Instead of feeling annoyed, Kiyotaka only sighed and decided to deal with this as fast as possible. It's just one more girl, right? He just has to smooth-talk her, 'unlock' her route and make her a heroine, then end the conversation as soon as he can. And then he can FINALLY get some rest.
"Who are you?" he asked, pocketing his key but not turning around to face this stranger... yet.
"Fufu, I'm not surprised that you don't know me, but it's been 8 years since the day I've laid my eyes on you for the first time and I must say, seeing you in person is nothing like seeing you through glass."
"What are you talking about?" he asked in slight suspicion before turning around.
Standing outside of the room that was opposite to his was a small, petite girl with lilac-colored hair and violet eyes. She was wearing the standard female school uniform, along with a black beret and white stockings with garterbelts. She also had a cane in her hand. Despite her small stature, there was something about her presence that made her stand out compared to other students, including Suzune and Kikyo.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, also known as the 'Masterpiece'," the girl smirked as she did a curtsy. "I'm Sakayanagi Arisu. You could say that I'm a big fan of yours~"
Almost immediately, Kiyotaka's eyes flew in all directions, checking to see if they were alone out here in the hallway. Once he was sure that there was nobody around except for them, he turned his attention back to the girl and walked closer towards her.
"If you know who I am, then you know that you should be careful of what you're saying," he also took notice of her family name that he heard before. "Are you somehow related to the chairman?"
"Oh, you don't have to worry about that. Believe it or not, the cameras along this hallway don't work. I checked them myself earlier," she continued to smirk. "And you are correct about that assumption. He's my father."
Before he could say anything else, a familiar screen appeared on top of her head that Kiyotaka quickly read in order to gain more information regarding this girl.
[Sakayanagi Arisu: 'Obsessed Little Girl']
[Relationship Status: Childhood Friends]
[Affection Points: 70/100]
[Heroine Summary: Arisu is a petite girl with a certain condition that requires her to use a cane in order to walk around. She knows you ever since you were a child, although you've technically never met. She has simply seen and heard of you before because she has visited the White Room before with her father. While she is impressed with what you have accomplished in the White Room, she also refuses to believe that a 'fake genius' like you can win against a 'natural genius' like her. Regardless, she has been looking forward to meeting you so much that she has 'relieved' herself lots of times just by thinking about you.]
"Do you doubt my words? It's alright if you don't believe me, Ayanokouji-kun," she continued, but Kiyotaka was no longer paying attention to her. Rather, his gaze was fixated on her 'Heroine Summary' instead.
"Huh... I wonder what 'relieved' means but more importantly, why is the system showing her summary as if her 'route' was already unlocked?" the young man thought. He was completely sure that he hadn't met this girl before, therefore he should have chosen between three choices to 'unlock' her route, just like how he had done for Nanase, Horikita, and Kushida.
But her summary said otherwise, and the 'Relationship Status' between them was even 'Childhood Friends', even though this was the first time they met. And what the hell was with those 'Affection Points'? It's almost about to reach 100 despite this being their first interaction!
But most of all, why didn't the system tell him about this? Is it still trying to make him suffer? Heh, he wouldn't be surprised at all if that's the case—
"Wait a second..." he said in his thoughts, remembering something that happened earlier today. freewebnov(e)l.com
Earlier, while he was still in Matsuo's home and exploring the 'Menu' of his weird power, there was a sub-menu that was labeled [Heroines' Status]. He didn't feel the need to check it because he was sure Tsubasa was the only heroine whom he had met that time. It never occurred to him that there was already someone else included in it... but he should check just to be sure.
"Menu," he whispered, summoning the dating simulator's menu as the world around him stopped all of a sudden.
Oh, would you look at that? It seems that when he opens the menu, the world around him freezes similar to whenever the 'three choices' appear before him. At least this saves him from having to explain himself if Sakayanagi asks him what he's doing.
Kiyotaka didn't waste time and quickly chose the second sub-menu, and he was surprised to see what was shown there.
[Heroines' Status]
[Sakayanagi Arisu ?]
[Nanase Tsubasa ?]
[Horikita Suzune ?]
[Kushida Kikyo ?]
Okay, this could only mean that Arisu's information was already here, even before he 'unlocked' Tsubasa's route, which means that this mistake was on him. He could have known about Arisu way earlier, but he wasn't able to because he didn't check this sub-menu out while he was still at Matsuo's home.
