Eishi clicked on the menu he had ignored hours ago.
[Spiritual connection between the host and the confidante has reached the 'Undying' level. Reward: Favorability Meter, Divine Stockings (Sixth Rank)]
[A confidante with 'Devoted' favorability has appeared. Affection Burst Function has been unlocked.]
[Spiritual connection between the host and the confidante has reached the 'Devoted' level. Reward: Appearance Cleansing Pill (Sixth Rank)]
'Favorability Meter? Wasn't it just slapping a value on their colors?'
He curiously checked it out. When his focus was on Airi, the number [95] appeared above her head. The same went for Mahiru.
It was as he had expected. It is a numerical value of their favorabilities, as shown by the colors of white and gray that represented his women.
When Eishi saw the "divine stockings', he felt incredulous.
'Sixth Rank stockings…'
[Divine Stockings (Sixth Rank)]
Details: A customizable set of self-repairing stockings made from synthesized fabrics. It is capable of withstanding gunshots, sharp edges, burning, and sagging. Any damages made below the sixth-order can be neglected. Damages at that level depend on its intensity.
His jaws dropped when he saw the description.
'A stocking that can self-repair and withstand gunshots? And sixth rank?'
Eishi's third-order is already strong enough to bulldoze through cement walls and leap dozens of meters high. For a moment, he could not imagine what kind of monstrous feats a sixth-order esper can do.
In his shock, he shifted his focus towards the [Appearance Cleansing Pill].
[Appearance Cleansing Pill (Sixth Rank)]
Details: Purges bodily impurities that aesthetically devalues its consumer. A slight change to the genetic information takes place upon consumption, removing bad body odor, 'fixing' flavors of bodily fluids, boosting aesthetic physical developments to the physical body's pinnacle state, and permanently retaining the said appearance until the end of lifespan.
Unlike the [Divine Stockings], the [Appearance Cleansing Pill]'s effects are truly godly. It can be summed up by one sentence:
Beauty product pro max.
Every woman around Eishi is 'ethereal'. They stand out amidst other girls and women whose looks bear semblances to his normal past life. In the sea of girls rated between 6 or 7, they are all 10's appearance-wise. They are not an exception to real world physics, however. They pee, take a dump, vomit, and smell bad without showering for days. They are real human beings, having the same necessities as others.
This "beauty product" removes most of these problems.
'I did notice I went to the bathroom less and less…'
Thinking of these 'dirty' things made Eishi realize something. Second-order espers went to the bathroom less. He himself only needed to pee twice a day. He also did not take a dump for three days, yet he never felt any constipation. Everything was normal when he did, too.
'Becoming an esper plus this beauty drug is a cheat.'
Finally, his eyes went to the newly-unlocked function of his system.
[Affection Burst: Accumulated intimacy and affection fills the bar. Every completion of the bar results in a random reward.]
The new function was simple. Every confidante with 'Undying' favorability unlocks [Affection Burst]. As long as Eishi spends time to feed them intimacy, this bar progresses. Once it is full, he can pull for a random reward.
'...Then I can claim my first-time rewards!'
Eishi looked at his slots.
[Bound Confidante (9/12)]
'One more slot. Every level up gains one extra slot. As expected.'
There are still two qualified confidantes inside the villa. Eishi resisted the impulse to take action—especially to the naive Shizuka—as he considered his rewards' ranks. It can only be three levels above his current one. The [Affection Burst] function solved all of his future problems. Eishi now has a stable source of rewards.
With that problem out of his mind, he glanced at the two sleeping beauties on the sofa… and then to the sneaky ninja hiding near the staircase.
There are only six people inside this villa. Mrs. Yuigahama is still sound asleep in Eishi's bedroom. Saya became a shut-in, engrossed in her innate talent's capabilities.
The only one left was Megumi.
