Her fingers played with a pen on her desk, twirling it with practiced ease. "I've been good! Busy. Mr. Emrys, your -ahem- brother, promoted me last year. I handle all the executive floor access now." A hint of pride colored her words. "Which means I've gotten very good at knowing who belongs up there and who doesn't."
The implication hung between them. She had power now -small, but real. She was offering to use it for him.
"And you?" she asked, genuine curiosity breaking through the professional veneer. "Where does someone like you disappear to for three years?"
Jack chuckled softly, the sound low and pleasant.
"Life's been treating me well. And I've been treating it okay." He glanced around casually before returning his gaze to her. “And you know, exploring. Seeing what trouble I can get myself into.”
She smiled at that, a real smile that reached her eyes and softened her corporate polish. "That's the most 'Jack' answer I could have expected."
There was something intimate in how she said his name, as though she'd spoken it often in his absence. As though they shared more history than a brief encounter in a lobby three years ago.
They chatted for a bit, her initial fluster fading into something with more heat beneath it. The conversation flowed with surprising ease, punctuated by glances that lingered too long to be professional. Her body language had transformed completely -leaning forward, fingers occasionally brushing against his when passing him her card, laughter coming easier with each exchange.
She'd grown into herself while he was away, found her footing in this world of glass towers and power plays. The corporate equivalent of watching a cautious fawn transform into a confident doe.
Then Jack finally leaned in slightly, his tone dropping to something conspiratorial. She leaned forward to match, her heart pounding so hard it was almost audible.
"You wanna let the boss man know I'm here?"
Something flashed in her eyes -disappointment, perhaps, that business had intruded on their reunion- before she shook her head, surprising him.
"No," she said, her voice dropping to match his. "He's in a meeting. A big one."
She emphasized "big" with a slight arch of her eyebrow, a hint of insider knowledge. No longer just the receptionist, but a gatekeeper with secrets of her own.
Jack arched a brow. Intrigued despite himself.
Mindy leaned in further, close enough that he could catch the faint scent of her perfume -something expensive and subtle, not the overpowering fragrance she'd worn before. Her voice dropped, eyes darting to make sure no one was listening. The bearer of important news.
"It's, um… a hostile takeover."
She said the words with the breathless excitement of someone who'd learned to appreciate corporate drama as its own form of entertainment. Who understood the game being played around her even if she wasn't a major player herself.
Jack blinked.
Then grinned.
"Really?" he murmured, amused. The timing couldn't have been better if he'd planned it this way.
Mindy nodded quickly, the gravity of corporate warfare reflected in her wide eyes, but there was a gleam there too -the thrill of being in the know, of sharing privileged information with someone she deemed worthy of it.
"Everyone's talking about it," she continued, voice hushed but animated. "Stocks are already going nuts. People are buying up shares left and right, trying to get ahead of the chaos. It's gonna be brutal."
She was enjoying this -the intrigue, the drama, the chance to play informant to a man who radiated danger like a heat signature. Her fingers brushed his arm, lingering just a moment too long to be accidental.
Jack tilted his head, considering.
Then leaned in, matching her tone perfectly. Conspirator to conspirator. Close enough that anyone watching would assume they were sharing more than just corporate gossip.
"Thanks, Mindy. I appreciate the heads-up."
His eyes met hers, acknowledging what she'd offered -not just information, but alliance. A subtle shifting of loyalties that said she might be Jacob's employee, but Jack had earned something more personal.
Her smile turned almost mischievous. "Anything for you, Jack. Maybe when you're done upstairs, we could... catch up properly? I'm off at six."
The invitation hung between them, bold and unambiguous. The confidence of a woman who'd decided what she wanted and saw no reason not to pursue it.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Jack's smile widened, appreciative of her directness. "I'll keep that in mind."
And then -without hesitation, or breaking stride- he turned and walked toward the elevators. A man with purpose. A man with power.
But he felt her eyes on him as he walked away -appraising, appreciative, calculating. No longer just watching him leave, but planning for his return.
"But -wait-" Mindy started, suddenly remembering protocols, security measures, all the infrastructure designed to keep unexpected visitors away from the inner sanctum.
Then she stopped herself, a small smile playing on her lips as she made her decision. The rulebook could be bent for the right person.
Jack was already gone. A ghost slipping through corporate defenses.
The security guards that had instinctively started to move toward him hesitated when Mindy -after a brief moment of indecision- shook her head slightly.
"It's fine," she told them with newfound authority. "He's expected."
They stood down. The power of authority giving them enough of an out that they could let it go. If the heat did come down from on high, Mindy would be the buffer that saved them.
Jack hadn’t looked back, but he did smile to himself. She'd grown a backbone in his absence. Interesting.
He entered the elevator alone, the metal doors sliding shut behind him like the closing of a stage curtain. Act Two, beginning.
As the elevator began to rise, Jack caught his own reflection in the polished metal.
His smirk widened.
He liked playing games.
He liked pushing people's buttons.
