Exchange

Task: ① Completed (Rewards Issued)

② Follow the main characters to escape the school. Success: 20 Reincarnation Points; Failure: Annihilation.

Subsequent tasks unlocked upon success.

Overall Rating: Weakling

Seeing that rating, Kurumi was covered in Black Threads. How discouraging—she was at least much stronger than an ordinary person, right? Just as Kurumi was about to keep pondering how to blend into the main characters' group, the bell rang.

Immediately, a crowd of female students surrounded Kurumi, chattering like little sparrows as they fired off questions.

"Classmate Tokisaki, what skincare products do you use? Your skin is so nice!"

"Classmate Tokisaki, are you a Young Lady? That elegance that goes straight to the bone is amazing."

"Want me to show you around the campus? How about we eat lunch together?"

The beastly male students on the periphery saw that Kurumi was surrounded by girls and felt too embarrassed to squeeze in. One by one, they could only watch the stunning new transfer student from their seats.

Kurumi wasn't quite sure how to answer, but relying on this body's instincts, she responded one by one, chatting pleasantly with the group of girls.

After a class period of spreading the word, the students in her class ran off to brag to friends in other classes. Almost every break, students from other classes would peek through the windows to catch a glimpse of the so-called "beautiful transfer student."

This kind of commotion made even Kurumi feel a bit uneasy. It seemed having too much charm wasn't entirely a good thing—at least Mo Xiao's soul inside Kurumi still wasn't used to being the center of attention like this.

Fortunately, Kurumi had arrived at school in the afternoon. Without joining any clubs, she successfully became a member of the Going Home Club. Smiling and nodding to everyone who greeted her with a "See you tomorrow," by the time she reached the school gate, her head was almost numb from nodding.

This scene happened to be witnessed by Komuro Takashi's trio, who had no club activities that day. Hisashi Igou lightly elbowed Komuro Takashi beside him, grinning as he looked at him. "Takashi, are you interested? I heard she's a super beautiful transfer student who just moved into Class 3-A from another school. And her whole vibe is amazing!"

Before Komuro Takashi could react, Miyamoto Rei beside him frowned. "What's so great about her? She's just pretty. Where are your eyes looking?!" With that, she grabbed Hisashi Igou's ear and dragged him forward.

"Ow, ow, mercy, mercy! Rei, go easy! I swear I won't look anymore!" Hisashi Igou half-jokingly begged for mercy.

Hearing the flirtatious bickering between the two, Komuro Takashi's hanging hand clenched tightly, his knuckles turning white. Watching the pair ahead, he felt a sharp pain in his heart.

Even though the new transfer student was far prettier than Rei, the one he loved was still Rei. "Wasn't it promised? When we were kids, we said we'd always be together. Why are you with Hisashi Igou now?"

Komuro Takashi's face darkened as he lowered his head, recalling the past. Watching the two ahead, who hadn't noticed him at all, he felt his life grow bleak.

One was his childhood friend, the other his best buddy. "What does Hisashi Igou have that I don't?" he thought as he said goodbye to them and returned home. Without even greeting anyone, he locked himself in his room.

Throwing off the blanket covering his head, Komuro Takashi's eyes were bloodshot as he gritted his teeth. "It's all their fault. Why did they betray me? Was that promise really worth nothing?!"

After spitting out those words bitterly, he closed his eyes in pain. A tear slipped down his cheek, falling onto the bedsheet. He had never looked for the fault in himself, never considered that he might be the problem. He always believed he hadn't changed—only Miyamoto Rei had.

"She's vain. She chose the more popular Hisashi Igou and abandoned me. What should I do? I have to win her back!"

But realizing he had no plan, his newly formed ambition vanished instantly.

"Sigh... I'll think about it tomorrow." With a sigh, Komuro Takashi got up to close the curtains, just as his mother called him for dinner.

Back to Kurumi, the "Young Lady" the school had pegged her as bought a boxed lunch from the supermarket and went home. She was no longer the powerful Mo Xiao from Main God Space, nor did she have the strength of Kurumi Tokisaki from the Date A Live world. So she still got hungry—at least three meals a day were necessary.

Back home, she reheated the food. She still couldn't stomach what the Japanese called "cold food." After quickly eating, she began browsing the miniaturized Main God Mall to see what she could exchange.

According to Kurumi's thinking, the task of joining the main characters' group should be quite easy—basically a free 20 Reincarnation Points. With a total of 30 points, she had to exchange for something useful, right?

Otherwise, what would she use to fight the Dead Bodies? Mastery of Martial Arts? She didn't want close contact with a Dead Body—rejected! Mastery of Firearms? How would she explain the gun she exchanged? Claim she was a secret agent? Rejected!

Was she really going to copy the main characters? Swing a baseball bat around smashing Dead Bodies? Exhausting and unrewarding, plus blood would splatter all over her—rejected!

Thinking it over, the only option was to use a cold weapon like Busujima Saeko. What was the most cost-effective? A katana? Silently glancing at her strength stat, Kurumi sighed again, unable to resist holding her forehead.

"Why didn't I exchange for a cold weapon proficiency back in Main God Space?" Now, forget all cold weapons—just a single Mastery of Swordsmanship cost 50 Reincarnation Points! Good heavens, when did it get so expensive? This was outright robbery. She had to complain, absolutely!

But there was no way around it... She browsed the exchange prices for katanas in the mall.

Wooden Sword: 1 Point

Discarded Iron Katana: 2 Points

Rusty Katana: 3 Points

Steel Katana: 7 Points

Magic Imprint Katana (Wind-elemental Severing Technique): Conditions Not Met

Kurumi had her eye on the Steel Katana. She just didn't know how many Dead Bodies her physical condition would let her take down. After all, one point of a stat here cost a full 50 points!

If she couldn't swing it anymore, she'd just hand the katana to Busujima Saeko. Wasn't she incredibly skilled in swordsmanship? As long as she stuck with her, she should be fine. Then she could coast through the whole thing and collect Reincarnation Points—how satisfying would that be?

The more she thought about it, the more feasible it seemed. She immediately exchanged for the Steel Katana. Picking it up, she felt its substantial weight! Swinging it was a bit strenuous—that was her 0.8 strength stat causing trouble!

Somewhat helplessly, she stored the katana in her Spatial Backpack. Thirty small slots were already five filled, giving off a cheap knockoff MMORPG vibe. But as long as it worked, who cared?

Then Kurumi faced the most important task of the day: taking a bath!

Having turned into a girl, she had developed a mild case of cleanliness. Taking a bath every day was a must, wasn't it?

Swallowing hard, she grabbed her change of clothes. With a look of grim determination, as if heading into battle, she slowly shuffled to the bathroom and ran the hot water.

Piece by piece, her clothes came off. Kurumi looked at herself in the mirror, her face flushed red. Until her pure white body was completely unbound, she quickly turned away, covering her nose. She felt that if she kept looking, she'd get a nosebleed—how embarrassing would that be?

Her arm could feel the smooth, supple texture. She fanned her face vigorously with her hand, then dashed into the bathtub and sat down.

Her exposed face was now like a fine red apple, tempting anyone who saw it to take a bite. Her jet-black hair cascaded into the water like a waterfall, smooth as silk.

Somewhat awkwardly, she scrubbed her body. The constant electric tingles showed just how sensitive this body was. Several times, Kurumi nearly let out a moan.

She finished washing in a flash, put on her pajamas, her face still bright red. Without waiting for her hair to dry completely, she dove into the covers like a shy little rabbit.