"I wonât be attending," Suzy replied without hesitation.
Derek froze for a moment. "Why not?"
Suzy cleared her throat lightly and explained, "I havenât been feeling well lately. Iâm planning to take a leave of absence for a while."
Suzyâs poor health was common knowledge. She was beautiful, yet perpetually pale and sickly. At A University, many students privately referred to her as
the frail beauty
.
Seeing the concern in Derekâs eyes warmed Suzyâs heart. "Donât worry," she added gently. "Itâs nothing too serious."
Derek nodded. "I understand. If you need help with anything, you can always come to me."
They arrived at Suzyâs car.
Derek lifted the box from his arms and placed it carefully into the trunk. At that moment, a cold, mechanical voice rang out in Suzyâs mind once moreâ
[Handsome Men Collection Codex successfully activated!]
[Suitable target detected: Derek Martin]
[Level: SSS]
[Affinity meets requirements. Binding conditions fulfilled. Proceed with binding?]
Suzyâs mind went blank. She didnât even know what this system actually
did
yet!
But instinct answered for her before logic could catch up.
Suzy:
Bind.
[Target Derek Martin successfully bound.]
[New function unlocked: Bound target receives supplies â tenfold rebate upon consumption.]
Suzy sucked in a sharp breath.
Waitâwhat?! Tenfold rebate?!
That meant if she gave Derek supplies, once he used them, sheâd receive
ten times
the amount back?!
[Correct.]
The systemâs confirmation made Suzyâs fingers tremble with excitement.
Then what was there left to worry about? Give oneâget ten back! A walking treasure generator!
Suzyâs eyes practically lit up.
When Derek turned around, he saw Suzy staring at him with an intensity that made his ears heat up.
A rare flush rose to his pale face. He didnât dare meet her gaze, shifting his eyes aside as he asked, "Senior... is something wrong?"
Suzy worked hard to suppress the grin threatening to curve her lips.
"Thank you for helping me carry the box. Have you eaten yet?" she asked.
"I already ateâ" Derek had been about to say he had, but halfway through the sentence, his stomach betrayed him with a loud
growl
.
He froze, visibly embarrassed.
"You donât have to be polite," Suzy said with a smile. She opened the box and took out a packed meal. "Take one with you and eat it later. I picked the dishes based on my own taste, though... I donât know if theyâll suit you."
She handed him the boxed meal, and Derek accepted it immediately.
"Iâm not picky at all. Iâm sure itâll be great. Thank you, Senior," he said, breaking into a bright smile.
"Alright then, Iâll get going." Suzy lifted a hand in farewell. She still had a packed schedule ahead of her.
After getting into the car and saying goodbye to Derek, Suzy started the engine.
Once sheâd driven away from campus, she stored the boxed meals from the trunk into her space.
Then she headed straight for a luxury resale company sheâd contacted earlier.
Suzy still owned plenty of luxury itemsâbags, jewelry, watches, and more. Those things would be useless in the apocalypse.
It was better to convert them into cash now and stockpile supplies while she still could.
Along the way, Suzy also gained a clearer understanding of the systemâs basic rules.
The
Handsome Men Collection Codex System
, in simple termsâwas exactly what it sounded like.
Collect handsome men.
As long as Suzy successfully bound a qualifying target, she would receive rewards.
Affinity of
40 points or higher
was required for binding.
After binding, different features of the codex would unlock depending on affinity level.
Every
20 points of affinity
unlocked a new stage.
Each successful unlock granted a
random reward
.
And the higher the level of the bound target, the more generous the rewards.
If Suzy wanted to obtain more benefits, she would need to bind more target individuals...
Suzy sucked in a sharp breath.
Wasnât this basically telling her to become a heartthrob collector?!
Her gaze flickered.
But then again... maybe that wasnât entirely unacceptable.
Sheâd already confirmed it with the system. The
rebate function applied to every bound target
.
The more "treasure basins" she had, the more she stood to gain.
After thinking it through seriously, Suzy found herself growing even more excited.
Half an hour later, she arrived at the resale company.
She parked the car and took out her phone. Several unread messages were waiting.
Suzy first sent a message to the company manager, then opened the unread messages one by one.
Five minutes earlier, Derek Martin had sent her a photo of a boxed meal, saying heâd made it back to the dorm and was about to eat.
Suzy replied with a sticker.
[Suzy: Is it good?]
[Derek: Itâs delicious!]
He replied almost instantly, sending a second photoâhalf the meal was already gone.
[Derek: All the dishes you picked suit my taste perfectly!]
[Derek: happy.jpg]
Suzy couldnât help but picture Derekâs bright, amber-colored eyes.
Come to think of it, sheâd been able to bind him the very first time they met. Which meant his affinity toward her had already exceeded 40 points back then...
Curious, Suzy asked the system to check the exact number.
She discovered that Derekâs current affinity toward her was
56 points
. Once it reached 60, sheâd receive another reward.
After a momentâs thought, Suzy sent him another message.
[Suzy: The weatherâs been a bit strange lately. You might want to stock up on some supplies, just in case.]
After sending it, she exited the chat. The remaining unread message was from Wendy.
Wendy had sent a photo of the gold pendant.
[Wendy: Suzy, are you sure you didnât give me the wrong pendant?]
Suzy opened the image and immediately noticed a faint trace of blood caught in the pendantâs carved patterns.
She raised an eyebrow and typed a quick reply.
[Suzy: The wrong one? Sis, isnât that the pendant you wanted?]
If her guess was right, Wendy had already tried using blood to claim ownership. Too bad the pendant was fakeâshe could bleed herself dry and it still wouldnât work.
What surprised Suzy slightly was that Wendy had come straight to her with the question. That meant she hadnât yet grown suspicious of Suzy herself.
Otherwise, she wouldnât be asking so openly.
Suzy let out a quiet breath of relief. Maintaining her usual persona, she added an innocent, confused sticker, and even proactively asked Wendy what kind of pendant sheâd been looking for exactly.
After sending the message, Suzy noticed Manager Williams walking toward her.
With a casual wave of her hand, the back seat of her car instantly filled with an array of bags and boxes.
She put her phone away, stepped out of the car, and greeted Manager Williams. He then called over several staff members.
Together, they carried her luxury itemsâbags, watches, jewelryâinto the shop for appraisal.
The appraisal process took quite some time, so Manager Williams arranged a private lounge for Suzy to wait in.
While waiting, Suzy took the opportunity to ask Malcolm Brone for contact information for several large supermarket suppliers in A City.
She was just about to reach out to them when Manager Williams knocked and entered the room.
"Miss Suzy, all your items have been appraised."
"Theyâre all authenticâno issues there. However..." He hesitated slightly."The total value is quite large. Our shop doesnât have enough cash on hand to buy everything at once."
Suzyâs heart sank. If they couldnât complete the transaction in one go, it meant sheâd have to make another trip. Sheâd chosen this place precisely to save time and effort.
Manager Williams noticed the change in her expression. Unwilling to lose such a major client, he quickly offered a solution heâd already prepared.
"If you donât mind, I can help contact another jewelry resale shop to handle part of the purchase."
Suzy smiled. "That works. Thank you for the trouble."