Encountering a "Thief" Girl at the Convenience Store

Kazehara Tetsu didn't head straight back to the dorm. His past life as a corporate slave had ingrained in him the habit of relieving stress on the spot, and shopping was undoubtedly a solid choice.

He followed the dispersing crowd out of the gymnasium and walked directly toward the Beech Tree Shopping Mall at the center of campus.

The Beech Tree Shopping Mall was packed with people, most of them likely new students buying daily necessities.

Kazehara Tetsu entered a convenience store and moved deftly between the shelves.

Toothbrush, toothpaste, towel, body wash, shampoo... He picked out brands with high cost-performance ratios—the habit of careful budgeting from his past life was already etched into his bones.

Just as he reached the aisle stocked with various snacks and instant foods, his steps suddenly halted.

His gaze was firmly locked onto a familiar figure not far away.

Purple hair, casually tied into a low ponytail.

Her fitted school uniform somehow gave off the vibe of a delinquent girl, with the skirt hem seeming slightly shorter than standard, revealing a pair of well-proportioned, shapely calves.

Kamuro Masumi.

The loyal "right hand" of the future Sakayanagi Arisu.

Right now, she had her back to Kazehara Tetsu, standing before an open shelf filled with various imported cosmetics and fashion accessories.

She wasn't carrying a shopping basket, just keeping both hands in the pockets of her school uniform skirt as she moved slowly and aimlessly between the shelves.

In an instant, Kazehara Tetsu's mind flashed with her purpose—a little-known hobby: shoplifting.

He had to admit, Kamuro Masumi had chosen her spot well. The surveillance in this convenience store was shoddy.

Aside from one camera at the front counter, there was only a single rotatable camera in the center.

But since it was surrounded by shelves, its coverage was actually quite limited, with plenty of blind spots.

Kazehara Tetsu's brain was already working.

A perfect opportunity, handed to him on a silver platter.

To control Kamuro Masumi.

He made his decision almost without hesitation.

He set his shopping basket down in an inconspicuous corner by his feet, then slowly backed up until he was behind a tall shelf in the next row.

Through the gaps between items on the shelf, he gained an excellent, concealed vantage point.

He pulled out his phone, making no sound, unlocked the screen, and switched the mode to video recording.

He aimed the lens at the girl with the purple-gray hair.

Kamuro Masumi didn't seem to have made up her mind yet.

She picked up and put down several items repeatedly, her eyes occasionally darting toward the checkout counter and the surveillance cameras on the ceiling.

Kazehara Tetsu waited with extreme patience.

In the frame, Kamuro Masumi's profile was tense. Her gaze finally settled on a beautifully packaged silver tube—a brand-name lipstick.

She picked up the lipstick, held it in her palm for a long time, then put it back.

The hand holding the lipstick appeared to be returning it to its original spot, but the moment it touched the shelf, her hand movement contracted, and the lipstick vanished into her palm.

Then, her other hand, which had been in her pocket, came out and casually brushed a stray strand of hair from her ear, while the hand that had been empty slipped back into her pocket, the lipstick smoothly sliding deep inside.

The whole process was fluid and seamless, so fast that unless one was deliberately watching, it was impossible to detect.

Her face still wore that indifferent expression, but through the lens, Kazehara Tetsu caught a flash of satisfaction in her eyes.

She didn't linger. She turned and walked toward the convenience store exit, indistinguishable from any customer who had bought nothing.

Only then did Kazehara Tetsu press the stop recording button.

He opened the gallery. The video, less than ten seconds long, was right there.

He dragged the progress bar to that crucial second, and the frame clearly captured the entire process of the lipstick sliding from her palm into her pocket.

Perfect evidence.

He walked back to his shopping basket, picked it up again, as if nothing had happened.

He continued selecting the daily necessities he needed, even cheerfully picking out an expensive can of imported coffee beans for himself.

At checkout, as he stood in line, he saw Kamuro Masumi's figure disappear into the crowd of the shopping mall.

He watched the cashier lightly scan with the terminal, and the points on his student terminal instantly decreased by over ten thousand.

Carrying two large shopping bags, Kazehara Tetsu returned to his newly assigned student dormitory.

His room was on the third floor—a standard single room. Not large, but fully equipped: 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 heavily onto the bed, spreading his limbs into a star shape.

The mattress was brand new, full of spring, catching his body firmly.

He closed his eyes. For a moment, his mind went completely blank.

He just lay there, motionless.

After a long while—maybe five minutes, maybe ten—he slowly opened his eyes.

The ceiling was pure white, with a simple flush-mount light fixture and no unnecessary decoration.

A new life, a blank slate.

He sat up, stretched, and a series of crisp sounds rang out from every joint in his body.

Most of the fatigue in his body faded away, replaced by a hunger-like excitement.

He ignored the two large shopping bags and instead pulled his phone from his pants pocket.

At the same time, he communicated with the system in his mind, constantly browsing through the store.

In the store, he was searching for a specific item—one that was extremely important to him.

Finally, after two and a half minutes, his eyes suddenly lit up. He had found what he was looking for.

A Hidden Account worth 100 Points.

When Kazehara Tetsu entered the academy, his phone was forcibly installed with the academy's terminal system.

This meant the academy could check students' various information at any time, including their spending records, social circles, and so on.

For Kazehara Tetsu, this was undoubtedly a huge threat, because he might have some unknown plans and actions in the future, and all of these could be completely exposed due to the academy's surveillance, even pushing him into Eternal Damnation.

After dealing with that, he directly opened the album.

That video was played over and over again.

He repeatedly dragged the progress bar, constantly editing the video, even leaving behind some traces that could be found if someone looked closely.

After editing, Kazehara Tetsu uploaded both the original video and the edited video to the Hidden Account, then bought a Formatting System for 10 Points in the store. This way, the academy wouldn't be able to check or see his modified content.

Only after doing all this did he feel truly at ease. This "asset" now completely belonged to him, ready to be used at any time.

He stood up and started looking for food in the two shopping bags.

He took out a pack of cheap instant Udon Noodles.

Even though he had obtained Master Chef from the newbie gift pack, Kazehara Tetsu was a lazy dog who couldn't be bothered to cook.

"Ah... time is passing so slowly! And this is only the first day..."

Watching the Udon Noodles soaking in Hot Water, Kazehara Tetsu murmured.