Trapped as an NPC in a Dating Sim

Chapter 124: Burning Jealousy!

“Hey, Soren…give me that part. Yeah, that one. Damn…why is it so delicious?”

Sylvia clicked her tongue in relish before quickly taking the piece of meat from Soren’s hand, nibbling on it excitedly. She didn’t even bother with a fork, too impatient to wait.

Watching her coo in delight, oil glistening around her lips, she looked like a cat that finally tasted fish.

“Tch…little girl, don’t eat too much. What if you get fat?”

Seeing her eat so much, Soren couldn’t help but roll his eyes speechlessly.

However, looking at Aria, Aurelia, and even Evan enjoying the fish with relish, it seemed she wasn’t the only one captivated.

’Mistfin Gladefish really is a delicacy, isn’t it? Even with my low-level cooking skills, it tastes this good.’

More than enjoying the fish himself, Soren found greater satisfaction in the way they reacted.

Maybe that was what a cook lived for.

Soren was thinking randomly when he heard Sylvia’s reply.

“Hey…if I get fat, I will just drink Vital Trim Potion. It doesn’t even cost many credit points.”

After saying that, she kept tearing into the juicy meat, closing her eyes as the rich oils and savory taste rolled over her tongue.

’Ah…right, there is that too.’

Soren suddenly realized this wasn’t the Earth he knew.

While there were many dangerous things in this world, there were also heavy benefits. Like that popular potion which could reduce body fat with no side effects.

As long as they took it, there was no need to fear getting fat at all.

“Still…at least take care of your image. Look at you, you look like a kid with all that greasy oil.”

Soren couldn’t help but admonish her as he pulled out a napkin, gently wiping her lips clean.

He was so careful, so smooth in his movements, that Sylvia paused, letting him do as he wished.

She only resumed eating once he finished.

This time, with small bites, slowly and deliberately, a faint blush colored her cheeks.

She didn’t know why, but lately Soren had been unusually kind to her, and she found herself enjoying it more and more.

“Cough…S-Soren…do you have any napkins left?”

Just as Soren was about to resume eating his portion, he heard Aria’s faint voice from the side.

She was currently looking at him with a pout, her green eyes filled with deep jealousy.

While Sylvia enjoyed Soren’s treatment, someone definitely did not. Otherwise, wouldn’t Aria just take the napkin he placed at the side instead of asking him for one?

“Ah…yeah, I have one. Let me clean that for you.”

Soren immediately went near Aria, took out another clean napkin, and carefully wiped her red lips, which she had intentionally coated with oil just now.

All the while, Aria stood obediently, letting out a faint smile in satisfaction. When it came to her jealousy, her usual timidness directly disappeared.

“Tch…can’t you do it yourself? What a clumsy elf.”

After Soren wiped her clean, Aria was about to thank him when she heard Sylvia’s sharp, annoyed voice cut through the air.

She looked at Aria with very unkind eyes. She could feel that this girl always competed with her for Soren’s attention.

“Heh…what about you? Didn’t he help clean your lips too?”

See? Aria didn’t even hesitate to jab back.

“But I didn’t ask him to do so, did I? Soren did that on his own, unlike someone else who begged for it.”

Sylvia didn’t like Aria and mumbled in annoyance, completely forgetting that the one she should blame was Soren.

This guy was already in front of Aurelia at the time, and neither of them noticed.

“I didn’t beg. I just asked for a napkin, and he did it on his own. Sylvia, can you stop running your oily mouth?”

“Tch…everyone knows what you meant by napkin. You just got jealous, that’s all.”

“Why would I get jealous? Sylvia, don’t be too mean. Otherwise…”

“Hey, that’s my fish. Hey, you little elf, don’t run off with my meat in your hand. You’ve gone too far.”

While Sylvia and Aria were busy with each other, Soren approached Aurelia with a faint smile and whispered lightly,

“Can I?”

Although he didn’t say it outright, Aurelia understood perfectly. In fact, Soren noticed that unlike the other two, she didn’t have a speck of grease on her lips.

She had been brought up with class, after all. She didn’t carry the messy, careless habits that came so naturally to the others.

Yet she slowly nodded, a faint blush coloring her cheeks, standing still for Soren to clean her nonexistent grease.

For a moment, Soren carefully touched her lips with the napkin, all the while Sylvia and Aria ran around the camp, arguing and bickering.

“…”

And Evan gawked at everything in absolute shock.

