The morning light filtered through the sheer curtains, casting a faint grayish-blue hue over the apartment in Chiba City.
Ai opened his eyes.
Instead of getting up immediately as usual, he lay quietly in bed, feeling the subtle but real changes within his body.
After a night of integration, that single point of [Charisma] had completely merged with him.
If his body before had been like a rusty machine, it now felt as if it had been injected with lubricating oil.
His knuckles moved more flexibly, his lungs expanded more smoothly as he breathed, and even the dust motes in his vision seemed a bit clearer.
“System, expand the detailed panel.”
He thought to himself.
This time, he didn’t just look at the simple character attribute page; instead, he immersed his consciousness into the system’s deeper functional areas.
With a wave of thought, a pale pink holographic interface, radiating a “maidenly” aura, slowly unfurled across his retina.
This was the first time Ai had so seriously examined the internal structure of this so-called [Romance Strategy System].
The UI design was extremely exquisite, even a bit gaudy, with heart-shaped bubbles floating around and a background of ever-changing, beautiful 2D scenery.
The interface was mainly divided into three sections: [Quest Hall], [Conquest Target Encyclopedia], and the one he cared about most—the [myriad realms mall].
Ai’s gaze landed on the [myriad realms mall].
“Since it’s a conquest system, there should be some kind of hard currency other than charisma points.”
The moment he clicked on the mall, the dazzling array of item icons almost blinded him.
But soon, the corner of his mouth twitched.
[Item: Absolute Favorability Perfume (One-time use)]
[Description: After spraying, the favorability of the designated target toward you instantly increases by +5.]
[Price: 5,000 Affection Value]
[Item: Time-Stop Pocket Watch (Pseudo)]
[Description: Pauses time for 5 seconds, limited to this world filled with the sour stench of love. What will you use it for…?]
[Price: 100,000 Affection Value]
[Item: God-Level Singing Voice]
[Description: Makes your voice filled with siren-like charm, bringing listeners to their knees the moment you speak.]
[Price: 3,000 Affection Value]
Ai glanced at his balance in the top right corner.
[Current Affection Value: 28]
“…”
Poor people don’t deserve to be in love.
“System, explain the mechanism for obtaining Affection Value,” Ai asked coldly in his mind.
[Ding! The Intelligent Assistant is here to answer your questions.]
[Affection Value are the core currency of this system. They are sourced from the emotional fluctuations produced by conquest targets toward the host.]
[Including but not limited to: shyness, accelerated heartbeat, dependence, possessiveness, jealousy, extreme fear (generated when relying on the host to eliminate fear), etc.]
[The more intense the emotional fluctuation, the higher the Affection Value produced. Note: Yotsuya Miko provided you with 28 Affection Value yesterday; she is a high-quality potential stock, please keep up the good work, host.]
Ai fell into thought.
In other words, it wasn’t just about making them fall in love with him; the key was to trigger intense emotional fluctuations.
Because of her fear of the evil spirits and her dependence on him, Miko had experienced a massive emotional contrast, resulting in a high output.
“What about this?”
Ai’s gaze fell on an inconspicuous wheel in the corner of the mall.
[Daily Random Gacha (Basic)]
[Cost: 10 Affection Value/roll.]
[Prize Pool: Includes life skills, money (JPY), special items, and a small amount of attribute points. Pity Mechanism: A ten-roll guaranteed pull of Blue quality or higher.]
“Gamblers never end well… but I’m a transmigrator, I should have a newbie protection period, right?”
Ai hesitated for a moment before deciding to give it a try.
After all, besides his charisma and cooking, he really didn’t have any skills worth mentioning.
Moreover, as a college student living alone, he was under a lot of financial pressure and was very short on money.
“System, draw twice.”
[Ding! Consuming 20 Affection Value, Gacha machine starting…]
The pink wheel began to spin frantically, accompanied by cheerful anime sound effects, and two capsules popped out.
The first capsule opened with a burst of white light.
[Congratulations! You have obtained: 50,000 Yen in cash.]
[Description: Legally sourced pocket money, automatically deposited into the host’s bank card.]
Ai breathed a sigh of relief.
Fifty thousand yen was enough for two weeks of living expenses.
This system had a bit of a conscience, at least solving his food problem.
Next, the second capsule opened.
This time, it was a faint green light.
[Congratulations!
You have obtained the item: [One-time Absolute Silence Earplugs] x1]
[Description: Once worn, you can block out all external sounds and focus on your own world. Duration: 1 hour.]
“…”
That’s it?
Ai put the item away with some disappointment.
But on second thought, in this noisy world, silence was sometimes a luxury.
After organizing his gains from the system, Ai got up to wash.
The youth in the mirror, after the fine-tuning of 72 charisma points, had skin with a healthy, cool-toned white texture.
Although his features remained the same, the cold aura radiating from his bones made him look like an exquisite, melancholic doll.
Putting on his uniform and picking up his school bag, Ai pushed open the door and headed out…
At the morning train station, the air was thick with damp mist.
Just as Ai reached the ticket gate, he saw that familiar figure.
Yotsuya Miko was standing by a pillar, her hands tightly gripping her school bag straps, her eyes scanning the crowd anxiously.
Today, she seemed to have taken extra care with her hair; her long, black hair, which usually looked a bit messy, now hung smoothly over her shoulders, and her school uniform bow was tied exceptionally neatly.
But at her feet, a black, wild-dog-like evil spirit with three eyes was drooling at her, its foul-smelling tongue almost licking the surface of her shoes.
Miko’s face was pale, and her body trembled slightly, yet she didn’t dare move an inch.
Until—
That familiar figure appeared in her line of sight.
Ai.
He still had that same look, one hand in his pocket, nonchalant, as if the bustling crowd around him had nothing to do with him.
Miko’s eyes instantly lit up.
In that moment, the fear in her eyes receded like a tide, replaced by a joy that was almost reverent.
Ignoring the evil spirit at her feet, she hurried forward to meet him.
“Fu… Fujiwara-san! Good morning!”
The girl’s voice trembled slightly with excitement, and her cheeks quickly flushed a deep red.
Ai stopped and gave her a brief glance.
As he approached, the three-eyed wild dog crouching on the ground seemed to be burned; it let out a wail and scurried into the sewer with its tail between its legs.
“Morning.”
Ai responded briefly and, without stopping, walked straight toward the platform.
Yotsuya Miko wasn’t discouraged by his coldness; instead, like a puppy that had received a reward, she followed closely behind him.
She very consciously moved to Ai’s back left—the position that had been verified yesterday as the “Absolute Safe Zone.”
The two boarded the train.
They were lucky today; there weren’t as many people as yesterday, so they didn’t need to be squeezed right against each other.
But Yotsuya Miko still chose to stand beside Ai, her shoulder almost brushing against his arm.
“Um… Fujiwara-san, have you had breakfast yet?”
Miko plucked up her courage and took out a beautifully wrapped small paper bag from her school bag, her voice as faint as a mosquito’s buzz.
“I… I made some extra cookies, if you don’t mind…”
She had stayed up late last night making them.
To thank him, and to…
please him.
In this world filled with malice, Ai was her only life-saving straw.
She had to hold on tight and use every means possible to maintain this relationship.
Ai looked down at the small pink paper bag.
[Ding! Detected an active gesture of goodwill from conquest target ‘Yotsuya Miko’.]
[Item: Handmade Cookies Filled with Love (and Fear)]
[Accepting grants: Affection Value +2, slight stamina recovery]
[Refusing grants: Affection Value +5 (due to emotional fluctuations from disappointment), but may cause dependency to turn into self-doubt]