"Truck!"
Zayden opened his eyes and saw a strange yet familiar room.
He groggily propped himself up on the bed, blinking a few times as he tried to adjust to the lack of light in the room.
"Truck? What?" He murmured, his head confused: "I..."
That day, he remembered.
He felt a sudden, piercing headache, as if a memory hidden deep in his brain had been unlocked.
First, he was a reincarnated person.
Second...
"Like... I'm a piece of shit...!?"
If there were people around, they would say: "What's this guy mumbling about?"
Fortunately, he's alone in his room.
───────────
[Ding!]
[The System has finished loading!]
───────────
───────────
[– Zayden Valtrex –]
Race: Human
Title: None
Level: 1
Next level: 0% - [0/100]
Wealth: 915,319 yen
───────────
[– Attributes –]
[Strength F]: 19 [Intelligence F]: 19 [Speed F]: 15 [Recovery F]: 19 [Luck E]: 21
[Note: The average attributes of a common human are 10]
───────────
[– Available System Options –]
[Missions] [Inventory] [Skills]
───────────
───────────
[The first mission is omitted: Gain the favor of the opposite sex]
[Time-limited task: Spend money on a suitable person of the opposite sex with an Affection Index above 50 and gain their favor]
[Task reward: Any money spent on the opposite sex will be returned fivefold to the host, and if the Affection Index of the opposite sex increases by 5 points during this spending, the [Return] skill will become available]
───────────
Zayden sat on the bed, dazed.
He hadn't even fully processed the fact that he was a reincarnation who had recalled memories of his past life. And in those past life memories, he played a Japanese game where the main character had his girlfriends stolen by Zayden. In other words, a dating game with the NTR genre.
He only ended up playing that 'thing' – to avoid saying something worse – because of a friend who wanted to mess with him just because he forgot they had planned to play an online FPS game together.
However, that game was like a drug; even knowing it was bad, once you start, it's hard to stop. In the end, he played it, completing most of the routes.
He murmured in his mind: 'Strangely, I can't remember the title, but... I'm the guy who steals not only the childhood friend of the... main protagonist, right?'
Besides the childhood friend, any girl the protagonist got involved with became his target. From students to the beautiful sensei.
There are a total of seven capture targets in this game.
It was a dating route game, where he appeared whenever the protagonist pursued a particular girl's route, even in the harem route, Zayden would show up to try to interfere and often succeeded.
If there were a most hated character in games of this style, Zayden would undoubtedly be at the top.
He wasn't just a blonde delinquent full of piercings but also the son of Zeroth Valtrex, a billionaire and philanthropist.
Although Zeroth had made him live alone to reflect on his past mistakes, the way he did it was quite controversial.
Currently, Zayden lives in a luxury building in a presidential suite. He even received a monthly allowance of 1 million yen.
The building belongs to the Valtrex Corporation, and everyone in that building treated him as the young master.
So, even if he was sent to this city to reflect, how could this be considered punishment?
One of the main points was that, although his grades weren't good, his father pulled some strings and enrolled him in Eiko Academy.
Eiko Academy was one of the most prestigious schools in the country, renowned both academically and for its extracurricular clubs. Some students earn scholarships to attend the school, giving them better chances of getting into a good university.
'Even with all this, I really thought my father didn't like me?' He felt like laughing at himself.
Going to the kitchen, he poured himself a glass of water.
After drinking, he felt a bit calmer.
It was a lot of information to process, especially regarding this mysterious system.
The screen still followed his movements to the kitchen; he saw an 'X' and managed to close it.
'Seriously, am I really not dreaming right now?'
The mere fact that he was pondering whether it was a dream already said a lot. Normally, if it were a dream, he would simply accept it as reality and only realize it was a dream upon waking up. But that wasn't the case.
He was quite lucid, although his memories were a mess. Part of it was about the dating game he finally remembered the name of: Harem Heaven High School.
The game was designed in an anime style, while this was the real world.
