Duan Mu

Early in the morning, the streets were utterly quiet. A shadow darted through the spaces between buildings, sometimes racing across rooftops, sometimes crawling along the ground, with meows echoing all around.

At last, amid a scream of unparalleled anguish, a black-haired young man emerged from the shadows of the buildings, holding a cat.

The young man was in his early twenties and fairly handsome, but his face was covered in claw marks.

"I thought you were killing a cat."

A burly middle-aged man burst into laughter when he saw the young man coming out of the alley. "Duan Mu, that Granny Shuiyue's practically become a regular of yours!"

"It's Duan Mu, not Duanmu!"

As he spoke, Duan Mu stuffed the plump cat struggling in his arms into a sack he'd prepared beforehand. He couldn't understand why this fat cat, which couldn't even be bothered to move when other people petted it, always acted like it was on fire the moment it saw him.

"What's the difference?"

"There's a huge difference, and they're pronounced differently, too."

Duan Mu couldn't be bothered to deal with the uncle who couldn't even get his name right. He slung the sack over his shoulder, left the main street, and turned into an alley. At last, he stopped in front of a residence and knocked.

Before long, an old woman who looked to be in her seventies or eighties opened the door.

Of course, that was only how she looked.

As far as Duan Mu knew, the old woman was at least a hundred and fifty years old.

"Granny Shuiyue, here's your cat."

As soon as he saw her, Duan Mu's face softened into a warm smile. He reached into the sack, scooped out the fat cat, and handed it to the old woman.

Granny Shuiyue's eyes lit up. "Sorry for the trouble, Duan Mu."

"No trouble at all. It was the least I could do."

"By the way, how much was it?"

Duan Mu was speechless. Granny, if you don't want to pay, just say so. The going rate for finding a lost pet was a thousand rings. He'd found her cat so many times, and she still asked.

Even so, Duan Mu's smile didn't change. He remained as gentle as ever. "There's no need to pay. We've known each other for so long. If you don't need anything else, I'll head back."

"Thank you so much."

Granny Shuiyue spoke as she closed the door, leaving Duan Mu's smile a little stiff.

That old woman...

Duan Mu didn't take it to heart. He hadn't taken the job for the money anyway. After saying "Goodbye" through the door, he turned toward his shop, though his attention was focused on the system in his mind.

Shuiyue Yu's Favorability +1, gained 4 Experience Points

"She's stingy. Her favorability went from 19 to 20, and I only got 4 Experience Points?"

Name: Duan Mu

Race: Human

Level: Eighth Stage

Physique: Beginner (16/500)

Spiritual Pressure: Low (743/1000)

Hakuda: Not Activated (0/50)

Shunpo: Beginner (145/500)

Zanjutsu: Beginner (486/500)

Zanpakuto: Not Activated (Activation conditions unknown)

Kido:

Hado #4: Byakurai Intermediate (3213/10000)

Special Techniques:

Canceled Incantation Low (16/1000)

Current Experience Points: 186.

↓ Expand to view Favorability interface.

...

"Would activating Hakuda make similar jobs easier in the future?" Duan Mu mused, then spent 50 Experience Points on Hakuda.

The "Not Activated" next to Hakuda on the status screen immediately changed to "Beginner (0/500)."

Duan Mu stumbled. A long string of information flooded into his mind, and his body gradually began to change. The information was mostly about fist and foot techniques, while the changes in his body seemed to be bringing it into alignment with what he'd learned.

It made Duan Mu feel as though he'd been practicing Hakuda for a long time. Not only did he have the memories—the techniques were ingrained in his body, too.

As for his remaining Experience Points, Duan Mu didn't spend them carelessly.

Aside from Spiritual Pressure and Physique, which were difficult to train, once he activated a technique, he could practice it himself.

Take Zanjutsu, for example. After activating it and gaining a basic foundation, he hadn't put any more Experience Points into it for the past six months. With practice alone, he was already close to breaking through.

