"Revenge?" Sae repeated. The word hung in the air, sharp and dangerous.
Takeshi didn't blink. The [Consumer Psychology Insight] skill was burning in his brain like a fever. He didn't see Sae Kirigaya the neighbor. He saw a demographic. He saw a target market.
He walked over to her coffee table, swept a stack of rejected graphs onto the floor, and placed a single tube of red lipstick in the center.
"Your previous campaign was weak," Takeshi said. His voice was deeper, laced with authority he didn't possess five minutes ago. "You tried to sell 'Elegant Beauty' to women who are tired of being polite. That's why you failed."
Sae flinched. "That's... harsh."
"It's the truth," Takeshi countered. He pointed at the lipstick. "This isn't makeup, Sae-san. This is armor. This is what a woman puts on after a breakup. This is what she wears when she walks into a boardroom full of men who think she's a secretary."
He looked her dead in the eye.
"Don't sell them beauty. Sell them a weapon."
Sae stared at him. Her mouth opened slightly. The tears on her cheeks had dried, replaced by a spark of something electric.
[ TARGET: SAE KIRIGAYA ][ MOOD: INSPIRED ][ AFFECTION: 10 -> 15 (Impressed) ]
She grabbed a pen. "A weapon..." she muttered, scribbling furiously on a napkin. "The tagline... 'For the face you show the world when the world tries to break you.'"
Takeshi grinned. "Too long. Cut the fat."
Sae looked up, her eyes narrowing in focus. She wasn't the crying girl in the hallway anymore. She was the Senior Director. The Shark.
" 'Paint Your Victory,' " she suggested.
"Closer," Takeshi said, the System feeding him the optimal path. "Try this: 'Make Them Regret It.'"
Sae dropped her pen.
Silence filled the small apartment. The only sound was the hum of the refrigerator and the rain starting to tap against the glass.
"That's it," she whispered. A slow shiver seemed to run through her. "That's aggressive. It's controversial. The board will hate it."
She looked at Takeshi, a wild grin spreading across her face.
"And the customers will love it."
3:00 AM.
The apartment smelled of dark roast coffee and intensity.
Takeshi sat on the floor, his back against the sofa. Sae was sitting next to him, so close their shoulders brushed every time she reached for the laptop.
The [Consumer Psychology] skill was fading. Takeshi could feel the headache starting behind his eyes—the backlash of using a high-level skill with a low-level brain.
But they were in the flow.
"Layout here," Takeshi pointed at the screen. "Use the black background. Make the red pop like blood."
"Violent," Sae murmured, her fingers flying across the keys. She had put on a pair of thick-rimmed reading glasses. They kept sliding down her nose.
It was devastatingly cute.
Takeshi tried not to look. He tried to focus on the marketing data. But every time she shifted, he caught a wave of that vanilla scent. It was intoxicating.
"Takeshi-kun," she said softly, not looking away from the screen.
"Yeah?"
"Why are you doing this?"
Takeshi paused. "Doing what?"
"Helping me," she said. She stopped typing. She turned to face him. Her eyes were red-rimmed from exhaustion, but they were soft. "You're a student. You have classes. You barely know me. Why spend all night saving my career?"
Takeshi looked at the floating interface.
[ OPTIMAL DIALOGUE CHOICE ]A: "Because I need the 500 CP reward." (Truth = Death) B: "Because you're beautiful." (Too generic) C: "Because I know what it feels like to be laughed at." (Vulnerability)
Takeshi chose C. But he tweaked it.
"Because yesterday," Takeshi said, looking at his hands, "I was the joke of the campus. I know what it feels like when everyone thinks you're zero. I didn't want you to feel that."
Sae watched him. The silence stretched, heavy and warm.
She reached out. Her cool fingers brushed the back of his hand.
[ CRITICAL HIT! ][ TARGET AFFECTION: 15 -> 22 (Trust) ]
"You're not a zero, Takeshi-kun," she whispered. "You're... surprising."
Takeshi felt his face heat up. "I'll take surprising."
"Done!" Sae suddenly slammed the enter key.
She spun the laptop around.
The presentation was sleek, dark, and predatory. The slogan "Make Them Regret It" blazed in crimson letters across the screen. It didn't look like a cosmetic ad. It looked like a declaration of war.
"It's perfect," Takeshi said. And it was.
Sae slumped back against the sofa, letting out a long groan of relief. "We did it. I can't believe we actually did it."
