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Just to keep the peace and maintain the group's vibe, she'd gladly swallow her own grievances without a second thought.
And despite rocking that flashy gyaru aesthetic, Yui was actually incredibly traditional and conservative at heart.
"I heard there's a new movie out in theaters. Want to go see it together?"
As he spoke, Kai leaned in just a fraction closer to her.
"I..."
The intense eye contact made Yui immediately drop her head.
"Wooooo!"
Kakeru Tobe was already hollering at the top of his lungs.
"Damn, Kai, you're a beast! I never knew you had balls like that!"
He was definitely the type to instigate and enjoy the show.
But beneath the hype, there was a clear trace of envy in Tobe's voice. After all, he'd had a massive crush on Hina Ebina forever, but never had the guts to actually confess.
"Impressive!"
"Yui, Kai's a really solid guy. Giving him a shot wouldn't be a bad idea!!"
Even Hayato Hayama chimed in with his seal of approval.
If one of his bros could score a girlfriend, Hayato was naturally all for it.
"Tch!"
Even Yumiko Miura hadn't expected Kai to be this aggressively straightforward...
She crossed her arms, sizing him up. If they hadn't been in the same clique and already known each other, Yumiko—who absolutely saw herself as the protective queen bee—would have rejected him on Yui's behalf without a second thought.
"What do you think, Yui?"
After mulling it over, Yumiko decided to leave the ball in Yui's court.
"I... um... sure!"
Yui actually wanted to say no, but with the entire group staring right at her, the rejection died in her throat. Unable to force the words out, she simply nodded and agreed.
This was exactly what Kai had banked on. With Yui's crippling people-pleasing tendencies, there was absolutely zero chance she would reject him in front of an audience like this.
The oldest tricks in the book were always the most effective.
Who actually chased girls nowadays by just blindly charging in like an idiot?
"Awesome!"
Feigning absolute excitement, Kai smoothly reached out and grabbed Yui's hand.
"H-Hand..."
"My bad, I just got a little too hyped."
Catching himself, Kai quickly let go of her hand, rubbing the back of his neck with an embarrassed chuckle.
"I-It's okay."
A little strategic physical contact was the quickest way to close the distance between two people.
Not to mention...
[Get Yui Yuigahama to agree to a date]
[Quest Completed]
Perfect.
Yui obviously had no idea that this entire interaction was a calculated setup. Looking at Kai's bright, handsome face, she inexplicably found herself actually looking forward to the weekend.
Girls her age were naturally suckers for romance, after all.
Not to mention, Japanese society was honestly a bit twisted. Girls her age actually felt embarrassed about still being virgins, genuinely believing it meant they weren't attractive enough.
"Kai, if I find out you're messing with Yui, I'll end you."
Yumiko maintained her crossed-arms stance. Despite her aggressive mouth, she was a textbook example of someone with a sharp tongue but a soft heart. She instinctively cast herself in the role of the protective older sister, watching out for her girls.
"Please, leave Yui in my hands with total peace of mind."
Kai said it with such deadpan sincerity that you'd think he was asking Yui's actual parents for permission instead of Yumiko Miura.
"Well, if you put it like that, I'm counting on you."
Yumiko knew how to play along with a joke. She gave a solemn nod, and the whole group burst into laughter.
"Yumiko!"
Only Yui let out an embarrassed, whiny protest.
Her skin was just way too thin.
————————————————————
Before long, the afternoon classes kicked off.
Staring at Shizuka Hiratsuka up at the podium, Kai couldn't help but marvel.
No wonder everyone always said: protagonists come and go, but Shizuka Hiratsuka is eternal.
With looks like that, if he didn't already know her lore, he never would have guessed she was pushing thirty.
[Engage Shizuka Hiratsuka in a fistfight and win]
[Mock Shizuka Hiratsuka to her face about being single]
[Flaunt your girlfriend right in front of Shizuka Hiratsuka]
[Go on a blind date with Shizuka Hiratsuka and brutally reject her]
[Goddess-tier feet! Goddess-tier feet!]
[...]
Jesus Christ, The other heroines triggered all sorts of degenerate, cultured missions, but Shizuka's quest pool was just a straight-up death wish.
Noticing Shizuka's gaze sweeping across the room, Kai instantly dropped his head.
She didn't earn the nickname "Iron-Fisted Spinster" for nothing.
After school finally let out.
Kai wasn't in a rush to hunt down the other heroines and grind quests. It was only his first day in this world, after all; he had all the time in the world.
"System, claim my reward."
Walking home, Kai decided to cash in the reward from Yui's quest.
[Congratulations, Host]
[Reward Acquired: 100,000 Yen in Cash]
A second later, Kai felt a sudden weight in his pants pocket. Reaching in, he pulled out ten crisp 10,000-yen bills.
It obviously couldn't compare to the overpowered starter reward, but he had expected as much, so he wasn't disappointed.
"Not bad at all."
It suddenly hit him that the previous owner of this body actually had a part-time job after school. Since he had moved to Tokyo alone for his studies and his parents back in the countryside were just getting by, he completely relied on that job for his daily living expenses.
It was a pretty standard reality in Japanese society—plenty of high schoolers worked part-time gigs just to survive.
But if he could just farm cash by completing System quests, there was zero reason to keep grinding away at a miserable wage-slave job. He had spent his entire past life slaving away as a corporate drone; was he really going to do it all over again in this life?
Absolutely not.
Kai had already made up his mind. He was going to quit the second he got back. Hesitating for even a single second would be a total disrespect to his transmigration.
He walked all the way to the bus stop, planning to catch a ride back to his apartment.
By the time he arrived...
The bus stop was completely deserted, save for a single black-haired girl standing there with her head bowed, her entire body trembling slightly.
"Huh?"
She was wearing a standard high school uniform—blazer on top, classic JK pleated skirt on the bottom—and rocking a pretty solid figure.
Even though he couldn't see her face, the massive wall of quests suddenly erupting above her head instantly let him know he had stumbled across yet another top-tier heroine.
What kind of insane RNG is this?
Seriously? Just walking home and a heroine literally drops into his lap?
[Pretend to be a ghost and jump-scare Miko Yotsuya]
[Terrify Miko Yotsuya until she completely passes out]
[Witness Miko Yotsuya on the verge of breaking down in tears]
[Goddess-tier feet! Goddess-tier feet!]
[Equip a collar onto Miko Yotsuya]
[Completely destroy Miko Yotsuya's social life]
[...]
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