Beluga praised Antonio. "That was pretty good…Things got a little weird at the end there, but people don't judge stories only by their endings, right? Nice job!"

Ben thought, 'The ending is important though...If it sucks people won't read the story.' Then he realized a bizarre truth: that didn't apply to most of the web novels people read... 'As long as they're over 100 chapters and didn't end on hiatus...'

Beluga looked at Ben. "That's the power of peacocking. Did you see how those females were playing with Antonio's feathers? It was a conversation topic. The peacocking item also made him seem unique and interesting. Being attention-grabbing is important. All right. I'll show you another example myself."

Beluga got up. Scanning around like an eagle, he identified three cute girls on the grass at the bottom of the hill where he stood. He adjusted his hat until it was at the perfect angle. Then, with a smirk radiating confidence, he walked on the grass towards his target. Each step contained a supreme swagger. There was a rhythm to his movements, like a bass beat from a catchy funk song oozing flavor and flash. Each forward motion built his momentum until he became unstoppable. That's when Beluga's eyes popped out.

He looked down. His legs were now behind him as his face approached the grass.

He'd tripped over a rock.

The funk song became death metal!

Julia was having a wonderful afternoon. She hadn't seen her two girlfriends in months. They were catching up and having a wonderful picnic when she heard a scream and looked to her right. A giant purple bowling ball of doom was rolling towards them at horrifying speed! "Aaahhhhh!" The three girls escaped like fleeing cattle!

Strike!

Beluga got up from the ground. He removed the bits of grass from his mouth and clothing as he looked around. Scattered sandwiches were strewn all over the beautiful picnic he had demolished. Shrugging, he picked up a sandwich and ate as he went back up the hill, resuming his swagger steps.

The previous scene had stupefied Ben and Antonio. They stared with their jaws hanging down until Beluga made it back to their position.

Beluga held his chin high. "You see that? That's how you get attention. The females even left me home-made sandwiches to show their appreciation."

...

Next, it was Ben's turn. This time Beluga gave him a few normal lines. Ben also felt these lines had more potential. Eager, he got to work.

Right away, he noticed a difference! Even though the women still rejected him, they were much more polite about it! At least, his face was still dry and slap-free!

What was growth? This was growth!

Even the tiniest improvements are exciting when you start at the absolute bottom!

A few times, the responses were even lukewarm!

Not cold like a slap in the face! Not piping hot like coffee! Lukewarm!

Ben felt there was room to continue conversing. The problem was he had no idea what to say! As a result, those interactions ended with him stuttering or giving a blank stare.

Ben returned to Beluga. "What do I say after the opener?"

Beluga stroked his chinstrap beard. "The early phase is all about building attraction. That should be your focus."

"Attraction?" Ben asked.

Beluga clarified. "You need to attract a female before anything else. That's the first major hurdle. Only then would she be interested enough in you to consider something romantic. If a female isn't attracted, you'd be wasting your time, because the best-case scenario would be friendship."

At the word friendship, Beluga and Antonio showed frightened faces. It was the dreaded friend zone!

"What types of things affect and increase attraction?" Ben asked.

Beluga answered. "The obvious ones are the more universal things like appearance, social status, and charm. Then there are specific factors, which some females may prefer over others, such as common hobbies, intelligence, how well-spoken you are, how manly you are, etc. The influence of the specific factors can vary depending on a female's type. The universal factors can also vary in a female's type, but not as much. For example, a male model will be attractive to the vast majority of females."

Ben thought, 'Isn't he describing my system's stats? Appearance is looks. I'm guessing charm is the same as charisma. Then there's knowledge, manliness, etc.'

Beluga spoke. "Think of it like this. Those previous attributes I mentioned set the foundation for attraction. When a female sees you at first, she'll discover some of those things on sight such as your appearance. Others she might only discover through speaking with you or others about you, such as your social status, intelligence, etc. When you add all the characteristics, it creates an attraction baseline. If your baseline is high enough, you will attract females right away!"

He continued. "Why do men do things like go to the gym, get high-status jobs, become rich, and many other things? A big reason is to raise this attraction baseline with females! Even though making gains in these areas takes a long time, even us pick up artists recognize the value in developing them. Raising the baseline is important because it makes everything that follows easier. Of course, if attraction was fixed and only depended on those factors, then what would be the point of us pick up artists? Our specialization is the last part in attraction, and also the most important—seduction skills!"

This hooked Ben's attention. "What are seduction skills?"

Beluga smirked. "Seduction skills are ways to raise attraction in a short time! Even if your baseline was 0, with perfect seduction skills, you could skyrocket attraction to the peak! You could get any female you wanted!"

Ben gasped. He'd only heard of such things in legends! Right then, he received a system alert.

[User has unlocked Favorability system]

[User has unlocked Favorability sub-system: Attraction]

Ben squeezed his fists in excitement!