It was hard to accept that he was the scoundrel who was widely hated for always meddling in the protagonist's relationships, Subaru.
In the bathroom, he saw his reflection.
Tall and blonde, with pierced ears and a well-built body, plus having a huge penis, which made him perfect for the role of a womanizer.
Additionally, he also had several piercings in his ears, even a nose piercing and one on his tongue.
Each one was more expensive than the last.
Little by little, Zayden removed the piercings and earrings.
With a clean face, he felt better.
His red eyes seemed less threatening, and although the contrast with his blonde hair still made him look like a delinquent, without the piercings and earrings, it was significantly toned down.
"Hmm. Much better like this..." He murmured softly.
All of that was a form of rebellion. He mainly did it to get his father's attention.
If you think about it, it was ridiculous. Doing that would only make his father more disappointed in him.
On the other hand, his mother, Izabella, showered him with love. Even when he changed his appearance to a more delinquent look, she said he was the most handsome boy in the world.
Thinking of his mother, Zayden smiled a little.
Although with her tomboyish demeanor and often seeming more like an older sister, she was a good mother.
After washing his face, brushing his teeth, and flossing, Zayden held the ends of his hair.
His hair was straight and fine.
On purpose, he used gel to make it spiked, giving him a wilder look.
Seriously, just remembering how he acted before made him feel ashamed of himself.
He could very well go out and visit a salon to change his hair color, but he chose not to.
He wanted to change, but that didn't mean he would simply disregard everything.
The silver blonde was actually pretty cool.
With his bangs parted, with a few strands in the middle, he nodded in approval after finishing combing.
Seeing his current appearance, Zayden ended up thinking of the anime character he watched in his previous life, Gilgamesh.
'Well, I'm better looking than him.' He thought narcissistically and laughed.
...
No matter how confused he was, there was a little phrase he liked: What will be, will be.
In short: Even if he was confused about what was happening, he would accept it naturally and understand it little by little without panicking.
He wasn't in a rush to learn more about this mysterious system, nor even to complete that mission, even though it seemed rewarding.
...
In the kitchen, he inserted a cappuccino capsule and waited a few seconds.
Taking the cup, he went to the table.
After sitting down and placing the cup on the table, he grabbed a piece of toast he had made earlier and started chewing.
With his free hand, he called up the status, and when it appeared, he went to the Skills tab.
Upon opening it, he realized he actually had zero skills.
'So, only if I complete that mission will I get my first skill...' He took a sip of the cappuccino.
The inventory could be seen as a skill. When he tried to access it, he saw that it had a grid of 8 vertical and 5 horizontal, totaling 40 slots.
'It's bigger than I expected.'
He tried doing small tests, starting with the cup that had a little bit of cappuccino left.
When he put the cup in the inventory, the first slot was occupied.
He tried doing the same with the toast. The first one occupied the second slot next to the cappuccino cup, but when he placed the second toast, it actually occupied the same slot as the previous toast and had the number 2 above the toast icon.
'Interesting...'
He didn't continue these tests for long; he received a message on his LINE from Yamagi and saw that it was already time to go to school.
Yamagi was his closest friend.
They had known each other since he was 5 years old.
In the game, there was even a scene where Yamagi sacrificed himself for Zayden.
It was one of the few emotional scenes related to Zayden.
...
Outside the hotel, Yamagi was waiting for him next to a dark blue Rolls-Royce Phantom.
Zayden was tall, 1.95 m, but Yamagi was even taller than him, 2.01 m.
Besides being tall, Yamagi was also strong – a wardrobe in the literal sense of the word – his hand was big enough to grab a basketball as if he were holding a volleyball.
"Good morning, Boss." Yamagi opened the back door of the car for him.
He didn't even blink at the change in Zayden's appearance.
"Good morning, Yamagi." Zayden said: "And, haven't I already told you to call me by my name?"
"Understood, Boss."
"..."
