Nightfall.
Stars twinkled.
Without a phone, Satoru flipped open a library book for some light reading.
This world's culture wasn't identical to his old one—more like completely unrelated.
As a pure love warrior, he got to enjoy fresh "pure love" novels, like The Alpaca Princess in his hands. It told of a princess betrothed to a neighboring prince, cursed into an alpaca by a jealous rival. Yet, the prince refused the rival, choosing to live and die with his alpaca princess, teaming up to thrash the villainess.
Classic pure love beating NTR.
Satoru nodded, satisfied.
He read fast, multitasking by mulling over trivial matters.
Skipping one class got him ganked by the teacher. Another stunt like that, and his 800-word apology essay might balloon to 2,000. For now, he'd bow to the teacher's tyranny. A great pure love warrior, slaying countless NTRs, only to fall to such a foe.
Teachers—past or present—were among the world's most unbeatable beings.
As for Tanaka Hajime's whereabouts…
Satoru mused. Maybe Miyajima Sakura could help.
She'd tracked him down by his surname alone. She must have a knack for finding people.
Tomorrow was Saturday.
Sunday, he'd meet Sakura at Shibuya's Hachiko statue—not a date, of course. A pure love warrior wouldn't puncture Kase Masafumi's tires like that.
Strictly business.
He joined the kendo club to carry a sword without looking nuts.
Meeting Sakura was about buying one.
Satoru's swordsmanship was unmatched, but he knew jack about swords.
He opened his drawer, scraping together meager coins. With this budget, getting scammed on a dud blade would make him consider purple sand levels of despair!
Sakura, a kendo expert, surely had an eye for quality…
[Host—!] A voice piped up in his head.
"?"
Satoru tilted his head. "Who're you?"
[Ai-chan! Your dedicated system, here to serve! Pout Ai-chan's hurt by your coldness, tears before words!]
"Oh, right, that's a thing."
['A thing'?! Roar Ai-chan's shouting at max volume!]
"Yosh, yosh, kidding, kidding. How could I forget you?" Satoru cooed, like petting a cat's chin.
[Hmph~ You've got some conscience~ Pout Ai-chan's flattered but stays cool.]
"…Got math homework tomorrow. Can't piss her off…" Satoru muttered.
[Hey! Ai-chan hears that muttering clear as day! Pout Can't believe there's such a heartless man out there!]
"You just haven't met enough guys," Satoru said, bored. "Let's draw the reward."
[Draw? What draw?]
"The 'Baseball Girl' quest. Don't tell me you forgot!"
[A-Ah! Hahaha! Ai-chan totally remembers! Just testing you! Pout Ai-chan's touched, you're teachable. Alright, lottery system… Link start!]
"Let's see what trash this weak system coughs up."
[Hmph, Ai-chan'll show you the noble blood of a top-tier system! Pout Three years are up!]
Ai-chan mimicked the Calabash Brothers theme, ding-ding-dang-dang…
[Ta-da! Congrats, Host! You've won: 'Indestructible White Paper'!]
An A4-sized sheet appeared in Satoru's hand.
One sheet of paper: Invincible quality. No matter how hard you try, it won't tear.
System's description.
Satoru: …
Ai-chan: …
[A-Ai-chan's off to bed! Yawn Ai-chan reminds Host to rest early too.]
"Weak."
[Wahhh, Ai-chan's sorry! Total fluke! Next time, I'll get you something good! Please trust Ai-chan again! Pout Ai-chan flashes Bambi eyes, praying.]
Satoru shook the paper. It felt like regular A4—zero difference.
He had no expectations, so no disappointment.
Sighing, he checked his skills before bed.
Swordsmanship Mastery EX
Illusion Breaker
Bluff Mastery LV3
Superhuman Endurance
No changes.
Except… Gaze of the Strong leveled up to LV2.
Description: "Stare, and they're pregnant."
Satoru: …Ha.
…
…
Sunday.
Nice weather.
Cooler than last week, though.
Tokyo's spring was always a rollercoaster.
Yotsumoto Ryoka slept late last night, rare for her, and didn't wake until near noon.
Still, she stuck to routine.
A five-kilometer jog to stay fit.
After, she hit the park.
Her slender hands gripped a pull-up bar.
With a light hop, she flipped upside-down, head low, feet high.
The world spun. She exhaled.
Her mind drifted to Friday after school.
As karate club captain, she was usually at practice. That day was no exception.
Her route passed Class 2-F. She figured Satoru and Ayumu had gone home together… but if not, she could say hi to Satoru.
Peeking in, his seat was empty.
A bit disappointed but not surprised—it was expected.
"Yotsumoto-san?"
A voice called.
Turning, she saw the guy who'd left school arm-in-arm with Satoru. His yellow hair was now black, so it took her a second to place him.
Not close.
Ryoka nodded politely.
"Looking for Kobayashi?" he asked.
"…Just passing by…" Ryoka said, guilty. "Did Kobayashi-kun go home?"
"Nope, he's probably at kendo club. He left with Miyajima-senpai after school," the friend said.
"!!" Ryoka's eyes widened, shocked.
Didn't Kobayashi-kun say he wouldn't join kendo? Why the sudden change?
Anji Seiji bit his tongue, regretting his slip. Crap.
He'd sold out his bro.
Bad, bad, bad, BAD!
…
…