Kuoh Private Academy—one of Japan's top high schools.
Its founder was rumored to be a Devil King from the underworld, and any supernatural beings in Japan with human forms could enroll.
Of course, passing the entrance test was a prerequisite.
For ordinary humans, getting in required not only excellent grades but also a hefty family fortune.
Haruto's adoptive parents were wealthy, but they could only afford his tuition, allowing him to attend this prestigious private school.
It wasn't that they didn't want the Takamine sisters to enroll—it was simply that Kuoh Academy's fees were exorbitant.
But the high cost came with good reason. Beyond the top-tier education, excellent facilities, and dedicated faculty, there was something even more important.
Attending Kuoh Private Academy gave ordinary students a chance to break free from their mundane lives and transform.
There was once an ordinary male student who, out of kindness, rescued a dying black cat.
Not only did he end up with a cat-eared wife for free, but he also awakened his magic potential and eventually became a powerful magician.
Gazing at the extravagant building before him, Haruto marvelled at Kuoh Academy's financial might.
The Occult Research Club valued discretion—though their building was spacious, it paled in visual impact compared to the well-funded sports clubs.
Some schools had separate clubs like men's kendo, women's kendo, men's basketball, and women's basketball, but Kuoh Academy was different.
While locker rooms were segregated by gender, training took place in the same space.
The academy provided each sports club with a massive activity room—practically a small indoor gymnasium.
This eliminated the need for clubs to rotate gymnasium usage and gave enough space for male and female members to train separately.
This setup avoided redundant divisions like "men's club" or "women's club," which also conveniently aligned with Haruto's plans.
Following his memory, Haruto arrived at the Kendo Club.
As soon as he stepped inside, someone immediately approached to greet him.
"Hey, are you here to see someone?"
"No, I've recently developed an interest in kendo and wanted to try joining the club for an experience."
Haruto glanced around, slightly disappointed.
Since training was in session, most of the club members were fully geared up—faces obscured, even their figures impossible to discern.
At best, he could only distinguish genders by the occasional kiai shouts.
Only a dozen or so new recruits, still without face guards, practiced basic swings in a corner of the dojo.
Haruto scanned them with his Eyes of Insight but found no targets that caught his interest.
After wandering around twice, he made up an excuse and left.
Exiting the kendo club, Haruto headed to the archery club, followed by the tennis club, swimming club, gymnastics club, taekwondo club, karate club…
His excuse was the same each time—recent interest, wanting to try out the club.
Regardless of how enthusiastic or indifferent the members were, Haruto always said he'd think it over and give an answer in a few days.
His selection of clubs wasn't random—the most crucial factor was combat potential.
Next, there couldn't be too few girls, or at least, there had to be outstanding female members.
Strong female fighters had a higher likelihood of possessing talent that could enhance combat abilities.
It wasn't a guarantee, but the odds were definitely better than randomly searching elsewhere.
After his rounds, Haruto couldn't say he was overflowing with gains, but he was pleasantly surprised.
Setting aside everything else, he had already spotted several stunning beauties from his memories.
Miyajima Sakura from the kendo club, Sakuramiya Saya and Sakuramiya Hinata from the archery club, Suzumori Mizuki from the track and field club, Nanao Akane from the baseball club, and Natsuha Shizunomiya from the karate club.
But the real surprises were Uzaki Hana from the swimming club and Echizen Nanako from the tennis club.
Compared to the numerous hentai characters, genuine 2D-style characters were exceedingly rare.
To put it plainly, in this world, authentic 2D characters were like SSR-tier gacha pulls—regardless of strength, the drop rate was just abysmally low.
Though he had found a few delicate flowers, Haruto's view of this world remained unchanged.
Even in a Cthulhu-esque world, some people occasionally regained sanity.
Similarly, the appearance of a few normal characters didn't mean this wasn't a degenerate 2D universe.
As dusk settled, Haruto had already scouted most of the sports clubs.
He mentally noted down a few promising targets, planning to approach them one by one.
Not just the familiar heroines, but also some standout girls from the clubs.
They might not be as alluring as the well-known beauties, but their looks and figures were still above average.
...
Two kilometers southwest of Kuou Academy's entrance, a group of delinquents loitered in an alley, eyeing passersby.
"Boss, what about that kid? Looks like an easy mark."
"Yeah, let's go for him. Kuou Academy students are all fat sheep."
The pompadour-sporting leader flicked away his cigarette butt. "Be careful—test the waters first."
As long-time delinquents in the area, they knew a thing or two.
Kuou Academy students were rich, sure, but you could easily stumble upon a tough one.
Some looked scrawny but could take on ten guys at once.
Others had hidden bodyguards—not just one, but a whole squad.
Or came from untouchable backgrounds—like yakuza heirs or the police chief's beloved daughter…
"Alright, I'll go test the waters first."
The delinquent who had made the earlier suggestion stood up and slowly approached Haruto, who was deeply absorbed in thought.
The moment they passed each other, he suddenly rammed his shoulder into Haruto.
Haruto swayed slightly but easily steadied himself, while the delinquent stumbled from the recoil.
Haruto stopped and looked innocently at the delinquent with multicolored hair. "Excuse me, is there something you need?"
The delinquent was puzzled but instinctively played along.
"Huh? Something I need?" He glared fiercely at Haruto, theatrically clutching his chest. "Didn't you just bump into me?"
Maintaining his clueless expression, Haruto replied, "Oh, so I bumped into you? My apologies."
"You think a simple 'sorry' is enough?"
"Then... do you want to bump me back?" Haruto tilted his head and countered.
The delinquent scowled and roared, "Who the hell wants to bump you?!"
"What do you want, then?"
Haruto subtly took two steps back, avoiding the delinquent's flying spit while discreetly assessing the others in the alley.
The delinquent stepped forward and grabbed Haruto's collar.
"Listen up! You're not leaving today unless you cough up 100,000 yen!"
"Oh, so you want money? You should've said so earlier." Haruto feigned realization. "But I don't have that much cash on me. I'd need to withdraw it from the bank."
Thanks to his "cuckold protagonist template," handling situations like this wasn't just easy—it was second nature.
Haruto did a quick mental calculation. The peaceful period was about over anyway.
Sure enough, the moment he didn't walk home with Reina and the others today, trouble came knocking.
Seeing Haruto so compliant, the delinquent was momentarily stunned, thinking he'd run into a pushover.
"I don't wanna bother with that. Hand over whatever cash you've got now."
"But I don't have a single yen on me." Haruto tilted his head again. "How about you just bump me back instead?"
The delinquent: "..."
"I'll bump your ass! You messing with me?!"
Haruto sighed regretfully. He hadn't had enough fun yet, but the guy had caught on too quickly.