---
[Haru's Car, Parked on a Quiet Roadside ]
A warm, tingling numbness spread through Riku's thighs.
Emi lifted her head slowly, her lips glistening wet. A thin strand of saliva clung to the corner of her mouth—she caught it with her finger and slipped it between her lips with deliberate slowness.
Gulp.
The sound of her swallowing echoed in the silent car.
A satisfied smile bloomed across her flushed face. "Riku-kun really is amazing~" She licked her lips, savoring the lingering taste. "But you should probably start driving now. Parking here is quite dangerous, you know?"
Riku scrambled to collect himself, hastily tucking away and zipping up with trembling fingers.
You're the dangerous one here! he screamed internally. Who does THAT while someone's trying to drive?!
But Emi simply settled back into the passenger seat as if nothing had happened, crossing her legs primly and humming a cheerful tune.
---
[Riku's Apartment — 3:12 AM]
By the time they reached his apartment building, the sky was still pitch black.
"Ne, Riku-kun~" Emi tilted her head, her voice dripping with honeyed suggestion. "Can I come up for a bit? Just to... sit and talk?"
"No."
Flat. Immediate. Absolute.
From yesterday morning until now, Riku hadn't eaten a proper meal. The night's chaos—the rooftop, the twins, the deranged doctor—had pushed even his iron constitution to its limits. Every muscle ached. His eyelids felt like they'd been weighted with lead.
After watching Emi's car disappear into the night, he trudged upstairs. He boiled water, dumped instant ramen into a bowl, and inhaled it in under four minutes.
Then he collapsed onto his bed and was unconscious before his head fully hit the pillow.
---
[Riku's Apartment — 11:23 AM, Next Morning]
When consciousness returned, it came with a familiar voice echoing through his skull.
「Having completed the Rooftop Antagonist Maneuver last night, your physical condition has undergone comprehensive enhancement. All attributes increased by +3.」
A translucent panel materialized before his eyes:
---
STATUS UPDATE
STR: 15 → 18
AGI: 14 → 17
VIT: 16 → 19
INT: 12 → 15
CHA: 17 → 20
NEW TITLE ACQUIRED:
『Shameless Thief』
In special circumstances, women who come into contact with you will experience rapidly diminishing rationality. Affection gains are amplified based on your actions. (Essential equipment for the aspiring NTR Antagonist.)
---
Riku sat bolt upright.
"What the hell?!"
The narrator voice—that annoying, sleazy internal monologue that kept suggesting increasingly degenerate scenarios—it actually rewarded him?
He flexed his fingers. Clenched his fist. Rolled his shoulders.
Power hummed through his muscles like he'd just downed a case of energy drinks. No trace of last night's exhaustion. His body felt lighter, stronger, more alive than it ever had.
Wait... so all this time...
The realization crashed over him like a wave.
The narrator wasn't just some glitchy system trying to guide him toward a prison sentence. It was a quest system. Every perverted, morally questionable scenario it suggested wasn't random degeneracy—they were missions. Completable objectives with tangible rewards.
The rooftop interception of both Tachibana sisters? That wasn't a crime. That was a side quest.
Riku slapped his forehead hard enough to leave a red mark.
I've been way too conservative!
A grin spread across his face—the kind of grin that would make any decent person deeply uncomfortable.
The Antagonistic Narrator system, combined with his Hedonist System? This wasn't just a second chance at life.
This was a perfect life.
He thought back to his previous twenty years of existence. All that hesitation. All that holding back. All those opportunities missed because he was too afraid to act.
I probably lost out on at least a billion yen worth of experiences.
Never again.
Riku decided then and there: he'd head to school today and test the narrator's suggestions with something relatively low-risk. See if completing the prompts consistently yielded rewards.
For science.
---
[Riku's Bathroom — 11:35 AM]
He studied his reflection while brushing his teeth.
The stat increases weren't just internal. His posture had straightened. His shoulders seemed broader. And unless he was imagining things, he'd grown at least two or three centimeters taller overnight.
But the most noticeable change was mental. The usual morning fog that clouded his thoughts had vanished completely. Everything felt... clear. Like someone had wiped the grime off a window he'd been trying to see through his entire life.
That must be the Intelligence boost.
He spat, rinsed, and examined his face more closely.
