[Beep... Beep...]
[System activated, game starts]
[Players who complete the strategy will receive point rewards]
[Strategy targets must meet the system-approved standards (for details, please click the Appendix)]
[Completing temporary events allows purchase of additional special items; players are encouraged to participate actively]
[Panel... activated]
[Mall... activated]
[Loading completed, wish you a pleasant gaming experience]
[Arrange your time reasonably and pay attention to self-protection;
Guard against fraud and make friends with sincerity;
... Stay away from hatchets (blacked out)]
Watanabe Tetsu stared intently at the blackboard. Amidst the math teacher's wild, cursive handwriting, a light blue, almost transparent panel suddenly popped up.
He blinked, then looked down to write in his notebook: Methods of representing sets include — enumeration, description...
"Click"
The pencil lead broke, leaving a small black smudge from the graphite on the clean white notebook.
Watanabe Tetsu pressed the end of the pencil, but no new lead came out. He took a spare 0.5mm pencil lead from his pencil case, threaded it into the tip like threading a needle, and then filled in the character "fa" (meaning "method") in "description method" in his notebook.
During this time, that light blue, almost transparent panel remained within his field of vision.
Awakening the system at this point? Isn't this a bit too late?
Watanabe Tetsu had been reborn in a remote village where buses only came once every two hours. By the time he reached kindergarten age, he had finally given up on unrealistic fantasies like "systems", "awakening a Stand after being stabbed by an arrow", "aliens", "time travelers", and "superpower users".
He decided to focus on studying hard.
In that village, the combined kindergarten, elementary, and junior high school had only five people including the teachers. Through diligent self-study, Watanabe Tetsu took the entrance exam for the current key high school in Tokyo and was admitted with the third-highest score in the school.
His next life goal was to get into the University of Tokyo.
After graduation, he planned to take the civil service exam, and then let taxpayers support him for the rest of his life.
But now, after working hard for such a long time, after planning his future, and after preparing himself to endure hardships, the system showed up?
If it was going to come, it should have come earlier; if it wasn't going to come, it should have stayed away entirely. What's with this neither-here-nor-there situation?
Watanabe Tetsu attended the math class seriously — fortunately, the panel didn't block his view, otherwise he would have really gotten angry.
The last time he got angry was just yesterday, when his homeroom teacher informed him that students at this school must join a club and were not allowed to leave school early under any circumstances.
He thought he should have gone to the neighboring Komyo High School instead.
Not only did the female students there wear super cute sailor uniforms, but students could also join the "Going Home Club" (a club for students who just want to go home after class). The more Watanabe Tetsu thought about it, the more depressed he became.
From this, he concluded: No matter how many times you get to restart life, there will always be regrets.
As for those who claim that restarting life once can make it free of any regrets, Watanabe Tetsu could say without hesitation: They are all liars, or fools with bad memories.
Math was the last class in the morning. As soon as the teacher announced the end of class, while the classroom still maintained the quiet atmosphere of the lesson, Kunii Osamu shouted loudly:
"Watanabe! Saito! Let's go, time for lunch!"
The math teacher, who was just about to leave the classroom, gave Kunii Osamu a disapproving look over his reading glasses.
"Hey you, can't you keep your voice down a bit!" Saito Keisuke scolded with a laugh, then asked: "What are we eating today? Set meal? Ramen? Or bread?"
"Ramen!"
"Okay, then let's decide on bread."
"Saito, you bastard, asking for a beating! Ora Ora Ora Ora!" (A famous battle cry from the manga *JoJo's Bizarre Adventure*, used during attacks)
"Muda Muda Muda Muda!" (Meaning "useless" in Japanese, another iconic line from *JoJo's Bizarre Adventure*, used to dismiss attacks)
"Dammit, you caught all of them! Watch this — Oni no Tsukami!" (Literally "Demon Entanglement", a reference to a technique in anime/manga)
"That's still far from enough, Osamu! Take this — Jigoku Zoushou Shoutou!" (Literally "Hell Burial Hand Knife", another fictional combat move)
"Huh, my nape?! Keisuke, why are you actually hitting me? We agreed no physical attacks!"
Watanabe Tetsu closed his textbook, stood up, and walked out of the classroom with them, under the strange looks of his other classmates.
These two were the friends Watanabe Tetsu had made in high school. They usually ate together and talked about anime, manga, light novels, beautiful girls, and other such topics.
On Saturdays and Sundays when Watanabe Tetsu didn't have part-time work, they would also make plans to hang out.
When they reached the cafeteria, the three of them finally ordered 400-yen grilled meat set meals — which included grilled meat, roasted shiitake mushrooms, salad, rice, and miso soup.
Kunii Osamu stuffed rice into his mouth in big bites, speaking indistinctly: "Want to go to the arcade after school today?"
"I'm in," Saito Keisuke nodded. "By the way, Watanabe, don't you have a part-time job after school on Wednesday?"
"That was the original plan," Watanabe Tetsu took a bite of the grilled meat and thought it tasted just average.
"Original plan? Did something happen?" Saito Keisuke asked.
"Could it be a date? Has this day finally come?!" Kunii Osamu wailed. "Is Watanabe going to be the first one among us three to become a real man?!"
