Chapter 3

The soup was simmering on the stove, steam curling up into the air. Raul was wearing an apron, chopping vegetables with practiced ease. His knife skills were impressive. He sliced the potatoes into thin, even strips.

"Can you grab that plate for me?" he said, nodding toward the cabinet.

I turned to grab the plate, and when my fingers touched the plate, I heard a soft, barely audible sound behind me.

It was the sound of the knife landing gently on the cutting board.

I turned around with the plate in hand and saw Raul watching me calmly, with no abnormality in his expression.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Nothing," Raul said, taking the plate from me with a slight curve to his lips. "I simply wanted to look at you."

The panel now said: [Affection: 88→89]

It was so close.

But I couldn't bring myself to smile.

Because in those few seconds when Raul said he simply wanted to look at me, I noticed something.

There was a small puddle next to the potato strips on the cutting board. It wasn't from the potatoes, since the strips were dry.

It was saliva.

He'd been staring at my back as I reached for the plate, and he'd drooled.

A normal guy, seeing his girlfriend in a light-colored dress, might get a little excited. Maybe his heart would race or he'd fantasize a bit.

But drooling? That was not normal.

Drooling was about appetite.

Not lust, but pure hunger.

He wanted to devour me.

I gripped the plate tightly, kept my expression neutral as I handed it to him, forcing a smile. "Do you need me to help wash the vegetables?"

"No, just sit and wait for the food," Raul replied, his voice as gentle as ever, not a hint of anything off.

But I'd already spotted the crack.

On the panel, the affection score was at 89, one point away from my goal. But right next to it, there was a tiny icon I'd never noticed before. I clicked it, and a hidden interface appeared.

It showed: [Hunger Level: 72%

[Note: When the hunger level hits 100%, Raul will go into berserk hunger mode. In that state, he'll devour anything edible in front of him, including you.]

72%.

And every time the affection score went up by one, the hunger level would rise along with it.

From 85 to 89, the affection score jumped by 4 points, and the hunger level climbed from 72% to 76%. If this trend continued, when the affection score hit 90, the hunger level should be 78%.

But when the affection score reached 100, the hunger level would be 87%.

Wait, that was not right.

The victory condition was to make Raul say "I love you." But what would the affection score be when he finally said it?

Normally, saying "I love you" would mean the affection score was already sky-high, but the system did not clearly state it.

But what if saying "I love you" instantly maxed the affection score out at 100?

Then the hunger level would be 87%.

That still wouldn't reach 100%, so the berserk hunger mode wouldn't trigger.

But don't forget Rule #1: Say "I love you" no more than three times a day. If the victory condition itself used up one, what if he had already said "I love you" earlier? Or what if he said it again later?

And that was just the hunger level rising along with the affection score. What if there were other ways to make him hungrier?

Like me wearing his favorite dress, styling my hair in a ponytail the way he liked it, or drinking his favorite warm milk. Maybe all those things would increase his appetite too.

While Raul wasn't paying attention, I checked the system panel, carefully exploring every clickable option. Finally, at the very bottom of Raul's character profile, I found a tiny line of gray text.

It read: [Note 2: He loves you, so he wants to devour you. Love and hunger are the same feeling inside him. He can't tell them apart.]

I closed the panel and quietly sat down at the table, waiting for my lunch.

Raul brought over a bowl of vegetable soup. Then he served up stir-fried veggies and lemon grilled fish. There was also couscous, which was fluffy, each grain separate.

Raul sat across from me, leaning forward with his hands under his chin, grinning. "Give it a taste."

I picked up a piece of fish with my fork and popped it into my mouth. It was seriously good. The sour sauce was just right, and the fish was so tender.

"Is it good?" he asked.

"It's delicious," I said.

His eyes curved into crescents.

The panel read: [Affection: 89→90

[Hunger Level: 76%→78%

[Tip: Affection has reached 90. The 'Disappointment' event has been cleared.

[Tip: Affection has hit 90. Special rule 2 is now unlocked.]

I put down my fork, pretending to choke on the soup. While my head was down, I snuck a quick look at the new rule.

It read: [Rule #2: Don't chew your food for more than ten seconds while he's watching. If you do, he'll see it as something he needs to get rid of.]

I nearly choked on the fish in my mouth.

How long had I been eating the fish? Six seconds? Seven? I was dangerously close to triggering the rule.

I picked up my water glass, took a sip, and used it as cover to swallow my food.

After that, I started timing every bite. Five seconds for veggies, three seconds for couscous, and four seconds for the fish. I made sure never to hit ten.