Freya Cosmetics was one of the undisputed giants of the beauty industry, dominating the markets of almost every country in the region.

In this world, it was normal for companies catering to women to pull in the most insane profit margins since women held the real purchasing power.

Lana worked there as a secretary. Aside from her regular paperwork, she also helped coordinate the studio sets, helping the beautiful male and female models prepare for their high-profile promotional shoots.

Studio Room.

Standing beside her was Stacy, another secretary who’d been at the company much longer. In fact, Stacy was the one who had secured Lana the job when Lana dropped out of college. On her own, Lana didn’t have nearly enough connections to even get hired as a janitor here. She came from a regular, lower middle-class family that was just barely getting by.

As the photographers adjusted their equipment, Stacy chuckled, reaching up to smooth back her straight blonde hair.

"Did you really tell Chrome no?"

Stacy asked, looking at her friend.

Lana immediately nodded and hid her red face full of shame behind her dainty palms.

"I feel really bad about telling him no..."

Lana whimpered, her voice muffled by her hands.

"But he has a lot of expensive textbooks coming up that I have to buy for him. I’m not even sure I have enough money for all of it, you know?"

Stacy gently stroked her back to console her, though she couldn’t help but sigh.

"Look, I’m not really a fan of Chrome myself. I really don’t know what you see in him, Lana. He isn’t exactly all that good-looking, or intelligent, or..."

"...No..."

Lana slowly raised her head from her palms and cut her off even as her eyes brimmed with tears.

"He’s at least smart enough to pass the entrance exams to Blue University!"

Immediately after defending him, she went right back to crying into her palms.

Stacy blankly stared at her overly dramatic friend.

"Okay, sure, he’s smart then..."

Stacy kept her voice flat.

"I really won’t be that friend who tries to make her friend’s boyfriend look bad. But... I dunno... shouldn’t he be the least bit ashamed? He asked you out on a date when he knows you’re already using most of your salary to support his education and food! I know a lot of men are gold diggers these days, but it gets to a point... I’m your senior here, and we both earn pennies. It’s not like you’re rolling in cash."

She rubbed Lana’s back again.

Lana lifted her head from her palms once more and stared up at her friend with sparkling brown eyes.

"What if I try to work two jobs? I can do a second job on the weekends and earn enough to take him out on a true date! It’s so unfair that other women take their men out on dates and I don’t."

Stacy shook her head, letting out a heavy sigh.

"Ohhh honey..."

She didn’t say it the way a sweet husband would say it to his endearing wife. It was the exact tone you used when a friend said something so incredibly stupid that you weren’t even angry or disappointed anymore... you just felt deeply sorry that they could be this dumb.

Across the room, a dramatic French photographer was busy snapping pictures of a gorgeous female model. He leaned left and right, shouting out all sorts of things at her poses and her sexy look.

"Magnifique! Ma chérie, lift your chin with grace!"

"C’est dramatique! Click. Perfection incarnate."

"Incroyable! Now, arch your back with élan, one hand on those divine curves of your body!"

The model was Sofia Hernandez, a popular Colombian model who had shot for various global luxury brands and was currently signed under the big-name Grand Dynasty Entertainment Group.

Sofia continued striking one sexy pose after another as the studio lighting accentuated the radiant makeup on her beautiful, sepia-toned face. However, she suddenly paused when she noticed Lana crying in the corner.

"Pause the shoot for a moment."

Sofia told the photographer.

But the French photographer was in the zone as he kept clicking his camera shutter.

"Magnifique! Stay right there, chérie! Juzz like that!"

Sofia shook her head at the shallow man and walked right off the set, leaving the photographer visibly frustrated as he begged her to come back.

Walking over to the two secretaries, Sofia looked down at the weeping girl. Stacy quickly straightened up and greeted the star model politely.

"Ms. Hernandez! Are you enjoying the shoot so far? If you need anything at all, just let me know."

Stacy said helpfully.

Sofia smiled warmly and waved it off.

She pointed her delicate finger at Lana.

"What’s wrong with your friend?"

Stacy rubbed Lana’s back one more time and sighed.

"Man troubles."

Hearing those words, Sofia took Lana’s hands and pulled them away from her tear-stained face. She faced Lana with a fierce look of support.

"You better stop crying over that man right now. Tell me exactly who this man is and what the problem is so I can go teach him a proper lesson!"

Lana sniffled, blinking her damp eyes in confusion.

"Eh?"

...

Back in the lecture hall at Blue University.

"Achoo!"

Chrome suddenly sneezed loudly.

"That’s weird..."

He rubbed his nose in annoyance.

"I never sneeze like that..."

His face saddened a bit after.

’Honestly, I don’t know anything anymore. I really thought Lana would love it if I took her out on a date, yet she shut me down like some kind of idiot. And now, I have to deal with this Quinn problem... ugh.’

Chrome looked back at Quinn and Mandy.

So much tension the lecture hall could explode.

"Mandy! Invite Chrome to the party this instant!"

Quinn shouted, her face flushed with anger.

Mandy didn’t say a single word. She calmly took another sip of water from her oversized Stanley cup and turned her attention right back to her phone, ignoring her.

Chrome raised his hand slightly from where he sat.

"Look, it’s really fine. I don’t even want to go—"

Quinn instantly snapped her head toward him.

"NOT NOW, HONEY!"

The moment the words left her mouth, every single guy in the lecture hall turned to glare at Chrome as their eyes burned with deep fires of jealousy.

"Lucky bastard..."

They all mumbled under their breath.

A tired Chrome pinched the bridge of his nose.

"This is so stupid."

Quinn continued shouting at Mandy, throwing a full-blown tantrum until Mandy finally stopped sucking on her Stanley cup straw. Mandy clicked her phone screen off, letting out a cold sigh of annoyance.

"I really didn’t want to do this, but fine..."

Standing up from the podium, Mandy walked gracefully down the steps and marched right over to where Chrome was seated.

The entire classroom fell into an utter shock.

The students started whispering among themselves.

"Wow, look at that... is she really going to invite him?"

"No way, is it going to be some kind of a personal invite from Mandy herself?"

"Mandy is even colder than Quinn, yet she’s actually going to invite a loser like Chrome?"

"First Goddess Quinn, now Mandy?!"

The guys were fuming.

[Ding! A new rejection route opened! Preparing huge cash rewards for the Host!]

Chrome braced himself as the system panel flashed. He was ready to reject her. Sure, Mandy was exceptionally beautiful, but that was about it. As a mature man with a past life, he was far more interested in subtle beauties with a genuinely charming soul.

Someone like Lana.

He didn’t care for arrogant campus belles.

Mandy finally stopped right in front of Chrome’s desk.

But before Chrome could reject her, Mandy suddenly bent her waist, bowing so low that she could literally see her own porcelain-fresh knees.

"I am so sorry!"

Mandy shouted genuinely in the silent hall.

Chrome froze.

[Eh? ...]

"Eh?"

Both Chrome and the system were shocked.