Ficorpio
Chapter 1
Adrian Sterling and I were best friends, both twenty-four-karat, certified straight guys.
Then one day, while he was at my place helping scrub my back, we somehow got sucked into the M/M romance novel my sister had written. Worse, we became the two male leads destined to fall in love.
On the first day, the Quest System ordered us to fight.
So we fought.
On the second day, it ordered us to trade insults.
So we cursed each other out.
But on the third day, it wanted us to kiss?
…
We were both completely against it, but if we wanted to go home, we didn’t have a choice. So we touched our lips together for a second.
The Quest System announced that the mission was complete, but then Adrian’s expression changed. He slowly leaned closer, pressed his face against my neck, and breathed in deeply.
“Dude,” he murmured. “You smell incredible.”
After my best friend and I finished kissing, the Quest System issued another mission.
[Next mission: French-kiss for thirty seconds.]
[Time limit: One week. Host, please complete the mission as soon as possible!]
…
Adrian and I looked at each other, then silently turned away.
After a long pause, he said darkly, “Your sister is seriously twisted.”
I choked on my water.
Adrian wasn’t wrong. If it weren’t for Sophie Bennett, we wouldn’t have been dragged into this ridiculous world to suffer. Once I got back, I was burning every last page of her filthy manuscript.
There was still one thing I couldn’t understand.
Why the hell was I the bottom?
There had to be something wrong with Sophie’s judgment!
I was captain of the basketball team. I was tall, broad, and tough. In strength and looks, I was obviously the one who should be on top!
With that thought, I turned to look at Adrian.
His skin was pale and smooth enough to bruise at a touch. His lashes were long, and his striking eyes made him look exactly like the kind of guy who’d be easy to push around.
Adrian caught me staring and calmly asked, “What are you looking at me for? Want another kiss?”
Another kiss?
His lips were perfectly shaped, and after the kiss we’d just shared…
Soft. They’d been so soft.
As Adrian slowly leaned closer, I lost control. I slapped him across the face and backed away, my cheeks burning.
“What the hell are you doing? I’m straight!”
“How are we supposed to complete the quest if we don’t kiss?” Adrian rubbed his reddening cheek, looking genuinely wounded.
Right.
The quest.
I’d completely forgotten about it.
“A thirty-second French kiss isn’t exactly easy for me.” I put on a grave expression. “Let me think about it some more.”
“No rush. Take your time. We still have a week.”
Adrian popped open a can of ice-cold Coke with one hand and took a sip. His gaze drifted into the distance, his tone casual.
His complete lack of concern made me frown.
“Adrian, why do you look like none of this matters to you? Don’t you want to go back to the Real World?”
Chapter 2
“I don’t care either way.” He shrugged. “Going back or staying here makes no difference to me.”
“…”
Well, he had a point.
Whether he was in the Real World or the Story World, Adrian was still the wealthy heir to the Sterling family.
I wasn’t so lucky.
I had a gambling-addicted father, a mother who’d walked out, and a life that had already fallen apart.
However miserable the original Ethan Bennett was, my real life was every bit as bad.
Sophie Bennett, that little brat, really was the best sister a guy could ask for.
Still, the Story World wasn’t all that different from reality. Adrian Sterling and I still had the same names. We were even studying the same majors at the same university, and our beds in the residence hall were arranged exactly as they had been back home.
There was only one difference.
In Sophie’s novel, Adrian and I couldn’t stand each other. We were bitter rivals who started throwing punches whenever we crossed paths.
I’d read her manuscript before. Adrian and I might have hated each other at first, but eventually, we developed feelings for each other. Then came all the explicit scenes that followed.
I’d turned scarlet reading them. Afterward, I’d shredded every page she’d written and cut off her allowance.
Sophie had told me karma would get me for it.
And sure enough, it had.
It happened over the weekend. Adrian and I had played basketball together, and after I worked up a sweat, I brought him back to the Bennett family home so we could shower. My back was itching, so I asked him to scrub it for me.