And he had never gotten over that particular trait. It had been both his greatest weakness and his greatest strength in the Otherworld -the ability to needle, to provoke, to find the buttons that made even immortals flip their lids.
His Lord, Arlington, had always claimed to hate it.
Had scolded him for it on more than one occasion-
And then laughed himself sick every time Jack got one over on his rivals. The old fox pretending disapproval while secretly delighting in the chaos Jack sowed.
Jack exhaled, amused.
Then, unable to help himself, his thoughts returned to Mindy.
Oh, she was attractive enough to turn a few heads. But it wasn't that which stuck her in his mind.
Jack recognized the signs. The way her eyes dilated when she recognized him. Not simple attraction. Something deeper.
It was unmistakable. And he couldn't pretend it was his natural charm anymore. Not since the dungeons began appearing.
He'd conquered two so far. Gained a few titles, earned a new class. And with each conquest, his attributes strengthened. Especially Charisma.
Mindy's reaction was only to be expected, for a base human. And then there was Little Red. When he'd met Little Red, Jessica, it was before the titles -or the class. Remembering her defiance, and her no-bullshit attitude, he chuckled. Yeah, she wasn't swept up in the aura that was Jack the other worlder, ex Dungeon Master. Come to think of it, neither had Susie. Their interactions had been mostly normal. Mundane. And he had to admit- very welcome.
Now he had to contend with having a distinct, and powerful, advantage with the uninitiated.
He had during his adventures, Charisma wasn't just persuasiveness. It was influence made manifest. Not mind control per se, but something adjacent – a weight behind words that bent probability. The stronger one's intent, the more their presence -their aura- can be felt.
It was a composite attribute based on each of the primary attributes. Mind, Body, and Spirit. But it was more than that. It was a touch of the divine. A quantifiable measure of the architects of the world, or the system, leaning on the scales.
The first time he'd walked into this building, several years ago, he'd been operating on instinct and nerve. Pure bravado born of years spent getting what he wanted. Natural confidence amplified by experience. By trauma. By old training and habits that didn't want to die.
But now… Now he was empowered once again by an infusion of something more potent. Mana.
He could feel it in the way Mindy leaned toward him, how the security guards hesitated, how the crowds on the streets and in the lobby unconsciously parted before him.
Driving was a lot of fun, when traffic did its best impression of the Red Sea and made way for him. A perk he hadn't been expecting, but couldn't deny pleased him.
A glance at his newly reinitialized status screen confirmed what he already knew:
Charisma: 430 (578)
That bonus when he was near a dungeon was no joke.
Neither was the base attribute.
And he had only gained 10 levels in his new class, Nexus Breaker. He still had 40 more to go before he reached the same circle as his past self. The Sylvan Forager. But this time he was operating in an entirely new eschelon of advancement.
He was surprised to learn that his base attributes from reaching the 50th circle in Sylvan Forager had carried over once the magic had reactivated his System. Maybe it had something to do with creating his new hero class from scratch. He’d never done that before. And there were no mentions of it being possible in the studies he had made on the subject. But it did make a certain sort of sense. How else were some of the more unusual classes going to come into existence?
He had lost the 170 free points he was able to spend at the time of his first progression advancement, but considering he had just tossed them all into Luck meant he didn't actually lose much. Or so he told himself.
And the bonuses he gained per level with his new class -Nexus Breaker, and his Dungeon Master Meta-class, meant massive gains were available in a much shorter period of time.
In the Otherworld he had reached the peak of S Rank. Circle 50. And his achievements reflected that. But now, on Earth… He had already doubled his original base attributes in only 10 levels. He'd taken the 20 free points he had to spend this time around -and done the exact same thing as before- spent it all on Luck. Or rather "Wyrd". Some kind of evolved meta stat for fate or something.
His Wyrd stat looked so emaciated in comparison to his primary attributes.
Body: 430 (580)
Mind: 410 (554)
Spirit: 434 (586)
Charisma: 430 (578)
Wyrd (Luck Meta Stat): 130 (175.5)
It should have bothered him, this gamification of reality. And his apparent new game plus mode did feel like living life with a cheat code. But that didn’t faze him. Instead, he accepted it as a necessary tool. He’d grown used to it after living with the System for so long in the Otherworld. It’s just that there was a part of him that wished it hadn’t followed him back to Earth.
And yet, there was another -larger- part of him that reveled in it. There were no more bored days of meandering through a world he had never quite gotten used it.
Besides, he thought with a grim smile as the elevator continued its ascent, if the dungeons are spreading -if the barriers between worlds are truly breaking down- I'll need every advantage I can get.
And if that meant leveraging his supernatural charisma to make receptionists blush and security guards second-guess themselves? Well, that was just a perk of the job.
The sleek, silent doors of the executive elevator slid open, and Jack stepped out onto the top floor of Emrys Technologies.
Time to see how much fun Jacob was having.
- Followers go up? Boom, bonus chapter.
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- Reviews? Cue the confetti -bonus chapter and a shoutout, because I care.
- Ratings go up? You guessed it -bonus chapter. (And I might even crack a smile. Maybe.)