" What's wrong with duck poop ? I can sell it to the agriculture department ! " Ethan said , eyeing the droppings on the ground like they were gold nuggets . That's right . He'd channeled his inner hustler and made a deal with some seniors in the ag school . They needed the manure for their compost projects , and Ethan delivered it fresh daily . Andrea stared at him in disbelief . " is money all you care about ? " Ethan actually laughed . " You're so noble . You're above money . Happy now ? Oh , and by the way, you stepped in my profits . " Andrea looked down in horror . Sure enough , a fresh pile of duck manure was smeared across the bottom of her shoe . A shriek that could curdle milk echoed across the field . Ethan and I both instinctively covered our ears . The ducks , startled by the noise , scattered in a panic , sending feathers flying everywhere . Andrea , cursing under her breath , limped back towards the dorms in disgust . The livestream chat was filled with people laughing at her . [ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION : ETHAN'S AFFECTION FOR ANDREA HAS DROPPED TO -15 % . ] [ CONGRATULATIONS , HOST . MISSION PROGRESS : 33 % . ] I grinned . Negative fifteen . I never thought Ethan would be the first one I'd complete . As a reward , I gave him a hundred - dollar bon- us . He was so grateful he worked even harder . After striking out twice , Andrea finally laid low for a while . The System told me she'd probably given up on Ethan and was now tryi- ng to cozy up to Caleb again . Leaning on their shared history , she'd actually managed to get his affection level to rise a bit . The System was nagging me to intervene again . I spent days racking my brain , but before I could come up with a plan , an opportun- ity fell right into my lap . Caleb had been a top student at an overseas university before transferring here for Andrea . Even as a transfer , he was immediate ly placed in a research lab . Recently , a major project had reached a critical phase , so he had to apply for a late - curfew pass . Chapter 2 It was no big deal , except I was getting really tired of being woken up in the middle of the night to let him in . Eventually , I just gave him a spare key . " Use this . Don't wake me up . " Over time , Caleb and I became friendly . Sometimes , when he had too many research materials to carry and was in a rush to get to the cafeteria , he'd leave things with me for safekeeping . Today was one of those days . He was rushing to the lab to process an urgent sample . As he passed my office , he held up a thick notebook . " Hey , could you hold onto this for me for a bit ? "