He sent her a teasing look before standing up. He would have stopped here and then had she run away, but she did not. Megumi followed him as he got closer to her. The skirt she wore was disheveled. A familiar distinctive scent of a woman's cum drifted to his nose.
Clearly, she wanted to be punished.
"This isn't the ninja training I passed on, wasn't it?"
"T-t-t…"
Her gaze shifted to the ground. Her bright red ears showcased the simple woman's internal conflict.
A bright [92] appeared atop her head. Eishi fell to a brief thought.
Unlike the others' family, Megumi's parents and sister were rescued by the girl team. They are now residing on the survivor group Haruno manages. It was perfectly normal to see such a high favorability coming from her.
"Since you insist on going down this path, I will teach you… in your room."
"M-mhm."
Her immediate approval earned a strange look from Eishi.
'Am I teaching her bad things..?'
*****
Hiraoka Eishi.
Eighteen-years-old, a third year high school student at Toyogasaki High. Known as the "Prince", his fame spread wide over two weeks. His divine and godly looks became the subject of everyone's envy, admiration, and jealousy.
Some who dug deeper discovered that Eishi originally did not look that good. Many speculations of him undergoing plastic surgery became rampant, though the fine muscle lines in his body do not lie. This led to two sides clashing.
Unfortunately, the apocalypse's descent buried this matter deeply. Only those who attended Toyogasaki or any other surrounding high schools knew of the matter.
"If you will ask me, he might have awakened as an esper earlier. It doesn't fully explain his changed looks, but there's that."
Kouta and Takashi stood at the fire exit's highest level. The faint red mist drifted along with the cold wind. Their thick coats fluttered.
"Are you sure about it? Fighting that terrifying guy…"
"We won't fight him. Not until I have an answer. It all depends on her."
Takashi opened his eyes. He recalled his meeting with Saya. He thought they would meet again, and they did. Only, Saya kept a distance from Takashi. It wasn't very blatant, but something done by a highschooler who is in a relationship.
Takashi was all too familiar with it. Rei did it to him when she got along with his best friend, Hisashi Igou, instead.
Part of the fault lay in Takashi—in his rejection of her advances. He didn't feel worthy to be her boyfriend due to his constant failure over exams and assessments. His drive to study died down, leading to him becoming a slacker in school.
The zombie apocalypse's descent made him confront this weak character of his, ultimately turning into a leader whom everyone can trust their life with.
"If she isn't forced and held against her will, that will be the end of it. Otherwise, I… will save her."
Hearing this, Kouta let out a low sigh of relief. He truly did not want to fight against Eishi. His reputation inside the city hall shelter is widely known.
On Eishi's first visit, he killed an entire team armed with firearms. He strode inside an official's office later on, killing him too along with his underlings.
On Eishi's second visit, the father of that dead official wanted to hold him accountable for 'murder'. He surrounded Eishi with a dozen espers, only for them to die in the next second.
Since then, the city hall's shelter followed Souichiro's command. The other officials reigned in their subordinates, instructing them to never provoke anyone within Eishi's team. Two instances of instant-kill already took place. Anyone who was blind enough to trigger Eishi's whims will end up dead.
The events above speak volumes of Eishi's power as an esper. Kouta felt like they were about to challenge the Demon Lord with level 1 equipment.
"Don't think much about it. Saya-chan looks better, no? I heard from others that Hiraoka-san possesses an impregnable fortress with complete supplies. She should live better than us…"
"I hope so."
*****
"You dare hide them!"
Slap-!
Thud-!
One slap from the muscular man sent a frail boy flying. He was fortunate he did not hit any walls, merely falling to the ground with a loud thud.
"I… Kek…"
The frail boy, seemingly a high school student, tried to speak. He choked on his own blood, cutting off his words.
The muscular man grabbed his hair and lifted him upwards. The strength behind it caused some of his hair to fall.
The boy's shattered glasses fell as the man brought him face-to-face.
"I… didn't…"
"You fucking liar!"
