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"Nailed it!"
After Yukino Yukinoshita left the rooftop.
Kai confidently made a grasping gesture. As for juggling two top-tier girls at once? He felt absolutely zero pressure.
One was a socially anxious mess, and the other was an unmelting ice queen. Tomorrow's lunch might just be the perfect opportunity to grind out a few more quests.
Thinking about quests...
Kai immediately remembered the one he had just completed and mentally connected with the System.
"System, I want to claim my reward."
The very next second, the System's mechanical voice chimed in.
[Since this is the Host's first completed quest, the reward has been enhanced.]
[Congratulations, Host.]
[Reward Acquired: Cursed Spirit Manipulation (Perfect Edition)]
Cursed Spirit Manipulation? The exact same Cursed Spirit Manipulation used by the Special Grade Jujutsu Sorcerer, Suguru Geto, in Jujutsu Kaisen?
Kai couldn't stop the surge of absolute excitement rushing through his veins.
Sure, a lot of the character writing in the later stages of Jujutsu Kaisen went completely off the rails, but that didn't take away from how undeniably badass the power system was. He had spent countless hours in his past life fantasizing about wielding those flashy, overpowered Cursed Techniques.
"But wait... are there even Cursed Spirits in this world?"
The core mechanic of Cursed Spirit Manipulation involved absorbing, ingesting, and completely subjugating Cursed Spirits.
If this world didn't have Cursed Spirits, the technique would be practically useless. Then again, maybe not. Just possessing Cursed Energy alone would push his physical specs far beyond the limits of a normal human. After all, look at Satoru Gojo, the Strongest Sorcerer himself—even without relying on the Six Eyes or the Limitless technique...
...he could still completely dismantle Special Grade Cursed Spirits with pure hand-to-hand combat.
All things considered, Kai was incredibly satisfied with this starter reward. Humming a cheerful little tune, he finally made his way down from the rooftop.
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Kai was currently a second-year high school student. He was in the same grade as Yukino Yukinoshita, though they were in different classes.
Hitori Gotoh, on the other hand, was a first-year.
Remembering that there were several other top-tier heroines waiting in his own classroom, Kai unconsciously picked up his pace.
"Kai!"
"Bro!"
"Where've you been? You completely disappeared the second the lunch bell rang."
The original owner of this body hadn't been a complete background character. On the contrary, thanks to his good looks, even though he wasn't exactly a smooth talker, he had managed to consciously integrate himself into the classroom's popular clique—the group led by Hayato Hayama.
Here in Japan, the high school caste system was strictly enforced through these little social circles. If you didn't join a group, you were immediately branded as an outcast or a loner.
The previous Kai had moved to Tokyo all by himself for school. Being completely alone in an unfamiliar city, he naturally hadn't wanted to be ostracized. That was the only reason he had slipped into the popular crowd. But even then, he was basically just a background extra, there to fill space and nod along.
But now that the current Kai had taken over, things were going to be vastly different.
"It's nothing. I just ran into a few friends and ended up chatting a bit longer than expected,"
Kai explained with a casual smile, smoothly sliding into his seat. The others didn't think much of it.
Kakeru Tobe was right back at it, hovering around Hayato Hayama and cracking his usual loud jokes.
Yamato and Ooka, the other two guys in the popular group, flanked them on either side, chiming in every now and then to keep the hype going.
If Hayato Hayama was the undisputed king of the guys in the popular clique, then the absolute leader of the girls' side was none other than the "Fire Queen" herself—Yumiko Miura.
Her brilliant blonde hair caught the sunlight, looking incredibly striking. At that exact same moment, a fresh barrage of quests suddenly triggered from her direction.
[I want the Queen to step on me]
[I want Yumiko Miura to look at me like I'm absolute trash]
[Corrupt her! Corrupt her!]
[Witness Yumiko Miura's most vulnerable side]
[Praise Yukino Yukinoshita right to Yumiko Miura's face]
[Goddess-tier feet! Goddess-tier feet!]
[...]
And it wasn't just Yumiko. A whole cluster of quests also popped up over Yui Yuigahama and Hina Ebina, who were standing right next to her.
Among them, Yui had the highest volume of quests, while Hina had the fewest. It was pretty obvious by now—the sheer number of available quests was directly tied to the heroine's overall popularity level.
While everyone else was busy chatting...
Kai let his gaze sweep across the classroom. Over by the gyaru group was Marin Kitagawa. Sitting nearby was Rikka Takanashi, rocking her signature eyepatch. And finally, sitting completely alone in the corner with an eerily calm expression, was Megumi Kato.
He had officially died and gone straight to heaven.
Megumi Kato in particular was an absolute goldmine. She had more quests hovering over her than Yumiko, Yui, and Hina combined.
As expected of the legendary "Saint Megumi."
"Huh?"
As if sensing the weight of his stare, Megumi intuitively turned her head, her eyes locking perfectly onto Kai's gaze.
He honestly hadn't expected her to turn around so suddenly.
But Kai didn't flinch or look away. He just flashed Megumi a confident, easygoing smile before casually withdrawing his gaze. Leaving a solid first impression was more than enough for now.
'Did he actually notice me?'
Exactly as Kai had calculated, that simple smile left a distinct mark in Megumi Kato's mind.
Growing up, her lack of presence was so severe that even her own family completely overlooked her sometimes. At school, nobody ever went out of their way to approach her. She had always been a solitary shadow. This was literally the very first time someone had actively and intentionally noticed her.
It stirred up a strange, unfamiliar flutter of emotion deep in her chest.
But by the time Megumi focused her gaze back on him, Kai had already turned his head and was deep in conversation with the guys next to him.
————————————————————
"What's the matter? Did you finally realize you have zero chance with Yui and decide to give up? Scouting for new targets already?"
Noticing that Kai had been checking out the other girls in the class, Yumiko Miura suddenly threw out a teasing jab.
"Yumiko..."
Yui Yuigahama called out her name in embarrassment, quickly ducking her head with a shy flush.
It suddenly clicked in Kai's mind. The previous owner of this body had actually harbored a massive crush on Yui. But since he had the social skills of a brick, his attempts at showing affection basically amounted to acting like a completely desperate simp.
"Of course not."
If it were the old Kai, he would have started stammering and stuttering for half a day without managing to form a coherent sentence.
But things were completely different now.
He let out a natural, open smile and replied smoothly.
"We just started a new school year, didn't we? The class roster got completely shuffled around. I was just taking a look out of curiosity."
"Besides, when did I ever say I was giving up?"
As he said it, Kai turned and looked Yui Yuigahama dead in the eye with complete sincerity.
"Yui, are you free this weekend? Let's go grab some afternoon tea together."
"Eh??"
He had never been this direct before. Even Hayato Hayama and the rest of the guys, who had been deep in conversation, stopped and stared over in absolute shock.
"I..."
This time, Yui was the one left stammering.
Having watched the anime, Kai knew perfectly well that Yui was a textbook people-pleaser. She constantly put herself at the very bottom of the social hierarchy, totally submitting to the group dynamic.
She passively accepted whatever plans other people made for her and never once had the courage to voice her actual desires.
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