You've caught my interest

Ririko instinctively held her breath, like a cat sensing danger, her ears pricked to catch every sound in the corridor.

A series of collisions between flesh and metal rang out, like a caged beast trying to break free of its restraints.

The guards apparently weren't having an easy time getting someone into the Isolation Ward.

Ririko's heartbeat quickened.

She slowly sat up in bed, making as little noise as possible, then walked barefoot toward the iron door, one step at a time.

There was a palm-sized window in the door. Ririko pressed her right eye to it, making do with the limited view of the corridor.

Several burly men in black tactical gear were working together to drag a red-haired man toward her from the other end of the corridor.

The man's hands were bound behind his back, his entire body securely trussed up and twisted into an uncomfortable position as they dragged him across the floor.

Something had been stuffed into his mouth, and a broken, low-pitched noise squeezed out from deep in his throat.

The burly men dragged him to the door of the room next to Ririko's.

Ririko's pupils dilated.

They were putting that "thing" next door to her?

[System notification: A new core character has entered effective contact range.]

[Core character: Jerome Valeska]

[Identity: Test Subject]

[Current Infatuation Value: 0/100]

Ririko's fingers unconsciously tightened around the doorframe.

Jerome was going to live right next door?

Wasn't she supposed to be in a "low-risk" area?

That man was the most dangerous lunatic in all of Gotham. How could they put him just one wall away from her?

Even with thick steel plating on the walls and three reinforced locks on the door, they were less than ten meters apart.

What if he suddenly went berserk in the middle of the night and decided to "visit" his neighbor?

Cold sweat broke out across Ririko's back.

She was screwed. She really couldn't escape the role of the pretty, helpless, tragic girl.

Just when she'd finally thought things were looking up...

Three meals a day, free water and electricity, a bed where she could lie down and plan what she would do with Bruce at Wayne Tower...

And then fate went and stuck her next to Jerome Valeska.

Apparently, she, Ririko, was destined never to cross paths with "the good life."

She returned to bed and pulled the thin sheet over her head, trying her best to forget that the man next door would one day turn Gotham into his own slaughter playground.

The fluorescent light in the room came on, waking Ririko.

It was probably almost eight.

She stared at the ceiling, taking three seconds to remember the reality of her situation in Arkham.

She pulled the sheet up to block out the light. Once she remembered that breakfast would be delivered automatically, she had no motivation to get out of bed.

The system's control panel caught her attention.

[Core character: Jerome Valeska]

[Current Infatuation Value: 10/100]

[Infatuation Value interpretation: You've caught my interest.]

Jerome's... Infatuation Value had gone up?

She'd just slept. She hadn't done anything...

She abruptly sat upright in bed, remembering that they were within "effective range." Even if they weren't in the same room, the time they spent near each other would still convert into Infatuation Value.

But when she spent time with Hugo, it increased by five points per hour.

Why was Jerome's increasing so slowly?

A new line of text had already popped up on the system panel.

[System explanation: Different core characters have an innate "Infatuation Value Resistance" ranging from 0 to 1.]

[Jerome Valeska's Infatuation Value Resistance: 0.4]

[Infatuation Value growth rate: +2/hour]

Looking at that number, Ririko figured Jerome was probably already so insane that there wasn't much room left for corruption.

[System notification: Physical contact can increase the Infatuation Value growth rate.]

Ririko narrowed her right eye.

"Other ways? What ways?"

[Examples: Physical contact, handshakes, hugs, or more intimate bodily contact.]

Ririko stared at that line of text.

"Who would hug that lunatic?" she couldn't help shouting at the system in her head. "You really think I've got a hole in my brain, don't you?"

The system didn't respond.

Ririko took a deep breath and decided not to dwell on it for now.

She hadn't planned on getting anything out of Jerome anyway. A guy with no savings, no property, and no steady job couldn't begin to compare with Bruce.

The sound of a lock turning came from outside the door.

A fat man in a dark blue uniform stood in the doorway.

He was pushing a metal cart with several things on it.

"Time's up. Here's your stuff."

He pushed the cart inside and left it by the door.

Ririko walked over barefoot and looked down at the items on the cart.

A new towel, a set of patient clothes, a tube of toothpaste, and a toothbrush.

Breakfast was on the cart's lower shelf.

A shallow bowl and a paper cup sat on a white plastic tray.

The bowl held a pale yellow porridge-like substance topped with a few pieces of dried fruit, while the paper cup held tea.

Ririko took a small sip of tea. It had no real aroma and tasted like dishwater.

The porridge wasn't as bad as she'd imagined, though. The oatmeal was soft and creamy, and the dried fruit gave it some extra texture.

The fat guard folded his arms across his chest and reminded her coldly:

"Dr. Quinzel will be here to check on you soon. Hurry up. Don't keep her waiting."

Ririko's hand stopped at the edge of the bowl.

"Dr. Quinzel?" She raised her head. "Not Dr. Strange?"

The fat guard gave her a look as though she were a complete lunatic.

"Professor Strange?" he repeated. "Who do you think you are? The heiress to Wayne Enterprises? The daughter of Gotham City's mayor?"

He stepped forward, his enormous belly nearly touching the edge of the cart.

He lowered his head and looked down at her as though she were a cockroach that had accidentally crawled into his kitchen.

"You think you can see Professor Strange whenever you want? Do you have any idea how busy he is every day? A piece of-"

He looked her up and down, from the gauze wrapped around her head to her bare feet.

"-blind trash like you."

Ririko set down her porridge.

That fat pig had actually called her blind trash?

She was Ririko. Her features were as exquisite as God's final masterpiece, her waist as slender as a crescent moon, her skin as white as-

As white as what? She didn't need to write poetry in her head to describe her beauty. It was simply a fact.

She looked down at her oversized patient clothes. Her left eye was wrapped in gauze, and her freshly washed hair was a little dry because she hadn't used conditioner...

Fine. She did look a little "ordinary" right now.

But that was temporary. The problem was her circumstances, not her natural assets.

Once she had Hugo utterly enchanted and established herself in Arkham, once she was treating her face with gold-leaf masks and having a private massage therapist work on her shoulders and neck...

She'd see whether that fat pig still dared to look down on her.

No. By then, she would use one of those electroshock devices for treating mental illness to make that fat pig reflect deeply on what he'd said wrong.

The corners of Ririko's mouth lifted slightly.

Apparently convinced she really was crazy, the fat guard snorted, turned, and walked out.

She picked up the bowl of porridge, which had gone a little cold.

But the fat pig was right.

If she couldn't see Hugo, controlling Bruce was out of the question. Even shedding her prisoner status and getting out of this place would be a problem...