Was it just him, or had he gotten more handsome too?
Nah. Focus.
DING.
His phone vibrated. Then again. And again.
99+ messages from: Emi-chan 🩺💕
He scrolled through them with increasing disbelief.
"Riku-kun, are you awake yet?"
"Riku-kun, remember to eat breakfast!"
"Did you sleep well?"
"Don't forget to drink water~"
"Riku-kun, are you free tonight...?"
"Thinking about you ♡"
"Riku-kun?"
"Riku-kun??"
"Riku-kuuuun~~"
The timestamps showed she'd been texting him every fifteen minutes since 4 AM.
This girl is genuinely unhinged.
But buried beneath the avalanche of heart emojis and concern, he found a single message from a different sender.
Haru: "After speaking with the other nurses, most have agreed to file charges against the Chief Physician. She'll be going to prison. However... this means Emi and I will likely lose our positions at the hospital. We'll also need to find new housing. I'll figure something out. Please don't worry about us."
Riku typed out a response without hesitation:
"If you need anything, come to me. My apartment has plenty of room. You and Emi can stay here temporarily."
He hit send.
---
[Municipal Hospital, Nurses' Station — 11:42 AM]
In a quiet corner of the hospital, Tachibana Haru's phone buzzed with an incoming message.
But it wasn't Haru who picked it up.
Emi's eyes sparkled as she read Riku's reply, a devious grin spreading across her face like a cat who'd just cornered a particularly plump mouse.
"I knew Riku-kun would say that!" She clutched the phone to her chest, practically vibrating with excitement. "This means Onee-chan and I can both live with him! We can wake up together, eat together, bathe together—kyaaa~!"
She was so caught up in her fantasies that she didn't notice the shadow looming behind her.
"Emi."
Haru's cold voice made her jump nearly a foot in the air. The phone almost clattered to the floor.
"O-Onee-chan! When did you—"
"What are you giggling about?" Haru's crimson eyes narrowed. "And why do you have my phone?"
"N-Nothing! I wasn't doing anything suspicious at all!"
Haru didn't look convinced. At all.
Emi quickly changed the subject. "A-Anyway! What's happening with that psycho doctor?"
Haru's expression darkened. "The police arrived. They're questioning her in the conference room now. But..." She sighed, a rare crack in her icy composure. "Our positions here are finished. We'll need to find new jobs. And somewhere to live."
"About that~"
Emi held up her sister's phone triumphantly, showing the message exchange she'd facilitated.
"Ta-daaa! I already solved it!"
Haru read the conversation. Her face cycled through several expressions—shock, exasperation, something that might have been embarrassment—before settling on resigned irritation.
"Emi... you impersonated me again."
"I was helping!"
Haru said nothing. She didn't reply to Riku's message, but she didn't delete the conversation either.
The truth was... she wasn't entirely opposed to the idea.
That man had saved her on the rooftop. He'd been her first. And despite the chaos of that night, there was something about him that made her pulse quicken in ways she didn't fully understand.
"Let's... see what happens," she murmured, more to herself than to her sister.
---
[Streets of Shibuya District — 12:15 PM]
Riku walked toward school at a leisurely pace, enjoying the enhanced clarity of his upgraded senses. Colors seemed brighter. Sounds crisper. Even the spring breeze felt different against his skin.
Then the narrator spoke again.
「A roadside vendor catches your eye—a young widow, judging by the pale band of skin on her ring finger where a wedding ring recently sat. Clearly divorced. Working alone, which suggests she's supporting a child. Classic Netorare setup. Under the Way of the Antagonist, you decide to skip school and observe her instead. Follow her into that convenient alleyway. Deploy your『Shameless Thief』title to maximum effect. Make her yours—body, mind, and soul...」
Riku's footsteps halted.
Now I have the title to back it up...
His gaze drifted toward the vendor in question.
She stood beside a small pushcart near the edge of the shopping district. Late twenties, maybe early thirties. Chestnut hair pulled back in a practical ponytail that had begun to fray from hours of work. She wore a simple gray t-shirt that clung to her skin with perspiration, the fabric damp enough to outline the generous curve of her breasts and the narrow dip of her waist.
Holy shit.
