Sora stared at the ten copper coins that had suddenly appeared in his wallet and fell into deep thought.
Wait a minute.
So becoming friends with you really does make money drop?
In that case, this friendship is absolutely necessary.
Through his interaction with Megumi just now, Sora had already confirmed one thing: The coins dropped by the system could only be seen, touched, and heard by him.
Now he had discovered something else.
Besides the extremely violent method of earning money through killing monsters, there seemed to be another, much gentler method.
Sora carefully replayed every detail of his interaction with Megumi.
Nothing unusual had happened at first.
The new notification sound had only appeared when he handed the coin to Megumi and their hands touched.
Therefore, the key seemed to be physical contact between two people.
Sora frowned.
Earlier that morning, he had been packed into a crowded subway train with countless commuters.
There had been plenty of physical contact during the ride.
Yet no money had dropped.
Physical contact wasn’t the most important factor.
The truly important factor was Megumi herself.
Compared to ordinary people, she was special.
Only contact with her had generated coins.
So what exactly made Megumi special?
Her low presence?
Probably not.
The system’s method of making money was unlikely to be that specific.
Just as he couldn’t possibly be limited to farming snakes forever, there certainly weren’t that many people with unusually low presence in the world.
So…
Was it because Megumi was a heroine of an anime series?
Sora gradually arrived at what seemed the most likely conclusion.
He raised his head and looked toward a seat near the classroom window.
That seat belonged to Tomoya Aki.
He was also one of the protagonists of the same series.
If Sora’s theory was correct, physical contact with him should also generate money.
A thoughtful look flashed through Sora’s eyes.
Tomoya wasn’t in the classroom at the moment.
He was probably still eating lunch in the cafeteria.
He could test it once Tomoya returned.
Sora took out a blank sheet of paper and a ruler and began drawing the design of the copper coin.
The design itself was very simple.
He only needed to measure the dimensions of the two circular rings.
Originally, Sora had worried that his measurements might be inaccurate.
However, after taking a few measurements, he discovered that the relationship between the large ring, the small ring, and the overall coin seemed to perfectly follow the golden ratio.
He added a note about this beneath the sketch, took a photo, and sent it to the email address of Miss Mira’s Jewelry Store.
After finishing that task, he looked up again.
Most of the students had already returned from lunch.
Sora spotted Tomoya sitting by the window.
A thin boy wearing large black-rimmed glasses.
Sora got up and walked over.
Reaching behind him, he lightly patted his shoulder.
The system didn’t react.
Sora wondered if it was because there was clothing in between.
Tomoya jumped in surprise and hurriedly locked his phone screen before turning around.
His expression was slightly startled.
“H-Harumi-kun?” A friendly smile appeared on Sora’s face.
“Aki-kun, I forgot to bring my Japanese textbook.
Could I borrow yours for a little while?
I’ll return it before class starts.” Tomoya immediately pulled his textbook out and handed it over.
“Of course.
Here.” “Thank you, Aki-kun.” Sora reached out and accepted the book.
Their hands touched briefly during the exchange.
But the system still showed no reaction.
Not a single coin dropped.
Returning to his seat with the textbook, Sora casually flipped it open.
He reviewed the entire interaction in his mind.
Conversation.
Finger contact.
The overall process had been almost identical to his interaction with Megumi.
Yet Tomoya hadn’t produced a single copper coin.
Both Tomoya and Megumi were protagonists from the same series.
Why was there such a difference between them?
What was different about the two of them?
Wait…
Him and her?
Sora’s page-turning suddenly stopped.
If he really thought about it, there was indeed one fundamental difference between Tomoya and Megumi.
Their genders.
Could it be…
That only heroines could generate money?
Another thoughtful glimmer appeared in Sora’s eyes.
As far as he remembered, there were two other heroines in the series.
Eriri Spencer Sawamura, the doujin artist known under the pen name Eri Kashiwagi.
Utaha Kasumigaoka, the light novel author known under the pen name Kasumiko.
Both attended Toyogasaki Academy.
However, for some reason Eriri, who should have been in the same grade as Tomoya, was one year above him.
Given that this world had merged countless anime settings together, some kind of deviation in history had probably occurred.
Both girls were now second-year students.
Thanks to their beauty, Eriri and Utaha were quite famous throughout the school.
Sora had already overheard classmates discussing them earlier that morning.
Many students referred to them as unattainable flowers on a high peak.
In reality, one was a tsundere and the other possessed a razor-sharp tongue.
Most boys couldn’t handle either of them.
Sora began considering how to approach these two upperclassmen.
At that moment, his phone rang.
Taking it out, he saw the caller ID from Miss Mira’s Jewelry Store.
He stepped into the hallway and answered.
“Hello, customer.
I’ve reviewed the design draft you sent us.
We can produce it.
How many would you like to order?” Keeping his voice calm, Sora replied, “I’d like to see a sample first.
If I’m satisfied with the result, I’ll order a large quantity.” The woman on the other end paused.
“When you say a large quantity, how many exactly?” “At least ten thousand.” The line fell silent for a moment.
“I understand.
I’ll do my best to create a product that satisfies you.” “Do I need to pay a deposit?” “If it were gold or silver coins, yes.
However, since you’re only requesting copper coins and we’re making a single sample first, no deposit is necessary.
Once it’s ready, I’ll contact you to inspect it.” “Alright.
Thank you for your hard work.” “Not at all.” After ending the call, Sora felt even more impressed with the store.
Not only was the owner pleasant to talk to, but her responses were remarkably efficient.
No wonder the shop had such glowing reviews.
Though now that he thought about it…
Was the owner really called Miss Mira?
Returning to the classroom, Sora handed the Japanese textbook back to Tomoya and thanked him.
Tomoya looked almost flattered.
A transfer student personally asking an unpopular otaku like him for help…
Sora, however, couldn’t care less.
After all, the guy didn’t drop money.
That meant there was no point maintaining the friendship.
Might as well focus on Megumi instead.
Sora silently pondered whether this hand-touching-for-money mechanic was a one-time reward or whether it had a cooldown period.
Tomorrow, he’d find another opportunity to hold Megumi’s hand and test it again.