[Shia Krongaard has completed initial affection progress. Ambiguous relationship established.]
[Player has earned first-tier reward: 1,000 points.]
[Romantic relationship not yet established. Keep working hard to complete the final conquest and earn the second-tier reward.]
[New Side Quest "Ten Targets" unlocked. Please check the quest tab in the lower-right corner.]
…
Nao groaned softly, scratching his head in confusion.
—He had clearly rejected Shia's confession, and firmly at that. So why was the system registering them as having entered an "ambiguous relationship"?
Did one-sided affection count?
Thinking back on the events from a couple of hours earlier—the rejection under the streetlamp, the duel challenge, and then Shia silently weeping as he left—it did seem a bit like the setup for something romantic. But it was far from what Nao would consider a real relationship.
Apparently, the system's threshold for "initial affection progress" was a lot lower than he'd imagined.
"Well… I guess that's a good thing, in a way."
Nao glanced at the 1,000 points he'd earned from this. Hmph, barely a quarter of what Bellemere's affection had brought him.
It seemed the system rules really did apply: the difficulty of the target affected the point rewards proportionally.
Shia, after all, was an elite in Headquarters and destined to achieve far more than most people in this world. For such an accomplished girl, the system's ambiguous relationship reward was only 1,000 points.
That meant the average girls—those he could easily win over—would probably bring in much smaller rewards.
Which only reinforced Nao's conviction: he wasn't going to play the field, fishing for points by half-heartedly pursuing multiple targets.
But what was with this new side quest that had just popped up?
Eyeing the quest title—"Ten Targets"—Nao felt a vague sense of unease.
Clinging to a sliver of hope that it might not be as bad as it sounded, he opened the quest tab and scanned the details.
Side Quest: Ten Targets
Congratulations, player, on completing two initial conquests in just one day! Wow, impressive! Looks like romance isn't as hard for you as you thought. Maybe it's time to take on an even greater challenge!
Quest Objective: Within fifteen days, complete initial conquests with ten Marine soldiers, establishing ambiguous relationships.
Rewards: 100,000 points, 1x S-rank loot box.
…
"This system is nuts," Nao muttered, rolling his eyes. He couldn't be bothered to deal with this right now. Shutting the system panel, he yawned and headed to the showers.
Ten targets in fifteen days? And they all had to be fellow Marines?
Forget it. Better to wash up and sleep.
Nao knew that his looks were in a league of their own at the elite camp, and sure, it wasn't hard to attract the interest of his peers.
But most of that interest was just harmless crushes—not everyone would be as bold and obsessive as Shia.
Hoping to just stumble into free points like tonight? Absolutely impossible.
As for actively pursuing multiple targets himself?
Forget it. He couldn't stomach the idea. Shia was already a headache—adding nine more would be suicidal. Even bunnies don't mess up their own dens. Just imagining the potential chaos, and the possibility of someone snapping and going full yandere, made Nao's scalp tingle.
There was plenty of time. He had patience. If a better quest came along, he could deal with it then and earn more points.
…
A night of solid sleep.
At 5:30 a.m. the next morning, the round alarm clock on his nightstand was about to start its cheerful chime.
But a hand shot out from under the covers, silencing it with lightning speed. Nao rolled out of bed in a swift motion.
Glancing around the room at the still-sleeping Shiryu and Rosinante, Nao let out a quiet breath, then headed to the washroom, grabbed his toiletries, and stood in front of the mirror.
The elite camp's assembly time was 7:00 a.m., with most recruits waking up around 6:30. But Nao was long accustomed to rising an hour earlier to squeeze in extra training.
Over time, his body had developed a near-supernatural biological clock.
To Nao, the only real purpose of an alarm clock was to train his reflexes and help him wake up sharply.
"Good morning, me."
The man in the mirror was bright-eyed and handsome, his smile revealing eight perfect teeth. He squeezed toothpaste onto his brush and began his routine.
After a night's rest, he felt completely refreshed. The fatigue from yesterday's intense training had vanished without a trace.
His body's resilience and recovery were exceptional—always had been. No matter how hard he pushed himself, there was nothing a good meal or a long sleep couldn't fix.
And if it didn't? Well, he'd eat, then sleep again.
Moving with practiced efficiency, Nao finished his morning routine and was at the training grounds less than fifteen minutes later.
Every day for the past year had started like this: an hour of extra practice before the morning assembly, and always leaving himself time for breakfast.
Dawn's light was just beginning to brighten the sky.
Marineford, near the harbor, was thick with fog this early in the morning.
There were only a few familiar faces at the training ground entrance. Nao greeted them with a nod as he slipped off his jacket, hung it on the wall, and began his warm-up laps.
After warming up, he found a quiet, secluded corner and prepared to start his swordsmanship training with the most basic practice swings.
Sword practice in the morning, hand-to-hand in the evening—it was a routine Nao had developed over the past year, one he considered the most efficient allocation of his training time.
"Shiiing—"
That sound was meant to mimic the unsheathing of a blade, but since they were at Headquarters and safety protocols were strict, Nao and the others used bamboo swords for training.
With no scabbard, there was no real sound of a blade being drawn. The "shiiing" was just Nao adding his own sound effect for flair.
The pitch started high and trailed off slowly.
Men are funny creatures. No matter how old, when alone, they can't resist a little flair or drama.
Of course, Nao would never admit to something like that. He insisted it was simply part of his pre-practice ritual to focus his mind.
After all, no one was around to see him, so there was no reason to feel embarrassed.
Or so he thought—until today.
"Well, well, not a bad imitation there, kid."
A voice called out from above, startling Nao. He looked up and saw, perched atop the nearby wall, a tall figure.
Shrouded in fog, Nao couldn't make out the man's features, but he could tell the stranger was lounging casually, one leg crossed over the other, yawning lazily.