Chapter 20

Volume One: Can I Call You Mom?

In a secluded spot few people ever visited.

Ichinose Honami jogged over to their meeting place, and the sight of her panting made Nangong Cheng shamelessly switch on his auto-aim.

Mm, those curves were impeccable.

"Ichinose, you... I told you to take your time walking here. It's not like that Student Council spot was going to sprout wings and fly away."

"Ahaha... I just didn't want to keep you waiting too long, Nangong."

Ichinose Honami gave a slightly goofy smile.

In reality, after receiving his message, she had spent a long time wavering over whether to meet Nangong Cheng. According to the system, after all, simply meeting him could trigger a task.

Perhaps she really was being overly fussy.

After all, she was a "good kid" raised in that sort of environment, with that sort of upbringing. It was hard to accept the jarring, dramatic changes the system brought in such a short time.

But if it had been one of the "bad students" or "bad kids" adults talked about, Ichinose Honami felt they probably would have readily accepted something like the system and actively completed its tasks.

To put it bluntly...

Even if she wasn't willing to do it, plenty of others would be.

That was why people said that everyone understood life's lessons, but understanding them often wasn't enough to live a good life.

Still, since she had chosen to come today, that act itself meant she had already made her decision.

"Catch your breath first. There's no rush."

Meanwhile.

Nangong Cheng knew Ichinose Honami was the sort of person who always considered others but almost never herself, so he could only let her catch her breath first.

"Th-thank you."

Once Ichinose Honami's breathing gradually steadied, she smiled, then asked with curiosity written all over her face:

"Sorry for the wait... Nangong, is what you said in your message about a Student Council spot true?"

Nangong Cheng nodded.

After their earlier conversation in the cafeteria, he had never intended to actually make Ichinose Honami wait a month before discussing a partnership with him again.

How many points would he lose that way?

It wouldn't fit his plan to spread his attention evenly, either.

That was why he had specifically used a Student Council spot to trick—no, invite—Ichinose Honami out this time.

"Yes, it's true."

"I heard you wanted to join the Student Council, Ichinose, but the president turned you down. Is that right?"

Ichinose Honami nodded, looking a little troubled.

"Yes. President Horikita said the Student Council wasn't accepting first-years this year."

"But how did you know about that, Nangong? I only remember mentioning it to my classmates."

Nangong Cheng smiled and snapped his fingers.

Looking straight into Ichinose Honami's eyes, he dangled the second piece of bait he had prepared.

"President Horikita called me in for a talk today because I sold information yesterday."

"She hinted that she wanted to invite me to join the Student Council. Then, probably to show me how hard this opportunity was to come by, she mentioned that you and a student from Class A had applied, but she'd turned you both down."

"But I believe in conserving energy. Unless it's necessary, I don't do things that sound like a hassle just hearing about them, so I refused."

"President Horikita said she'd keep the spot open for me, though. That got me thinking: if it's my spot, couldn't I sell it to someone else for points?"

At first, Ichinose Honami was surprised that the Student Council president had actually invited Nangong Cheng to join, but his last two remarks made her realize what he really meant.

He wanted to sell her the Student Council spot.

Although she did want to join, Class B couldn't spare enough points to buy the spot. And even if they could, why did she have to buy it from Nangong Cheng?

She asked him exactly that, quite directly.

"Going by what you said, Nangong, if Student Council spots can be traded, why wouldn't I just buy one directly from President Horikita?"

Nangong Cheng smiled.

Naturally, he had prepared a thorough response to that reaction from Ichinose Honami.

"What if I said I didn't want points?"

"You don't want points?"

Ichinose Honami froze for a moment.

That was certainly unusual.

Based on Nangong Cheng's information-selling scheme and their conversation in the cafeteria, Ichinose Honami had always believed he wanted to use private points to buy a place in Class A and graduate from there.

In that case, surely the more points he had, the better. Yet now Nangong Cheng was saying he didn't want any?

What did he want, then?

"Then what would you like me to give you in exchange for this Student Council spot, Nangong?"

"Since you chose to invite me here to discuss it, I assume you believe either I or Class B can afford whatever it is you want. Is that right?"

Nangong Cheng nodded.

Only at times like these was talking to clever people a relaxing experience. They understood without him having to explain much.

"You're right, Ichinose. I invited you here because I believe you can afford something equal in value to this Student Council spot."

"Still... I'm not certain you'll agree to this trade."

"Because this really is a little..."

As he spoke, Nangong Cheng decisively issued Ichinose Honami a task.

