Free Web NovelChapter 24: A Real Man
"Why do I keep saying these things?"
The question slipped out before she could stop it — not directed at him, not really directed at anyone. Just words that found their way past her lips without her permission, and she stared at nothing for a moment as though she herself couldn’t account for them.
David looked at her.
Not with judgment. Not with amusement. Just — looked. Fully. The kind of quiet attention that didn’t need to fill itself with words.
Then, slowly, he reached across and laid his hand over hers.
Holly’s eyes dropped instantly. She stared at his hand over her palm for a beat, then her gaze traveled back up to his face — and something shifted. She couldn’t name it. Couldn’t explain it. But warmth crawled up the side of her neck without her consent, and she felt it reach her cheek before she could do anything about it.
His vision pulsed.
[Target defense parameters showing increased susceptibility. Current trajectory favorable. Player advised to maintain pressure and continue eroding resistance for optimal results.]
He absorbed it without moving. Already knew, honestly. The numbers were just confirming what his instincts had been reading for the last few minutes.
"Talk to me," he said simply. "I’m here."
Holly blinked. Something in her expression flickered — not resistance exactly, more like the face a person makes when they’ve been handed something they weren’t sure they were allowed to take.
"I’m not just saying that," he added. "Genuinely. You’re not even working with me at this point — and that’s fine. But I want you to know I actually rate you. More than you probably think."
She went quiet.
Then — carefully, like she was picking the words with deliberate caution: "Then why did you go to Mrs. Walbury?"
The question landed differently than she’d intended it to. She heard it the moment it left her mouth. The slight edge underneath it. The weight she hadn’t meant to give it.
David paused.
He turned the question over slowly, genuinely caught — not off guard in a bad way, just in the way of something that required honesty rather than deflection.
"Nothing against you," he said. "That’s the honest answer. Mrs. Walbury had experience I needed. That was it."
Holly’s chin lifted slightly. "I see."
"You’re not upset about that."
"I’m not upset about anything."
"Right."
"I’m not." She pulled her hand back and folded both of them in her lap, smoothing down nothing. "That would be ridiculous. Why would I be upset? We’re not — you’re my student. I don’t — that’s not — I’m not jealous."
She said it very firmly.
David looked at her.
"Yes," Holly said.
The word sat in the air between them for exactly one second before her brain caught up with her mouth.
Her face went red. Instantly, completely, with the kind of speed that left no room for denial. She pulled both hands up — waving them, shaking her head, already talking before she even had a sentence ready.
"No — that’s not — I didn’t mean it like that, that’s not what I — I was answering something else entirely, that came out wrong, I was — "
His vision pulsed again.
[Temptation Level: 22%]
He almost laughed. He physically pressed his lips together to stop it.
"Holly." He reached over and caught both her hands, gently pressing them down. The motion stilled her mid-flail. Her eyes snapped to his face.
He held her gaze.
"I didn’t choose Mrs. Walbury because of anything you lack," he said. "I want you to hear that clearly." He paused, letting it settle. "I have somewhere I’m trying to get to. A goal. And it’s not small — it’s not just about me getting stronger or climbing some rank. It’s about the people I care about. The people below. The ones who don’t have protection, who can get wiped out by a dungeon break or by the people above who stop caring whether they live or die." His thumb pressed lightly against the back of her hand without him fully noticing he’d done it. "I want them to have a better life. And I want to be the kind of person who can give them that. That’s why I push the way I push."
Holly was quiet. The redness on her cheeks had softened, but hadn’t gone away. She was listening — really listening.
"So why are you telling me that?" she asked, her voice smaller than she’d intended.
"Because I care about you."
Her face went red again. Immediately. All the way.
"You — " She stopped. Swallowed. Tried again. "You care about me." The words came out flat, like she was testing their weight. "David. I have been — I’ve been sleeping with Leon. You know that."
He shrugged. "And?"
"And?" She stared at him. "What do you mean, and?"
"I mean and." He looked at her evenly. "That doesn’t change anything for me. You don’t have to explain yourself."
Holly opened her mouth. Closed it. The flustered energy that had been running through her for the last several minutes reorganized itself into something more uncertain, quieter.
"...Leon and I," she said finally, "it wasn’t even — it was never serious. It just happened. I was avoiding something and I made a bad call. That’s all it was."
"Okay." ƒreewebɳovel.com
"I’m not — I’m not someone who makes a habit of — "
"Holly." His voice was calm. "You don’t need to sell me on yourself. You haven’t met what a real man actually looks like yet. When you do, you won’t feel like you have to explain your past to him."
She blinked. Looked at him.
Then, slowly, something between skepticism and amusement worked its way across her face.
"A real man," she repeated. "You’re talking about a real man. You." She looked him over once, unhurried. "And what would you know about that exactly?"
David leaned back slightly. The confidence in his expression didn’t shift — if anything it settled deeper, easy and unhurried, the kind that didn’t need to announce itself.
He thought, briefly, of his first love, Eva.
"Trust me," he said. "I know exactly what one looks like."
Here’s the polished scene:
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Then his vision flashed.
Not the soft pulse of a temptation update. A full, hard chime — the kind the system reserved for things it considered urgent.
[NEW QUEST ACQUIRED]
[Quest Title: Be The Man]
[Time Limit: 2:00]
[Description: Player is to grab hold of the target’s backside.]
[Reward Upon Completion: 300 points] frёewebηovel.cѳm
[Penalty Upon Failure/Refusal: Player’s memeber will suffer permanent erectile dysfunction. No known cure for this.]
David stared at it.
He read it again.
Then a third time, slowly, in case he had somehow misread the words the first two times.
He had not.
’No...not my sword...’ he thought.
’And, permanently!?’
[Yes. Permanently.]
The timer was already running.
[Time left: 1:57]
He looked at Holly. She was still talking — something about Leon, about how it really wasn’t that serious, about how she didn’t want him to get the wrong idea.
Her hands were moving again, that flustered energy back in full force, completely unaware that the man sitting across from her was currently experiencing what could only be described as a crisis of the highest personal order.
[Time left: 1:52]
***
Hey guys, I want to thank you for your support so far. And I wish you continue to support the book as we go on. The book is entering its next arc which will involve David in his completion of Quests and Dungeons.
There will be fights but that will be in the coming Chapters. Until then, I hope you enjoyed David’s life so far on this free Chapters.
Jsyk, there will be a mass release within the next two days so stay tuned.
I hope to see you guys in the premium Chapters as well, cause the story is just getting started ;)
Thank you.
