Chapter 26

"Still, you could give that stress-relief method I mentioned a try. I'll send it to you and Kushida on my phone later, and you can see whether it works for you."

Copy, paste, send.

[Task issued: Use the stress-relief method proposed by Nangong Cheng once, and submit a reflection of at least 1,000 words on the experience.]

[Task reward: 500 points]

[Penalty for failure: Recite the full text of "I Want to Be Mr. Nangong Cheng's Dog So Badly," record it, and post it on the Campus Forum.]

Karuizawa Kei opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

"Karuizawa? Why did you suddenly turn red? You don't have a fever, do you?"

Nangong Cheng was curious about her sudden blush, too. He hadn't even told her what the method actually involved yet.

Had she guessed?

If so, she must have been quite an experienced miner.

"Ah! N-no, I'm fine. I just suddenly remembered something embarrassing from my past."

Karuizawa Kei hurriedly waved her hands at Nangong Cheng, explaining herself as she began fanning herself to cool down.

"Since it's your suggestion, Nangong, I'll definitely give it a try when I get back."

"Um... morning study is about to start. You should get back to your seat, too. You don't want to lose any points."

Nangong Cheng nodded.

Issuing two tasks with such generous point rewards first thing in the morning was a promising start. Maybe today was just the right day for this sort of thing?

"What's this stress-relief method you were talking about?"

Horikita Suzune struck up a conversation as soon as he sat down.

Nangong Cheng raised an eyebrow.

"Well, this is unusual. You don't usually look like someone who needs stress relief."

Horikita Suzune shook her head. "I'm starting to think you really do have some deeply ingrained preconceptions about me."

"If you could say what you did back then, there's no way you don't know how much pressure I put on myself."

Nangong Cheng nodded thoughtfully.

True, he admitted he had viewed Horikita Suzune through a biased lens from the start. She wasn't wrong about his preconceptions.

Thinking about it, Horikita Suzune had practically forced herself to become a robot of self-discipline in her efforts to follow in Horikita Manabu's footsteps—or what she believed were his footsteps.

It really wasn't realistic to say she felt no pressure.

Only someone who had truly chased a goal could understand how hopeless and powerless it felt to discover that no amount of effort could close the gap, and that it might even keep widening.

The pressure would go through the roof.

"I get what you mean."

"But the stress-relief method I mentioned really isn't right for you... or, more precisely, it isn't right for you as you are now."

Horikita Suzune frowned.

She didn't quite understand, but Nangong Cheng didn't seem interested in continuing the conversation.

In that case, perhaps she could ask Karuizawa Kei about it later. She happened to have something else she wanted to discuss with her anyway.

Morning study soon ended.

Another dull, tedious morning followed.

Nangong Cheng planned to redeem all high school subjects knowledge later. Failing that, he could issue a task every day to have Horikita Suzune come over and tutor him.

"Sakura, time for lunch."

Perhaps he should have Sakura Airi eat lunch with him in her Shizuku persona. This deliberately frumpy, bespectacled look of hers did nothing for his appetite.

Sakura Airi got up with Nangong Cheng and left the classroom looking thoroughly furtive, with several gazes following her out.

The Rooftop.

It wasn't yet, but perhaps one day it really would become a place for good old Cheng to enjoy some action.

For now, though, it was merely a second cafeteria.

"What are we eating today?"

"Right, what should we eat...?"

Sakura Airi was secretly indecisive, too, so Nangong Cheng ultimately picked a lunch box at random from the ones he had bought.

And, of course, there was the indispensable milk tea.

"Sakura, I think you need to try changing things up a little. For instance, when it's just the two of us during lunch break, you could switch to your other look."

"...I-I'm worried someone might suddenly come up here," Sakura Airi explained, her head lowered.

But she quickly added, "I-if you want to see it, Nangong... I can take some more photos when I get back to my dorm... for you."

"No time like the present. Let's do it today."

Nangong Cheng handed her the lunch box.

Since he had stood Sakura Airi up yesterday, he might as well make it up to her today.

"Something came up yesterday and made you wait an extra day. I'll go buy a camera with you after school today."

"But you probably don't have enough points left, do you? I remember electronics like these usually aren't cheap."

Sakura Airi quietly nodded and accepted the lunch box.

"I... I can buy an entry-level model."

Now, all she wanted was to spend a little more time with Nangong Cheng. Buying a camera had become an incidental concern.

She could always replace it with a better camera once she had more points, anyway.

"But I don't think the entry-level models are very good... How about this? I'll lend you some points so you can buy the best one outright."

"And you won't need to pay me back in points. Just let me use the digital camera to take pictures of you in your other look regularly."

