**Time skip: 4 months before graduation**
Typically, a student spends about four years in university before graduating, possibly one or two additional years if they choose to specialize in a certain field. That's exactly what I did. I completed the standard course at the age of 13 and decided to stay on.
My decision stemmed not only from the need to obtain an equivalent of a master's degree but also from my circumstances. At just 14 years old, I could have jumped into the entertainment industry as an exceptionally young talent. However, this industry is not solely about age or hard work; connections matter far more than experience.
That's why I chose to remain for another two years—those connections are crucial. With only a bachelor's degree, trying to navigate this competitive world would make me feel like a deer surrounded by packs of hungry hyenas.
I knew that having a master's or even a doctorate wouldn't have much value to them; that wasn't my objective. Instead, I focused those years on building connections with influential people across various fields. And I must say, I was quite successful.
How did I achieve this? It was simple. As an all-around talent, I had interests in many areas, some of which overlapped with others. Most of my peers were intrigued by the stock market, and thanks to a bit of study and my skill [Business Acumen], it was easy to connect with them. Others shared interests in books, music, and other arts, where my skills in [Studying], [Painting], and having [Great Musician] came in handy.
As a result, I ensured that my company would not face any immediate issues, at least in the short term. Moreover, [The CEO] has been, and will continue to be, supportive.
The most crucial part of my plan was that my company would officially be formed in about a month.
Finding workers and prospects was the easier part. The skill [Talent Scouter] was designed for this purpose. Although I had to search manually for jobless and independent workers, it sufficed to set the stage for a prosperous future.
The real challenge lay in researching and understanding the laws and bylaws related to establishing an official institution. This included requirements for business registration, payments, taxes, employee regulations, office space, and much more.
This task would typically take one or more years, but I managed to condense it significantly thanks to my skills like [Studying], [Palace of Memories], and, most importantly, [Loophole Finder].
It has been a long and arduous journey, but at last, I have a company registered under my name. The sheer number of loopholes I discovered and utilized could give anyone a migraine for a month. On the bright side, these loopholes—both used and untouched—act as assurance that any legal actions against me can be dealt with swiftly and harshly enough to make competitors with good lawyers think twice before proceeding, as long as the action is made against my name or my position of power.
Now I'm ready to step up my game and look beyond just this world. My dynamic Gamer System and the Essence, which were influenced by my decisions and focus, have decided to stop their updates for now. While it would have been cool to gain experience from zombies and other low-level monsters to level up, it's for the best that I remain at level 10. This is the major reason I didn't stray from my path.
I've also decided to accumulate my [Gacha Tickets], as they have only yielded disappointing results. Apart from the guaranteed skill book, I received one apple, one banana, twenty blank sheets of paper, one bottle of water, twenty Mexican dollars, a pin t-shirt, and canary food. Instead of cursing my bad gacha luck, I recognize that there's a chance for 'everything' to be picked up. While there are infinite worlds to choose from for a great item, each of those worlds has a bazillion worse ones. So, I just continued to farm Shards and tickets as a way to unwind after using too much mental energy. Both of these resources have now accumulated to 91,163 Shards and 165 tickets. However, I still won't use them just yet. I'm waiting for the Essence to develop a way to use more tickets for a better pull or to fuse them into a ticket with a better pool.
Anyway, apart from the usual gamer activity, there's one more thing to discuss. My friendship with Marin has grown quite a bit. I've spent a lot of time with her and her friends, discussing normal high school topics. Marin and I attended various anime conventions together, some here in Kyoto and others in different cities, where we often cosplayed. We did not coordinate our outfits, but we found it fun nonetheless. She gained modeling experience from this, although she was already working as a model, and I improved my [Tailoring] skill enough to receive praise from the authors of the works we cosplayed.
Now, she's working nearby with another mutual friend. Our relationship has not drifted apart like many others do, and two weeks ago, we decided to take our relationship to a more physical level. We aren't in a traditional romantic relationship, more like friends with benefits, and I didn't ask her why this decision was made, although I can make an educated guess. After three years of high school, and with two more to go, she had not been in a romantic relationship or gotten physical with anyone. It's still too early to say she harbors romantic feelings for me, but she probably thought it was time to explore, and I was her best choice for that.
She rated me a 10 out of 10, stating that I'm her best friend who shares many of her interests that she wouldn't share with others. Even though I'm younger than her, I have extensive experience, which made things interesting. She also wanted to try some things she encountered in a few eroge games, and she asked for one session in our cosplay outfits, which I was thrilled to try. I never imagined I would use the skill [Sexslave Trainer] on her while she was excited about exploring that world—of course, the alcohol played a role in this situation. I knew that sharing a drink could lead to complications, and now she knows about almost all my previous escapades.
Thanks to this development, we are now bedmates, and the skill I acquired from her, thanks to [Luxuriae Interminabilis], has proven to be intriguing. [Protection From Fate] is a skill that makes me and any girl I am interested in—one whom I have bedded at least once—resistant to shenanigans related to fate, luck, karma, and anything else that could come into play. If she's fated to defeat someone, nothing would change, but from now on, no fortunate pervert moments in our lives. No more leaving the bathroom door open while someone is at home, and no more bikini mishaps at the beach.
This made me realize something else: Kitagawa Marin is a main heroine. I've seen it from a mile away—she has a great personality, is fun and good-looking, and shares my interest in manga. She is the introverted protagonist's dream. I just hope I haven't condemned this world or another simply because she isn't flaunting her body to anyone. But at the end of the day, that's not my problem. If a world is destined for destruction unless a teenager with a high testosterone level defeats someone who has been trying for half their lifetime in less than a year—while delivering a half-hearted monologue before conquering the big bad evil—then it's best for me to steer clear of that world. After all, Marin is now my friend.
I'm enough for an Isekai character.