Chapter 3System Glitch: The Romance Protocol

I thought about it for days. Cypher doesn't like aggressive women.

He probably likes the innocent type.

I put on a white knee-length dress and went to find him at a gala.

The gala was bustling with people and clinking glasses.

I didn't need to look hard.

He was a natural protagonist. Standing in the crowd, his noble and elegant aura was impossible to ignore.

I was about to approach him when I was blocked.

It was Sophie, fresh off the plane.

She held a glass of wine in her right hand, swirling it gently.

She walked up to me, a malicious sneer on her lips.

"Aria, Julian is mine."

I didn't care whose Julian was, but seeing the glass about to slip from her hand, and her grabbing my arm while leaning back...

I instantly realized she was framing me.

This angle was a blind spot for cameras. With just her word, I'd never clear my name.

In a crisis, I instinctively looked for Cypher, because he always helped me before.

Luckily, when I looked over, he happened to look my way.

Unluckily, he looked at me with amusement, a smile of indifference on his lips.

My heart went cold.

I suddenly remembered Cypher telling me that when he took over the Male Lead, he inherited Julian's affection points.

Julian's affection for Sophie was 65. For me, 60.

Cypher is a System. He exists to execute rules.

Since his programming, rules are everything.

So in this situation, I guess... he probably won't help me.

...

I had to save myself.

In a flash, before Sophie's glass hit the floor, I yanked her toward me.

And I threw myself down with the momentum.

Glass shattered. Shards pierced my calf.

Broken skin, embedded in flesh.

It hurt.

"Ah—"

People gasped. Many turned to look.