Chapter 169: Chapter 34
The sun had long since dipped below the horizon, casting the Kageyama estate in the warm, amber glow of its evening lights.
On the massive table, the once-pristine practice exams were now covered in red ink, scribbled notes, and a few stray crumbs from Touka’s pastries.
"Ah, finally finished!" Suzune groaned, her spine letting out a satisfying series of pops as she arched her back.
She stretched her arms toward the high ceiling, her face a mask of weary triumph. "I feel like I’ve been sitting here since the iji era. My brain is officially liquid."
"God, I just want to die. Just leave
here to beco part of the rug," Yukina muttered, her forehead hitting the mahogany table with a soft thud.
Emi, whose stamina for reading was usually legendary, didn’t even reach for the stack of manga sitting tantalizingly close to her elbow. "I’m too tired... I don’t even want to read my new volus. The words are starting to look like ants."
"Can we play now? Please?" Sakai asked, his eyes darting toward Seijirou’s high-end gaming setup in the corner of the room.
He pointed a trembling finger at the glowing PC tower. "I need to hit sothing that isn’t a multiple-choice question."
"Of course! We’re done for today, right, Suzune?" Renji added, already halfway out of his chair, his pompadour slightly wilted from the ntal strain.
Rei watched them with a look of mock superiority, though she was also surreptitiously massaging her temple. "How la. Just this little bit of effort and you’re all completely exhausted? You guys are in for a rude awakening when you get to college. The libraries don’t serve beef stew like how Yuko-san serves us."
"I don’t plan on going to college!" Sakai declared with a toothy grin, looking entirely unbothered. "I’m going to inherit the family business. As long as I know how to weigh a flour and count change, I’m golden!"
" too," Renji chid in, nodding in agreent. "I’ve already decided. I plan to work for the Boss’s family empire after I graduate. My path is carved in stone—or at least in the Kageyama payroll."
Yukina lifted her head just enough to peek over her arms. "Yep. My life plan is even simpler. I’m planning to be Seijirou’s mistress, so going to college really doesn’t have any appeal to . Why study economics when I can just... be the economy?"
"Hmm," Emi nodded in solemn agreent, as if Yukina had just stated a fundantal law of the universe.
"My mom’s rich," Suzune added with a cheeky wink. "I’m basically set for life as long as I don’t burn the house down. College is just a four-year vacation I don’t need."
Rei stared at the group in stunned silence, her mouth slightly agape as she looked from the smiling delinquents to the indifferent manga enthusiast, searching for a spark of academic ambition.
There was none.
She clicked her tongue in frustration, realizing she was outnumbered by people who had already checked out of the rat race.
"You... you people are unbelievable," she muttered, though her eyes were twinkling with amusent.
"My, my, it seems like you’ve finally realized your own worth, Tachibana Rei-san," Erina chuckled softly, gracefully swirling the last of her tea. "Even if you graduate from a top-tier university with honors, there is no guarantee you’d find a job that matches your... unique temperant. So, why struggle? Why don’t you just co work for ? I’m always in need of a loyal guard dog."
"As if! I’d rather give myself to Seijirou than work for you!" Rei snapped, her face flushing pink.
"That sounds like your Plan A to ," Yukina teased, leaning her chin on her hand.
"No, it’s not! It’s my Plan B!" Rei shouted, before her eyes went wide and her face turned a deep, burning crimson.
The room erupted in a chorus of "Oooooh!" and whistles.
"You have a statistically high chance of succeeding with your Plan B, Tachibana Rei," Haruka said, her voice remaining perfectly robotic as she began to stack the papers. "Given the current social dynamics and Seijirou-sama’s tolerance for your presence, the success rate is approximately 74%."
"Hmm, I already told my mom and dad that I will only have Seijirou in my life," Rindou stated, her voice calm but her gaze unwavering as she looked at Rei with a small, challenging smile. "So my life plan is pretty much already set in stone. I don’t mind sharing the house, but I’m claiming the master kitchen."
"How about you, Touka? Shou?" Suzune asked, turning the spotlight onto the last two mbers of the circle.
Touka jumped slightly, a bright blush creeping up her neck. "W-Well, if all goes well... I’d probably like to work for the national aerospace agency. It’s been my dream to see the stars up close. Though, managing the ’Barcade’ is quite fun too!"
I want to be with Seijirou-kun too!
Shou, who had been quietly enjoying the chaos, leaned back in his chair with his hands behind his head. "? I just want to find a nice girl to settle down with and live a quiet life. And I’ll probably work under the Boss as well. It’s less tiring than being so professional athletes like my whag parents wanted ."