As the third party, he noticed everything, and it left him so bewildered that he didn’t know what to say.

He thought Soren was just with Sylvia, then…

’The heck is he doing with Aria and Aurelia? Is he some kind of enchanter or what?’

Evan wasn’t stupid enough to miss the strange atmosphere, but it only made him so mad with jealousy that even the fish he was eating lost its taste.

For a moment, he stared at Soren and Aurelia in wonder, when Soren suddenly turned around and met his jealous eyes head-on.

“…”

“…”

“What? Do you want me to clean your mouth too?”

Soren couldn’t help but joke as he saw Evan staring at him stupidly, a piece of meat frozen in his hand.

“N-No…hell no, I don’t need it.”

But his reaction went a bit overboard as Evan quickly shook his head and stepped back, as if afraid Soren would actually come to him.

“…”

Soren rolled his eyes at the overreaction and went to the fire to grab another thoroughly cooked fish pellet.

Then he fixed his gaze on a corner of the forest. His eyes flickered briefly with golden light, as if seeing something unseen, before he shouted suddenly.

“Senior, you’ve been staring at us for a while now. How about you stop and join us already?”

His voice echoed across the surroundings, instantly freezing every team member in place. Even Aria and Sylvia stopped mid-step, turning toward the direction Soren was staring, confusion clear in their eyes.

After all, they didn’t feel anyone’s presence all this time.

For a moment, everyone went silent as the forest returned to its usual calm. The spot Soren had been staring at remained empty.

Just when everyone thought maybe Soren was mistaken, they noticed sudden movement ahead, followed by the appearance of two figures.

*Swoosh!*

Their arrival was so abrupt that Evan immediately drew his sword while Aurelia readied her staff. Aria even almost started her summoning before Soren signaled them to calm down.

“Haha…sorry to startle you guys. We were just guarding the area. Please don’t take us as enemies.”

A tall, lean man smiled awkwardly at their alertness and raised his hand as if in surrender.

“You see, we are the seniors assigned by Professor Kael to guard you juniors from danger. I am extremely sorry if we caused any offense.”

He explained quickly, careful not to upset anyone, especially Aurelia.

“In fact, I was about to leave after seeing you were alright, but it seems my disguise was too poor.”

He spoke while looking at Soren with curiosity.

He still couldn’t understand how Soren managed to see them. He was a level 75 hunter with the Assassin class, after all.

Even without using any artifact to hide, his skill should have been enough to mask their presence from juniors like Soren.

At first, he didn’t come out, thinking Soren was mistaken. But when Soren’s gaze never left him, he became sure that Soren could see him.

He perfectly saw through his concealment.

’Interesting…isn’t he an Archer? It seems he got a very unique vision-related skill. His perception isn’t that bad either.’

He thought, not realizing that Soren actually wasn’t as perceptive as he thought.

Although Soren was now level 45, he was still very weak compared to him. His perception wasn’t that ungodly yet.

Only, he possessed a GAP stat that let him upgrade his A-rank skill, Keen Sight, to an S-rank skill, Artemis’ Sight.

—

[Skill: Artemis’ Sight (Passive)]

[Rank: S]

[Effect: Grants near-supernatural perception, allowing the user to see through obstacles, detect hidden or camouflaged targets, anticipate enemy movements, and find precise weak points for perfectly aimed shots.]

—

You see, Soren didn’t only receive the Void Array Core from Isolde before.

Besides that, he also got a few C-rank artifacts that could mask his true level, protect him from certain dangers, and especially conceal his aura perfectly.

For a while now, Soren had been very careful using the GAP stat on his skills. He almost never used it outside the dungeon except that first time.

For one, he didn’t want anyone noticing the oddness of his skill, and for another, using the GAP stat was far too flashy.

There was already a certain halo whenever he evolved his skill or class.

That’s why he finally found an artifact that could conceal such halos. He still couldn’t hide the golden hue in his pupil while using the skill, though.

As for how he knew someone was watching them from behind?

He had to give credit to the other senior standing behind the lean guy, shooting him a not-so-subtle glare filled with faint anger, one he pathetically couldn’t even hide.

“Senior Kairon? Why are you here?”

Yeah, the same guy who held a major crush on Sylvia Everhart in the game Lover’s Labyrinth.

No wonder he felt that piercing gaze, countless times stronger than anything he felt before, full of malice when he cleaned Sylvia’s lips.