"As for the rate... we can calculate it by the number of shooting days, sessions, or hours, or just by individual photos."

"What do you think, Sakura?"

Sakura Airi thought Nangong Cheng was far too good to her.

So good that it made her question her entire life, wonder whether she was actually dreaming, and suspect that this supposed system was something she had hallucinated under too much mental strain.

Was an invisible, socially anxious girl hiding in the shadows dreaming of a sunny, cheerful, gentle, handsome boy?

But looking at the lunch box in her hands, she remembered what Nangong Cheng had said during yesterday's lunch break and asked with a blush:

"Mm... I'll leave it all up to you, Nangong."

"A-and, um... that thing from yesterday... are we still doing it?"

"Then, sorry for the trouble, Sakura."

Since the girl had not only agreed to his somewhat abrupt suggestion but even volunteered to feed him, Nangong Cheng naturally dropped the act.

He simply copied, pasted, and issued the task (see chapter 22; no padding the word count here).

An effortless 1,000 points went straight into his account.

Unfortunately, when Sakura Airi drank her milk tea, the most crucial element was still missing.

Well, to be precise, there was too much fabric.

Still, there were security cameras on the Rooftop, so this was far enough. Anything beyond that belonged in the realm of private, paid content.

Photography Is Great; You've Got to Learn It

Good things never came easily.

To prevent any unexpected trouble, Nangong Cheng took Sakura Airi straight to the Electronics Specialty Store at top speed after school.

The employee inside had already been replaced by a pretty young woman with a sweet voice who looked fresh out of college.

It seemed the Advanced Nurturing administration had acted quickly. They hadn't even needed a high school detective on the scene to solve the problem.

A thumbs-up for that.

"Hello, we'll browse on our own."

With that, Nangong Cheng took Sakura Airi over to the shelves displaying digital cameras.

Since they had discussed everything before coming, Sakura Airi didn't hesitate. She went straight for a model from a brand she had wanted for a long time.

Nangong Cheng gave it a little thought on the spot, then picked out a reasonably priced digital camera and laptop for himself.

Don't ask. If you did, the answer was that he had big plans for them.

"Hello, we'd like to check out."

Scan, pay, leave.

Next stop—

"N-Nangong... do we really have to buy them?"

Standing at the entrance to the Clothing Store, Sakura Airi looked hesitant and embarrassed.

"Yes, absolutely. We've already bought cameras for taking pictures, so of course we need clothes for you to wear in them."

Good old Cheng never joked about this.

Why else had he spent the past few days nudging Sakura Airi into doing tasks in such a roundabout fashion?

As for the points he would spend?

Not only did he have more than enough, but leaving them sitting in his account would make them nothing more than numbers. Of course he should spend them on things that made him happy.

All sorts of stockings and cosplay outfits—anything that boosted attack speed, critical hit rate, or critical damage—would come in handy sooner or later.

If he didn't buy them now, he would have to come back later. Better to buy them early and enjoy them sooner.

"I'll cover the points. You just shop."

"Hello, miss. Could you help my friend pick out a few outfits that fit her? Money's no object!"

Sakura Airi was a meek girl without much of a will of her own to begin with. With Nangong Cheng insisting so firmly, she could only follow the saleswoman to pick out clothes.

But the moment she saw what the saleswoman recommended, she practically turned into a steam engine, so flustered that she kept slipping in and out of a stammer.

"U-u-u-u-um... do you have, you know, clothes with a little more fabric?"

The saleswoman gave her an understanding look.

"Sweetie, just trust my taste and experience."

"With your figure, if you put these on... my, my. I guarantee your boyfriend will be so smitten he'll want to die on top of you."

Wait, why does a clothing store inside a school even sell things like this?!!

Sakura Airi let out a piercing internal scream.

"Um... he isn't my boyfriend..."

"Oh, even if he isn't now, he will be sooner or later. I've been there, honey. One look at that boy and I can tell he's interested in you. Take the initiative and you're guaranteed to win him over."

More risqué remarks followed, enough to make an innocent girl blush bright red, leaving Sakura Airi so dazed that she unwittingly nodded along.

Only after being ushered into the Fitting Room did she come to her senses. On the verge of tears, she looked down at the pile of "clothes" in her hands, hardly any of which had more fabric than her school uniform.

Her first instinct was to bury her head in the sand and message Nangong Cheng for help, but then something even worse arrived—

[Task issued: Invite Nangong Cheng into the Fitting Room and have him use the newly purchased digital camera to take photos of you trying on clothes.]

[Task reward: 1,000–5,000 points, depending on how revealing the photos are.]

Invite Nangong into the Fitting Room?

And have him take pictures of me trying on clothes?!

Wouldn't he see everything?

Something like that... something like that...