Let's Hit Fifteen

I'd figured that after nearly a month of this, I'd already seen a pretty solid number of notifications. I'd even started to think maybe there weren't any new ones left — and then a notification I'd never seen before drifted up in front of my eyes, as if to tell me I'd been kidding myself.

Unlocking an achievement wasn't anything new. The points it was handing out, though...

"Why is it locked to Charm?"

For some reason it had just dumped the points into a fixed stat, and just like that my Charm shot up to 13. I'd honestly rather it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠handed out freely assignable points the way it usually did.

To be honest, Charm didn't really mean much right now. It wasn't like I was going on stream myself. What the hell was a regular editor supposed to do with a high Charm Stat?

"Ugh. I don't like this."

With a competition against Park Woojin right around the corner, it'd be far better to push my Editing or Speed a little higher. And instead the system just slammed everything into Charm out of nowhere.

"Don't tell me if I leave a stat alone for too long it starts forcing fixed points into it or something?"

The thought made me a little uneasy. Though that probably wasn't it — if it were, it would've made more sense to raise Planning first, since that one was still sitting at a measly 5 and hadn't even cracked 10.

"Whatever."

Either way, points were points. Getting them was a good thing. Even if Charm wasn't useful right now, it might suddenly shine later on. And considering how the other stats made a huge, unmistakable difference every five points... would Charm also jump in some obvious way once it hit 15?

But it was just lumped together as "Charm." I didn't even know what it was making more attractive, or how. If it were something intuitive like Height! Looks! I'd at least be able to guess what was going up.

Even when I told myself not to think about it, I kept thinking about it. I supposed that was just because I lived in a world obsessed with appearances, one way or another. And, well — if I was being honest, I also wanted my Charm Stat to shoot up so I could look even better to Nuna.

Objectively speaking, my looks weren't anything to write home about. Height was just average. Five-eight. Eunchae had told me today for the first time that I was a good talker, but I wasn't exactly the type who could charm people just by conversing, either.

"What if I just hit 15...?"

Now that it was at 13, investing just two more points might give me some idea of how it actually changed. Hmm. But was that really the right call?

I could feel it in my bones that points were getting harder to come by. Daily quests only gave a single point after ten completions, and if I properly took Park Woojin down this time there might be another achievement waiting... but honestly, I didn't even know what achievements I was supposed to be unlocking.

And in that situation, skipping Editing and Speed to dump two whole points into Charm...

"Well. It's not like I really need to raise Editing or Speed anytime soon anyway."

I'd like to raise them more if I could, sure — but I didn't think I'd lose to Park Woojin with the stats I had now. Even if he had some kind of awakening over this, honestly? I doubted it. I really didn't think I could lose.

Ah, wait. Is this just me talking myself into it? Is this my desire to raise Charm showing its true colors?

Okay, but come on. I was only human. How was I supposed to just ignore a Charm Stat? Up until now, Editing and Speed had been the top priority, so I'd set it aside. But now the system was literally handing me two points and tempting me with them.

"Ah, screw it. It's my call."

Honestly, nobody was going to say a word whether I raised Charm or not. It was just a matter of me deciding to do it. All right. Decision made. This time, I was hitting Charm 15.

"Huh? What's this? Dohyun, your skin looks weirdly better. Did you sleep like a baby last night?"

When I got to work in the morning, Eunchae suddenly tilted her head and asked.

"Huh? No, I slept the same as usual."

"Really? Your face has this glow to it."

This... no matter how I looked at it, it had to be those two Charm points from yesterday. Wait. Even just two points of Charm was enough to be noticeable? But if that wasn't it, there was no other explanation. I'd slept the same as always. I hadn't done anything special with my appearance. And the moment my Charm went up, I started getting compliments on my looks.

"Hmm. Maybe I've just got rose-tinted glasses on."

Of course, the change wasn't so obvious yet that we couldn't just laugh it off as a joke.