Zayden sighed.
It was hard to make this stubborn guy change how he addressed him.
After he got in, Yamagi walked around the car and got in on the other side.
Seeing him like this, Zayden smiled a little.
His behavior was somewhat goofy and endearing, despite his outward appearance that seemed incredibly intimidating, like a big bear.
Resting his chin in the palm of his hand, he looked outside.
When Yamagi's door was closed, the driver started driving.
On the way, he had Wilson, the driver, stop at a jewelry store.
**
**
Eiko Academy.
When the car stopped in front of the school, the first to get out was Yamagi.
Normally, Zayden waited for the driver or Yamagi to open the door for him. But he simply didn't want that.
Opening the door, he got out and saw Yamagi looking at him with an expression that made him laugh a little.
"Let's go, Yamagi." He said with a tone of amusement.
"Y-Yes." Yamagi responded a few seconds late.
Seeing him confused was interesting in its own way.
Maybe Zayden felt a bit vengeful because of Yamagi's lack of reaction to the change in his appearance?
But isn't it normal to want people to notice when you make a drastic change, especially close friends?
Huh... Maybe it is.
At least the people at the hotel didn't even recognize him at first.
He even got the number of one of the receptionists, hehe.
The interesting part was when she asked his name, and he answered.
Her reaction was pretty funny.
Laughing a little, Zayden started humming a song very softly.
"You seem happy, Boss." Yamagi commented. He returned to the stoic expression from before.
"You think so?" Zayden, looking away from him and up at the sky, added: "Maybe I really am."
For Zayden, no matter how much he recalled a past life and his current life portrayed him as a piece of shit who loved stealing the protagonist's women, he didn't care about any of that.
His future actions would determine his future, not how he was portrayed in the game. And even though in the game he did go after the girls who ended up with the protagonist in certain routes, he never did anything with the word "R." The dirtiest thing he ever did was use money to win over a girl who was going through tough times and needed money.
But now he himself considers such an attitude immoral. Still, it's important to note that, in the game, it was the girl—who knew his family was rich—who approached him, aware of his interest in her. In the end, both ended up using each other.
That said, he had no intention of caring whether there was a game that portrayed him as a 'villain' or not and would live his life.
In fact, he felt more 'free' now.
"Hey, that guy with Yamagi-san... Is that Zayden-san?"
"Wow! It's really him! He looks so different, I almost didn't recognize him!"
"Has he always been this handsome?"
"What do I do?"
"What do you mean 'What do I do?' Even if he changes his appearance, it doesn't matter if he's still a jerk on the inside, right?"
"I disagree. As long as he's good-looking, and on top of that, rich, even if he treats me a bit roughly... Actually, now that I think about it, it'd be even better if he's rough~"
After being recognized, what happened went beyond what Zayden could have imagined.
He felt like an animal in a zoo that had become an attraction.
Not all conversations revolved around him, but after realizing that many were talking about him, it was hard to pretend he didn't hear.
Well, it wasn't like he didn't expect something like this to happen. He was a famous delinquent at school, especially for being a Valtrex.
It would be strange if no one noticed him.
"Let's keep going, Yamagi." Zayden quickened his pace.
"Yes, Boss!" Yamagi agreed promptly, walking faster.
...
In classroom 1-A.
The moment Zayden and Yamagi entered, literally everyone fell silent, looking in their direction; not even when the sensei arrived was there a similar reaction.
Those who saw him daily recognized him and were shocked.
Maybe if he had come alone, it would have taken longer to recognize him, but Yamagi was the one who made them recognize him instantly.
Who would have thought that just removing some piercings, earrings, and changing his hairstyle would cause such a stir?
It was a bit difficult, but Zayden still managed to ignore the uncomfortable silence and walk to the back of the classroom.
His seat was at the last desk on the right, next to the window.
Yamagi was on the opposite side, near the wall and the back door.
...
Next to Zayden was Erika.
