"I'm screwed!"
The moment Mio laid eyes on Haruno Yukinoshita, alarm bells started ringing in her head.
Sure, Haruno was charming—definitely Mio's type, no question. But she was also absolutely, positively the last person Mio wanted to see. If the system didn't make Haruno a task target, fine, no problem. But if it did...
She was done for.
It... should be fine, right?
Based on her deductions, the system seemed to target characters who had a lot of screen time in the original story. While Haruno had a decent amount of appearances, it definitely wasn't that much. Given the system's patterns, it probably wouldn't make her a conquest target.
While Mio was observing Haruno, Haruno was also studying these two uniformed beauties.
She glanced at Mashiro Shiina briefly before moving on. But when her eyes landed on Mio, her interest immediately piqued.
This white-haired beauty—upon seeing Haruno—showed no curiosity whatsoever. Instead, she looked slightly wary and worried. It was only for an instant, but Haruno still caught it.
If she remembered correctly, this should be their first meeting. Otherwise, with that distinctive appearance, Haruno would've remembered her after just one encounter.
And Mio should also be meeting her for the first time.
So the question was: why would this white-haired girl show such wariness toward a beautiful older sister she was meeting for the first time?
It couldn't be because she was jealous of Haruno's looks, right?
Jealousy looked different—Haruno knew that expression all too well. This wasn't it.
How interesting.
"Shizuka, aren't you going to introduce me to these two cute kouhai?"
"Shirai Mio, a transfer student who just arrived. Mashiro Shiina, Chihiro's cousin, also a recent transfer." After Shizuka finished, she turned to Mio and Mashiro. "This is Haruno Yukinoshita, a graduate of our school. She's a university student now. She's... sort of your senior, I guess."
"What do you mean 'sort of'?" Haruno protested. It didn't have any effect.
"Why are you here?" Chihiro asked curiously.
"To drink, obviously. But it was so boring over there, so I decided to relocate here instead." As Haruno spoke, she sat down right next to Mio.
At this distance, Mio could clearly smell Haruno's perfume. She wasn't knowledgeable enough about fragrances to identify it, but it smelled really nice.
Wait, no. This wasn't the time to be thinking about Haruno's perfume. She should be worrying about whether she needed to bail.
Even though no task involving Haruno had triggered yet, Mio had a sinking feeling that staying here would be extremely dangerous.
Best to find an excuse and run.
Just as she was about to make her move, the system's voice suddenly rang in her ears: "It's rare to encounter such a beautiful senior—why would you want to run away?"
"Please find a way to pique Haruno Yukinoshita's interest before she leaves. Success may reward you with a Haruno Yukinoshita series card or item. Failure will result in drawing from the punishment deck."
"Task complete. The host's conquest rating with Haruno Yukinoshita has increased by 3 points."
[Haruno Yukinoshita's Disguise] Allows you to more easily play the role you imagine, thus concealing your true self. Part of the Haruno Yukinoshita series. Collecting a certain number of cards from the same series will provide additional bonuses.
[Haruno Yukinoshita's Domestic Skills] Improves your housekeeping abilities. Part of the Haruno Yukinoshita series.
[Haruno Yukinoshita's Insight] Enhances your observational skills, allowing you to notice things you previously overlooked. Part of the Haruno Yukinoshita series.
In the frozen moment, Mio stared blankly at the three cards floating before her. The instant she heard the system's voice, she knew something was wrong. She just hadn't expected the task to auto-complete the second it was issued.
This was a first.
If all future tasks involving Haruno could just auto-complete like this, she'd be set for life.
Of course, that was wishful thinking. The system would never do something that unprofitable.
The task was done, and Mio was happy about that. But she'd also noticed something concerning: Haruno was already interested in her.
That wasn't right. They'd only just met—barely a few minutes ago—and Mio hadn't done anything except say hello. So why was Haruno already interested in her?
With time frozen, Mio had plenty of opportunity to think this through.
Yet no matter how long she pondered, she couldn't figure out why.
It wasn't until the system started impatiently urging her to hurry up and choose that Mio finally selected Haruno Yukinoshita's Disguise. Whether from this reward or from the original story, it was clear that Haruno was incredibly perceptive.
Mio was confident in her acting skills, but just to be safe, she chose the disguise ability.
As Mio made her choice, time resumed.
After sitting down beside Mio, Haruno didn't immediately strike up a conversation. She just rested her chin on one hand, watching the white-haired beauty with obvious interest.
For most people, being stared at like this would make them squirm with discomfort.
But Mio had been an actress in her previous life—this kind of thing was routine for her. Still, her current character was supposed to be an ordinary high school girl, so she put on a hesitant expression before addressing Haruno: "Senpai, is there something strange about me?"
"No, I just think you're really pretty, kouhai, so I couldn't help staring." Haruno smiled gently, then continued, "Actually, you give me a really familiar feeling—like I've seen you somewhere before."
Hearing that, Mio pretended to think for a moment. As someone who'd transmigrated here, there was no way Haruno could've met her before. This was obviously a probe.
Probably because Mio hadn't managed to control her emotions and expression quickly enough when she first saw Haruno, and Haruno had picked up on something.
What a terrifying woman.