Five days of free time before summer vacation, Tokyo shimmered beneath the midsummer sun. Tang Yu stood at the school gates, gazing at the skyscrapers towering in the distance. The System Interface unfolded before his eyes:
[Current Emotion Points: 30450/40000] [City Exploration Mode Activated] [Recommended Target: High-Intensity Emotional Fluctuation Scenes]
Tang Yu took a deep breath and adjusted his backpack straps. Over the next five days, he would use "I just arrived in Tokyo and want to see more of it" as an excuse to roam every corner of the city and collect as many Emotion Points as possible.
He had nearly exhausted the resources at school. It was time to expand his "harvesting" grounds.
First stop: Shinjuku Station-the busiest station in the world, with an average daily passenger flow of over three million.
Tang Yu squeezed into the morning rush-hour crowd, feeling the surging emotional fluctuations all around him. Commuters' anxiety, tourists' excitement, merchants' urgency... Emotions of every kind swirled through his perception like clouds of many colors.
[Emotional fragments from passersby +1 +1 +1...] [Total gained: 250 points]
Too inefficient. Tang Yu furrowed his brow. He needed a stronger emotional stimulus. He noticed a group of oddly dressed Street Performers preparing to put on a show in the middle of the station, and immediately had an idea.
"System, redeem 'Street Magic Basics.'"
[Redeemed successfully, 500 Emotion Points deducted] [Remaining Emotion Points: 29950/40000]
Tang Yu walked over to the performers and greeted them in fluent Japanese. "Need a hand? I know a few magic tricks."
The leader-a young man with dyed purple hair-looked him over. "A student? We're not running a charity."
"I'll help for free, just for practice." Tang Yu gave him an innocent smile as he activated "Emotion Suggestion," gently stirring the other man's curiosity.
The purple-haired young man hesitated, then nodded. "All right. You can warm up the crowd for five minutes."
Tang Yu stepped into the middle of the crowd and pulled an ordinary deck of cards from his pocket. He took a deep breath and began his first public performance.
The first trick was simple-guessing a card. But Tang Yu added exaggerated gestures and a humorous commentary, quickly drawing a ring of onlookers.
When the third spectator "randomly" drew the Ace of Hearts, just as he had predicted, the crowd burst into gasps.
[Surprise from spectators +150]
The second trick was more complicated. Tang Yu "borrowed" a commuter's watch and, in full view of everyone, "made it disappear" into a sealed glass jar.
The trick actually used a Micro Teleportation Device redeemed from the System Store (300 points deducted), but the effect was astonishing.
"This is impossible!" The watch's owner stared wide-eyed. "I saw it in your hand!"
[Shock from spectators +300]
The show was gathering momentum, and the crowd kept growing. Tang Yu's final trick was "mind reading." He asked a young woman to write down a number she was thinking of, then pulled a prepared envelope from his pocket. Inside, the slip of paper clearly read "7."
"That's incredible!" The young woman covered her mouth. "I really was thinking of 7, because today is the seventh anniversary of my grandmother's death..."
This coincidence brought the performance to its climax. Tang Yu had actually used "Emotional Link" to briefly read the young woman's thoughts, but the result was more shocking than he had expected.
[Amazement from spectators +500] [Moved feelings from the young woman +200] [Current Emotion Points: 31100/40000]
After half an hour of performing, Tang Yu had gained nearly a thousand Emotion Points, far more than he had expected. He politely declined the Street Performers' invitation to join them for lunch, quickly disappeared into the sea of people, and headed to his next destination-Shibuya Crossing.
At noon, Shibuya Crossing was packed with people. Tang Yu stood beside the famous Hachiko Statue, watching thousands of pedestrians stream across the road every time the lights changed. This was the perfect place to test his "Group Emotion Suggestion" ability.
"System, how many people can I affect at the maximum range?"
[Current ability level: Can affect approximately 50-100 people within a 10-meter radius at once] [Duration: 2 minutes] [Excessive use may cause mental fatigue]
Tang Yu nodded and waited for the next green light. When the crowd began crossing, he activated the ability and implanted an emotion of "mild excitement" into the minds of the people around him.
The effect was immediate-the commuters, who had originally worn blank expressions, suddenly walked with a spring in their step; several high school girls inexplicably began giggling;
Even a serious-looking office worker unconsciously started humming. The atmosphere at the entire crossing instantly became lively. Some people began taking photos, while others smiled at strangers.
[Group Emotion Influence successful] [People affected: 87] [Emotion Points gained: 870]
This was only the beginning. Tang Yu crossed the road and entered a large electronics store.
In the drone display area, he pretended to accidentally bump the display stand's controller. Three High-End Drones suddenly took off and circled around the store (he had redeemed a Remote Control Jammer with Emotion Points in advance, at a cost of 200 points). The clerks and customers panicked. Some screamed, while others excitedly took photos.
[Alarm from clerks +200] [Surprise from customers +300]
Five minutes later, by the time the clerks finally got the situation under control, Tang Yu had already slipped out the door, and his Emotion Points had risen again.
At three in the afternoon, Tang Yu wandered through Akihabara Electric Town, looking for new opportunities. At a street corner, he suddenly sensed a familiar malicious emotion-deep crimson like blood, and full of aggression.
"Hey, isn't that the Chinese Kid from Class D?"
Tang Yu turned around and saw Ryuen Kakeru standing at the mouth of the alley with four Class C students. Ryuen was more dangerous than he had been on the Deserted Island. His eyes were bloodshot, his muscles unnaturally swollen-it was obvious he had taken that mysterious drug again.
"Ryuen." Tang Yu nodded calmly. "Out wandering around during your suspension?"
"Thanks to you, I got suspended for two weeks." Ryuen sneered as he advanced. "I didn't expect to run into you here. It must be fate."
Tang Yu quickly assessed the situation-five against one, the other side had Drug Enhancement, and there were no teachers or students nearby. It looked like a hopeless situation, but it was also a perfect opportunity to collect high-quality Emotion Points.
"System, redeem 'Wing Chun Mastery (one hour).'"
[Redeemed successfully, 1500 Emotion Points deducted] [Remaining Emotion Points: 30100/40000]
A wave of heat surged through his body, and countless martial arts techniques were imprinted into his Muscle Memory like a stream of data. Tang Yu slightly lowered his center of gravity and adopted the Wing Chun Man Sao Stance. "Want to experience defeat again?"
Ryuen flew into a rage and charged at him with a punch. His speed was astonishing under the effects of the drug, but through the martial arts perspective Tang Yu had just gained, the punch was full of openings.