Grinding Favorability

The agreed time was half an hour later. Russell arrived at Parker's house ten minutes early, then waited outside for another twenty minutes.

Being late was a privilege God had bestowed upon women. Male compatriots only needed to wait patiently and smile as if they did not mind when the other party appeared to earn extra points.

There was no need to complain. After all, he had already waited, so what was the harm in smiling?

Even if he was annoyed, it did not matter. He could hold it in for now; there would be plenty of chances to make them cry in the future!

Young, beautiful girls were at their most radiant bloom. A little light makeup and lip gloss could make them more dazzling than flowers. Ashley carefully picked out an outfit that emphasized her best features and sprayed on some perfume.

She was very pleased with Russell's patience. Taking the helmet and putting it on, she generously climbed onto the back seat and naturally wrapped her arms around Russell's waist.

Russell revved the engine, turned around, and headed for a nearby city. A town was still just a town—there was nothing good to eat or fun to do here.

Going to a major city would take two hours round trip. It would take too long, Ashley would get scolded when she got home, and Russell would be blacklisted by her sheriff mother. So he chose the closest city.

At the movie theater, Russell spotted a poster for "Spider-Man," the first film in Sony Corporation's Spider-Man trilogy, featuring that Spider-Man who was not much of a chatterbox at all. He looked at Ashley, but she immediately shook her head in refusal.

"I hate spiders!"

Are you sure?

In about ten years, you would become Black Widow, with Thor in your left hand, Iron Man in your right, and Hulk roaring beneath you. Before Captain Flatface appeared, you would sit firmly as Marvel's top leading lady. So damn cool!

Russell grumbled inwardly and handed the choice over to Ashley. He had thought she would pick a romance movie, since a pure campus romantic comedy had just been released. Instead, Ashley chose a horror movie, the kind that was about to leave theaters and was guaranteed to have few viewers.

Russell immediately understood. The girl was creating an opportunity for him.

When men were single, they were lonely dogs. When women were single, nobody gave a damn!

Ashley had been kept under strict watch by her sheriff mother. Watching her classmates immerse themselves in the sickly sweetness of romance, she had long grown dissatisfied during her rebellious phase. Now that she was an adult, her mother had loosened her control, and Ashley had met someone she liked. Naturally, she was restless and eager to taste that sickly sweetness as soon as possible.

American horror movies focused on gore, gore, and more gore. The bloodier, the better. Before any boobs appeared, Russell was distracted the entire time, and Ashley was not paying attention either. Then a ghostly face suddenly flashed across the screen, and amid the screams, their hands clasped together.

Ever the gentleman, Russell released Ashley's hand and whispered, "Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you. It was just too scary."

Ashley smiled and shook her head, saying she did not mind. Looking at the hand he had let go of, she felt a little disappointed.

After the movie, Russell took Ashley to a nearby amusement park. On the roller coaster, their hands clasped again, and this time they never let go.

According to experimental analysis by people with way too much time on their hands, thermal imaging showed that when men and women were in love, men heated up in the brain and crotch, while women heated up around the heart!

This showed that men in love would try every possible way to coax women into bed, while women did not use their brains to think.

Russell took Ashley on many rides at the amusement park and snapped photos as souvenirs. Three thousand dollars was enough for him to splurge freely, so he spent generously without holding back. At the shooting game, he won Ashley the largest stuffed toy in the entire place, drawing envious looks from many women. He also left a generous tip and had the owner mail it to Ashley's home.

Russell showed off his strengths as much as possible and crafted the image of a perfect boyfriend, leaving Ashley utterly smitten. On the Ferris Wheel, she gave him her first kiss.

The Ferris Wheel was an old trick, but girls loved it and thought it was romantic.

The girl's kiss was very clumsy, and so was Russell's. It was his first intimate encounter with a foreign friend, and he was afraid that overdoing it would damage the dignity of a great nation.

They rode the Ferris Wheel three times. Ashley had her first taste of the sickly sweetness of love, and her intelligence plummeted. She only felt that Russell was full of good qualities.

"Since we're already boyfriend and girlfriend, you're not allowed to talk to other girls anymore," Ashley said uneasily. Russell had won first place in the street race, and plenty of girls would chase after him.

"Not even to say hello?"

"No!"

"Mm, I'll listen to you."

"You're so good!"

The girl beamed at his words. The two lingered for a while, had dinner at the amusement park, and only then returned to Prosperity Town.

At Parker's front door, Russell ran into sheriff Samantha, who had been waiting for a long time. Ashley wanted to pull her mother inside, but Samantha refused outright, making Ashley lose face.

"Hello, sheriff Samantha!" Russell took off his helmet and greeted her first. He tried to trigger a World Quest, but nothing happened.

Samantha did not give Russell a friendly look. With a stern face, she warned, "You can date my daughter, but I don't want her getting hurt. If you don't understand, I can take you to the police station and we can talk slowly."

"Mom, what are you talking about!?" Ashley snapped furiously, pushing the door open and storming inside. She also dragged her little brother, who had been watching the show, in with her.

Russell's expression remained unchanged. He had obtained an important piece of intelligence from Aunt Gladys and immediately said, "sheriff Samantha, Chris is coming back."

The male lead, Chris—Russell's nominal older brother—had grown up with Samantha. Their relationship was ambiguous; they liked each other, yet neither had ever said it aloud.

"R-really?"

Sure enough, Samantha's powerful-woman aura immediately faltered. She became flustered and did not know what to do, perhaps considering a trip to the beauty salon for some upkeep.

Russell nodded. "Yes. I remember there was a period when he loved calling me at night. When I asked why he wasn't sleeping in the middle of the night, he told me it was because you got divorced, and he was so happy he couldn't sleep all night."

Samantha: "..."

Russell passed Samantha's test without any real danger. She tacitly accepted the relationship between her daughter and Russell. Russell also used the opportunity to become familiar with Ashley's younger brother Mike, secretly telling him that he liked spiders very much but could not show it because of Ashley.

Russell bought Mike educational books about spiders and gave him many precious photos, gaining a loyal little brother and successfully planting a spy in the sheriff's home.

Over the following days, Russell met the Spider Keeper Joshua through Mike, while his relationship with Ashley heated up rapidly.

Samantha often asked about Chris. Russell's generosity and poise pleased her greatly. Looking across the whole town, there was no more outstanding young man. Maybe her daughter dating him was not such a bad thing after all.

A few days later, the Mine Foreman Leon happily announced that he had found a new vein, a Gold Mine. But after everyone investigated, they found nothing. Aunt Gladys calmly stated that Leon had inhaled too much carbon monoxide, making his brain dizzy and causing hallucinations.

Almost on the same day, a truck marked "Vioro Chemical" drove toward Prosperity Town Shopping Center at night. When it passed the Spider Farm, a wild rabbit blocked the road. The driver feared that hitting the rabbit would destroy the truck and kill everyone, trigger a massive explosion, and ultimately cause World War III, so he made a sharp turn to avoid it.

A barrel of Chemical Raw Material fell from the truck and rolled into a pond by the roadside, beginning to release an unknown substance.

The plot had quietly begun, but Russell knew nothing about it. Over the past week, he had been running back and forth between the mine and Parker's home, grinding favorability on both sides.

This humble author would also like to shamelessly ask for some... votes. Just votes, really!