Lockpicking

[Your basic training for today has been completed]

[Strength +1 (237/500)]

[Stamina +1 (442/500)]

Dongfang Yi carried all the daily necessities the two of them had bought in one trip to the door of Sakura Airi's dorm room.

He'd completed his daily task without even noticing, and his physical abilities had improved a little as a result.

Still, the road to becoming an A-rank or higher was a long one.

At the moment, he was waiting in front of Room 1106 in the first-year dormitory, carrying several large bags of daily necessities.

This was Sakura Airi's room, and she was frantically searching her backpack for her key card.

Most of what Dongfang Yi was carrying were items Sakura Airi had bought.

With the stalker around, the girl also thought it was necessary to limit her outings for a while, so she'd bought a little more than usual in one go.

She'd also picked up some spring and summer bedding, as well as things like a lock for her cabinet.

Of course, this had been Dongfang Yi's suggestion. After all, the more they spent on essentials now, the more comfortable things would be in the coming months.

It would quietly save them a substantial sum they wouldn't need to spend later.

Most importantly—it would keep people from asking them for money.

After all, Class D wouldn't be getting a single System Point next month.

"D-Dongfang, please wait a little longer. I-I need to look for..."

Sakura Airi hadn't found it right away, and she was getting anxious.

Dongfang Yi thought she was easy to read. Whenever the girl was excited, she tended to stumble over her words, but when she calmed down, she spoke normally.

Simple as that.

At last, she fished the card out of her bag, only to fumble and drop it.

Dongfang Yi caught it casually, swiped it, and the door opened with a click. Then he slipped the key card back into the girl's bag.

[Skill unlocked: Lockpicking; Skill EXP +1]

???

System, is something wrong with you, or is something wrong with me?

How was that Lockpicking?

Dongfang Yi froze. He felt like the system was insulting his character, but he had no proof.

"Dongfang?"

Sakura Airi saw that he wasn't moving and waved a hand gently in front of his eyes.

"It's nothing, Sakura. I've just never seen such a luxurious dorm room before, so I got a little distracted." Dongfang Yi came to and smiled as he explained.

"Is your dorm room not like this?"

"Oh, that. I haven't been to mine yet. I had a pretty tight schedule today, so I didn't get the chance." Dongfang Yi shrugged. "Come to think of it, I'm lucky I ran into you, Sakura. Otherwise, I would've had to make an extra trip back to the dorm before deciding what supplies to buy."

"I see. You always seem to focus on different things from me, Dongfang." Sakura Airi sounded a little wistful. Then she suddenly remembered something and hurriedly stepped aside. "D-Dongfang, please come in."

"Come to think of it, this is my first time entering a girl's room. Thank you for having me, Sakura. I'll take you up on it."

Dongfang Yi gave a solemn little bow, making the girl laugh in spite of herself.

He blinked and stepped inside.

[Achievement unlocked: Pilgrimage: Sakura Airi]

[System Points +30000]

Well, wasn't that something?

Dongfang Yi's eyes widened slightly. For a moment, he felt as though he'd drifted out of the mortal world.

"Dongfang, please sit down. Dongfang?"

Sakura Airi brought out a chair, hoping to host the boy who'd helped her so much, but she found Dongfang Yi still standing there in a daze.

"Sakura, I've made up my mind." Dongfang Yi came to, stepped closer, and looked straight into Sakura Airi's eyes as he spoke with utmost seriousness.

"Huh? What?" His sudden move sent Sakura Airi's heart racing.

"From now on, come to me with any problem. I'll help you with anything, completely free."

"Huh?!"

After nightfall, Dongfang Yi lay on the bed in his dorm room, sliding a lockpick in and out of the lock in his hands.

[Lockpicking +2 +2 +2...]

[Lockpicking has reached B-rank. Congratulations, you've become a Master Thief!]

He'd been fiddling with the lock for quite a while and had successfully raised the skill to B-rank.

He'd already gained quite a bit of knowledge about picking locks.

Now, ordinary locks could no longer stop Dongfang Yi. Give him a wire, and he was confident he could take apart even an unlocked lock until there wasn't a piece left!

He wondered how broken the ability would be once it reached A-rank.

He set aside the old-fashioned metal lock, which was so hot it was nearly smoking, but the events of that afternoon still felt like a dream.

Did good deeds really get rewarded? And so quickly?

He'd not only gained 30K System Points, but also acquired an incredibly useful ability.

What's more, Sakura Airi had kindly provided him with an item to grind EXP on.

Technically, the lock belonged to Sakura Airi; she hadn't given it to Dongfang Yi. But to grind his skill, Dongfang Yi had secretly swapped the locks the two of them had bought.

When he got back, he found that opening his own door didn't give him any EXP. Only opening someone else's lock did.

So, to keep the bug from getting patched, he hadn't even eaten or done his training for the day. He'd spent the whole time grinding lockpicking EXP with this thing.

His hand was practically smoking!

He'd even forgotten to go to the convenience store and witness the whole process of the white-haired little girl capturing a master thief.

Right, his hand!

Dongfang Yi suddenly understood. This was the effect of the Magic Hands skill he'd bought.

So that was what it meant for learning hand skills to be twice as efficient! He got it!

And so he got back to grinding even harder.

The next day.

After escorting Sakura Airi into the school building as her knight in shining armor,

Dongfang Yi entered the classroom again.

The classroom's usual racket suddenly died down, then picked right back up.

What was that about?

Dongfang Yi wondered.

He'd felt something strange about the class since yesterday. A lot of people kept sneaking glances at him.

But as far as he knew, his clothes were perfectly neat. He wasn't walking around naked, and he hadn't joined the scuba diving club. There was no reason for this.

Oh, well. He'd be changing classes sooner or later anyway.

Being ignored was fine by him.

Still thoroughly confused, he returned to his seat and reached into his desk for his textbook.

Two or three sheets of paper fell to the floor.

Did Japanese textbooks come with accessories now?

Thinking this, Dongfang Yi bent down and picked up the three pieces of paper, which looked like letters.

He glanced at them casually.

"Dongfang, ever since the first time I met you during the class introductions, I've..."

"In this season of cherry blossoms, so vivid and brilliant, I met you here and now. Wasn't that fate...?"

"Tokyo, where I live with you, feels more romantic to me than my hometown..."

What was going on?!

The three sheets in Dongfang Yi's hand felt as heavy as a thousand pounds. Their wording was far too cloying, and he didn't want to read any further.

Weren't the top guys at this school supposed to be Miyabi Nagumo, Satoshi Ritonaka, Hirata, and Ayanokoji?

What did any of that have to do with me, Dongfang Yi?

Besides, the book had never said some random guy would get this kind of treatment.

His eye twitched. He tore the letters in his hand to shreds without mercy, found a bag in his desk, and tossed them in.

The system hadn't given him anything for them, which meant they were unimportant. They didn't even count as a confession.

He tied up the trash bag, planning to buy one of those United Nations "Beast" brand shredders when he had time. That would shred them more thoroughly.

At least it would protect the confessor's privacy a little.

After all that, Dongfang Yi thought carefully for a while, then tore a blank sheet from his workbook.

He took out a marker, carefully colored it in, and solemnly stuck it to the outside of his desk:

The wise don't fall in love; I don't want the responsibility.

Tonight, the clouds are thick, and the moon is nowhere in sight.

No serious inquiries, please.

And if you are serious, don't bother either.