He’d barely run his hands over my back a few times when, for no apparent reason, we were both pulled into Sophie’s novel.
Now we had quests to complete.
Only after earning one hundred Quest Points could we return to the Real World.
On our first day in the Story World, the Quest System followed the Original Storyline and ordered Adrian and me to fight in the campus quad.
But Adrian was my best friend. How could I possibly bring myself to hit him?
[Quest Objective: Complete the fight. Reward: 50 Quest Points.]
The moment the notification sounded in my head, I swung my fist at Adrian’s handsome face without hesitation.
One side of his face immediately swelled. He stared at me in disbelief, a wounded look creeping into his dark eyes.
A crowd had gathered around us, and the students’ jeers rose one after another.
When Adrian still didn’t fight back, I grabbed him by the collar and whispered urgently, “Come on, hit me! We only earn the points if we fight each other. Otherwise, you took that punch for nothing.”
Adrian’s gaze darkened. “I can’t bring myself to hurt you.”
I froze.
He really was my best friend.
I could have cried from sheer emotion.
In the end, after plenty of threats and coaxing, he finally gave me the lightest possible punch.
Of course, I was still the one who had to apply medication to his swollen face afterward. And when he continued sulking, I even had to buy him a lollipop to cheer him up.
Chapter 3
The next day, the Quest System ordered us to trade insults. The bigger the scene we caused, the more Quest Points we would earn.
Easy.
As soon as class ended, I snatched up a textbook and slammed it down in front of Adrian. I threw myself so deeply into the performance that my eyes turned red.
Pointing at him, I shouted, “Adrian Sterling! If you’ve got a problem with me, then fight me yourself! What kind of coward pulls strings behind my back? You actually had someone freeze the Campus Basketball Club’s budget!”
The classroom fell silent.
Even students passing in the hall stopped and crowded into the doorway to watch.
“Adrian really sabotaged him?”
“I bet Ethan Bennett is making it up. That broke nobody will do anything to get attention. He attacked Adrian for no reason yesterday too.”
“Adrian must have the worst luck in the world to get stuck with someone that obnoxious.”
“Relax. The Sterling Family isn’t someone Ethan can afford to offend. Adrian could crush him like an insect.”
“Just wait. Adrian’s definitely going to teach Ethan a lesson.”
As the whispers spread through the room, I felt immensely satisfied. Everything was finally unfolding according to the Original Storyline.
But in the next second, Adrian walked over to me.
He reached up and gently wiped the tears from my face. Lowering his head, he gazed at me with unmistakable concern.
“Don’t cry,” he said softly. “It’s only a budget. I’ll replace the money for you. Whatever you need, I’ll pay it.”
Everyone around us froze.
I stared at Adrian, dumbfounded.
What the hell was this idiot doing? Why was he suddenly putting on a touching display of brotherly devotion?
I desperately tried to signal with my eyes that he was supposed to insult me. Instead, he looked as if he’d made up his mind about something, pulled a thick wad of cash from his wallet, and stuffed it into my hand.
“This should be enough, right?” His gaze was open and sincere.
Furious, I flung the money back in his face.
“Who do you think you’re fooling? This was obviously your fault, and now you’re pretending to be innocent? I’m telling you, it’s not going to work! You two-faced little snake!”
At my words, Adrian’s gaze darkened. His expression turned grave.
Just when I thought he was finally about to lose his temper and curse me out, he said with a complicated look, “How did you know? I thought I’d hidden it pretty well.”
“…”
His counterattack was so weak that the Quest System awarded us only ten points.
On the third day, the System issued another quest.
This time, it wanted us to kiss.
I couldn’t do it.
I’d never even kissed a woman before, let alone a man.
Absolutely not.
But unless we completed this quest, the System wouldn’t issue the next one.
I agonized over it for an entire day. By that night, I finally gave in.