As soon as Zephany and Kendrick got inside the car, an awkward silence filled the space. Neither of them spoke, both choosing to stare out the window instead. The atmosphere was thick with an unspoken tension, though neither could quite pinpoint why.
The driver started the engine, and the car smoothly pulled out onto the road. The silence persisted, only interrupted by the faint hum of the engine and the occasional sound of passing traffic.
Then, as if on cue, both of their stomachs grumbled at the exact sa ti.
They imdiately stiffened.
Surprised, they turned to look at each other before quickly looking away, pretending it didn’t happen. Zephany’s ears burned with embarrassnt, while Kendrick cleared his throat, pretending to adjust his seatbelt.
The driver, having clearly noticed, glanced at them through the rearview mirror. "Should we stop over at the nearest restaurant?"
Both nodded, neither daring to speak.
It was already past three in the afternoon, and neither of them had eaten a proper al. The day had been too hectic, consud by their respective tasks. Their stomachs protesting was no surprise.
A few minutes later, the car pulled into a parking lot in front of a seafood restaurant.
The mont Zephany caught sight of the signboard, all thoughts of maintaining her timid journalist persona vanished. Her mind was now occupied by one thing—shrimp and crabs.
Without even waiting for Kendrick, she practically hopped out of the car, her eyes gleaming with anticipation. Kendrick, noticing the sudden change in her deanor, raised a brow but didn’t comnt. He, too, was looking forward to the al. He loved seafood, but he rarely ate it. His sister, Levy, was allergic, so he always avoided it when he was ho.
As they sat down and ordered their food, the tension from earlier faded away. They were no longer the aspiring artist or the desperate journalist, nor were they two people keeping up a facade for their hidden identities. Right now, they were just two hungry individuals enjoying a good al.
Zephany eagerly dug into her plate, her eyes practically shining with delight as she cracked open a crab shell. Kendrick found himself smiling at the sight. She was too absorbed in her food to care about anything else.
Zephany stole a glance at Kendrick as he happily ate, and sothing tugged at her heart. Seeing him enjoy seafood so much made her realize—this was probably a luxury for him. With his financial situation, eating seafood often was likely out of reach.
She made a ntal note. She’d buy seafood more often. If he loved it this much but couldn’t afford it, then she would make sure he got to eat it more often.
On the other hand, Kendrick glanced at Zephany and couldn’t help but think, She looks so innocent right now, like a happy cat that just got its treat. It was a stark contrast to the usual clumsy, soft-spoken persona she wore at work.
Work must be stressing her out, he thought. I should try helping her with it. She can’t keep stress-eating like this. I should prepare a balanced al for her.
Poor her.
Poor him.
Both sat there, feeling bad for each other, thinking the other was struggling, while in reality, neither of them actually cared about their supposed financial or work hardships. It was all part of their hidden identities.
The al ended, and by the ti they reached ho, the sky was already dark.
Once inside their shared apartnt, they simply nodded at each other before heading straight to their rooms. Both were equally excited to check The Archive for their rewards.
---
Zephany sat on her bed and imdiately opened her laptop. The mont she logged into The Archive app, a notification popped up.
Mission Null39st Completed
Team Bacon Succeeded
A total of 200 null points and $100K monetary reward have been successfully transferred to the respective accounts.
Another notification appeared on her profile:
Congratulations on successfully completing Mission Null39st.
You have received 100 null points and a $50K monetary reward. The other half has been allocated to your ally, Obscura.
She clicked on her profile.
Code Na: Eclipse (Level 1)
Total Null Points: 100
Alliance: Partnered with Obscura – Team Bacon
Status: No current mission
Access Granted To: Private data (sensitive personal details, private events, financial records)
Zephany let out a sigh of relief. Finally, she was no longer stuck at Level 0. But leveling up was no joke. They needed at least 3,000 null points to reach Level 2, another 4,000 for Level 3, and 10,000 for Level 4. The points required increased at each level.
anwhile, in the other room, Kendrick was also staring at his screen, frustrated.
Leveling up was a long process.
Level 0 to 3 profiles are allowed to accept missions from Level 1 to 3, but the maximum null points granted for each mission is only 200.
They needed to be at Level 3 to accept Level 4 missions, which granted a maximum of 400 points.
At this rate, it would take forever to climb back to Level 7 .
It seems like both have no choice but to keep up their contract marriage to gain access to that information.
Both sighed in frustration.
---
[173 Days Left to Live]
The entire country was abuzz after the revelations surrounding Mr. Lody’s case and the charity gala hosted by Varen Enterprises. News articles, social dia posts, and television reports were flooded with discussions about the event and its implications.
Zephany was jolted awake by the relentless ringing of her phone.
Groggily, she reached for it and answered without checking the caller ID. "Hello...?"
"Zeph! You genius!" Pia’s voice bood from the other end. "You really outdid yourself this ti!"
Zephany blinked. "Huh?"
"The news! We were the first ones to publish it! Mr. Davidson was practically grinning ear to ear this morning."
"Oh," Zephany yawned. "I spent the whole night writing it. I didn’t want our competitors to get the scoop first. You know how Mr. Davidson is. He’d murder if soone else broke the news before us."
Pia laughed. "True, true. He might actually throw a stapler at you."
Zephany sighed. "Anyway, what’s up?"
"What’s up? Girl, I called to congratulate you! And also to let you know that we’re celebrating this later. Drinks are on ."
Zephany groaned. "I just want to sleep."
"Too bad, you’re coming," Pia said firmly. "See you at seven."
Before Zephany could protest, Pia hung up.
She flopped back onto her bed with a groan. Today was going to be a long day.
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