She turned her head. Her face was inches from his. He could count the eyelashes on her left eye.
"Thank you," she said.
For a second, Takeshi thought she might hug him. Or lean in closer. The atmosphere was thick enough to cut with a knife.
DING!
The System sound shattered the moment like a brick through a window.
[ SKILL EXPIRED: CONSUMER PSYCHOLOGY INSIGHT ][ SIDE EFFECT TRIGGERED: MENTAL EXHAUSTION (Level 1) ]
The world spun. Takeshi's vision blurred. The adrenaline crash hit him instantly.
"I think..." Takeshi mumbled, swaying. "I think I need to go."
"Takeshi?" Sae sat up, concerned.
"Just tired," he lied, standing up on wobbly legs. "Good luck with the presentation, Sae-san. Knock them dead."
He stumbled toward the door. He needed to get out before he passed out on her expensive rug. That wouldn't be very 'Protagonist' of him.
"Wait!" Sae called out.
Takeshi paused at the door.
"Tonight," she said, smiling. A real, tired, unguarded smile. "Dinner. My treat. No instant ramen."
Takeshi grinned weakly. "Steak?"
"Steak," she promised.
8:00 AM. Tuesday Morning.
Takeshi woke up on his futon face-first. He hadn't even taken off his shoes.
His head felt like it had been used as a soccer ball by the varsity team.
"System," he groaned. "Status."
[ MISSION UPDATE: THE CONSULTANT ][ STATUS: PENDING ][ NOTE: Reward will be distributed upon Sae Kirigaya's successful presentation (Estimated Time: 2 Hours). ]
"Pending?" Takeshi rubbed his face. "I need that cash now."
He sat up. His stomach growled, reminding him he hadn't eaten since the coffee yesterday morning.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Someone was at the door.
Takeshi's heart jumped. Sae? Did she forget something?
He scrambled up, fixed his hair in the cracked mirror, and threw open the door.
"Good morning, Sae-sa—"
The words died in his throat.
Standing in the doorway wasn't the beautiful marketing director.
It was a small, withered old woman with a face like a dried apple and eyes like beads of obsidian. She wore a purple apron that smelled of pickled radishes and judgment.
Landlord Oba-san.
[ BOSS ENEMY DETECTED ][ NAME: SHIZUKO THE LANDLORD ][ LEVEL: 99 (In Nagging) ][ SPECIAL ABILITY: EVICTION NOTICE ]
"Yamada," she croaked. Her voice sounded like grinding stones.
"O-Oba-san," Takeshi bowed reflexively. "Good morning."
She didn't bow back. She held out a bony hand. Palm up.
"Rent."
Takeshi swallowed. "Rent day is... Wednesday. I have one more day."
"Wednesday is a holiday," she lied. She didn't even blink. "Bank closed. I want cash. Today."
"Today?" Takeshi's voice rose an octave. "But the contract says—"
"I don't care about paper," she spat. She stepped closer, peering into his apartment. Her eyes judged the mess, the futon, the general poverty. "You make noise last night. Girl voice. You bring girl here? You? With no money?"
"It wasn't—"
"40,000 Yen," she interrupted. "By sunset. Or I change locks."
She turned and shuffled away, her slippers scuffing against the metal walkway.
"Sunset!" she yelled back over her shoulder.
Takeshi stood in the doorway, paralyzed.
Sunset was in ten hours.
He checked his bank balance. 3,850 Yen.
He checked the System. [ MISSION REWARD PENDING... ]
If Sae's presentation failed... he got nothing. If Sae's presentation was delayed... he got nothing.
He needed 36,000 Yen. Fast.
Takeshi looked at the "Eye of the Player" skill book in his inventory. He looked at his stats.
[ Charm: 12 ][ Confidence: 15 ][ Wealth: Destitute ]
He stepped back inside and grabbed his backpack. His eyes were cold.
"I need a job," he muttered. "No... I need a hustle."
He activated the [ WEALTH RADAR ] mission he had ignored earlier.
[ MISSION: THE ROAD TO RICHES ][ HINT UNLOCKED: There is a hidden opportunity on Campus. ][ LOCATION: Building 3, Basement. ]
Building 3? That was the Engineering department. The dungeon of the geeks.
Takeshi grabbed his keys.
"Hang in there, Sae," he whispered. "Because if you fail, I'm sleeping on a park bench."
He slammed the door and ran.