The man wasn't as heavy handed as before. He slapped the boy's face back and forth. The stinging, burning sensation in his cheeks felt real.
In his daze, only burning hatred was all that's left.
'Kill. Kill him. Slice his throat..!'
"It's all because of you—"
The muscular man's words were cut off. Blood spewed out from his neck. His eyes widened as he stared at the frail boy in shock. His previous fearful expression turned hateful.
Psshk-!
Pssshk-!
Two more attacks to the muscular man's neck severed his head completely. The boy's face was covered in blood. His face turned face as all of his power was exhausted.
"...Fuck. Fuck you! Fuck! You! Argh..!"
The boy completely lost his mind. His punches to the muscular man's torso did nothing. It felt like he was striking steel.
It took a long while for him to calm down. He stared blankly at the night sky.
"Power… superpower… I have it!"
The boy, Tomoya Aki, is an otaku highschooler. He did not have any degenerate behaviors and was friendly to his classmates. He is a typical 'good guy' whose interests lay in the ACG world.
The apocalypse's descent changed everything. Crawling out from the literal hell-hole known as his school, he avoided zombies frantically, only to bump into a group of espers. They forcefully brought him in along with a dozen other survivors. Then, using a superpower, one of the espers 'contracted' them to be their slaves.
As long as they could bring a certain amount of supplies, their daily quota can be considered as fulfilled. If they fail to do so, it results in death.
The dozen or so espers ruled over a bunch of survivors in this way. Their scale expanded to the hundreds, becoming an affluent force. They attracted other espers under the condition of non-espers becoming their slaves.
The next fifteen days was another round of hell to Aki. His goodwill headed towards a black hole. He got tired of "helping" others, only to see them suffer. Some even loathed him from helping, demanding practical benefits instead of comforting words.
Then came the insect swarm. It reduced their base's population by half. The hundred or so espers turned to less than fifty, with the non-espers falling from two hundred to a meager thirty.
Throughout this entire fiasco, he witnessed the darkness of human nature. He saw how the strong espers lorded over non-espers. Girls became their tools of desire. Men became their labor force, carrying a heavy workload non-stop.
His original persona had long since died. All Aki ever wanted is power—to become a respected esper. He used to loathe such hedonistic behaviors, but when he placed himself in their positions…
He liked it.
Just then, he came across his beautiful childhood friend and her mother. Aki asked them to hide in a house, not wanting them to be sullied by those 'beasts'. His view towards them was that of exclusive "slaves", eager to re-enact the evil he once suffered in.
His luck went further, allowing him to find an evolution fruit after meeting his daily quota. He chose to consume it, officially becoming an esper.
Aki's ego was about to be inflated to the heavens when someone reported his behavior yesterday. He was confident about his esper powers until he got beaten black and blue. The difference between a newbie esper and a veteran esper is huge. Worst of all, Aki could not use his 'superpower'.
In the end, between his life and his childhood friend…
He chose the former.
Aki actively led the muscular man to his childhood friend's hiding spot. Fate seems to have played a trick on him when they did not find them. It led to the scene of him being beaten up again. Had he not faced life-threatening danger, he wouldn't have known how to use his superpower.
"They did not trust me. How could it be..?"
At this point, he has no other outlets. He shifted his anger towards his childhood friend.
"Why? Why..?!"
Aki's emotions turned murky. Spending time in such a wretched environment tired him to the bones. His sole escape was being an esper. Now that he became one, he happened to encounter his childhood friend's "betrayal". His frustrations reached a boiling point.
"Power… I need more… esper..!"
He stood up and looked at their base. Its inhumane treatment of non-espers is the exact opposite of their treatment with espers. Its joint leaders did everything to satisfy the espers that joined them.
The way they exerted control and dominance over others' lives thrilled the hell out of him.
"Make her a slave. Then…"
A ferocious glint flickered in his eyes as he walked towards the non-espers' hell… and the espers' heaven.