"Hemostatic Bandage: 50 Scum Points. Outstanding clotting effect, prevents you from going down like a one-hit-KO from blood loss."
"Vital Spot Evasion: 200 Scum Points. Instinctively dodge critical hits like you've got Spider-Sense tingling."
"Sensitive Sense of Smell: 50 Scum Points. Your sharpened nose will lock onto every girl you've messed with, like Kakashi's ninken tracking a target. Once they step within ten meters of you, you'll know immediately—saving you from getting Yandere'd in the back."
Yūto Shō stared at the three items on the exchange interface, feeling vaguely let down. None of these would help him throw hands with Egawa Mitsuki. But the disappointment fizzled out fast. He realized that even if something busted-tier had shown up, his wallet would've laughed at him anyway. Better to walk before he ran.
He skimmed the details on all three. Same flavor as yesterday—survival-focused perks. The Sensitive Sense of Smell was a rerun from the previous lineup. So it seemed he didn't have to stress about missing the good stuff when he was broke; the rotation gave repeat chances.
Yūto Shō did the math. Today's settlement reward came out to 250 points, stacked with the 100 from yesterday, totaling 350 Scum Points. Snagging all three items would only run him 300.
He didn't hesitate. He grabbed everything. Hemostatic bandages were clutch for emergency bleed control, and vital spot evasion was a god-tier passive—the kind of thing that pulled you back from the brink when you were already at one HP.
As for the keen sense of smell, he could log the scent of every girl he'd smashed, keeping types like Egawa Mitsuki from sneaking up on him, and doubling as a hidden ace up his sleeve.
Picture it—when he was deep in some side-chick arc, his girlfriend or wife would never catch him red-handed, because Yūto Shō would've already pulled an Itachi-tier disappearing act long before they reached the door.
…
After the rush of hype settled, Yūto Shō felt like something inside him had shifted—but it was too subtle to pin down.
Vital Spot Evasion was a passive trigger; if nobody aimed for a kill shot, the skill stayed dormant. And the keen sense of smell needed him to actually log the target girl's scent first.
Finally, Yūto Shō opened his palm, and a roll of bandages materialized out of thin air. He gave it a quick once-over, then slotted it into the system-issued inventory.
That backpack functioned as storage for anything pulled from the exchange interface.
Once everything was squared away, Yūto Shō glanced at his remaining 50 Scum Points and felt the balance was painfully thin.
Looked like tomorrow would be a grind day.
…
Late into the night, Yūto Shō crashed into bed and drifted off. He had a dream—standing tall with a whip coiled in his hand, while Sato Ruri and Egawa Mitsuki knelt at his feet on dog leashes, bending down to kiss his shoes.
Yūto Shō was sleeping like a rock. But tonight, someone else was wide awake because of him.
Sato Ruri lay sprawled across her bed in a daze. Her fingers drifted up to her lips on instinct, and the scene of Yūto Shō kissing her replayed behind her eyes—domineering, rough, and yet somehow it had hit her like a critical chapter cliffhanger she couldn't put down.
The girl's cheeks burned pink, her lips still tingling like they were branded with his taste, and she bit down on the lower one hard. A faint electric current zipped through her hips—prickling, buzzing—dragging her mind back to her own plush hand that had been so casually extorted, and Yūto Shō's fingers that had moved like they'd been blessed by some kind of cheat code.
Sato Ruri whimpered and crushed the pillow against her chest, her body going inexplicably limp. Her flawless face flushed like a peach hitting peak ripeness, expression flickering between irritation and shyness, until she finally clenched her teeth like she'd come to some kind of resolution.
...
In the morning, Yūto Shō showed up at school, planning to slip in through the back door as usual. But when he hit the entrance, he ran straight into Sato Ruri walking out hand-in-hand with another girl.
Sato Ruri's face went tomato-red the second she spotted him, a flash of embarrassment and irritation crossing her eyes. She was about to just pretend he didn't exist and yank her friend along, but her companion grinned and called out: "Yūto Shō, did you piss off the teacher? She put you on cleaning duty for the public areas today. Just giving you a heads up."
