Chapter 58 - Narcissus

Jack woke up as suddenly as he fell asleep.

As if with a click, his consciousness returned to reality.

He slept without dreams, and when he woke up full of strength and with a slight feeling of relaxation, he did not quite realize that he had been sleeping at all.

For a while he thought that he hadn't gone to bed yet, but just lay down for a while with his eyes closed.

However, opening his eyes slightly, he saw how early rays of light were running along the wall of the room, briskly making their way through the open window. The day, by the way, promised to be pleasantly cool, judging by the pleasant breeze that frolicked with the curtains.

Seeing the sunlight, Jack's brain began to work actively and comparing a couple of thoughts, came to the conclusion - he fell asleep without starting preparations for tomorrow... that is, to today's guests.

After blinking for a couple of seconds, the guy jumped up as if stung — "Well, I'm a deer!" he shouted to himself, quickly resting his gaze on the wall clock — "Okay, I woke up at least very early."

Taking a deep breath and exhaling, Jack came out of his slumber to the end and felt like familiar things... changed.

He couldn't fully understand all the changes, there were too many of them, but some things were easy to feel.

Balance, orientation in space, sounds, colors, tactile sensations, memory, reaction, thoughts... Everything was affected, but these parts were the easiest to notice.

- "And a dream..." — Jack said to himself, closing his eyes — "It's so good to rest and feel light in my head."

"Are you studying the fruits of your labors?" asked Gunther with his trademark smile

"Is it from the Mind boost right?"

- "Yes."

- "Not too much... aren't the improvements too obvious? Coco's mind is even higher. It turns out..."

Mr. Mirror waved his brush negatively — "No, she doesn't have anything like that, I say right away. Let me remind you that the indicator of a trait is an average between different aspects. For example, Coco may have excellent long-term and short-term memory, but this does not mean that she has a wonderful sleep, excellent coordination, and so on. In this you are superior to everyone, thanks to the system. With an increase in characteristics, all sides of a particular trait are improved."

"Even in training?"

"Yes, even in training. So you can only squat, but when the "Strength" increases by one, all the muscles of your body will be reduced to the resulting number. I think we've already discussed this."

— "Okay, I get it." — Jack rubbed his nose a little embarrassed and looked at his watch again, decided — "They're still sleeping anyway, there's time, I'll spend it usefully."

Having taken the emphasis lying down, he began to do push-ups, which were given to him much easier than before - the strength increased. But his weight still performed a good "load" function for training.

After the push-ups, there were squats, then a little stretching and at the end of the burpee.

Jack was engaged in all this until exhaustion, and therefore was surprised how quickly an hour and a half passed.

Sweat flowed down him like a river when he jumped out of the squat for the last time. - "Great, but at this rate I'll have to train for days to bring myself to the edge." — the guy thought as he went to the shower — "I need to take care of dumbbells and weights."

Having bathed, Jack stood on the scales that stood alone in the bathroom and saw the figure of one hundred and eight kilograms. A divine result, if you remember that a month ago there were all one hundred and fifty, but two days ago his weight was one hundred and two kilos.

After wiping the mirror, he looked at his own reflection - he did not look fatter. On the contrary, the fat layer decreased well, which meant only one thing - the kilograms that arrived were muscle mass. The increase in "Strength" is clearly noticeable.

As for fat, this is exactly the result of accelerated metabolism, muscles that need energy to support, training, synthesis of new muscle fibers, diet, and now the brain. The latter was the most energy-consuming organ, so with its improvement, the required daily dose of calories increased.

— "Well, handsome, handsome, just don't become a narcissist." - O'Dim grinned when Jack took a couple of poses in front of the mirror

The guy's face blushed embarrassedly, and he hurriedly began to get dressed — "Yes, what narcissism is here, I know that the result was obtained thanks to the system."

— "Well, you don't have to go to such an extreme." — Gunther shook his head, with a slight smile on his lips - "The system is now part of you. She is a product that you purchased from me in exchange for a service and you should not be embarrassed by this."

— "That's enough about it." - Jack covered his reddened face, and then quickly headed out of the room

The brothel has already, so to speak, woken up. From minute to minute, his doors were ready to open, but Jack gathered everyone, accepted sincere compliments, refused a couple of ladies and began preparing the big best room for negotiations.

To his surprise, everything was quite easy, Hiro constantly cleaned the room, even though it was almost never used.

For today, Ishtar was closed to visitors, unless they had a connection with the ongoing negotiations, Jack or Balalaika.

The people of the Moscow Hotel were already pulling up, slowly taking up empty seats in the hall. There was no Balalaika with the main forces yet.

The meeting with Dongfang Long was only at six o'clock, and the meeting with Coco at four o'clock.

Now it was the third hour-the height of the day.

Coco and Balalaika should arrive in about an hour, but someone else came.

...

— The brothel is closed for today.

- Yes? Why so? — wincing from the sunlight, headache and loud noises, Revi asked the guard

— It's booked.

— Okay, whatever, call Jack. Revie almost moaned when a passing car honked and the feeling of "killing" awoke in the girl

The guard was surprised. He was a Balalaika man, not a guard of the brothel itself, so he didn't know the girl. — Who are you? How do you know him?

Revie, restraining her irritation, pursed her lips — Does it bother you? Call him and that's it. Tell me that Revie is waiting here.

The guard snorted with a slight anger — Knock the arrogance off yourself, girl.

