Late one night, my craving for burgers hit me hard, and I reached for my phone, ready to order delivery. But to my shock, I watched as my WaitFood app’s icon literally swallowed up the neighboring MunchEase icon in one big digital gulp.
Is the delivery industry getting this cutthroat now?
I stared at the yellow icon for ages, but it looked totally normal, as if nothing out of the ordinary had just occurred. Was it all my imagination? Still, there was no denying I was down one delivery app.
Feeling a bit rattled, I opened my cloud drive to reread a favorite webnovel, hoping it would calm me. But the moment the drive popped open then shut, then opened again I realized my resources were missing.
Had my phone caught a virus?
Before I could even curse, a slow, casual message hovered on my screen.
“Your cub’s hunger has reached maximum. Please feed it soon.”
Me: ???
What cub?
Whose cub?
Clicking the notification took me to a game interface I don’t remember downloading any new games lately; heck, my mobile Legends account is time-consuming enough.
Apparently, my cub was so starved it was desperate.
A wild thought crossed my mind, had my icons and resources become this cub’s lunch? Pretty heavy taste, this digital critter.
Poking the little blob on screen did nothing. Another poke triggered a naming screen I had to give my cub a name before I could continue.
Hey, naming is my jam.
First, I typed “Mojo.”
“Affinity -20.”
Fine, how about “Button”
“Affinity -20.”
Alright, let’s try “Skyler.”
“Affinity -50.”
As my cub lay comatose, the negative affinity points kept racking up anyway.
Going numb with frustration, I randomly entered another name. To my surprise, it actually went through. I stared at “Nico” flashing on the screen, thinking, ‘Really?’
After a moment, I changed it to “Hanhan.” No resistance the game let me save it right away.
Only then did I realize my little cub seemed out cold. No wonder he’d stopped reacting to all the names.
Quickly, I bought food and water from the shop. After a moment, my cub slowly sat up.
His face came into view a chibi boy, a mix of cuteness and coolness, instantly tugging at my heartstrings.
I’d expected him to look up at me, blink his big eyes, and call me “Mommy.” Instead, he just stared coldly. Total silence.
Another poke and a message popped up:
“Affinity too low. Please increase it first.”
Staring at the -90 affinity, I felt truly defeated.
Still, this adorable yet aloof little guy, paired with crisp graphics, drew me in. I figured: how hard could it be? A few days of feeding and pampering that affinity would climb.
Of course, after all my care, his affinity bottomed out at -100.
I’ve never met another pet this hard to please.
He’d only drink freshly-brewed coffee. I had to tap the screen hundreds of times, missing even once led to dropped affinity. Eggs had to be fully cooked, but not browned. If they so much as got crispy, his affinity would drop again.
To make it harder, the game only opened at 7pm each night, and the daytime slot unlocks required special conditions.
I wanted to scream: I’m your loyal spender, why torture me like this?
Checking my balance with a sigh, it hit me the creator wanted more money.
Heart aching, I shelled out for a $6 starter pack. The system gifted me a bouquet of white roses to display in the cub's bedroom.
And? ...That’s it?
Six bucks just for a single furnishing? At least give me a skin!
The rose brought +10 affinity points. Back to square one.
My cub stared at the roses for ages, gently touching the petals and watering them with care. Normally, he’d be asleep by now, but there he was, admiring those flowers, looking like he had a mind of his own.
When I finally glanced at the time, it was past 10:30pm....I shooed him to bed and gave his head a gentle pat.
“Affinity -1.”
Fine, whatever.
I sighed, tucked him in, and set my alarm tomorrow was my first day interning at a new company. Here’s hoping the boss wasn’t a tyrant.
Chapter 01
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