Kazehara Tetsu didn't head straight back to the Dormitory. His life as a corporate drone in his previous life had taught him to deal with stress on the spot, and shopping was undoubtedly a good way to do that.
He followed the departing crowd out of the Gymnasium and headed straight for Keyaki Mall, in the center of Campus.
Keyaki Mall was packed. Most of the people there seemed to be freshmen buying necessities.
Kazehara Tetsu went into a Convenience Store and moved skillfully between the shelves.
Toothbrush, toothpaste, towel, Body Wash, Shampoo... He picked brands that offered good value for money. The habit of being frugal, ingrained in him in his previous life, was already second nature.
Just as he reached the shelves stocked with snacks and instant meals, he came to an abrupt stop.
His gaze was drawn to a familiar figure nearby.
Her long purple hair was tied casually into a low ponytail.
Even in her well-fitting school uniform, she had the air of a delinquent girl. Her skirt seemed slightly shorter than standard, revealing a pair of shapely, slender calves with firm contours.
Kamuro Masumi.
Sakayanagi Arisu's loyal "right hand" in the future.
At that moment, she stood with her back to Kazehara Tetsu in front of an open shelf lined with imported cosmetics and fashionable accessories.
She wasn't carrying a Shopping Basket. With both hands in the pockets of her uniform skirt, she wandered slowly between the shelves, seemingly without purpose.
A thought flashed through Kazehara Tetsu's mind: her secret hobby—stealing.
He had to admit, Kamuro Masumi had picked her spot well. The surveillance in this Convenience Store was rudimentary.
Aside from a camera at the Checkout Counter, there was only one rotatable camera in the middle of the store.
But with shelves all around, it couldn't cover much ground. There were plenty of blind spots.
Kazehara Tetsu's mind was already racing.
A perfect opportunity, handed to him on a silver platter.
Get Kamuro Masumi under his control.
He made up his mind almost instantly.
He set his Shopping Basket down in an inconspicuous corner by his feet, then slowly backed away until he was behind a tall shelf nearby.
Through the gaps between the items on the shelf, he had an excellent, concealed vantage point.
He took out his phone without making a sound, unlocked the screen, and switched it to video mode.
He pointed the camera at the girl with purple-gray hair.
Kamuro Masumi still seemed undecided.
She repeatedly picked up and put down several items, occasionally glancing toward the Checkout Counter and the surveillance camera on the ceiling.
Kazehara Tetsu waited patiently.
On screen, Kamuro Masumi's profile was tense. Her gaze finally settled on a beautifully packaged silver tube—a brand-name lipstick.
She picked it up and studied it in her palm for a long while, then put it back.
The hand holding the lipstick seemed to return it to its place, but the instant it touched the shelf, her hand made a subtle movement, and the lipstick vanished into her palm.
Then her other hand slipped out of her pocket. She nonchalantly brushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear, and when the now-empty hand went back into her pocket, the lipstick in her palm slid smoothly inside.
The whole thing was smooth and seamless, over in a flash. Unless someone was watching closely, they would never notice.
Her expression remained as cold as ever, but through the camera, Kazehara Tetsu caught a fleeting look of satisfaction in her eyes.
She didn't linger. Turning around, she headed for the Convenience Store exit, indistinguishable from any customer who hadn't bought a thing.
Only then did Kazehara Tetsu press the button to stop recording.
He opened his album. The video, less than ten seconds long, was right there.
He dragged the progress bar to the crucial second. The footage clearly captured the lipstick slipping from her palm into her pocket.
Perfect evidence.
He returned to his Shopping Basket and picked it up again, as if nothing had happened.
He continued picking out the daily necessities he needed, and even cheerfully chose an expensive tin of imported coffee beans.
As he waited in line to pay, he saw that Kamuro Masumi had already disappeared into the crowd at the Shopping Mall.
He watched the cashier give his Student Terminal a quick scan. The Points in his account dropped by more than ten thousand in an instant.
Carrying two large shopping bags, Kazehara Tetsu returned to the student Dormitory he'd just been assigned.
His room was on the third floor, a standard single room. It wasn't large, but it had everything he needed: a private bathroom, a Single Bed, a desk and wardrobe, and even a small kitchen.
He set the shopping bags on the floor, then flopped onto the bed, limbs spread out like the character for "big."
The mattress was new and springy, catching him firmly.
He closed his eyes. For a moment, his mind was completely blank.
He lay there without moving.
A long while passed—maybe five minutes, maybe ten—before he slowly opened his eyes.
The ceiling was pure white, with a simple flush-mounted light and no unnecessary decorations.
A brand-new life. A blank beginning.
He sat up and stretched. A series of crisp pops came from his joints.
Most of his physical fatigue had faded, replaced by a hunger-like excitement.
He ignored the two large shopping bags and first pulled his phone out of his pocket.
At the same time, he communicated with the system in his mind, searching through the store.
He was looking for a specific item, something extremely important to him.
Finally, after two and a half minutes, his eyes lit up. He'd found what he wanted.
A Hidden Account worth 100 Points.
When Kazehara Tetsu entered the academy, the school had forced him to install its Terminal system on his phone.
That meant the school could check all sorts of student information at any time, including their spending records and social circles.
For Kazehara Tetsu, this was an enormous threat. He might have secret plans and actions in the future, and the school's surveillance could expose them all, potentially plunging him into an abyss of ruin.
Once that was taken care of, he went straight to his album.
He played the video over and over.
He repeatedly dragged the progress bar, editing the video bit by bit and even leaving a few editing traces that anyone who looked closely enough could spot.
When he was done, Kazehara Tetsu uploaded both the original video and the edited version to the Hidden Account. Then he bought a Formatting System for 10 Points in the store. That way, the school wouldn't be able to see what he'd changed.
Only after finishing all this did he finally feel at ease. This "asset" now belonged entirely to him, ready to use whenever he wanted.
He stood up and started looking for something to eat in the two shopping bags.
He took out a cheap pack of instant Udon Noodles.
Although he'd received Master Chef in the newbie gift pack, Kazehara Tetsu was lazy and couldn't be bothered to cook.
"Ah... time's passing so slowly! It's only the first day..."
Watching the Udon Noodles cook in the hot water, Kazehara Tetsu murmured to himself.