Ten-Man Slayer

[Shiya Krungard has completed the initial conquest; an ambiguous relationship has been established.]

[Player has received the first tier of point rewards: 1,000 points.]

[A romantic relationship has not yet been established. Please continue your efforts, Player, to complete the final conquest as soon as possible and obtain the second tier of rewards.]

[New side quest "Ten-Person Slayer" has been triggered. Please check the taskbar in the bottom right corner.]

Noah let out an "uh," scratching his hair, feeling a bit confused.

--He had clearly rejected Shiya's pursuit, and his attitude had been firm, leaving no room for doubt. Why was it still being judged by the system as an established ambiguous relationship?

Could one-sided affection even count?

Recalling the scenes from the training ground two hours ago—from the confession under the streetlamp being rejected, to the wagered duel, and finally Shiya silently shedding tears as she watched his retreating back...

Noah felt that while these scenes might have appeared to contain a hint of romantic ambiguity on the surface, they were still far from his definition of "establishing a relationship."

One could only say that the threshold for what the system deemed an "initial conquest" was apparently much lower than he had anticipated.

"Perhaps that counts as good news..."

Noah glanced at the 1,000 points that had arrived; well, that was only a quarter of what he got from Bell-mère.

It seemed that, just as the game rules stated, there was a proportional gap in the point rewards obtained based on the difficulty of the target.

Shiya was an elite of the Headquarters, and her future achievements were destined to be higher than most people in this world. For such an outstanding girl, establishing an ambiguous relationship only yielded 1,000 points.

One could only imagine how low the rewards would be for the ordinary girls who were easier for Noah to conquer.

This further solidified Noah's conviction: he must never use the pretext of earning points to cast a wide net and fish indiscriminately, drifting through a field of flowers.

But what the hell was this suddenly refreshed quest?

Staring at the quest name "Ten-Person Slayer," Noah felt an inexplicable sense of foreboding in his heart.

Clinging to a last shred of wishful thinking, he opened the taskbar in the bottom right corner and quickly scanned it.

"Side Quest Name: Ten-Person Slayer"

"Congratulations to the Player for completing two initial conquests, and within a single day! WOW, what an incredible achievement. It seems that romance isn't that difficult for you; perhaps it's time to face a greater challenge!"

"Quest Content: Within fifteen days, initially conquer ten naval soldiers and establish an ambiguous relationship."

"Quest Reward: 100,000 points, S-rank Gift Box x1"

"Lunacy."

Noah rolled his eyes, too lazy to even pay it any mind. He closed the system panel and went to take a shower while yawning.

Conquer ten people in fifteen days, and they have to be colleagues?

He'd better wash up and go to sleep; he could dream of anything he wanted there.

Noah knew that his looks were in a league of their own within the Elite Camp, and it was indeed easy for girls his age to develop a fondness for him.

But this kind of fondness was limited to the level of youthful admiration; not everyone was like Shiya, who had fallen for him at first sight and had the courage to take the initiative to confess.

Counting on picking up points falling from the sky like tonight was absolutely impossible.

As for taking the initiative?

Not to mention whether he could get past that hurdle in his heart, Shiya alone was enough to give him a headache—to provoke ten more colleagues around him? Even a rabbit doesn't eat the grass by its own burrow. Just thinking about the potential "yandere" ending made Noah's scalp tingle.

In any case, there was plenty of time, and he had always been patient. If nothing else, he could just wait for a suitable quest to refresh next time and find a way to complete it to earn points.

He had a good night's sleep.

At 5:30 the next morning, the round alarm clock on the bedside table knew it was time and prepared to jump up and emit a cheerful vibration.

But a hand had long since reached out from under the covers, and with lightning speed, it turned the alarm off before it could even jump, followed by a roll out of bed.

Looking around, Noah felt relieved to see Shiryu and Rosinante still fast asleep. He went straight to the washroom, took out his toiletries, and stood before the mirror.

The designated assembly time for the Elite Camp was seven o'clock, and most people didn't get up until after six-thirty, but he had long been accustomed to waking up an hour early for extra training.

Over time, he had developed a biological clock that was terrifyingly precise.

For Noah, the only purpose of an alarm clock was to train his hand speed and allow his consciousness to quickly clear up after opening his eyes.

"Good morning, me."

The person in the mirror was sunny, handsome, and full of energy. Noah grinned, showing eight white teeth, and then proceeded to squeeze toothpaste onto his toothbrush.

After waking up, he felt incredibly refreshed from the inside out. The fatigue and weariness brought on by the grueling training of the previous day had vanished without a trace.

This was a special constitution he had possessed since childhood; both his endurance and recovery were far superior to ordinary people.

No matter how bitter or tiring things were, there was nothing that couldn't be solved by a full meal or a deep sleep.

If that didn't work, then eat until full and sleep again!

Noah moved quickly. By the time he finished washing up, left the room, and arrived at the training ground, less than fifteen minutes had passed.

Every day for the past year, he had done exactly this; after an extra hour of training, he still had plenty of time left for breakfast before the assembly.

The morning light was just beginning to break.

Perhaps because it was near the harbor, Marineford at this hour was blanketed in a thick, lingering fog.

There were only a few figures at the entrance of the training grounds, all acquaintances from the elite camp. Noah greeted them as he took off his coat, hung it on the wall, and began his warm-up laps.

Once he finished warming up, he found a quiet, secluded corner and prepared to start his daily swordsmanship practice with the most basic of exercises: the "suburi."

Practicing swordsmanship in the morning and physical combat in the evening was a habit Noah had gradually developed over the past year, and he considered it the most reasonable way to allocate his time.

"Tseng--"

This was supposed to be the sound of a blade leaving its scabbard, but since they were at the safe headquarters, Noah and the others used bamboo swords for their daily training on Zephyr's advice to minimize unnecessary wear and accidental injuries.

Bamboo swords had no scabbards, so naturally, they wouldn't make a drawing sound; this "tseng" was actually a sound effect Noah made for himself as he gripped his two bamboo swords.

The pitch went slowly from high to low, trailing off with a long, drawn-out note.

Men are just creatures like that; no matter their age, when they are alone and no one is around, they are prone to secretly doing some bizarre, chuunibyou-esque things.

Of course, Noah would never easily admit to this; he firmly believed that this was to create a sense of ritual before practicing his swordsmanship.

Every day in the past had been like this, and since no one was watching anyway, he didn't feel the slightest bit embarrassed.

Unfortunately, today, it seemed he had miscalculated.

"Yo-ho, not a bad imitation, kid."

A voice suddenly came from above. Noah was startled and turned around to look, only to find a tall man lying on top of the wall a few meters away.

In the thick fog, he couldn't clearly see the man's face or expression, but he could vaguely make out that the guy was lounging with one leg crossed, yawning lazily.

The update is a bit late. Thanks to "Ren Zhen Qie Song" for the 5,000-coin tip, as well as "Lang Wang Zhi Zu" and "Qing Shan Ji Luo" for their support. It's a new week, and this newbie is weakly asking for recommendation votes~