Vengeance System A Bullied Man

Chapter 8

"W-what? What do you mean by kissing Lisa?"

Alex was taken aback for a moment; he never expected his first quest to involve kissing a girl, especially one who wasn't easily approachable.

"How am I supposed to do that? It's impossible. Lisa is Bayu's girlfriend; she would never kiss me."

Alex disagreed with the quest given to him, but when he tried to say no, he realized that the quest board had disappeared.

"Where's the quest board? Why did it suddenly vanish?"

Alex looked around to the right and left, but the quest board was completely gone, leaving him puzzled.

"I can't possibly do this. But, I'll also fail to get the confidence card. So, what should I do?"

Alex paced back and forth in his apartment, feeling confused about how he could kiss Lisa. Especially since she was Bayu's girlfriend, and if Bayu found out, Alex would be in trouble.

"Should I just give up?"

As Alex wrestled with his thoughts, suddenly someone rang his apartment doorbell. Alex was a bit surprised because he rarely had visitors, especially at this late hour.

"Just a moment."

Though he didn't know who it was, Alex had to open the apartment door since the person outside seemed impatient.

"Lisa?"

Upon opening the door, Alex was shocked to find Lisa, the woman who lived in the neighboring apartment, standing there.

Alex was still taken aback seeing Lisa in front of his door. His heart was pounding, not only because he was surprised, but also because he was still thinking about the quest he received. He tried to calm himself down and managed a weak smile.

"Are you okay, Lex?"

Lisa looked at Alex, who was shaking his head. It seemed that Lisa knew he didn't like her unexpected visit, but she didn't seem to care.

"I'm fine. Can I help you with something?" Alex finally spoke after a few moments of silence.

His gaze couldn't help but focus on Lisa's lips, and he swallowed hard, trying to shake off the thought of the quest.

'Why does it have to involve kissing?' Alex thought, feeling the weight of it.

It wasn't that Alex disliked Lisa, considering she was an incredibly beautiful woman. Anyone would fall for her if they didn't know her personality. At work, Lisa was known to be a frequent bully.

But Alex knew who he was and who Lisa was, so he never had any thoughts of being involved with her.

"I'm hungry. Buy me some fried rice, will you?"

Without feeling embarrassed, Lisa made her demand.

Alex was a bit confused. "Uh, sure, but why don't you buy it yourself?"

"Ugh, I don't feel like it! I prefer it when you buy it. What? Are you refusing?"

"Okay, okay. Wait a moment then, I'll go to the nearby stall," Alex replied reluctantly.

"Hurry up! I don't like waiting."

Alex nodded and went to look for fried rice at the nearest food stall. He felt somewhat annoyed by Lisa's attitude, as if she owned him. However, he couldn't refuse Lisa's request because the quest he had to complete was still on his mind.

It wasn't just about the quest, but for some reason, Alex still couldn't say no to someone asking him to do something he didn't like.

"Why can't I say no? Will I just keep being a servant?"

Alex walked with a slump, wondering where his self-confidence had gone. Earlier this morning, he felt confident enough to be promoted as Director Kim's personal assistant.

"It seems like this is really related to that quest. If I don't succeed in completing it, I might not be as lucky as I was this morning."

Alex monologued, his steps continuing until he ended up right at the food stall not far from his apartment.

"One fried rice, please," Alex ordered Lisa's fried rice.

"Alright, sir."

The stall owner immediately prepared the order, while Alex sat on one of the chairs in the stall.

While waiting for the fried rice to be cooked, Alex noticed three men engaging in violence against another man.

Alex, feeling sympathetic and having been in such a position before, stood up and approached them.

"W-what are you doing?"

The actions of the three men halted when they heard someone speak. They turned around and saw a seemingly weak-looking man, which made them smirk in disdain.

"Why? Do you want to end up like this guy too?"

Alex clenched his fists. The words of one of the three men angered him. Who would want to get beaten up, especially by three people at once?

"D-do you guys enjoy ganging up on others?"

Alex tried to sound brave, even though his heart was pounding. But Alex hoped that he could push them away like what happened with Angga and Bayu, even though he didn't know where that strength came from.

"If it's one-on-one, can you handle it? Hahaha."

They all laughed uproariously, mocking Alex, who was now swallowing his saliva nervously.

"Do you think I'm afraid?"

Alex tried to push one of them, but there was no movement at all, unlike what happened with Angga and Bayu.

"Ho-how is this possible?"

Alex looked confused as he stared at his palm. In a situation like this, somehow Alex couldn't make any of them budge.

"Hahaha, is that all the strength you have?"

Everyone laughed again after seeing Alex's futile attempt; they thought he was just a foolish man.

And why wouldn't they think that? The man in front of them tried to push using only one hand, and there was no force behind it.

While they were mocking him, Alex continued to stare at his hand until suddenly a punch hit him in the chest, causing him to step back and cough.

Uhuk! Uhuk! Uhuk!

Fresh blood came out as Alex coughed. The person who did it laughed, and others followed suit.

As the others wanted to hit Alex again, the one who had received the violence tried to stop them.

"Enough, guys, I'll pay the debt along with the interest," he said, not wanting to involve others, especially when it led to someone bleeding.

"That's right! If you were like this from the beginning, maybe you wouldn't have gotten hurt," one of them said while taking the money offered by the man.

"Yes, I-I understand," he said reluctantly, considering that the total amount was not what they had initially agreed upon.

"Alright, let's go."

The three men left Alex and the man not far from the food stall.

"Sorry that you had to go through this for helping me," the man said as he approached Alex.

"It's alright, man. I couldn't really help anyway; they got what they deserved," Alex said, feeling a bit regretful.

"Well, what can you do? This is how it goes sometimes when you borrow money from people like them. They'll oppress those beneath them, even if they initially helped by lending money," the man didn't finish his sentence, and Alex understood what he meant.

It wasn't an unusual situation, where people like them would suppress those in vulnerable positions, even after lending them money.

"Thanks again, man."

The man walked away, and Alex could only watch him leave with a sigh.

"If I could complete the quest, would I gain that kind of power again?"

Unconsciously, Alex daydreamed until the fried rice seller called out his name.

"That's why you shouldn't interfere in other people's business, man. Such things happen all the time," the owner of the food stall advised Alex, noticing the bruise on his lip.

"Yes, thank you for the advice."

Alex left, carrying a pack of fried rice in his right hand.

As he walked along the street, he sighed, trying to think of a way to kiss Lisa to complete the quest. But it seemed like such a difficult task to accomplish.

Before he knew it, Alex finally stood in front of Lisa's apartment door.

Alex hesitated for a moment. Something made it so hard for him to ring the doorbell of the woman's apartment.

He sighed until he finally pressed the bell once, and the apartment door opened with the beautiful figure of Lisa.

"Alex, what happened?"

Lisa was obviously confused about what happened to Alex. He had left looking fine, but now he returned with bruises all over.

Though Lisa wasn't a good person in Alex's thoughts, she still invited him inside her apartment.

Maybe, indirectly, Lisa felt a bit guilty since she was the one who asked Alex to go out and buy fried rice.

"You should come in, Lex," Lisa finally said.

Alex was taken aback for a moment. He felt uncomfortable entering a woman's apartment, especially since it was the first time a woman had invited him inside, even though he knew that she would only treat his injuries.

"No, it's okay, Lis. I can handle it myself," Alex finally said.

"Why? Are you afraid I'll bite you?"