The woman was stunning in an understated, mature way that the younger nurses couldn't match. Life had clearly put her through hardships, but it had only refined her beauty—added depth to her features, a quiet strength to her posture.
And her body...
The thin cotton did nothing to hide her figure. Full breasts that strained against the modest neckline. Wide hips that flared beneath a trim waist. The kind of soft, yielding curves that screamed fertility to some primal part of his brain.
Sweat trickled down her neck, disappearing into her modest cleavage. Every time she moved, her chest swayed slightly, drawing the eyes of male customers who pretended to be browsing her handmade crafts.
"What a specimen," Riku muttered under his breath.
This is the kind of woman who appears in doujins about seducing lonely housewives...
---
[Nearby Alleyway — 2:23 PM]
Two hours later, the woman finished selling her wares.
Hirose Kaguya wiped the sweat from her brow with the back of her hand. Her arms ached. Her feet throbbed. But she'd sold everything, which meant today wouldn't be a total loss.
Now I need to get to the maid café for the afternoon shift.
Ever since her husband had abandoned her and Yoru, money had become a constant, crushing weight. Mornings were for vending. Afternoons and evenings were for the café. Weekends were for whatever odd jobs she could scrounge up.
Sleep had become a luxury she couldn't afford.
She packed up her cart quickly and cut through the narrow alleyway that shortened her commute by fifteen minutes.
She'd taken this route dozens of times.
Today, she wouldn't make it to the other side.
A thick hand shot out from behind a dumpster and clamped around her upper arm with bruising force.
"Hiiih—!"
Before she could scream, she was yanked into the shadows.
"Now, now, Hirose-san~" A greasy voice oozed into her ear. "You wouldn't want your precious little Yoru to find out about this, would you?"
The man who held her was a nightmare made flesh. Easily two hundred pounds of sweating, jiggling flab squeezed into a stained white undershirt. A yellow construction helmet sat crooked on his balding head. His breath reeked of cheap beer and cigarette smoke.
A stalker...!
Ruka's blood ran cold.
"P-Please... let me go..."
"Shhh, shhh." His meaty palm clamped over her mouth, muffling her cries. Drool glistened on his thick lips. "Listen carefully, Hirose-san. All I want is one time. Just once! Let me have a taste, and I promise I'll never bother you again."
His free hand fumbled in his pocket, producing a fistful of photographs that scattered across the dirty ground.
Ruka's heart stopped.
Yoru at school. Yoru walking home. Yoru through their apartment window.
Pictures of her daughter. Dozens of them. Taken from angles that proved he'd been following them for weeks.
"See? I know everything about you." The stalker's piggy eyes gleamed with triumph. "Your schedule. Where you work. Where Yoru-chan goes to school. Where you live." He leaned closer, his foul breath washing over her face. "Now... are you going to cooperate? Or do I need to pay Yoru-chan a personal visit?"
The fight drained out of Ruka's body.
No... not Yoru...
"Just once," the man repeated, his excitement building. Sweat dripped from his jowls as he began pawing at her shirt. "One time, and this all goes away. I promise."
She couldn't move. Couldn't think. Her daughter's face swam through her mind—innocent, trusting, completely unaware that a monster had been watching her.
If I don't... he'll hurt Yoru...
Hot tears spilled down her cheeks as the man's hands found the hem of her shirt and began pushing it upward—
---
[Alleyway Entrance — Same Moment]
Riku had followed at a careful distance.
He'd watched the widow finish her sales, pack her cart, and turn into the alley. He'd intended to approach her directly—use his new title, lay on the charm, maybe offer to help carry her things.
Then he saw the fat bastard grab her.
Through the shadows, he could make out the scene: the construction worker's bloated form pressing the terrified woman against the wall, his sausage fingers groping beneath her shirt while she trembled and wept.
The photos on the ground told the rest of the story.
A stalker blackmailing a single mother.
The narrator's voice purred in his head:
「The classic Antagonist scenario unfolds before you—but wait! Another contender has appeared! This disgusting waste of human flesh thinks he can claim what is rightfully yours? Under the Way of the Antagonist, there is only one acceptable response: eliminate the competition, then claim the prize yourself. Show this fat fuck what happens when an amateur tries to play in a professional's league...」
Riku cracked his knuckles.
"Couldn't agree more."
---
TO BE CONTINUED
---