School. Again. The same fluorescent hellscape filled with people whose only goal seems to be making me feel irrelevant.
I glance up as the door swings open. Miyu Takeda. Blonde hair catching the light, beauty mark glinting like some cruel little spotlight. She walks in, sits gracefully. I… well, I sit at the desk beside hers, trying not to breathe too loudly. Subtlety is my middle name. (Not really, my middle name is probably "Loser" anyway.)
The teacher enters, all professor-y, and begins lecturing about Kafka. Great. Nothing like existential dread to make your own life feel even more pathetic. I grab my pen, trying to subtly… you know, set up a "pen-roll incident" so I can look heroic. I drop it. Naturally.
Only it doesn't roll toward Miyu. Nope. It rolls straight to the fat, ugly woman in front of her. Cue inevitable disaster. She picks it up, looks at me—and blushes. Big. Heart-melting blush. Then… she licks the pen. And lowers her shirt slightly. Cleavage. Everywhere.
I… stare. In horror. I swear my soul tried to crawl out of my mouth.
After what feels like an eternity of mental screaming, class ends. I'm walking out, pen still wet with… whatever just happened, trying desperately not to think about it.
And then I see her. Miyu. Just… standing there, near a tree, looking like sunlight incarnate. Opportunity? Maybe. Actual courage? Ha, no.
I walk toward her. Slowly. Carefully. And then… my brain freezes. No topic. Nothing. Silence. My mouth is suddenly an abandoned construction site of embarrassment. She looks at me expectantly.
In panic, I say:
"Big Bears."
Yeah. Brilliant. That's what comes out. Big Bears. The most pathetic excuse for conversation I could've chosen. And somehow, I ramble further, trying to explain: some show about big bears running an organization that catches rapists… because apparently some women prefer a bear over a man. (Trust me, I sound insane.)
And then… miracle. She laughs. Lightens up. Turns out, she's a fan of Big Bears. I nearly collapse from shock. Somehow, my pathetic ramble lands perfectly. We talk. About Big Bears. For real. And it's… good. The conversation flows. My mouth is producing words that make sense. I don't know what's happening, but it's happening.
By the time I reach home, my head is spinning from the sheer absurdity of social success. And then, like the universe still has jokes to play on me…
Blue screen appears.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]"TASK COMPLETED: CONVERSATION WITH MIYU TAKEDA""LIBIDO POINTS EARNED: 10"[CURRENT STATS]
Strength: 0
Intelligence: 0
Charisma: 0 → 1
Pervertness: 87
Charisma increased. I… I can't believe this actually worked. My pathetic Big Bears ramble just leveled me up.
I slump onto my bed, pen safely cleaned (sort of), and wonder if my life has any hope. Or if I just peaked talking about anthropomorphic bears. Either way… progress. Small, weird, totally Riku Hayami-sized progress.