3. Meet Paige

When she woke up, it was already night.

After washing up and clothing herself in a baggy jogging suit, she walked downstairs into the living room, seeing Lance sitting on the couch reading the novel she had left for him.

It looked like he was nearing the end of the book. She nodded at him, though he didn't even acknowledge her presence. Rummaging through the kitchen, she took a yogurt and sat across from him, eating silently and contemplating the talk they would have to have. About the future.

Lance put the book down, observing her eat. It was nicely cool inside the apartment, a welcome change from the heat outside.

"What's your name?" His voice was raspy from not having talked for a long time.

"Paige." She answered, putting down the cup.

Paige waited patiently until he asked for more.

"Who is the villain?" He waved the book in his hand.

At this, she had to smile helplessly. After a pause, she shrugged and pointed at herself. "In this story, that would be me."

She had to suppress a shudder from the electric shock running through her.

"You have a system?" He asked, noticing that she was in pain again.

"Y...Y... Yeah." Her whole body twitched, and she had to breathe deeply to calm down.

Lance nodded slowly, glancing at the book. "If you disclose information about the setting, you get punished?" He asked, but it was more like a conclusion.

She nodded; this time, her reaction was not as extreme.

"Mhmm," he mused, putting his finger under his chin and tapping it.

"If the answer is yes, then blink slowly instead of nodding or answering with words."

He continued, "I'm the protagonist, and you are the villain... So you told me all this all despite getting punished because I'll retaliate against you at a later point in the story?" 

As expected of the protagonist. She slowly blinked. Surprisingly, she wasn't as badly punished as before. It was absolutely correct to cling to the protagonist's thigh.

He was in a jogging suit himself and had finally showered. The boy in front of her was like a different person.

Light gray eyes noticed everything in front of him, not letting the slightest change in her expression go.

He was two heads taller than her, and only now, even seated, could she feel the presence of the male lead. She felt relieved to see him like this. When Paige saw him hunched over, looking like a beggar, she felt a dissonance about him—he shouldn't have to live like this.

"My parents are rich?" He came to the important point. She blinked slowly in agreement.

"You know their name and how to contact them?"

Again, she blinked slowly.

"You won't tell me who they are because you need my assistance?" He slowly carried on, sure of it.

"J-J-Jane W-W-Walker and Ter-r-rence Walker. Rosemary Street, 95 in M-City, District 9." Again the sweating and twitching, as she curled up on the couch.

He stared at her in shock; never would he have thought that she would tell him such vital information this easily.

Lance let the names of his parents roll over his tongue, feeling neither any familiarity nor the excitement he had anticipated.

"You had a good card in your hands. Why tell me? Now I can find them and leave you and your mission behind. I don't think you won't get punished for that." He asked in real curiosity.

When she was able to answer again, she said,

"I will never deceive you. I want to form a team and go through the storyline together. I can help you until you are recognized back in your family, and you will get the female lead. I want one thing from you. When we finished this transaction, please don't..." After thinking of the ending of the Paige in the book, her blank face twitched even without electric shock from the system.

"Is what I'll do to you this bad?" He asked with interest only to get a numb nod from her back.

Coming back to her baiting him with "The female lead....." he slowly spoke it out in contemplation.

To be honest, he couldn't be more disinterested.