Look Back
Inside the mostly empty diner, John and Gwen were in the window-side booth, sitting on the same bench.
"Look, look, isn't the detail here insane?" Gwen leaned in, her thigh touching his.
With the slightly messy hair and the light droop in his eyelids, John had this lazy vibe about him.
'It suits him though.' For a moment, Gwen had forgotten about the art book and stared at his face from a lower angle; his jawline looked sharper today.
"Something on my face?" And he noticed her eyes after a while.
"Nothing. You look good." Gwen smiled as he paused for a moment and looked at the art book again after a slight nod.
A week had already passed; the bet had ended. But the two continued to have lunch outside of university every day. John paid most of the time, so it was good to have free food, but that wasn't all.
Yesterday they had spent some time in the park; the day before that they had roamed around a mall after studying. And today, after the diner, they had spontaneously entered the theatre to watch a movie.
'Aren't these just dates?' Gwen blinked while chewing on caramel popcorn, no idea what the movie was about at this point.
Her eyes glanced to her left; John had all his focus on the screen, a tub of popcorn with him, untouched. Gwen looked at his hand on the handrest; it wasn't far from her own hand. If she just moved hers a little, their fingers would touch.
She was considering it a bit, watching him so focused and all. How would he react if she tugged at his pinkie with hers? It was worth testing.
However, before she could do that, a ticklish feeling went up her spine. Gwen's head whipped to the side, but the only thing she saw was the screen room's doors moving wildly.
"What happened, Gwen?" She looked back at John, his head tilting a bit in uncertainty.
"Nothing." She said sheepishly.
"You are saying that a lot today." He laughed.
"Sure am." Rubbing the back of her head, she looked around. That feeling, it wasn't random. But just as she was planning to get up and check, using the excuse of powdering her nose, John placed his hand on hers.
"Gwen, if something is troubling you. You can share it with me." She looked at him, watching the tiny smile on his lips as he moved his hand back. "Of course, only if you are ok with it."
He didn't squeeze her hand or put any force in it. All he gave her was a gentle tap of reassurance. But she could feel his hand on hers even after the movie ended.
"Gwen, you good?" He asked as they left the theatre.
"Yeah, it's nothing."
Seemed like nothing was really her word of the day. But there was really nothing else she could think of.
***
John walked up the stairs of his apartment building closer to midnight. He had parted ways with Gwen right after the movies, but he had been going around the theatre in circles, only returning now.
'She felt it too.' He noticed her head turn towards the door because he had also felt the eyes of someone on them.
Stalking? No, it wasn't some girl obsessed with him or a guy after Gwen. This was the stalking that hunters did. Someone watching the prey they wanted to hunt in their natural habitat.
How did he know that?
It's because his blood had been boiling since that gaze fell on him. His body had taken it as mockery, and it urged him to find whoever it was. Honestly, he had barely centred himself by placing his hand on Gwen's. It helped him focus on that current moment.
'Doesn't sound so romantic when the reason is to hold back the urge to tear someone apart.' A sigh escaped his lips as he unlocked his door.
He had made sure no one had followed him here, and even if they didn't know the way to his house now, it wouldn't take them long to get here. Unless they kept playing around like this.
And it certainly felt like playful behaviour from someone who felt superior. The person must've felt that even if they threw some stones to startle the prey, they could still catch it.
'I need a bit more control over my mind.' John stepped into the cold shower, clothes still on, letting the water run down his tense muscles.
He looked at the system panel. The launch for the website had gone well. The income from the novels and the art book had just crossed $6500, and it showed no signs of stopping; all the earnings were deposited into his account.
But he had no plans of using this money for anything, since he had found out about a new feature of the website. He could upgrade it with cash. The next upgrade cost 10k for an app version, and it would cost him $100 a month for the upkeep.
It sounded quite economical to him. But he had more interest in finding out if there would be more upgrades after this one and what they would bring with it.
Another thing was the increasing EP. With the physical copies of the novels rolling out with illustrations and art books, and new blood being pushed into the pit of love and bittersweetness, the numbers kept climbing.
He had noticed some interesting names among them, but the EP they gave wasn't on the level of what Gwen and Anna Marie gave.
'So, it is about how well the content connects with the main cast rather than simply them reading it?' John looked back on the two novels.
Your Name connected with Gwen because of the hope and cherry high school life she probably missed as Spiderwoman.
5 Centimetre per Second connected with Anna Marie cause of the possibility that she might end up isolated and hurt others who really wanted the best for her.
Going by that logic, if he targeted specific targets with well-suited stories, he would be able to farm more EP efficiently.
It wasn't a new observation; it had been on his mind since Gwen read the ending of Your Name. He had just kept it in the back of his mind because farming EP efficiently was never his goal.
The only reason it came to the forefront now was because of this cold rationality speaking to him, asking him to get stronger. To get stronger, he needed EP. Thus the thoughts came again.
'Just calm down…' He spoke to the reflection on the tiles. For a moment, he felt the silhouette flicker. And it wasn't him, but a huge man with bulging muscles, red hair, and a mocking grin.
It was none other than Yujiro Hanma, the purest embodiment of the bloodline. And his smirk was a curious one; he wanted to see how John would grow further as the newest member of the bloodline with his mindset.
"I was just joking about the power of schizophrenia, you know?" John stepped out of the shower, soaked to the bone.
But he felt a lot calmer. It was like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Drying his hair after taking his clothes off and watching his muscles in the mirror, he couldn't help but sigh.
[Hanma Bloodline (Awakening—10%)]
"I feel a bit stronger." With a deep breath that went on twice as long as a regular human, John opened the system shop.
He had 5000 EP now. The moment he had completed the last mission and the website opened, his reach had expanded.
People were posting photos from the Artbooks on social media and freaking out about how cheap it was with that quality. There were even some YouTube reviews of the novels and the Art Books, constantly bringing more people to the website and increasing orders, continuing the cycle further.
And these satisfied customers were even asking questions to other publishing companies, which in turn made them angry with his website. That too was a source of EP he hadn't expected.
'I had only priced the books low so more people would buy them and the story would reach a wider audience, but this was also a plus.' Even if he kept sitting on his ass, he would have another 7000 EP in a week, reaching enough points for him to get what he needed before tracking the person after him.
But John already had something big prepared. The Art book for 5 centimetres per second would go live the next morning, and alongside it would be a one-shot manga he had been secretly working on.
He looked at the website, already watching the comments piling up below the page with bubbling anticipation. The title was clearly written in bold alongside the cover.
Look Back.
...
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