NOVEL NEXT Chapter 65: 65
He tapped the Withdraw button, watching the interface load with spinning dollar signs. The numbers tallied quickly—his LPC rising in a jiffy from 15,000, 35,000, 80,000 until it ended up at...
1,500,000LPC
Yuki's eyes widened, just a little. His thumb hovered over the currency converter tab.
Estimated Equivalent: ¥2,500,000
Yuki's lips parted in a slow exhale. "Holy shit…" He grinned low and wolfish, tilting his head back in disbelief. The highest LPC he had gotten in a mission. He counted the zeros in his mind to make sure he wasn't seeing things and then chuckled, casually tapping the Withdraw Funds. The screen went black for a second and there came a spinning yen symbol.
It took a bit to load before a flash came in with a boldened sentence on the screen: Withdrawal Successful, Funds will reflect shortly. Yuki was already rested on the chair, taking a glance at Sayuri and to the glass window beside him. One hand dangled loosely at his side, the other still gripping his phone as he tilted his head toward the cool glass window.
Chime. His phone vibrated with a new notification. He flicked it open lazily.
Mizuho Bank Account: +¥2,000,000 credited
Available Balance: ¥2,072,435
Yuki closed his eyes for a brief moment, lips twitching with satisfaction at how fast he clocked two million just playing a lit RPG.
"Ahem," Clearing her throat, Sayuri gave Yuki a bland stare as she spoke. "It is best of me to drop you off at your dorm hostel," Sayuri said, hands firm on the wheel, eyes once diverted was now focused on the road.
Yuki didn't even open his eyes, just grinned and murmured, "I don't mind that at all."
Sayuri didn't reply. She gave a short nod and turned the wheel smoothly, guiding the car back onto the street.
An hour later...
The car came to a smooth halt in front of the dormitory gate as the gear was put in the park button. Sayuri rested her head on the chair, staring at the steering wheel before she then honked twice at the locked gate. The gate guard stirred in his chair, then slowly approached, flashlight in hand. He swept the beam across the windshield—
Right into Yuki's closed eyes.
"Gah—" Yuki squinted and blinked rapidly, shielding his face. "You're here already? Damn…" He rubbed at his eyes and yawned, then glanced at Sayuri with a crooked grin. "Thanks, Sayuri."
Sayuri didn't return the look. Her hand rested loosely on the steering wheel, eyes staring ahead through the windshield.
"We are not close to each other, dimwit," she said flatly. "Can't believe I let you screw me."
Yuki blinked, caught off guard for a moment—but then the corner of his lips curved up slowly, shamelessly. He reached for the door handle.
"Well," He voiced shamelessly, his voice having amusement written all over it. He got out from the car, slammed the door softly into its place and leaned against the window. "Sayuri, I had the best night with you. I know you think so too that's why you are feeling disgusted why it is me and not someone influential. Here's my number just in case you want another banging session."
"The fuck?" Sayuri rolled her eyes, pulled the gear into reverse and drove out leaving Yuki in big disbelief. And as always, he dusted himself with pride and walked into the dorm.
"This is past curfew time. Do you know this is against the school rule?" Yuki was stopped halfway at the dorm building block A when he was about to slip into Block B to use the secret passage way to his room.
The dormitory had strict rules about when to come in and when not to come in, an twelve midnight was definitely past the curfew. Yuki scrunched his face, clearly unbothered, and gave the dorm lady a squint through the dim hall light. She was behind her tiny glass cubicle, arms crossed together and her glasses dangling on her pointy nose bridge.
"Really, Obaa-san? You stalking clocks now?" Yuki hissed under his breath, just loud enough to be heard as he dragged his feet toward her.
"I heard that!" she barked, rising from her chair. Her glasses slid further down giving Yuki a scrutiny that it nearly fell off her nose. "Your ID card, young man."
Yuki blew out an exaggerated sigh and scratched the back of his head. "I don't have my ID with me," he said, already fishing around in his hoodie pocket. "But I can show you my digital dorm pass. It's on my phone—"
He pulled out his phone and pressed the side button. The screen stayed black. He pressed again. Still nothing.
