Nao felt a shiver run down his spine, a cold realization dawning on him.
Could it be that, as soon as he left the ship, Gion couldn't suppress her hidden yuri desires and, using his body, transformed into a top-class huntress, preying on those innocent young girls?
…No.
No, no, no, no…
Nao shook his head, banishing such absurd thoughts from his mind.
Putting aside the system's ambiguous hint and the possibility that Gion might be interested in girls, after spending the past few days with her, Nao was certain she wasn't the type to recklessly take advantage of someone else's body.
A more reasonable guess was that, just like before, Gion had been giving those young female recruits personal, close-contact training, and that may have triggered the system's criteria for initiating a "preliminary capture" and establishing ambiguous relationships.
However, for a preliminary capture to trigger, mere physical contact wouldn't suffice.
Otherwise, with the amount of physical contact he and Gion had in these few days, the system should have already granted him the 100,000 point reward.
More importantly, it required emotional connection. If these girls had no feelings for him at all, then no matter how much contact there was, it wouldn't have counted.
And yet, more than twenty notifications appeared in the system log, signaling a successful preliminary capture.
Nao's expression turned complex. "So there are actually over twenty girls around me who feel the same way as Shia?"
If he really was that attractive, why hadn't he ever received a love letter, chocolate, or even a tiny gift in the past year?
Could it be that now that they knew Gion was in his body, they suddenly had the courage to request personal guidance, or to take advantage of the situation?
…Women can be terrifying.
Nao didn't realize how wildly narcissistic his train of thought had become.
"Anyway, no responsibility on my part, no guilt, and I'm breaking the deadlock to rack up points. This is definitely a win for me."
Rubbing his chin, Nao concluded with a smug smile. "After all, it's still me who profits the most."
He glanced at his stats panel. The points balance, previously hovering around a thousand, now displayed over thirteen thousand—a first in his life as a "ten-thousandaire."
But the surprises weren't over yet. Just as his mood lifted, the system displayed a new message.
[Side Quest: Ten Targets Completed]
[Quest Reward: 100,000 points, S-Rank Gift Box x1]
[Note: For a newbie player to complete such a tough side quest within the time limit—impressive!]
…
Quest complete!
Nao felt like his mind was about to explode. All thoughts of being a "ten-thousandaire" vanished. His attention fixated on the reward.
One hundred thousand points!
An S-Rank Gift Box!
Compared to this, the 13,000 points he'd just earned were peanuts.
Breathing heavily, Nao eventually forced himself to calm down.
"It's real… not an illusion…"
He glanced at the side quest log. The "Ten Targets" quest was marked as completed and then faded into the background.
An unexpected windfall!
Thinking back, this quest had appeared on his first day of acquiring the system, about eleven days ago. Due to its high difficulty and short 15-day limit, Nao had written it off and forgotten all about it, focusing instead on how to complete his second side quest, "A Superior's Confession."
And yet, just when the time limit was running out, he'd miraculously completed it.
He checked his stats panel again.
[Current Points: 115,001]
A six-figure balance confirmed! Nao began contemplating a crucial question.
What should a formerly broke Marine do with a sudden windfall?
He opened the system store and scanned the six new random items for the week:
"Swordmaster Ryuma's Insight Notes (Fragment): 2000 points"
"Forced Volume Control Device (Consumable): 100 points"
"Senzu Bean (Consumable): 60,000 points"
"Rokushiki: Soru Skill Scroll (Intermediate): 1000 points"
"Gambling Skills (Master Level): 60,000 points"
"Western Economics (Master Level): 8000 points"
Previously, he would've had to choose carefully, but now he could easily afford them all.
Of course, just because he could didn't mean he should. For instance, spending 60,000 points on "Gambling Skills" would be plain foolishness…
After some thought, Nao decisively purchased "Swordmaster Ryuma's Insight Notes (Fragment)."
A new item appeared in his inventory: a worn, ancient-looking scroll. When he opened it, a reading panel popped up in the system's interface, displaying Ryuma's sword insights—formatted like a perfect PDF.
Though not a physical item, it was convenient: discreet, always accessible, and safe.
He skimmed the content, then set it aside for later and glanced back at the store.
He'd already bought the Forced Volume Control Device long ago, and had no interest in Western Economics or Gambling Skills. He thought carefully and then bought the Intermediate Soru Skill Scroll.
The Senzu Bean was tempting—it was a legendary recovery item during battle—but the price was steep. Considering he was still under Marine Headquarters' protection, Nao decided to wait. If he ever saw it in the store again, he might buy it then.
Better to be cautious at this early stage.
Closing the store interface, Nao resolved to save about half of his points for future shopping sprees.
The rest? He planned to pour into stat upgrades.