Harem Stealing System
Chapter 36 : The forgotten task

Chapter 36: Chapter 36 : The forgotten task

The silence was unbearable. Eiden sat on the edge of his bed, eyes glued to the air in front of him where the system interface had vanished moments ago. A cold bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face as his mind reeled through possibilities none of them good. What if Ruel had connections? What if his dad found out? What if both found out?

His lips were pressed together so tight they formed a thin line, and his legs bounced restlessly. His thoughts raced like a freight train with no brakes. Why the hell isn’t System-chan saying anything?

His patience, which was already thinner than paper, had almost completely evaporated when a voice finally broke the silence.

System-chan: "Are you retarded?"

Eiden blinked. "Huh?"There was a pause. Then

System-chan: "Like seriously. How dumb are you? Do you think anyone in this world this low-tech, medieval, magic-masquerading-as-logic world has the capability to trace a video back to me, and through me, to you?"

Eiden’s eyes narrowed. "What are you "

System-chan: "Let me spell it out for you, genius. Do you really think some third-rate private hacker from a wealthy nobody family has the means to even understand the kind of encryption I operate with? You’re acting like you leaked confidential files to the FBI."

Eiden let out a breath, almost like a balloon deflating. A huge wave of relief washed over him as he leaned back on the bed. "So... they can’t trace it?"

System-chan: "No sh*t, Sherlock."

He slumped forward, wiping the sweat off his forehead. "Why didn’t you say anything sooner?" The system’s next reply was accompanied by a smug little smirk emoji.

System-chan: "I wanted to stress you out on purpose. (¬‿¬)"

Eiden opened his mouth in protest, hands raised, ready to unleash verbal war but nothing came out. He slowly lowered his arms and sighed in defeat.

"Tch. Sadist program," he muttered as he got up and trudged toward the bathroom.

The washroom light flickered on with a dull hum. Eiden splashed cold water on his face, rubbing it like he was trying to wipe away not just sweat but all memories from the previous night including that traumatic moment he’d caught his parents getting weird on the couch.

He shuddered. A flash of last night image came to his mind ," he whispered to himself, "Damn" before toweling off and stepping out. Downstairs, the house smelled like breakfast. A mix of toasted bread, eggs, and something buttery filled the air as he made his way to the living room.

His dad, Algir, sat on the sofa in his usual morning pose one leg crossed over the other, a newspaper opened wide like he was still in the 90s. His mom was in the kitchen, humming softly as she stirred something on the stove.

Eiden stood silently on the steps, watching them for a moment. Everything looked so normal. Too normal. But then, as if on cue, a mental image popped up in his head his dad’s hand on his mom’s thigh, their faces closer than necessary, giggling like teenagers.

He physically shivered and shook his head to exorcise the cursed image. His mother turned around, smiling warmly. "Eiden, good morning. Breakfast will be ready soon. Go wash your hands and sit down dumbling"

Dumbling. He hated when she called him that nickname, but today he just nodded, still a little dazed, and walked over to the table. His dad didn’t look up, too engrossed in the economic collapse of some oil company in the newspaper.

A few minutes later, his mom brought breakfast omelets, buttered toast, and a bowl of cut fruits. "It’s ready," she said cheerfully.

Algir folded his newspaper neatly, placed it on the side table, and walked over to the dining table with the posture of a military officer.

They all sat and began eating. Eiden chewed in silence, glancing occasionally between the food and his parents. Everything looked like it always had. Maybe even too like it. Then, as he raised a spoonful of eggs to his mouth, he noticed something odd.

His mom was glancing at his dad. Not in a casual, morning-husband look. But with this... strange expression. Just for a second.

It wasn’t love. Or anger. It was... mystery. As if she was analyzing him like a scientist observing a subject. Eiden blinked. What the hell was that?

Before he could decode it further, the moment was gone. She returned to eating like nothing happened. Weird, Eiden thought, filing it away in his mental archive labeled "Sus Mom Behavior."

Ding dong. The doorbell rang just as he was finishing the last piece of toast. "I’ll get it," he said, standing up and heading to the door.

He opened it to find Sasha standing there, already dressed and holding her bag. "Good morning," he greeted. "Morning," she replied with a half-smile. From the kitchen, his mother’s voice floated out, "Who is it?"

"It’s Sasha," Eiden replied. Turning back to Sasha, he asked, "You want to go to college together?" She shook her head. "Not today. Crysty’s over, so I’m going with her." Eiden raised a brow. "Isn’t it kinda early?"

"We’ve got some project work," she said, adjusting the strap of her bag. "Figured we’d go early with the others and knock it out."

"Ah, makes sense." A brief pause.

Sasha stared at him with a slightly furrowed brow, lips tightening as if trying to phrase something delicately. "Did we have a fight?"

Eiden blinked. "What? No. Why?" "Then why did you tell Mr. Glaint we had a fight?"

He tilted his head. "I... didn’t?" "And," she added, "what were you doing near our house last night?" Eiden paused. "Just walking."

Sasha didn’t look convinced. "And about the fight?" she pressed again. "Maybe he misinterpreted something?" Eiden offered, shrugging. "The guy’s getting old."

"Is that all?" she asked, arms crossed now.

Eiden quickly deflected, "Actually, what did you come here for? Just to interrogate me?"

She rolled her eyes. "No, I wanted to ask how you did your project. Yours and mine have some similarities, and I figured it’d be good to compare."

He froze. Something in his chest tightened.

"When’s the last date again?" he asked cautiously. "The day after tomorrow," she replied. "And when do you think yours will be done?" . "Maybe by today." Eiden smiled awkwardly. "Mine’s not done yet." Her eyes widened. "What? What do you mean?!"

"I forgot," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck.

She groaned. "Eiden! How much is left?"

"Just a few edits... and some arrangement."

"Finish it quickly! A huge chunk of our grade depends on it."

"Yeah, yeah. Got it." With a final disapproving glance, Sasha turned and walked away down the street, muttering something under her breath. Eiden exhaled and closed the door.

Back in his room, he moved with a strange urgency. He pulled open his desk drawer. Nothing.

He checked his bag front zip, side pocket, every compartment. Still nothing. He checked inside the books. Beneath the books. Between the papers.

Still nothing. His hands grew more frantic as he rifled through his clothes, flipping jackets and pants, sticking fingers into coin pockets and sleeves.

Not there. Not there. Not there. His heartbeat started to race. Desperation kicked in as he crouched beside the bed and checked under it. Still nothing.

Then, slowly, he knelt down on the floor. His hands fell to his knees. His head dropped.

His eyes dimmed. He muttered softly to himself, almost inaudibly. "...It’s gone."

The pendrive the one with his project, hours of work, intricate formatting, code snippets, reference images gone. His last memory of it was... before all the chaos started. Before Ruel. Before the video. Before everything spiraled.

And now it had vanished. He stared blankly at the wooden floor beneath him, the silence around him feeling heavier than ever. System-chan, sensing the despair, chimed in casually

System-chan: "Want me to hack the school and upload a fake project for you?"

Eiden looked up with hope in his eyes "Can you do that?"

System-chan: "No. I just wanted to see you get your hopes up.....