Once a technique reached the Low level, however, it was difficult to make progress training alone without a teacher. That was when using Experience Points became worthwhile.

So, aside from the Experience Points he'd wasted on Byakurai early on, he mostly saved them for emergencies or when he hit a bottleneck.

After all...

Experience Points were hard to come by.

Whenever he thought about that, Duan Mu's expression turned a little strange.

Three years ago, when he'd inexplicably fallen from the sky while sleeping, he'd already discovered the system in his mind.

But it had taken him a whole six months to figure out how to gain Experience Points.

If he had to name the system in his mind, "Scumbag System," "Harem System," and "Playboy System" would all have fit.

In short...

When Duan Mu gained a woman's favor, he received a certain amount of Experience Points. Men, on the other hand, gave him nothing at all.

It was as if the system looked down on men everywhere!

Sure, Duan Mu was straight, but couldn't one man like another man? What was that about?

Anyway.

The amount of Experience Points gained by increasing favorability varied from woman to woman. More precisely, it depended on the other person's status and strength: the higher her status and strength, the more Experience Points she gave.

At the same time, the higher her favorability, the more Experience Points he gained.

Take Granny Shuiyue, for example. From 0 to 9 favorability, each increase gave him 1 Experience Point. From 10 to 19, every increase gave him 2.

In a way, the system was pretty powerful...

If Duan Mu were a scumbag, he'd probably be pretty strong by now.

However, Duan Mu could be described as "half a shut-in." According to the people who had known him in his previous life, anyone willing to befriend Duan Mu was an angel. The reason was simple: even an angel might be able to take down a demon.

His social skills couldn't be described as nonexistent. They were below zero.

So Duan Mu chose the most foolish approach.

In a single sentence: if you wanted sincerity, you had to give sincerity.

Keeping those words in mind, Duan Mu always interacted with others sincerely. Young or old, if they were women and needed help, he stepped forward.

This included, but wasn't limited to, helping old ladies push carts, helping them find their cats, advising girls just starting to fall in love, helping young mothers soothe their children, and buying lollipops for little girls...

He did his best to help, trying to shut out distractions and put aside the thought of gaining Experience Points so he could make friends with them sincerely.

Of course, Duan Mu had met women who remained unmoved no matter how sincerely he treated them, and others who grew more and more affectionate on the surface, as if they'd fallen for him, constantly hinting at their feelings. But when he saw their favorability hadn't increased at all, he promptly distanced himself from them.

Women like that always seemed dangerous.

The reason he'd said he'd be strong by now if he were a scumbag was...

Once favorability exceeded 60, it turned into Romance Value. From that point on, every increase gave dramatically more Experience Points, even if the woman had little status or strength.

Before 60 favorability, even going from 59 to 60 only gave him 16 Experience Points. But when he went from 60 favorability to 61 Romance Value, he gained ten times as much—a full 160 Experience Points!

Back then, Duan Mu had done everything he could to bring that 1 point of Romance Value back down. In the end, after her favorability plummeted by 10, he succeeded.

After three years of research, Duan Mu had more or less figured out favorability.

At 10 favorability, someone was about as familiar as a neighbor you didn't know very well.

At 20 favorability, they were an acquaintance whose name you knew and who'd cheerfully greet you if you ran into them on the street.

At 30 favorability, you were basically friends.

At 60 favorability, the other person saw Duan Mu as a close friend. If he ran into trouble, she'd definitely step up to help, and would come to his aid even if it was dangerous.

As for anything higher, Duan Mu didn't know much about it. But 61 Romance Value felt something like this to him... I think of you as a brother. I'm not looking to date you, but if you confessed to me, I'd hesitate for a few days before replying, "We could try dating."

Of course, not everyone could reach 61 and turn into Romance Value. Women who already had someone they loved or were married generally capped out at 60 favorability, with a few exceptions.

It was worth noting that losing favorability didn't reduce Experience Points.