— Are you going to call or not? Revi strained her neck, looking at the man from under her brows

— I'll call you. — he frowned and entered the brothel, before showing others to replace him — He would make sudden movements - shoot.

Hearing this, Revi snorted, and then winced from the headache that abruptly rolled in like a tidal wave — Fuck ~ I... — she drawled discontentedly

Meanwhile, inside the brothel, a security guard approached Jack. He had just sat down to lunch when the man's words made him choke — a certain Revie is looking for you, Jack.

— Kh. Jack coughed, his eyes bulging a little.

- yes. — the man nodded — An acquaintance?

— Yeah. Jack smiled crookedly, feeling his guts begin to curl from the guilt that had come over him

— Here you burn... How did you manage to get acquainted with such an asshole. the man shook his head

— I don't understand myself...

— Okay, should I skip it?

— Yes, skip it.

The guard left towards the exit, and a second later, Revie entered through him.

Jack clearly saw how the girl finally gave the man the middle finger before going in.

What else he clearly felt was a sense of discomfort and, yes, guilt. To be honest, it wasn't that scary for him to say that he was Balalaika's lover and that they had already slept together.

It was not an angry reaction that scared him much more, but a smile full of pain, tears, a look full of loss and despair.

He didn't want to see that in any way, and it would have been better if Revie had just punched him. And most likely it will be as he wanted, but who knows?

Revie, in turn, immediately noticed Jack's strange shifty look. Usually the guy looked her straight in the eyes or just in the face, but now... now, for some reason, every now and then the gaze ran away from her gaze.

Yes, and this awkward pose and awkward smile gave rise to unpleasant thoughts.

— Hi, you look lousy. Jack said, looking at the girl's slightly swollen face. Then the smell came to him—Wow! Looks like you had a restless night. Have you marked your salary?

— Sort of. Revie sighed, sitting down next to the guy

Jack turned to Leah, who was always standing at the bar — Do the same for her as for me and coffee with cognac.

The bartender nodded and left through the door to the kitchen.

- thanks. — Revie smiled sweetly, despite her condition and appearance

— You're welcome. You wanted to... talk. Jack breathed out unnecessarily nervously, anxiously twitching his right leg slightly while sitting

The girl squinted, looking at him and an unkind feeling crept into her heart — I came to train you, but I see you are busy...

— Not really. I've already prepared everything I need, so I have a little time. — Jack smiled faintly and looked at her, activated the "Eyes of Belial"

Rebecca Lee (Revie)

Strength - 18

Agility - 27

Survivability - 7

Perception - 22

Mind - 11

Volya - 17

Libido - 12

Quick reference: (show)

- "Nothing has changed here... and here..."

Quick reference: At the moment, Rebecca Lee is in love with the user. Because of the difficult past, she could never have thought that she would find happiness in the hands of a man, and therefore the girl greatly values the connection she finds with the user.

Superficial desires: He wants to confess his feelings to the user during training. Wants to kiss the user. Wants hard sex with a user. He wants the headache and the dryness to go away.

At the moment, she is worried and tormenting herself with thoughts because of the strange behavior of the user.

This information was not entirely useful, as it increased Jack's anxiety —"Damn, she wants to confess and sees my anxiety. The infection..."

Revie smiled a little anxiously—Great. Then we 'll eat and ...

— Jack... — said the Balalaika man, coming up — Phil called and said that the Captain wanted to see you.

— Urgent? Jack winced a little. He's just given Revie hope, and this whole situation is getting complicated and what else is not.

— Well, you can eat, and then it's better to go right away. — the man nodded and drowned

Jack smiled wryly and looked at Revie's obviously unhappy, slightly upset and annoyed face—I'm sorry...

— Nothing, I'll wait. — the girl sighed — I'll just come to my senses a little.

— Okay, I'll try not to linger unnecessarily. — Jack said, briskly leaving — You can finish it for me, if you don't disdain. he said loudly, grinning good—naturedly, before leaving the brothel

Revie smiled and pushed his plate, licked a fork with meat sauce on it—"I certainly won't disdain you, Jackie."

She started eating his lunch when a man with a kind innocent expression came up to the counter and said— Oh, there is no Leah.

And a few seconds later, the door to the kitchen opened and Leah came out — So, your lunch will be ready soon. — she said, and then her eyes fell on the man, and the girl smiled — Here you are, finally.

— Yes, I am. — the man smiled childishly, nodding

— Eh, Hiro, I forgot to have breakfast again.

— I haven't forgotten. — he shook his head negatively — He just didn't want to eat. Now I wanted to.

Leah grinned — Okay, now I'll tell you and they'll make your favorite.

- thanks. Hiro smiled with a trademark smile, following the bartender with his eyes

Meanwhile, Revie, squinting, looked at him — You're Hiro, right?

The guy turned and looked at her with a kind look—Yes, I am Hiro.

"Jack told me about you. Revie smiled slightly

"Do you know Jack?" Hiro asked with more interest, his eyes shining

- yes. I him... friend. — thought Revie, pausing for a second — Listen, tell me about Jack. I want to know my friend better.

"Tell me about him?" Well, he's kind, handsome, a good friend...

—Oh, I know that... Tell me, did he come back here yesterday?

- yes. Only came back late. And it was wet.

Revi squinted— Wet and came back late?

- yes. Hiro nodded with an immaculate look, as if he had recently swum or taken a shower.

— That's how...