I Fooled The Goddess Into Pitying Me-Chapter 43: Conqueror’s Reward

"Do you really have to go?" Cindy asked, pouting.

Jack nodded, buttoning his shirt back up. Time passed in a flash and it was already way past midnight. That was one reason he didn’t want to go all the way yet.

The other was her lies. He wanted to get out of there and investigate her background thoroughly, as it seemed Anna had missed something about Cindy.

Besides, Barco and Takeshi were waiting for him outside. Who knows what they had told Anna?

Whatever it was, he didn’t think it was worth testing Anna’s patience. Still, the sight of Cindy wrapped in a blanket was too alluring.

If it hadn’t been for her lies, he would have fucked her in all positions listed in the Kamasutra.

"Please! Just for the night?"

Jack sighed and turned to look at her. Only her shoulders were visible, the rest was covered with the blanket, but Jack’s gaze was fixed on her slightly bruised lips from earlier.

Even with a mascara-streaked face, she looked just as appetizing as before.

"No can do," Jack said, shaking his head. "I’ve got a lot of work to do tomorrow. Maybe some other day."

Well, it wasn’t a lie. He had to meet with Granny and the rest and then head to meet Jessica, that mad scientist, and also work on fixing the bike he bought.

Cindy hummed in response. It wasn’t a definite answer, just the annoyed sound women made when they didn’t want to argue, but win the argument. Too bad Cindy didn’t have that kind of hold on him.

However, he had a move that worked on all women like a charm.

Jack walked over to her and leaned in. Before Cindy knew it, he lifted her chin and planted a kiss on her lips. The sudden change took her by surprise, but she thought Jack had given up and wanted to stay.

With that thought, she was about to slip her arms around his shoulder when he suddenly pulled away.

"That should keep you in check for a while," Jack said, winking at her before leaving. "I’ll call you soon!"

Cindy didn’t reply, just touched her lips and smiled.

[Target: Cindy Myers’s infatuation +1%]

[Current Infatuation: 2%]

[$1,000 was added to the card.]

[Current Balance: $1,033,899]

—x—

Back outside, Barco and Takeshi were waiting for him. As soon as the villa’s main gate opened, Takeshi slipped into the driver’s seat while Barco stood back, opening the car door for Jack.

Jack was about to climb in when the notification about Cindy’s infatuation increase appeared before him. He realized something was off and asked Jenna about it.

Why is it two percent even after everything I did with her?

[Once a stage progresses, it becomes more difficult to increase their longingness. For example, hugging someone you’ve slept with won’t increase their affection/infatuation/devotion by a lot, if at all.]

Jack nodded. It seemed it would take a lot for before he proceeded to the next stage with Cindy. Perhaps it was a good thing he didn’t sleep with her just yet, or increasing her infatuation would have been even more bothersome.

With that out of the way, Jack asked what he had on his mind from the start.

Can someone fool the system?

[No mortal holds the power to fool me.]

You mean to say she has truly fallen for me?

[Without a doubt.]

Jack nodded and climbed in. He didn’t know why Cindy had lied to him, but he was glad her affection wasn’t a lie. As long as she cared about him, he could use her emotions to get to the truth.

"Can you look into Cindy’s background for me?" Jack asked Barco. "I would appreciate it if this stays between the three of us. Though I won’t mind if Anna learned about it either."

Barco and Takeshi looked at one another before nodding.

Jack wasn’t deluded to think they wouldn’t inform Anna about tonight, or his request. In fact, he was counting on it. If Anna used her connections to dig deeper, he would get the results faster.

With that, Jack leaned back and closed his eyes, intending to take a nap, when Jenna’s voice woke him up.

[The host is requested to claim a conqueror’s reward.]

Right, I almost forgot about it.

A second later, the familiar list appeared before him again.

[Please choose one of the following rewards:]

[—> Swimming skill (Intermediate)]

[—> Acting skill (Novice)]

[—> +5% to the current card balance.]

Money would have been Jack’s go-to option if not for the useful skills. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Swimming and acting... wait, is there a criterion to learn skills?

[Reward skills are based on the talents of the conquered target. The Host can only learn a skill the target owns.]

Jack nodded. It wasn’t surprising Cindy could act, as she had almost fooled him into thinking she was a virgin.

After staring at the choices for a few minutes, Jack was leaning towards claiming the swimming skill.

First, it was a skill with a higher grade and second, he already knew how to act. How else would he fool others into believing him?

[Skill learning activated!]

[Manual: Swimming (intermediate) was created.]

===

Item: Beginner Swimming Manual

Type: Consumable

Description: A skill book to help the host discover the boons of being an Atlantean. Practice it diligently to become an Olympic-grade swimmer!

Skills stored: Breath Control, Torpedo Freestyle, Turbo Flutter Kick.

Note: Use a higher-tier manual for more advanced skills.

===

I got to practice swimming now?

[Practice is recommended, but optional.]

Really?

[No.]

"..."

[I don’t give freebies.]

I expected as much... from Justa’s bitch.

[Rescinding rewards—]

Even I know you can’t do that.

[...]

Your turn to be speechless, ha!

Unbeknownst to Jack, Barco and Takeshi were looking at him, wondering why he was making such strange faces. They couldn’t see the system interface, nor hear Jenna’s voice, so they assumed something was wrong with Jack.

Takeshi pointed at his head as if saying Jack had lost his mind, but Barco rolled his eyes, gesturing him to look ahead. If anything happened to Jack before they returned to the mansion, she would use their heads as decoration.