Saito Keisuke turned his head curiously, looking at Watanabe Tetsu: "Is that true? Who is the other person? Which class is she in? What does she look like?"
"It's nothing like that. Teacher Koizumi gave me an order — I have to join a club today."
"Oh, that thing. Tch, boring," Kunii Osamu went back to shoveling rice into his mouth. Only after he finished the rice did he start eating the grilled meat and salad.
This guy was really weird.
Saito Keisuke said: "How about joining the Computer Research Club? There are no cute girls, but you can play a lot of games for free."
"Join the baseball club, Watanabe! Let me lead you to Koshien and make you a star of tomorrow!" Kunii Osamu declared with great momentum.
Watanabe Tetsu said calmly: "Aren't you still the one fetching water and handing towels to the second-year seniors?"
"This is just temporary! The club president told me secretly that I can join the training next week!"
"Is that so," Watanabe Tetsu thought the salad was okay; the vegetables were fresh enough.
"Hey, I'm serious! The president really told me that!"
"All right, all right, you're being too noisy," Saito Keisuke said as he picked up his bowl and took a sip of soup.
After lunch, there was a one-hour lunch break. In the past, the three of them would gather to chat, but today Watanabe Tetsu decided to go check out the clubs first.
"Shall we go with you?" Saito Keisuke asked.
"No need," Watanabe Tetsu waved his hand. "You two go back to the classroom first."
"Okay then."
After parting ways with the two, Watanabe Tetsu took the time to study the system on his way to the club building.
The words [Panel] and [Mall] were highlighted.
He tried to open the Panel with his mind, and it opened smoothly.
[Character: Watanabe Tetsu]
[Age: 15]
[Intelligence: 7]
[Charm: 8]
[Stamina: 3]
[Items: None]
[Skills: None]
[Points: 100]
[Money: 154,650 Yen]
The average value was 5 points.
Looking at it this way, it was correct that he was smart, and it was true that he was good-looking; there was also no problem with girls lapping him once in a long-distance run.
When it came to skills, Watanabe Tetsu really hadn't found any special talents he had so far.
He then opened the [Mall].
[Item: Detector (Original Price: 1000 / Special Price: 100)]
[Money: 100 Yen / 1 Point]
[Intelligence: 1 Point / 100,000 Points]
[Charm: 1 Point / 10,000 Points]
[Stamina: 1 Point / 5,000 Points]
[Skills: Beginner — Writing (100), Proficient — Image Editing (1000), Mastery — Cooking (10,000), Grand Master — Fishing (100,000)]
He only had 100 points, which seemed to be just enough to buy the Detector, whose purpose he didn't even know yet.
Watanabe searched for a full minute before finally finding the [Appendix] menu button, which was so transparent that it was almost invisible.
With this kind of trick, it was obvious that there were rules designed to trick players!
[Appendix]
{1. The player's death has no connection to this game; the game has no obligation to revive the player; (Injuries and disabilities can be repaired; please explore the methods on your own)}
"..." Watanabe Tetsu stared at this clause and fell into deep thought.
{2. Before targeting each strategy object, it is recommended to use the Detector first to check if they qualify as a targetable object (Detector can be purchased in the Mall)}
{3. One additional item purchase option will be added each month;}
{4. There is no upper limit on money exchange, and it can be used with confidence in reality;}
{5. After Intelligence, Charm, and Stamina reach 10 points, the point requirement for subsequent exchanges will double;}
{6. Skills will be randomly refreshed at the end of each month;}
{7. Each refresh will include one Beginner-level skill, one Proficient-level skill, one Mastery-level skill, and one Grand Master-level skill; the prices will remain unchanged;}
{8. Beginner-level skill corresponds to the level of an average college graduate; Proficient-level corresponds to that of a professional in the industry; Mastery-level corresponds to that of an industry elite; Grand Master-level corresponds to the limit of human capability;}
{9. When exchanging for Intelligence, the player must select specific knowledge or skills they wish to excel in (e.g., if "painting" is selected, the player will become an unparalleled genius in painting, with the potential to surpass the Grand Master level);}
...
{997. The player is obligated to keep this game confidential;}
{998. Out of consideration for basic human rights, the player may freely choose whether to carry out a strategy;}
{999. After the successful completion of a strategy, the player shall bear all consequences on their own;}
{1000. The game reserves the right to interpret all rules.}
The rules filled ten dense pages. To finish reading them, Watanabe stood stupidly in the corridor between the teaching building and the club building for over ten minutes.
After reading them carefully, Watanabe Tetsu roughly understood the game.
He needed to strategize (win over) women and get them to sincerely agree to be his girlfriend — only then could he earn game points.
And with game points, he could almost do anything he wanted. Of course, it required a bit of luck — depending on whether the refreshed skills were powerful enough and whether they were what he wanted.
This was basically forcing players to become playboys.
Watanabe Tetsu didn't know what to say about this game, but he figured that since there was no penalty anyway, it wouldn't hurt to try. So he exchanged his points for the [Detector].
[Detector: Can view female information (3/3 uses)]
Just then, a female student walked past Watanabe Tetsu. He clicked to use the Detector.