Erika is a curvy young woman with ample breasts, wide hips, slender legs and arms, fair skin, and golden-blonde hair in curly locks, with bangs covering one side of her face, emerald-green eyes, and two small earrings with butterfly pendants.
Erika was one of the conquest heroines in HHHS. However, unlike the other heroines, her love interest was Zayden from the start. It could be said that she's a kind of revenge for the protagonist, stealing the girl who likes the villain.
"Good morning, Zayden-kun." Erika greeted him, sleepy, adding: "Change of appearance?"
"Erika, good morning." He said: "And, yeah, I wanted to change things up a bit."
"It looks cool~" She smiled.
"Thanks." Zayden returned the smile.
From the backpack he hung on the side of the desk, Zayden took out a gift wrapped in lilac-blue paper.
Above Erika's head was an Affection Index of 51.
Saturday was Erika's birthday, though many had congratulated her last Friday.
"Here, a late birthday gift." He placed it on her desk.
Erika opened her sleepy eyes, looking at him with visible surprise in her eyes.
She wasn't the only one.
Since everyone was still confused by his change, even while talking among themselves, many inevitably glanced in his direction.
And seeing him give a gift to Erika was something even more unbelievable, after all, it was the first time they had seen him care enough about someone to give a birthday gift, even if a little late.
"Thank you~" Receiving an unexpected gift, especially from Zayden, fully woke Erika up. She asked: "Can I open it?"
"Go ahead." Zayden replied generously.
Opening the wrapping, she saw a beautiful box from GRAFF.
Already surprised, she opened the box and saw that it was a very beautiful necklace.
Some curious glances saw the moment Erika opened the little box.
When they saw what was inside, several collective gasps of surprise echoed.
One girl recognized the necklace: "Damn, isn't that the Butterfly Silhouette Necklace from GRAFF?"
The necklace had a pendant in white gold and diamonds shaped like a butterfly. On the silver chain, there were smaller butterflies every 3 to 5 cm.
"Can I really keep this?" Even without knowing the real value, Erika could imagine that this necklace was by no means cheap.
"Yes, I bought it specifically for you. I hope you like it." Zayden replied with a smile.
Erika lowered her head, blushing a little.
The tips of her ears turned red.
Without raising her head, she said: "So... I thank you."
At the same time she accepted, Zayden saw Erika's Affection Index rise to 63.
On Zayden's retina, a holographic screen appeared.
───────────
[Mission: Gain the favor of the opposite sex was successfully completed!]
[Reward: [Return] skill and 4,498,797.25 yen]
───────────
His smartphone vibrated in his pocket.
Taking it out, he read the notification that appeared:
[You received 4,498,797.25 yen]
'Status.' He thought.
───────────
[– Zayden Valtrex –]
Race: Human
Title: None
Level: 1
Next level: 0% - [0/100]
Wealth: 4,514,356.8 yen
───────────
'I knew it wouldn't be that simple to level up.'
Seeing that it didn't even increase a little didn't disappoint him. After all, he didn't have high hopes that there would be a change.
While he was lost in his thoughts, some girls started screaming.
Even with many talking at the same time, Zayden, who closed the status screen, managed to understand one or two things they were saying.
"Does this mean Zayden-san likes Erika-chan?"
"So, so... Did he change his appearance because of her?"
"But she's a gyaru, didn't she prefer his old look?"
'Why so much fuss just because I gave a simple necklace to someone?' He thought, shaking his head.
When he looked at Erika, he saw that her index had risen to 65.
'Huh? Is it that easy to increase the affection index?' He wondered doubtfully.
The reason for the increase became clear to him. The words said by the students must have somehow made her more affectionate toward him.
Maybe she also started to imagine that he had changed his appearance because of her.
That wasn't really the case, but he didn't bother to try to correct it.
When the sensei arrived in the classroom, the noise of conversations was still loud. It only fell silent when the sensei slammed the books on the desk and shouted: "Be quiet!"