Shopping

"As a store clerk, shouldn't you be taking the initiative to introduce me to these devices?"

Dongfang Yi stared into the clerk's eyes and started the conversation himself. He wore a polite smile, but his patience with the man in front of him was wearing thin.

"Sorry, sir. These are the only products we have in the store, so feel free to look around on your own."

The clerk naturally wasn't going to be very friendly to him now.

Never mind the little things, like how Dongfang Yi had just interrupted his conversation with his beloved idol and sent him off to fetch merchandise.

The point was, it had only been a few minutes, and this guy had already struck up a conversation with my woman and become her friend?

He didn't even want to imagine what the guy might do if given a little more time!

An idol had to be pure! She had to be absolutely immune to romance!

If she was going to have a relationship, then it could only be with me, Shizuku-chan's most devoted fan!

My love is pure; mere mortals must not defile it!

It was as if a beast were roaring madly inside the clerk.

But the bespectacled girl clearly had no idea.

No—maybe she sensed that something was wrong, but just couldn't tell where it was coming from.

Seriously, did you really need to have this much going on in your head?

Watching the clerk's expression change by the second, Dongfang Yi felt like he was at the zoo, watching a male peacock courting behind the bars.

At least a peacock spreading its tail was a beautiful sight at the zoo. But this guy... it would be an achievement if he didn't make people sick.

He was ugly and repulsive, and way too creepy.

Forget it.

After all, there was no solid proof yet that the man was a stalker or some other troublemaker, nor could he prove that the man was a potential threat. Acting now would only put him on guard.

That wouldn't solve the problem once and for all, either. He'd better wait until the guy had written a few more love letters.

Dongfang Yi sighed inwardly, having hit a soft wall, and gave up on taking the man down right away.

Haste made waste.

With someone like this, it was best to make sure one strike would finish him off. Otherwise, who knew what kind of trouble he might cause?

With that in mind, he lowered his head and began carefully examining the devices in the box.

There weren't many different kinds, considering it was supposed to be a box full of devices.

Dongfang Yi had reason to suspect that the clerk had hurriedly grabbed a few items just to fob him off, but he had no proof, so he could only make a note of it for now.

There were three kinds of voice recorders, but they were all much the same, with little to distinguish them.

There weren't many varieties of hidden cameras, either.

But as it happened, two of them had shapes and sizes that suited Dongfang Yi's needs.

One was a rectangular device that looked like an employee ID badge. It had a ten-hour battery life, which should be enough if he excluded class time.

It wasn't expensive, either—less than 4,000 points.

The other was a model that could be clipped onto a sleeve. It was smaller, waterproof without a casing, and had a decent battery life. It also looked more discreet.

It was convenient, too, though it required a little skill to use.

But it was almost too cheap, costing only around 1,000 points.

Dongfang Yi hesitated for a moment, then lightly pressed the switch, planning to record something and check the video quality.

He looked around and noticed that the work computer on the counter was in a blind spot.

He glanced at the clerk on the other side, who was talking excitedly, spraying spit everywhere, and leading Sakura Airi farther and farther away. He figured this was an unexpected chance to give the device a try.

After all, once he transferred classes, he'd have to try to take down two morally bankrupt idiots in Class D as soon as possible.

And if he wanted to collect evidence, he'd have to make a trip to the electronics superstore to get Hakase's camcorder purchase records.

He could test things out now and use the results to evaluate his future plans.

He activated Concealment, carefully extended the hidden camera in his hand, and tentatively recorded the store's work computer screen.

Then he connected the device to his phone to check whether the footage was clear.

Wow, so big! So white!

Look what I've found?!

Dongfang Yi suddenly understood why the creepy clerk had recognized her right away.

So the guy had her poster set as his work computer wallpaper!

His mouth twitched as he suppressed the urge stirring inside him.

This little bit of evidence wasn't enough to deal with the guy once and for all.

Haste made waste.

Dongfang Yi reminded himself.

After all, violence and entrapment were both last resorts for him right now. The former came with a high risk of failure, while the latter would put the person he was protecting in danger.

Neither was a good option.

His Concealment skill only weakened his presence, making other people automatically ignore him. It didn't keep him from appearing on camera.

He still couldn't choose to be invisible on camera like a ghost.

Likewise, having run out of coins, he couldn't afford the risk of dropping out.

He needed to take it one step at a time.

He put down the device and tested the other model as well. He was quite satisfied with the quality of both hidden cameras.

So he bought three of each kind of camera, then picked out two voice recorders.

In the blink of an eye, he'd spent 20,000 points.

Dongfang Yi tapped on the counter to get the attention of the clerk, who was still chatting away with the girl.

"I'll take three of each of these two, and these two voice recorders. Add it all up for me."

At that, the clerk's smile grew even brighter. He thought, This handsome bastard is finally leaving.

He'd soon be back to spending time alone with his idol, without a third wheel to bother them.

He swiftly fetched the items, packed them up, took payment, and printed the receipt, completing the whole process in one smooth motion.

He even came out from behind the counter and handed the bag to Dongfang Yi with exaggerated deference: head bowed, back bent at a 45-degree angle, arm outstretched.

He was practically telling him, "Get lost, you bastard."

After paying, Dongfang Yi thought the guy looked like a clown.

I've got my stuff now. I can browse around as long as I want.

He walked around the man and strolled back to Sakura Airi's side.

He raised the bag toward the gravure idol, completely ignoring the clerk, who was still bent over behind him, and said with a smile:

"I'm done shopping. What about you?"

Sakura Airi had just been feeling conflicted, her impression of Dongfang Yi swinging up and down.

To her, the equipment he'd bought was suggestive. Judging by the items alone, he might well use them for something unsavory.

But he was very handsome.

Someone that handsome couldn't be a bad person. At the very least, he probably wasn't bad in that way.

After all, handsome people could just sit back and wait for others to throw themselves at them. They only had to worry about whether they could resist temptation; they had no need to resort to these kinds of tricks.

It was just like how Edison Chen flirted with girls.

He didn't need any tricks. He only had to stand there, and women's hormones would surge, driving them completely wild.

Now that she saw him come back, the girl felt an indescribable flutter of joy and happiness.

"D-Dongfang..." Sakura Airi's tongue stumbled over the words. "I-I'm still looking. They're a-all pretty good, and I can't decide."

"Then... would you like to hear my advice?" Dongfang Yi blinked, intending to give her a hint.

"Huh? D-Dongfang, please go ahead."

"Although I can't tell you why, for certain reasons, I'd still recommend that you choose cheaper equipment if you don't absolutely need anything else."

"Because personal points are much more precious at this school than we might imagine."