"I heard Unnie sent over all the footage last night. Starting today, then?"

Eunchae sneered as she looked at Park Woojin's still-empty desk.

"If it were me, I'd at least try to get on her good side and lock down my share. He's seriously an idiot."

I'd noticed it from the start, but Eunchae's hostility toward Park Woojin was unusually intense. I didn't know how she was with other guys, but considering how warmly she'd welcomed me when I first arrived, it almost made me wonder if something had happened between her and him.

"Eunchae, nothing happened between you and Park Woojin, right?"

"Huh? Out of nowhere?"

The question must have been sudden, because her eyes went wide as she asked back.

"Yeah. When we first met you were super welcoming from the start, but you always have your claws out specifically with Park Woojin."

Not that I was about to say something stupid like I hoped they'd get along. I was just curious.

"Come on, you and Park Woojin aren't even in the same league. I welcomed you from the start because I already knew you were Unnie's fan."

Ah, right. She'd mentioned that Nuna had told her I used to make fan videos.

"Oh yeah. That's why you were against hiring me at first."

When I brought up the memory that suddenly surfaced, she made an incredibly flustered face and started scrambling for an explanation.

"Eep, th-that's... I only said that 'cause I watched your old videos...!"

God, she was cute when she did this. Most of the time Eunchae was the one teasing other people, so whenever I flipped it around and teased her instead, the reactions she gave were seriously adorable.

"Oh, so I wasn't actually welcomed from the start. Eunchae shot me down without even looking at me."

When I put on a fake sniffle and kept teasing, she started sweating.

"Aah, no...! No, that's not it at all, that's not what happened...!"

"Pfft... hah, ah, seriously... why are you so cute, Jung Eunchae."

"Ack! What, you were teasing me?!"

The moment she realized she'd been had, she immediately narrowed her eyes into triangles and glared at me — but Eunchae was small and had such a cute face that her glare didn't land at all.

The door clicked open. While the two of us were still enjoying ourselves, Park Woojin walked in with an extremely irritated look on his face.

"Ah, Park Woojin! Good morning!"

Normally I ignored him and didn't even say hello. But today I greeted him in an extremely cheerful voice. He was getting kicked out soon anyway, so I might as well be nice.

"...The fuck? Nothing's good about it."

"Aigoo, if you keep scowling like that you'll get wrinkles and age overnight. You're gonna get called 'old man' the second you hit thirty."

"Pfft...!"

Well, honestly I wasn't being nice out of the goodness of my heart. I just wanted to piss him off more. And when Eunchae ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠burst out laughing on top of that—

"You sons of bitches actually wanna die?!"

That even more explosive reaction? Yeah. That was nice. There was no law that said only he got to pick fights with people.

"Eek! So. Scary!"

When I made a show of grabbing Eunchae and scurrying into the other room like we were fleeing for our lives, his face flushed so red it looked like steam might come off it. Ah. Teasing a hothead was the best.

"Well then, let's both give it our all today, Park Woojin. Though honestly, I wonder if you can even keep up?"

I shot him a proper smirk and slammed the door.

"You son of a bitch! You wanna die, fuck?! This piece of shit wants to die so bad he's lost his goddamn mind, fuck...!"

All he could do was throw cheap insults. And those insults didn't land at all. Ah. Woojin was more fun than I'd expected. That was a problem.

"What the hell, Choi Dohyun? You're totally enjoying this."

Eunchae seemed to have noticed, poking me in the side with a grin.

"Ah, busted? It's way more fun ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠than I thought. I mean, think about how much stress he's put people through. Shouldn't he get at least some of that back before he walks out?"

Nuna had been stressed out by him, and Eunchae had been taking it too, whether she showed it or not. The previous editors had been so stressed they'd quit and run. I didn't even know those people, but I still felt bad for them.

I was a hardcore F-type at my core, you know. Empathy through the roof. That was what I was saying.

So Park Woojin — let's have some fun until you want to quit.