After Unbinding the Simp System, I'm Targeted by the Villain - Chapter 38

Yu Chucheng leaned against the wall, taking a good while to recover under Ji Zhou’s indignant gaze.

Since differentiating into an Omega, he could more or less smell a bit of pheromones whenever he walked with Ji Zhou, but back then, he had zero reaction—it was just like smelling a regular orange.

But just now, the instant Ji Zhou’s pheromones entered his nasal cavity, Yu Chucheng’s stomach did a somersault, and he couldn’t control the urge to dry heave.

“Okay, confirmed. You can pull your pheromones back now,” Yu Chucheng panted with difficulty.

Ji Zhou was fuming. “Make it clear to me—what exactly were you confirming? Confirming that my pheromones smell disgusting?”

Most men are very protective of their pride, especially competitive Alphas.

Yu Chucheng couldn’t help but tilt his head and rub his neck. His skin was fair, and he had already scratched two or three red welts onto his nape.

He explained his pheromone dependency on Duan Huaijin to Ji Zhou. Ji Zhou immediately blurted out, “Then go straight to Duan Huaijin! He’ll even help you with a mouth-to-mouth Bugle penalty; he’ll definitely help you with this.”

Yu Chucheng choked. How is that the same thing?

Even though Duan Huaijin said he’d take responsibility, Yu Chucheng wished he actually had the thick skin to follow through on that.

Seeing that Yu Chucheng’s dry heaving wasn’t because his pheromones were actually “disgusting,” Ji Zhou managed to right the capsized ship of their friendship. He rubbed his chin and thought for a moment. “Didn’t the doctor say he could make a pheromone extraction liquid for you? Then can’t you just go get some of his pheromones?”

“Where am I supposed to get them? I can’t exactly break into his house,” Yu Chucheng grumbled listlessly.

Any item Duan Huaijin used would have residual pheromones. “Collecting” them involved using test strips coated with a special reagent to touch those items; the residual pheromones would then automatically attach to the strips.

“The internet cafe!” A spark of inspiration hit Ji Zhou’s brain, and he grabbed Yu Chucheng’s shoulders, shaking him. “Doesn’t Duan Huaijin work at the internet cafe? He definitely has stuff kept in a locker in the staff breakroom. You can just sneak in and collect some then.”

Yu Chucheng slapped Ji Zhou’s hand away. “No. I don’t do shady stuff like that. It’s like being a stalker.”

The Next Day—

Snap.

Yu Chucheng slapped his ID card onto the internet cafe’s front desk. “Give me a private room.”

The short-haired girl working the desk squinted at Yu Chucheng suspiciously, hesitating before reaching for the ID.

It wasn’t that she intended to be rude to a customer, but the person in front of her was just too strange. On such a hot day, he wasn’t just wearing a black baseball cap; he also had on sunglasses and a face mask, covering his entire face completely.

Yu Chucheng scanned the shop through his light brown gradient lenses. The cafe was more than twice as crowded as the last time he’d visited, but he didn’t see Duan Huaijin anywhere.

He leaned his arm on the counter, checking with the girl. “The tall, handsome waiter who works here—did he not come in today?”

“You mean Duan Huaijin?” The girl clicked the mouse, muttering to herself, “Another one looking for him…”

“What do you mean ‘another one’? Does anyone else come looking for him?”

“Yeah. Ever since our boss’s account went viral online, tons of people have been coming to the shop just to see Duan Huaijin. We’ve been slammed these past two days. Duan Huaijin is a total cash cow in our boss’s eyes now; his salary even got a big raise.”

Yu Chucheng felt a bit dejected. “I see.”

Sure enough, a few seconds after she finished speaking, several college students from nearby arrived at the door.

“Huh? Why is there a girl at the front desk? Where’s the handsome guy from before?”

The girl replied with a practiced, thin smile, “That handsome guy is on his rostered day off. You’re out of luck today, but we have several other servers who are very… approachable.”

Yu Chucheng turned to look. Several other male servers of various heights and builds stood in a row, offering honest, simple smiles to the newcomers.

The customers: “…They certainly are approachable, haha.”

However, Yu Chucheng’s main takeaway was that Duan Huaijin was off today.

The heavens are truly helping me.

Yu Chucheng took his ID back from the girl and said cheerfully, “Thanks. Order whatever you want to drink; just charge it to my card.”

The girl, who looked drained of life by her shift, felt like a ray of sunlight had suddenly hit her. She waved her hand, a bit flattered. “No, no, it’s fine.”

Knowing Duan Huaijin wasn’t there, Yu Chucheng’s steps were much lighter. He went happily to his private room. Once the door was shut, he pulled his “tools of the crime” from his pocket—several test strips.

Yesterday, the family doctor had predicted Yu Chucheng would change his mind and left the pheromone collection tools at the door.

By the dim blue-green light of the private room, Yu Chucheng carefully and evenly coated the strips with the reagent. A man must be adaptable—to get a good night’s sleep, what’s a little “stalker” behavior?

With everything ready, Yu Chucheng first observed the situation outside through the small window in the door. The hall was noisy; servers were weaving through with trays, and someone was shouting about a computer issue, demanding a different machine. Everyone was far too busy to pay attention to anything else.

Yu Chucheng planned his route, took a deep breath, and pretended he was just going to the restroom. Halfway there, he ducked sideways into the staff breakroom.

So far, everything was going smoother than imagined.

On the left side of the breakroom was a row of lockers for staff belongings; on the right was a leather sofa with peeling upholstery next to a water dispenser. Even though the room was empty, Yu Chucheng moved with light, silent steps out of guilt.

The lockers weren’t locked. He carefully opened the one with Duan Huaijin’s name on it. Inside, his uniform was neatly folded, with his ID badge resting on top.

Yu Chucheng picked up the badge and, with a bit of uncertainty, pressed a test strip against it. To his surprise, the moment the strip touched the badge, the end turned a pale greenish-blue at a visible speed.

He hadn’t expected a simple ID badge to hold so much residual pheromone. Yu Chucheng’s heart hammered—half from nerves, half from excitement.

Just as he was about to flip the badge over to collect a bit more, the breakroom door creaked open a sliver. A thin figure ducked in quickly, then whipped around to shut the door tight.

Yu Chucheng jolted, nearly dropping his things. He locked eyes with the man who had just entered, only to see that the man was also wearing a mask and looking around sneakily.

The man sized him up. “Colleague? You here to steal stuff too?”