Yuki's face sank. "Tch—fuck, battery's dead."
He glanced up, giving her a lazy half-shrug. "C'mon, can you just let me in this once? You know I stay here. You literally made me mop the hallway last week for 'bad posture.'"
Her expression didn't budge, mouth pinched like she'd just sucked a lemon. "No ID, no entry. Those are the rules. I don't care how many halls you've mopped."
"You don't even like me enough to pretend I'm not a threat to your building?"
"You could be a shapeshifter for all I care," she said, pulling the logbook closer with a sharp flick of her wrist. "This isn't a brothel. We take records seriously."
Yuki groaned and slouched against the wall, running a hand through his tousled silver hair. "You're really gonna make me sleep outside, huh?"
She lifted her brows.
"Fine," he grumbled. "Can I at least use your charger?"
"No."
"Of course not. Search for your name on this record book and tick late box." Yuki sighed dramatically, dragging his finger down the worn-out pages of the logbook until he stopped at line 249. His name sat there, scribbled alongside his roommates: Jun and Haruto. "This is gonna show up in the behavior column of my academic report, isn't it?" he muttered under his breath. "Shit…"
He glanced up at the dorm mistress, her stern figure unmoving behind the glass. "Renji comes in later than I did tonight, and he never gets punished. But I guess money really moves mountains, doesn't it?"
Without waiting for a response, Yuki ticked the late box beside his name, then pointed lazily at the log. "You don't report this—Y20,000 shows up like magic in your account tomorrow morning."
The dorm mistress's jaw slackened slightly as she slowly pulled off her glasses, revealing her wide eyes. "Are you trying to bribe me?" Her voice was laced with a mixture of amusement and disbelief, brows lifting high above her forehead. "You think I'm some street-level thug that takes pocket change to overlook school rules?"
Yuki's lips curled into a teasing smirk. "No, I think you're someone who's tired of enforcing rules for students who treat you like background noise. I'm just giving you incentive to finally get some peace and quiet."
She narrowed her eyes. "Do I look like I need peace and quiet?"
Yuki shrugged, the corner of his mouth twitching. "You look like you need a vacation." Yuki shook his head, praying that she shouldn't spice up the story to Professor Kurosawa's hearing.
Damn, he thought money did change everything. Did he make a wrong move?
"Sign your damn name, rule-breaker," she snapped, placing her glasses back on. "And if I ever see you trying this Renji-type bribery shit again, I'll write a full report and CC it to the dean myself."
"Get out of my sight," she barked, but there was the tiniest upward tug at the corner of her lips. Yuki left with a slow swagger in his step, hands in his pockets and tiredness still twinkling in his eyes. He climbed the stairs to his room and the last step was like heaven as he rushed to the door and found it locked.
"Fuck shit!" Yuki cursed, rattling the doorknob and banging harder. "Haruto! Jun! Open the damn door!"
A beat passed, then another, before the lock finally clicked.
The door creaked open, and Haruto stood there—completely naked, eyes half-lidded, one hand holding a flashlight that he immediately aimed straight at Yuki's face.
"Dude," he muttered, voice hoarse with sleep, "you ruined my perfectly good sleep."
Yuki squinted, shielding his eyes. "The hell, man? You're butt-naked and blinding me like I'm a damn burglar."
Haruto yawned lazily. "You were banging like you were about to rob the place. What do you expect?"
"I expect my roommates to open the damn door when I'm dying out here!" Yuki pushed past him, stomping into the room. "I nearly had to beg that dorm witch for mercy."
Haruto shut the door behind him and scratched his stomach. "Let me guess. You were late again?"
"Obviously," Yuki grumbled, tossing his bag toward his corner. "She made me tick the damn 'late' box. That shit's going on my record and behavior column. Meanwhile, Renji shows up ten minutes later and walks away like a damn prince."
Haruto collapsed back onto his mattress with a lazy chuckle. "Money moves mountains. Renji is the school prince, everyone bows for him. You, you are nothing actually. That's how life works"