomach. Although it felt so surreal, the fact that is that it is real, and this was going to be his life for awhile. He couldn't afford to fall behind, and had to use everything given to him.

As his stomach rumbled, he sat up and finally got a good look of the room. It was a mess! Are you serious system? It just had to be a messy house! As much as he wanted to eat, there was no way he could in this condition. If this was the living room, he dread to see the kitchen.

"Are you able to help me you good for nothing system! What's the point of having you!" He huffed, starting to pick up the dirty laundry across the floor. Kane only huffed as he floated over next to Rhys.

"If you haven't noticed I'm a hedgehog! Like I said, if you complete worlds and use your points to level me up when you complete the world, I'll be a better system! Just like you I'm basic now, but in the future I'll be able to do some amazing stuff!"

Rhys only rolled his eyes at the comment, "Yeah, yeah. Go roll around on the floor and try to pick these things up while floating, will you?" He teased.

"I want a better host right this instant! This one is a complete bully!" Kane sulked, only to hear Rhys comment on the mutual feeling.

It was going to be a long night, not only did they have to clean the house, but they also had to worry about his physical needs and skills, the new future Rhys had in store was certainly not going to be easy.