This also meant that Arisu wasn't kidding when she said that she was a 'big fan' of him, but was that really a good enough reason for her 'Affection Points' to be close to 100 already? As of now, she had overtaken Tsubasa's lead by a large margin that Kiyotaka was actually curious about what would happen if she reached 100.
It also meant that she was really a person from his childhood, despite not meeting her up close, which would explain why she is already considered a heroine in the eyes of this dating sim system.
"Interesting..." he thought, feeling intrigued regarding this girl but his interest can wait for now. He still felt mentally tired from everything that's happened today. "So is there any reason why you wanted to talk? I kind of want to go inside my dorm room right now and get an early rest."
"Of course you do, and I apologize for keeping you from doing so. However, you might want to take notice of the fact that I live inside the room that is opposite yours."
He actually noticed that the moment he realized that this girl was also a heroine. It actually makes sense for the system to have her live here, because she was one of his heroines! Horikita and Kushida were his next-door neighbors, while Sakayanagi lived in the unit in front of his.
"And I'm supposed to care about that because...?" he said, playing along with her words.
She flashed a smug look. "Because I want you to know this, Ayanokouji-kun. You may think that there is no instance in which you can lose, but I will be the one to prove you wrong."
"Is that so?" he asked, seemingly disinterested in the conversation but was actually listening closely.
"A false genius cannot win against a natural genius. The White Room creates artificial geniuses, doesn't it?" she explained with a fond smile on her face. "And you're considered it's masterpiece. You represent my biggest obstacle, and I will take great pleasure in defeating you, Ayanokouji-kun.Nobody else other than me deserves the right to bury the 'Masterpiece' of the White Room."
Kiyotaka listened to her explanation closely and tried to, but couldn't understand the girl. Her words were a clear contradiction against the summary that the system had for her. The system couldn't be lying, unless it was planning to drive him insane.
"Hmm, I don't get it... she says she wants to take me down, and yet she is the one with the highest amount of 'Affection Points' among the heroines I have."
Truly, a maiden's heart is hard to figure out.
[A Special Event Has Been Triggered!]
"You're saying that you want to beat me and prove you are superior and yet, you refer to yourself as a fan of mine. What is it really, Sakayanagi?" asked Kiyotaka out of confusion.
Her smile widened. "Fufufu, I wasn't lying, Ayanokouji-kun. While I do admire and feel impressed with your accomplishments in the White Room, I will still aim to defeat you and prove that a natural genius is superior to even the 'Masterpiece' himself."
In a move that surprised even himself, the edge of Kiyotaka's lips curled up slightly and formed a little smirk, something that he supposedly couldn't do without the system taking control of his body. Arisu noticed the change in his expression, yet she only tilted her head in slight confusion.
"Really? Then what if I do this?" he asked in an amused tone, moving even closer towards her.
The smug expression on Arisu's face fell apart quickly as she moved away from the young man, at least until her back met the door to her room seconds after.
Kiyotaka stopped about an inch away from her and leaned down so they could look at each other directly. He even slammed his arm against the door behind her, pulling off a kabe-don that startled the lilac-haired girl and even caused her cheeks to turn red.
"Hoh? Is that a blush I see, Sakayanagi?" asked Kiyotaka, his smirk growing wider at the sight of the girl like this.
"W-What are you trying to do?" she stuttered, as she hasn't experienced something like this before. Even though she had a disability that made her physically frail, no one had dared to cross her in any way due to her status as well as the fact that she can make anyone feel intimidated and fearful of her thanks to her intelligence.
Unfortunately, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka wasn't one of those people.
"I'm trying to see how much of a 'fan' you are," he chuckled in amusement. "And it seems that you really are one if I can get a reaction like this from you."
The girl was forced to turn her head away. She hated feeling helpless, but there's no way she could win against him like this. "P-Please keep your distance from me, Ayanokouji-kun."
"And if I don't? What exactly are you going to do?" Kiyotaka smirked at her. "As you said, the cameras here aren't working, no one's going to see this. Will you push me away? I want to see you try."
"I-I'll scream for help," she shot back. Sakayanagi knew that she was losing this battle and she hated it, especially now when she could feel her heart beating faster than before.