Sato Ruri had been mid-pull, but at those words, she turned to look at Yūto Shō with wide, surprised eyes.
The girl who'd spoken was named Kirei Ryu—another low-key beauty. But because her figure was a notch below Sato Ruri's—especially her chest, which was a tragic B cup—her fan club was nowhere near the same scale.
That said, Kirei Ryu was the warm, sunshine-type protagonist's-best-friend energy, always laughing, greeting everyone with that disarming smile. Whether you were a guy or a girl, being around her felt like the opening theme of a slice-of-life anime, so she was popular across the board and had solid rapport with the teachers.
Hearing Kirei Ryu roast him so casually, Yūto Shō was caught slightly off-guard. His gaze flicked subtly toward Egawa Mitsuki, who was slumped over a desk further off, before he nodded to Kirei Ryu: "Got it."
Seeing his lukewarm reaction, Kirei Ryu felt her hype deflate, but she still smiled and added, "Then hustle, class is about to start."
…
After that, Kirei Ryu tugged Sato Ruri away, and Yūto Shō caught the last look Sato Ruri shot him—pure schadenfreude, the kind of smug glance villains give right before the plot twist, clearly delighted to see him stuck with grunt work.
Yūto Shō felt his irritation spike, snorted under his breath, and made a mental note to teach her a lesson after school. But right now, the main quest was cleaning the public area, otherwise the teacher would use it as leverage to trip him up later.
Grabbing a broom and a dustpan, Yūto Shō headed to his class's assigned zone—and walked straight into a disaster scene. Trash was scattered everywhere. Someone had deliberately shredded paper into countless tiny scraps and flung them across the entire area. Subtle as a Gundam crashing through a wall. The target on his back may as well have been glowing.
Was this Egawa Mitsuki's revenge arc? Or was it just the teacher freelancing, kissing up to Egawa Mitsuki without being asked?
Yūto Shō mulled it over, but either way, Egawa Mitsuki was tied up in this somehow, so he might as well go straight to the source.
…
With that, Yūto Shō pulled out his phone and shot her the video he'd recorded yesterday—the one of Egawa Mitsuki licking his fingers. Without waiting for a reply, he pocketed the device. He didn't lift a finger to clean. He just stood there, posted up, waiting.
The phone buzzed against his thigh over and over before finally going silent.
A few minutes later, Yūto Shō spotted Egawa Mitsuki booking it down the stairs and sprinting straight toward him, her face tight with anxiety.
Within moments, Egawa Mitsuki pulled up to Yūto Shō, her expression like a thundercloud, and snapped, "You filmed a video yesterday?"
"Sorry, but it was such a main-character moment I just had to capture it." Yūto Shō smiled and offered the apology, but there wasn't a shred of actual remorse on his face—if anything, he looked entertained.
Egawa Mitsuki's expression darkened another shade. She inhaled slowly and said, voice ice-cold, "Delete the video. If it leaks, you'll regret it—and I mean game-over level regret."
Yūto Shō felt a tiny tremor run through him. His gut told him Egawa Mitsuki's words weren't a hollow threat—they were closer to a genuine warning. The video was humiliating on a viral-meme scale, and if it got out, it would tank Egawa Mitsuki's reputation, which could easily summon the wrath of her family like a final boss cutscene.
But deleting it was a hard no. The more leverage he stockpiled against Egawa Mitsuki, the safer his own life expectancy.
Yūto Shō didn't bother answering her. He just pointed at the snowstorm of paper scraps blanketing the floor and said, "Teacher told me to clean this up, so you're helping."
Egawa Mitsuki froze, then the pieces clicked into place, and her irritation flared on the inside.
Her anger wasn't pointed at Yūto Shō—it was aimed at the teacher. She finally got why he'd sent her the video.
The teacher had taken initiative, throwing him under the bus to score points with her, and Yūto Shō had been pissed enough to retaliate.