Tomoya had been specially admitted to Shuchiin due to his popularity as an online influencer—just like athletic recruits.
Shuchiin promoted diversity.
In Canada, influencers were even considered a valid immigration profession.
Of course, tuition was the same as everyone else's—admission didn't guarantee leniency.
Bad grades still meant being kicked out.
Eriri opened her pink lips, ready to call out to him, but watched Tomoya run farther away and eventually closed her mouth.
But her gaze followed him the whole way—until it landed on Kasumigaoka Utaha.
At first, she thought Tomoya was in a hurry.
But to her surprise, he was actually running over to greet Utaha!
"Aki, you idiot!"
Eriri stomped her foot angrily and cursed under her breath.
Running past her without a word was bad enough—but to run straight to Kasumigaoka Utaha of all people?
"You just had to be with her, huh?"
"Stupid Aki, bastard, go to hell!"
Eriri puffed out her cheeks in anger and stormed after them.
She couldn't take it anymore.
Back on March 20th—her birthday.
Tomoya had promised to go out with her. She had invited him first.
She had waited eagerly, full of anticipation, only to be met with a half-hearted birthday celebration and a quick exit.
She had gotten excited for nothing, spent days hyping herself up—only to end up spending her birthday with her dear little sister, Sagiri.
And on the way to Sagiri's house, she had seen Tomoya walking through town—shopping with Utaha.
She had immediately gone up to confront him.
They got into a fight—again—because they'd been assigned to the same spring field trip group.
Both already annoyed at each other, that incident pushed things over the edge.
Eriri's cute face scrunched up in frustration. She stomped after him while fuming.
But before she could catch up, Tomoya finished saying a few words to Utaha and took off again.
"Dammit! Bastard!"
Eriri froze like a deflated balloon, watching Tomoya run farther away.
"You promised to protect me when we were little, but now you can't even take my birthday seriously! I'm so mad!"
"Tomoya, if I were ever in danger, you'd come save me... right?"
"Ugh, you stupid otaku... jerk..."
"I'll never forgive you!"
Eriri cursed bitterly in her heart, feeling jealous and sad—her mood hitting rock bottom.
If she were the heroine in a doujinshi, this would be the moment when a fake male lead would take advantage of her sadness. The real one would regret it with tears... but too late.
…
By the time Yoru reached the school gate, most people were already gone.
He walked along the street in front of the school. Around the corner was a busy shopping district, with the train station at the far end.
A Honda Fit passed him. Driving it was Kirisu.
Yoru clenched his fists—then slowly let go.
"Kasumigaoka, Shinomiya, Kirisu ..."
"All three of them targeted me during the field trip. No doubt about it—they're all bad women."
"If my theory's correct, the culprit must be a girl. Maybe she's trying to get revenge on Kasumigaoka and used me as a pawn."
"Or maybe... I was just collateral damage."
"In that case, would the culprit have a golden treasure chest above her head too?"
"I've never seen one on a guy's head. Seems like they only appear on women..."
Yoru kept his head down, deep in thought, as he turned the corner into the bustling shopping street.
After school, students from Shuchiin and nearby public schools all came here to hang out.
The noise in the street made it impossible for Yoru to think clearly.
So, he pulled out his phone and started browsing news to pass the time.
He wasn't in a hurry. Besides, tomorrow was the weekend, two days of rest.
After walking for a few hundred meters, Yoru passed by a bookstore.
But this bookstore mainly sold light novels, manga, ACG-related merchandise, and games.
The store was large, and its transparent windows were covered in posters of popular anime and cute girls from light novels.
Yoru paused for a moment, glanced at the new arrivals and discount signs outside the store.
After a bit of hesitation, he stepped inside.
Right at the entrance, he saw a life-sized cardboard standee of a character from the currently super popular game "Genshin Impact," named Raiden Shogun.
He hadn't played it before and wasn't very interested in that kind of game, but he'd heard of it anyway.
Still, even if he hadn't played it, Yoru could name almost all the characters.
The reason? The models and illustrations were incredibly lewd.
Yoru had seen plenty of doujins of Genshin Impact.
He had even heard that some compensated dating girls in Shibuya and Harajuku would cosplay Genshin characters to hike up their prices, disturbing the market.
After glancing over casually, Yoru walked to another part of the store.
Just after he left, a blonde gyaru-style girl in a Shuchiin school uniform walked in and started measuring the Raiden Shogun standee with a ruler.
Unaware, Yoru had made his way to the light novel section and picked up a discounted old title, Illusionary Demon Sword Vol. 1, flipping through it idly.
A moment later.
Utaha came around the corner of the light novel shelves and immediately spotted Yoru, squatting on the floor, his large body extremely conspicuous.
"Ugh, just my luck. Why did I have to run into him?" Kasumigaoka Utaha furrowed her long brows, clear irritation written all over her beautiful face.
Anyone would be upset running into a disgusting fat otaku who had stalked her, stared at her thighs while drooling, possibly stole her stockings and panties, and looked so gross.
"Kasumigaoka Utaha?"
Yoru sensed something in the corner of his eye, turned, and looked up.
"Just great!" Utaha didn't bother hiding her annoyance and rolled her eyes.
"Do you have proof it was me?"
Yoru's anger flared up, and he threw down the light novel in his hand, striding up to Utaha.
He remembered the comments on the school forum, the whispers from classmates in the classroom, and the vandalized desk.
And it was only the first day.
"No, but you were staring at my thighs and drooling. That's not something you can fake, right?" Utaha looked a little stunned as she stared at the massive Yoru standing in front of her.
If someone his size forced himself on her, she wouldn't be able to fight back.
She instinctively took a small step back.
Yoru said nothing, looking above her head where a golden treasure chest had started to appear again.
"Speechless? Disgusting." Utaha narrowed her wine-red eyes and muttered with disdain.
"You really haven't considered that maybe another girl is setting you up?" Yoru took a deep breath and stared back at Kasumigaoka Utaha, forcing down the anger boiling inside.
Her expression flickered ever so slightly, then she scoffed coldly several times.
"No one else hates me that much. Seems like only you."
"Are you done? If you're done, I'm leaving."
Utaha didn't want to stay a second longer. Just looking at Yoru disgust her.
Someone like him would probably never be loved in his entire life.
Even exchanging a few words with him might be enough to make him overjoyed.
"Wait."
Yoru stopped Utaha and began talking about what had happened that night under the streetlamp.
As he spoke, he kept an eye on the progress bar above her golden treasure chest.
A short moment later…
"Try coming up with a better excuse…" Utaha flung her hand dismissively and walked away.
"Self-righteous bitch." Yoru muttered, still staring at the golden chest above her.
"It increased a little again."
"So I was right..."
After all, this treasure chest that only he could see...
What else could be inside other than treasure?