"Can you even do that? Will you even do that?" he challenged her, making her frown at him. Despite her earlier threat, Kiyotaka wasn't even taking her seriously and it was annoying her. The girl almost looked like a poor cat who had her favorite ball of yarn taken from her. "Something tells me that you're only lying to yourself, Sakayanagi."
She tried to flash a smirk of her own in an attempt to fight back against him, but was obviously failing due to the fact that her body began to tremble. "How would you know? It's not like you can read minds, Ayanokouji-kun."
"I can't," he lifted her chin with a finger, forcing her to look up at him as her eyes widened. "But I can read your body language, Sakayanagi. I actually think that you're even liking this."
All Arisu could do was stare at him, completely helpless to do anything else. Their faces were so close to each other that Kiyotaka could lean in and kiss her if he wanted to. Even if she didn't want to, the girl couldn't actually do anything to stop him.
And so, surrendering to logic and Kiyotaka himself, Arisu simply closed her eyes and waited for something to happen, but nothing did. When she opened her eyes though, she quickly noticed that he leaned close to her ear instead.
"You have no chance of beating me, Sakayanagi. Especially not when you act like this around me," he whispered into her ear, which managed to send a chill down her spine. "Still, I might enjoy your company. While we have never met each other like this in the past, I feel that you and I have a certain connection that can't be imitated by anyone else." freewebnovel.c om
And with that, he moved away from the girl and got a good look at her blushing face as he heard the snapping of a camera followed by the familiar musical chime that the system had.
The 'image' of Sakayanagi's look of shame appeared before him as a notification showed up under it.
['Superior into Inferior' was added to the gallery!]
Kiyotaka ignored both screens in favor of Arisu herself blushing in front of him like an embarrassed schoolgirl. Her smug demeanor was nowhere to be found and while the young man was tempted to play around with her for a bit longer, he still wanted to rest his body so he should end this now.
"Have a good night Arisu," he sent her one final smirk before he turned around and walked back to his unit. As he heard the sound of a door slamming shut behind him, several notifications then appeared in front of Kiyotaka.
[Special Event 'An Interesting Reunion' has been cleared! You gained 25 Affection Points with Sakayanagi Arisu!]
[You were able to make a girl completely speechless all on your own! You gained +5 in Charm!]
[You knew just what would make your Heroine flustered and capitalized on it! You gained +3 in Wisdom!]
[Congratulations! You unlocked the Achievement: 'And The Rest is Silence'! You gained +10 in Aura!]
Too tired to dismiss them himself, the young man ignored them completely, walked into his dorm room and let himself collapse on the bed.
A massive wave of relief overtook him completely as he felt the comfort of a nice soft bed after all the craziness that he went through today. However, this didn't stop him from thinking about what just happened a while ago, particularly when he did something that he has never done before.
"I actually smiled... or rather, I smirked. Completely different from a smile, but it's as good as one considering who I am," he thought, remembering the feeling of moving his lips willingly in order to throw Sakayanagi off her game. "And I wasn't even being mind-controlled by some god. That was really me
The last several times that he smiled in front of other people was because his mind and actions were overridden by some kind of external force. It may actually be the system itself that was forcing him to smile but this time, he did it on his own and was even into it as if he was playing a role.
"Maybe this system is actually trying to help me in some way, even though it's been cruel to me thus far. Those 'dating stats'... maybe they're not just for show. Perhaps they really do help me exactly as they were intended to be. My ability to make people think of me as attractive, my ability to figure out what they want from me, and my ability to draw them towards me. The higher they are, the more I'll be able to do this on my own... without the help of choosing from three options."
Perhaps the system was making him suffer problem after problem in order to prepare for situations like this. Because this time, he didn't have to choose between three choices on what he could possibly say to Arisu and handled her on his own. He even underwent a sudden shift in personality when he smooth-talked her, yet he was in full control of his actions.
Perhaps in the future, when those 'dating stats' that he possessed have reached a high amount, he'll be able to show emotions and even act like an average everyday person... although there's no telling the amount of 'heroines' that he would have if it ever comes to that.
"I had no idea that I could do something like that..." he muttered as he rolled over on his back and stared at the ceiling. "That actually felt entertaining, for once. Getting used to this 'power' might not be as hard as I thought it would be, but I suppose we'll see."
Maybe there was hope for his life in this school to be more exciting, after all.
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