Chapter 21: HIDDEN NOTEBOOK

The opportunity quest remained unfulfilled in my peripheral vision, meaning I was missing a crucial detail. I systematically pulled all three drawers open again, scanning the wood with a critical eye. I stopped, closing my eyes for a split second to focus my enhanced Perception stat, letting my awareness hyper-focus on the structure of the nightstand.

When I opened my eyes, I caught it. Right at the very back of the third drawer cavity, a small, bright digital distortion was pulsing against the wood, a glowing marker generated entirely by the system to guide my gaze.

"Huh... a secret compartment?"

I reached inside, pressing firmly on the false wooden bottom of the third drawer. With a dull click, the hidden panel popped upward. I hooked my fingers beneath the wood, lifted the partition completely out, and looked at what had been stashed in the hollow space beneath.

A thick, unmarked notebook.

I grabbed it, stood up, and flipped the heavy cover open. My breath hitched slightly. The pages were completely filled with highly detailed sketches, but these weren’t regular landscapes, they were intensely detailed, explicitly erotic illustrations of anime characters and stylized figures. Some featured characters from the very show I’d researched last night, while others were completely original, all rendered in compromising, highly explicit positions.

A notification flashed, rewarding me with 30 experience points for the discovery, but my focus remained locked on the art.

"My, my, Sarah... you’ve got quite the imagination, don’t you?" I murmured, a wicked grin spreading across my face.

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OPPORTUNITY DETECTED

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[ SUGGESTED ACTION ]

Hubert will return home hours

before Sarah. Ensure he discovers

the hidden notebook.

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COST: 80 Lust

EST. GAIN: High Reward

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Right... let the old-headed prick find her secret stash, I thought, the pieces of the puzzle falling into place. That was bound to cause an absolute catastrophe. Hubert was a rigid, close-minded bastard; there was absolutely no way he would tolerate his wife drawing explicit, taboo art right under his roof. They would have a massive blowout argument the second she got home, driving her loyalty straight off a cliff.

I bent down, sliding the notebook back into the hollow compartment. But instead of perfectly resetting the false bottom, I deliberately left one edge tilted upward, wedging the panel so the corner of the book remained glaringly visible. To finish the trap, I left the bottom drawer rolled open a few inches, making it look like it hadn’t closed properly. Even an idiot like Hubert wouldn’t be able to miss it.

"Okay, Hubert. Trust me," I whispered, sliding out of the bedroom with a sharp smirk playing on my lips. "You’re absolutely going to LOVE this."

❤︎‬‪‪❤︎‬‪‪❤︎

I finished my dinner, some half-assed sandwich I made with all I had left, and then wiped my mouth with a napkin. Looking right from where I sat, I could see outside through my open bedroom door and out the window. A few more minutes later, maybe ten or twenty, Hubert would be home.

I grabbed my cigarette off the table and walked into my bedroom. Lighting it up, I sat on my bed, still looking outside. There would be rain soon if the weather forecasters were right. The dark clouds were churning above.

"What the fuck..."

From afar, I saw her... Sarah. She was walking toward the apartment. Fuck. I thought she had an extra shift? Did it end early? I couldn’t let her go inside before her husband came home and saw that sketchbook. I had to stop her, or this entire plan would be thrown out the window.

I quickly stubbed my cigarette out and got up, walking toward the door and throwing on my jacket. I left the flat and stepped outside.

Sarah, looking pretty tired, spotted me from afar. She waved at me with a weak smile, and I returned it. Now, how the fuck was I going to stop her from getting into her house? I had to buy some time. But, again, fucking how?

"Think, Chance," I muttered to myself as I watched her approach. "Think, think, think."

"Chance," Sarah said, still walking toward me. "Hey. Going somewhere?"

"Oh, I just... I thought I’d get some air before it rains," I muttered, gesturing toward the sky. "They say it’s going to be a heavy rain."

"Oof, I know," Sarah said, stopping in front of me and looking up. "I prayed I wouldn’t get caught in it, actually."

"Yeah. Looks pretty bad," I said, then cleared my throat. "Oh, I finished the whole anime by the way."

"You did?" she asked, her interest piqued. "Wow. How was it?"

"I liked the plot twist," I nodded. "That bald guy being the hero’s father? Perfect."

"Yeah, that actually caught me off-guard, not gonna lie," she said. "I thought he was just a generic bad guy, but I was wrong."

"Hmm."

She checked her watch. "Anyway, I gotta go. Pretty tiring day, if you can believe it."

"Oh, yeah, yeah," I said. "I thought you had an extra shift."

"And it ended," she said. "Thankfully. Our boss was kind enough to let me go before the rain started. I’m the only one who doesn’t have a car, so... yeah."

"Yeah, you can’t live in such a big city without a car," I exhaled. "If I only had some money for it. Or, hell, maybe a motorcycle?"

"Mm," she shrugged. "I don’t like motorcycles. Too dangerous."

"Really? But they are cheap."

Yeah, just like that. Keep talking. I had to keep her talking until her husband came home. Just where the fuck was this idiot Hubert? The plan would be completely ruined thanks to his sheer incompetence. I desperately needed him to be home, a sentence I never thought I’d actually use. Wanting to see Hubert early.