"Well," Suzune said, stood up and tossing a ga controller to Sakai. "Since everyone’s future is so well-planned, I guess we can afford to waste a few hours on a boss raid. Let’s go."
The roar of excitent that followed was the loudest sound of the night.
*
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While the harmonious chaos of the Kageyama study session continued—fueled by their newfound energy to play gas—the world outside was slipping into a surreal nightmare.
Tadano Taro, still reeling from his earlier existential crisis and the visceral high of his first street fight, stood frozen on a bustling sidewalk.
He stared in absolute shock at the scene unfolding rely ten ters away.
A young man, unassuming and slight of build, had eye-covering bangs, was looking at girls openly with lewd, predatory look.
Just then, he took out a black plain face mask and put it on.
The mont the mask covered his face, it was as if the boy had been erased from reality.
His presence simply vanished.
People walked past him as if he were a ghost; his footsteps made no sound, and his shadow seed to blend into the pavent.
Then, the horror began.
In broad daylight, amidst a crowd of Saturday shoppers, the boy began to molest girls.
He moved with a sickening, predatory confidence; no one called out to him, no one scread, no one even stared at him.
Even when he reached out and began to thodically strip a young woman of her clothing, the world continued to turn, as if nothing is happening.
The boy she was talking to—presumably her boyfriend—continued his sentence, laughing at a joke, staring directly at her face even as her blouse was unbuttoned by invisible hands.
It was as if their brains refused to perceive the violation happening right in front of them.
Taro felt a cold sweat break out across his neck.
He had dread of this. In the darkest, most insecure corners of his mind, he had imagined having this power—to be completely invisible, to walk through the world unperceived, to take what he wanted without consequence.
He had fantasized about a thousand improper ways to use such an ability.
But seeing it in the flesh? Seeing the vacant, glazed-over eyes of the victims and the smug, oily movents of the perpetrator?
It was honestly, revoltingly disgusting.
Without hesitation, Taro’s hand shot down to the roadside, his fingers curled around a jagged piece of loose masonry.
Then, with a grunt of effort, he hurled the rock as jt whistled through the air and struck the masked youth squarely in the forehead with a dull thwack.
Startled, the young man spun around, his hand flying to his bleeding brow as his eyes locked onto Taro’s.
The mont he realized Taro was looking directly at him—tracking his every movent—he shivered in a paroxysm of pure, primal fear.
He had been seen! For the first ti since he had received this magical item, the veil of his invisibility had been pierced!
The young man didn’t stop to fight as terror overtook his body as he turned and bolted into the crowd.
The mont he was a certain distance away, the "spell" on the area finally ’clicked’ shut.
The sensory static vanished, and the girl, suddenly realizing she was standing in the middle of a public square without her clothes, let out a piercing, heart-wrenching cry of sha and confusion.
"KYAAAA!"
Her boyfriend, snapping out of his trance, looked at her in horror as he imdiately stripped off his own jacket to cover her, pulling her close while glaring at the gathering onlookers, shouting at them to turn away.
"Bastards! What are you all looking at!?"
Back to Taro, his face was twisted in a mask of fury.
He didn’t care about the couple; his eyes were fixed on the black-hooded figure disappearing into the distance.
"Hey! You bastard! Get back here!" Taro roared, his voice cracking with rage.
Taro was not a good person by any stretch of the imagination, no, he was incredibly self-centered, selfish, and possessed a self-esteem so fragile it required a literal "System" to keep it upright.
He believed the world should revolve around him and his desires, he was an insecure pervert who couldn’t handle the reality that the girls he liked had lives and histories that didn’t involve him.
He was the type to bla the universe for being "unfair" rather than ever looking in a mirror.
And yet, despite possessing supernatural powers—despite having a system designed to "conquer" heroines and planning to use it to surround himself with beauties—not once had the thought occurred to him to directly manipulate or violate soone like this.
He wanted to be "the man," the one they chose, the one they fought for.
He wanted to be a King, not a parasite.
He was not a good man, not at all, but he would never allow sothing so hideous to happen right before his eyes and simply do nothing!
To Taro, this wasn’t just a cri; it was an insult to the very concept of the "Protagonist" he was trying to beco.
"HEY!" Taro scread again as he reached a street corner.
He skidded around the bend, his sneakers screeching on the asphalt, but the alleyway ahead was empty.
The masked boy had vanished into the maze of the city’s backstreets.
Taro stood there, breathing heavily, his chest heaving as he leaned against a brick wall.
He reached down and punched the masonry, gritting his teeth in a spasm of pure frustration.
"Damn it! I let him get away!"
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