[Task issued: There are many kinds of transactions in this world, but all are fundamentally exchanges of interests. Nangong Cheng is now offering a Student Council spot in exchange for your help fulfilling a wish he finds difficult to voice.]

[Task reward: 2,000 points]

[Penalty for failure: Record a video of yourself independently performing a mineshaft depth survey and send it to Nangong Cheng.]

Ichinose Honami's pupils trembled.

A reward of 2,000 points.

The previous two tasks had both been "minor tasks" worth only 100 points, yet the third had made such a huge leap?

Anything that unusual had to have a catch.

Although Nangong Cheng wasn't asking for private points, the reward alone suggested this task wouldn't be easy to complete.

But then again...

One point was worth 1,000 Japanese yen.

In Japan, an ordinary family of three with both parents earning a steady income had an average monthly household income of 300,000 to 500,000 yen.

But their average monthly expenses rarely fell below 200,000, and could be even higher.

Especially in a household like hers, with two children and only a divorced single mother capable of earning an income, merely breaking even over the year came almost entirely at the cost of her mother's health.

Although attending Advanced Nurturing could ease a considerable part of her mother's financial burden, that only made a terrible situation slightly less terrible. The fundamental income problem remained unresolved.

So although 99 percent of the items in the System Shop were worth redeeming more than Japanese yen, money was what she and her family needed most right now.

Those tangled thoughts passed in an instant.

Ichinose Honami took a deep breath, and determination gradually colored her smile.

"Please tell me, Nangong. If you don't, I won't know whether your request is within my means, will I?"

Nangong Cheng nodded.

With the boost from Beginner Acting, his expression resembled a pie chart: thirty percent awkwardness, thirty percent embarrassment, thirty percent apprehension, and ten percent anticipation.

"Um... What I want isn't actually a specific object. I was hoping..."

"That I could call you..."

"Mom."

As if on cue, a gentle evening breeze swept past, sending loose strands of hair playfully brushing against the girl's delicate face, now filled with astonishment.

Silence reigned over Advanced Nurturing that day.

Please keep reading!

Volume One: Ichinose Is a Woman Who Could Become My Mother

At that moment, Ichinose Honami felt as though her brain had crashed like a computer infected with a powerful Trojan virus.

Wait, what had she just heard?

"Ahaha..."

"N-Nangong? What did you just say... I don't think I caught that?"

Without so much as blinking, Nangong Cheng repeated what he had just said, his expression and tone utterly serious.

"I said—I'd like to be able to call you 'Mom,' Ichinose."

"Aaaaaaaaaah!!!!!"

The girl couldn't help letting out a piercing shriek.

In her head, of course.

Ichinose Honami took deep breath after deep breath, trying to calm her wildly agitated emotions, her face already as red as a monkey's bottom.

"Nangong, you..."

"Are you sure you're not deliberately teasing me?"

She had expected this task to be difficult, but who could have imagined Nangong Cheng would propose such a... bizarre, outrageous condition!

Don't you know we're the same age?!

How could you call me Mom?!

Ichinose Honami's reaction was entirely within Nangong Cheng's expectations. After all, she was an utterly innocent anime beauty. It was perfectly normal that she couldn't immediately accept this real-world, repressed Valorant-underclassman-style nonsense about being called Mom by someone her own age.

"Ichinose, I'm not teasing you."

"This is what I truly feel... because I believe you're a woman who could become my mother."

Nangong Cheng's gaze was sincere and earnest, as though he were saying something perfectly ordinary.

"Perhaps it's because I grew up in an orphanage... I always sense a kind of maternal warmth from gentle, kind women like you, Ichinose."

"If that offended you, please forgive my rudeness."

Ichinose Honami pressed her lips together.

Wait, explain yourself. How was a girl still in high school like her brimming with maternal warmth?

"Nangong, I..."

She truly couldn't tell whether Nangong Cheng was expressing his genuine feelings or deliberately teasing her.

But whatever the case, she was just an ordinary high school girl. How could she become a mother to someone her own age?

Even if he only meant a mother figure in an emotional sense, someone to lean on, it... it was still far too embarrassing!

"Ichinose, if you really can't accept something like this, that's fine. We can make it a regular private-points transaction instead."

"Considering our relationship, I can give you a twenty-percent friendship discount this time. Just 1.6 million private points, and I'll accept an IOU."

Nangong Cheng was still retreating to advance.

As for whether he would end up looking like a clown...

He didn't believe Ichinose Honami would actually refuse a trade that was essentially all reward and no cost.