Chapter 8: The Golden Commission!
"Sigh, you don't have friends, so you wouldn't understand."
"Ahem..."
Yukino, who had been drinking tea, choked in anger upon hearing Hayashida's words.
What did he mean by "you don't have friends, so you wouldn't understand"?
Ridiculous. It wasn't like she particularly wanted friends anyway. Did no one tell him how pretentious that sounded?
Ignoring Yukino's displeased expression, Hayashida continued, "I'll ask him about it later. More importantly, when there are no commissions, how does our club usually operate?"
Yukino lowered her head in thought for a moment before looking up at Hayashida and answering uncertainly, "Reading?"
"Why is that a question?" Hayashida retorted.
"When there are no commissions, everyone just does what they need to do," Yukino said seriously. After a moment's thought, she added, "Preferably without making too much noise."
"Would other clubs complain?"
"It would disturb my reading."
Hayashida was speechless. Seeing that Yukino had already opened her paperback, he simply took out his phone.
Even if he were to read, he would use his phone. After all, paperbacks weren't much bigger than a phone, so why not use the phone? It was even more convenient for flipping pages!
Speaking of phones, Hayashida couldn't quite understand why, even in the age of smartphones, so many Japanese high school students around him still preferred flip phones with physical buttons.
But since he already had his phone out, Hayashida turned to Yukino and said:
"Yukino-san."
"What is it?"
"Do you have Line?"
Yukino glanced at Hayashida's phone, closed the book she had just opened, and took out her own phone from her bag—a touchscreen device.
"Here." Yukino pulled up her Line ID and handed her phone directly to Hayashida.
After two weeks of knowing each other, the two officially exchanged contact information.
The process was utterly mundane, devoid of any "doki-doki" heart-pounding moments. Both considered it an insignificant matter.
After finishing the setup, Hayashida returned the phone to Yukino. Only after receiving it did she belatedly realize—had she just been added by a member of the opposite sex?
It hadn't seemed like a big deal at first, but once the thought crossed her mind, Yukino's heart inexplicably beat a little faster.
She stole a glance at Hayashida, who was still operating his phone, and seeing that he showed no particular reaction, she silently scolded herself for overthinking.
As the club president, what was the big deal about exchanging contact information with a member?
"Buzz~"
Her phone vibrated suddenly. Yukino turned on the screen and saw that Hayashida had sent her a cat sticker.
Unlike ordinary cute cat memes, the cat Hayashida sent was... difficult for Yukino to describe in words.
The picture showed an orange tabby. Whether it was due to the camera angle or the cat being in a stressed state, its ears were flattened against the back of its head, giving an overall impression of being both fierce and cowardly, honest yet mischievous.
Grumpy Hissing Cat.jpg
Where did he find this cat picture?
This meme wasn't cute at all, yet it somehow made people want to save it. In fact, that's exactly what Yukino did - she silently long-pressed to save the image, then properly replied to Hayashida with a "Hello."
Just as she sent this greeting, Yukino received another meme. It was the same cat, but this time holding a rose, giving the impression of a cat offering flowers.
As usual, long-press, save.
Your meme is pretty good, but it's mine now.jpg
Perhaps even Yukino herself didn't notice that the corners of her mouth were beginning to lift uncontrollably.
"Speaking of which, even though Yukino-san is quite popular with everyone, why don't you have any friends?" Hayashida touched right on her sore spot.
As expected, Yukino's barely lifted lips immediately flattened upon hearing Hayashida's words. Her gaze shifted from her phone to meet Hayashida's eyes for a moment before moving away.
"...You have friends, you wouldn't understand."
OK, so we're throwing shade now?
Hayashida couldn't tell if it was his imagination, but he felt like the girl's cheeks were slightly puffed up.
Observing the turbulent emotional colors swirling around the girl, Hayashida said: "Who says I don't understand? Well... one can be perfectly happy alone. The idea that you must be with others is what's really terrible, right?"
"..." Yukino glanced at Hayashida before immediately looking away and closing her eyes, as if deep in thought.
"You prefer being alone, but others pity you without permission - that feeling is annoying, right?"
"You definitely don't have many friends either!" Yukino retorted, almost petulantly.
People who are too perceptive don't make many friends. It wasn't that Yukino had never seen socially skilled, high-EQ individuals, but she had never encountered anyone quite like Hayashida.
―It was as if he could read minds.
"Haha, sorry, sorry. It's mainly because Yukino-san is easy to read."
Me? Easy to read?
Yukino felt like Hayashida was being sarcastic. All her life experiences had taught her one thing - that people can never truly understand each other.
"No one has ever thought that before, if..." Yukino murmured, as if talking to herself yet also responding to Hayashida.
After saying this, Yukino curled up like a hedgehog, picked up her book, and used her actions to show Hayashida that she was now refusing to continue the conversation.
Hayashida didn't mind at all, since his goal had already been achieved.
In Hayashida's vision, a golden exclamation mark appeared above Yukino's head.
See? A commission had arrived.
After two weeks of research, Hayashida had basically figured out the mechanics of the Wish Power System.
First, not just anyone's wishes could generate Wish Power Points - the person must have some connection to him, or what you might call karma.
Second, wishes also have levels. The lowest level is likely gray, which only grants a small amount of Wish Power. Hayashida's first Wish Power Point was obtained by fulfilling a gray wish. The highest level, on the other hand, is gold—exactly like the one that just appeared above Yukino's head.
Third, wishes can be triggered in various ways. Through several days of experimentation, Hayashida discovered that wishes are more likely to appear when the target experiences strong emotional fluctuations. This has also been confirmed with Yukino.
Fourth, the difficulty of fulfilling a wish varies depending on its level. Gray-level wishes are directly visible to Hayashida, whereas for gold-level wishes, he can't extract any information at all.
Hayashida initially speculated two possibilities: one is that high-level wishes may have prerequisite tasks, and the other is that his relationship with Yukino isn't close enough yet—she may not be willing to entrust her wish to him.
These two possibilities are not mutually exclusive; they could both be true.
But regardless, since Yukino can trigger an exclamation mark, Hayashida believes there will surely come a day when it can be resolved.
The difficulty of a wish isn't what matters—what matters is having a wish at all!