The long-haired girl furrowed her perfectly shaped brows and said quietly:
"I won't sell my body."
Kuroba Akira snorted at once, his tone dripping with mockery.
"At this point, you still care about preserving your chastity and dignity? Do you even have that luxury?"
"..."
She didn't get angry. Instead, his words seemed to make her fall deeper into thought.
What else do I have to offer besides my body... if I need to make money?
Akira went on, face full of condescension.
"Tch. I'm guessing you've never seriously considered it anyway. If you had, I wouldn't be finding you in some abandoned shrine—I'd have seen you at Ōkubo Park."
"Why Ōkubo Park?"
"…Uh."
She's not pretending to be pure—she's actually pure, huh?
Akira had only meant to tease her but ended up having to explain himself.
"It's a well-known hangout for enjo kōsai girls. Basically, teenage girls who trade a night with some greasy middle-aged guy for a four-digit paycheck."
Her brows creased even deeper.
Selling your body like a commodity...
Places like that—weren't they just modern slave markets?
"With your looks, you could probably get ¥100,000 a night without even negotiating."
That was close to half a typical salaryman's monthly wage. ¥200,000 to ¥300,000 was standard.
Meaning—if she were willing to sell her body, food and shelter wouldn't be a problem at all.
Of course, street girls had their own cliques and turf wars. Being too pretty might make her a target. Things could get ugly fast.
She'd likely end up "transformed"—not in the magical girl sense.
Naturally, no sane person would take that path if they had other options. The logical choice was to trade labor for money.
She had clearly arrived at the same conclusion.
"I can work part-time."
Heh. Been waiting for you to say that.
Akira's lips curled into a grin. He struck while the iron was hot.
"Well then, how about working for me?"
"You?"
She meant, What do you even do?
Akira came clean without hesitation.
"Actually, I'm scouting for talent. Think of me like a talent agent."
"…I see."
She'd been scouted before. Plenty of times, actually. Nearly every time she went into the city, someone approached her. But she had never seriously considered debuting.
Partly because her father had forbidden it—said it was unnecessary.
But mostly… because she hated her own face.
She'd wished, more than once, that she weren't so pretty. She'd even fantasized about taking a knife and ruining it.
The boy in front of her was just another butterfly drawn to her cursed beauty.
And now, the thing she despised most about herself had become her most valuable asset.
She gave a bitter smile, but deep down, she knew—this might be the simplest way to survive.
Just as she was about to agree, Akira suddenly put on a serious face.
"But just so you know—I'm very selective. I don't pick up just anything off the street."
Saying that made him feel like a total fraud. If anyone else were in his shoes, they'd probably have carried this girl home in a gilded palanquin by now.
Obviously, it was reverse psychology. But it worked.
Still stung from earlier, the girl's pride flared.
"So you're saying… I'm not good enough for you?"
Akira stroked his chin, eyeing her face theatrically.
"Hmm… I'll need a closer look."
"A look at what?"
What she meant was Isn't my face enough for you?—and Akira knew it. But he deliberately played dumb and pointed to her hand.
"Your hand."
"My hand?"
"Yup. Let me see your hand and I'll know whether you're qualified or not."
"…Sounds like a terrible excuse just to touch a girl's hand."
"Cough!"
Akira actually choked a little.
I'm not some innocent high school boy, alright?
And I'm not even into hands—I'm a leg guy, dammit!
"Who said anything about touching? I just need to look. Like this—just hold it out."
He made a pushing motion with his own hand. After a moment of hesitation, she complied.
Just letting someone look—no big deal.
And then—Akira saw it.
The biggest surprise of the day.
His eyes went wide before he could stop himself.
So that's how it is…
This is insane.
Blacktail, oh Blacktail—you really are a lucky beckoning cat, huh? Always showing up with the exact person I need most.
If Akira hadn't been trying so hard to hide his shock, he might've gasped aloud on the spot.
[Heavenly Voice S]
[Ethereal Grace S]
[Soulful Performance S]
Three top-tier talents.
An SSS-rank genius.
He'd just drawn the rarest character card imaginable.
What kind of final boss is this?
She really exists?
A person like this—blessed by heaven and cursed by it too.
One S-rank was enough to push someone to the peak of a field.
Three?
Vocal ability, physical elegance, and performance talent—all maxed out. Her artistic stats were off the charts. It was like the words fated for stardom had been hardcoded into her DNA.
Actress. Voice actor. Idol. Dancer. Singer… Akira could list a dozen career paths off the top of his head, and she could potentially dominate any of them.
Hell, she could probably become a total queen of the entertainment industry.
And that was before you factored in her face. That divine beauty of hers.
This wasn't just a case of "God got heavy-handed with the talent sprinkles."
This was God upending the entire spice jar.
It was almost offensively unfair.
"You done looking?" she asked.
"Not yet… Just halfway."
Whew. Calm down.
Right. Still the other hand left.
Akira shut his eyes, rubbed at his temples, and gave himself a moment to breathe before opening them again to check her left hand.
He had a pretty good guess what he'd find.
If she had any serious intent to enter the entertainment world, she would've already been famous. But Akira had never heard of her.
Even if he didn't pay attention to pop culture, the boys in class were constantly trading photobooks and debating idols—arguing over who had the bigger bust, who was cuter, that kind of thing.
A beauty of this magnitude? No way she wouldn't be on someone's radar.
So if she hadn't made her debut yet… it meant no one had discovered her.
Sure enough, Akira found only one related skill in her proficiency display: [Singing Lv2].
Probably picked up from karaoke with friends. Or maybe just from singing on her own for fun.
Bottom line?
This girl was a gold mine that had never been tapped.
A money tree whose branches reached all the way to the heavens.
With her alone, Akira might not even need ten people. She could be the one to give him the payback he needed to live the dream.
And it was all thanks to Blacktail—who was now pawing at his leg, meowing like, Hey, I brought you this blessing, where's my milk?
Blacktail… you really might be a divine messenger, huh?
Alright then. Next question is—how do I convince her?
How do I PUA a goddess?