Monday . Week 1 . Year 1 .

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An annoyingly loud alarm blasted from nothingness .

[Congratulations, you triggered peaceful sleep . Vitality increased by 20% for the entire day . ]

Clyde flinched as the memories returned . It was kind of surprising that he dreamed normally . All things projected were from the real world . This transition felt…unsettling .

"Have a nice sleep?"

Clyde stiffened as he turned around to see Mortem floating a few feet behind him, arms folded, grinning like a great white shark . "I won't be babysitting you, mortal . No-no-no, we won't have any of that . But as it's your first day here, the masters wanted to make sure you didn't kill yourself . Oh, and this . "

[You received pa.s.sive skill: Hostile Detection 1! With this, you will be able to detect hostile intents from beings of Satovia . ]

"If you get into a fight, incapacitate your foe and you'll get experience," Mortem continued . "If you kill someone, that's on you . I won't be bailing you out of prison . "

"What's the point of attending this school when I should be out looking for the Viper?" he said .

"Figure that out for yourself," Mortem said . "I told you no babysitting . " He vanished without saying another word .

"f.u.c.king dips.h.i.+t," Clyde said as he angrily marched to the bathroom . He dressed into a pair of sweat pants then took a jog around the block . This was mostly to burn off his anger .

After was.h.i.+ng and brus.h.i.+ng his teeth for the morning, he set off to the academy . The arrow and map in his head were a G.o.dsend . The school uniform felt a bit uncomfortable . The spring's heat didn't make it better .

He practiced his a.n.a.lyze skill as much as he could, hoping that it would level up . Any advantage is better than none . What if the Viper turned out to be some kind of demon lord like in the games . Well, he'd be f.u.c.ked if that was the case . His stats didn't show him with any special powers . Where would he learn?

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"Morning," a voice said from behind as he reached the school gates . Harumi . He was prepared for this—mentally trained himself not to look at them . This turned out to be one of the fatal flaws of anime main characters . They easily fell off task when a pair of enormous b.o.o.bs flung into their faces .

"Morning," he replied, voice casual .

"Shall I show you around?" Harumi asked warmly . "What cla.s.s are you in?"

"One C," Clyde said . Wait for it… .

"Same here!"

"I knew it," Clyde said under his breath . Couldn't he at least get his own preference of girl? Not that Harumi bothered him . Things could've been worse . What if the system gave him one of the bad tropes . Not that he knew Harumi well . He'd have to increase his relations.h.i.+p level with her to find anything interesting about her . Somehow, that just felt invasive .

She gave him a quick tour of the college before taking him to their cla.s.s . It looked just like a j.a.panese high school . Or to be more specific, an anime high school . The number of young women seemed to outnumber the men . His professor wasn't an exception to the tropes, predictably being a young beautiful woman . He introduced himself then took his seat which was surprisingly not behind Harumi, but some silver-haired girl .

[Cla.s.s in session: Satovia History 1 . If you possessed the Stream-learn skill, you would be able to learn the material without paying attention . ]

Clyde cursed under his breath, but tuned in . What kind of history did this world possess? That could clue him in on where to find this Viper person . He felt surprisingly energetic as the instructor went on and on . Could this be due to the vitality boost? Clyde had no other explanation—normally dry lessons made his eyelids heavy .

"Uhm, Chika . Since you seem to think of my cla.s.s as naptime, you will be in charge of catching Clyde up with unit one . "

The silver-haired girl groaned . Clyde did not want to be taught by someone who was unable to take the cla.s.s seriously .

"No, it's okay, Professor," he said . "I'll just read the chapters—"

"While that's admirable, this isn't your punishment . " She gave Chika a dark smile . "If she doesn't catch you up by Friday, let me know . I'm sure her father or even that sponsor would love to know how many times we've had to deal with her snoring—"

"Alright—I'll teach him," she said . Clyde could see the anime girl blus.h.i.+ng like a tomato and strained to hold back the laughter . The rest of the cla.s.s wasn't so nice .

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"Good att.i.tude," the professor said . "You may be an honor student, but in this academy, if you want to be treated like a child, we'll do so . We take our jobs seriously . If we didn't, our reputation wouldn't be so high . Now, that will be it for today . You two exchange phone numbers and agree to meet up . The faster you catch him up, Chika, the faster you redeem yourself . "

The teacher left, leaving the poor girl to sigh .

"Is she always like that?" Clyde asked . Chika seemed taken aback a little, but quickly composed herself . She was probably expecting a rude comment .

"She is," she said, "but, she's right . "

"I'm guessing you have a reason you're tired," Clyde said . "But you don't have to worry about me . I'll catch up through the book tonight—"

"Let's exchange numbers," Chika interrupted . "I don't mind teaching . Besides, there are some things she talked about that can't be found in the book . "

Clyde shrugged and then pulled out his phone . Both his device and Chika's flickered .

[You have exchanged phone numbers with Chika . Your speed dial has been updated . ]

[Your relations.h.i.+p level with Chika has changed from stranger to cla.s.smate . ]

[QUEST: get caught up in History with Chika . This quest is mandatory and cannot be refused . Reward: 20 EXP and 5 dollars . ]

Twenty experience? Clyde was not complaining . He'd let the anime girl explain away while taking notes, send her off, and be done with it . Why mandatory? Could this meetup be important?

"I will contact you this evening," Chika said . "I know of a diner that's quiet and has the best coffee . "

She gathered her things and left . Harumi awaited him outside the cla.s.sroom . Clyde never felt so thankful because he forgot where his next cla.s.s was located . Or to be precise, forgot to activate the map .

"Exchange numbers with me too," she said cheerfully . "You don't seem to know anyone here, so if you need anything, you have my number . "

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"You really are a kind person," Clyde said as he revealed his phone . "Don't really get many of those in my life . " He chuckled .

[You have exchanged phone numbers with Harumi . Your speed dial has been updated . ]

[Your relations.h.i.+p level with Harumi has changed from friendly and neighborly to Friendly and a.s.sociate . Harumi will help set you up for success . Your comment has increased the 5% relations.h.i.+p boost to 10% . Let it be known that Harumi may be attempting to increase her relations.h.i.+p points with you . Not stealing from her wallet has set a great impression on the young woman . ]

Clyde was doubly sure that the system wanted to push him into the slice of life trap . Not on his watch . Everyone within this world had consciousness . They were real, just…alien . In that case, Clyde shouldn't overthink this . He should be able to go about his life like normal while maintaining friends and leveling up, right? But…how many times did he get warned about the tropes? f.u.c.king ridiculous .

As he and Harumi rounded the corner, the girls around began to gasp or make comments, but not at him . It took Clyde a second to notice the anime pretty boy walking down the hall, girls at his side, others loudly exclaiming . He played the part of the kind n.o.ble .

Clyde chuckled .

"Guessing he's someone rich and famous?"

"That's Toru," Harumi said in a non-enthusiastic voice . "His dad's the CEO of a few popular sporting companies . "

Toru looked in their direction as if noticing them for the first time . Clyde took that chance to a.n.a.lyze him .

Toru .

Level 13 .

Type: n.o.ble .

Relations.h.i.+p: Neutral .

HP: 100%

MP: 100%

Stats: Relations.h.i.+p isn't high enough .

Special abilities: Relations.h.i.+p isn't high enough .

Skills: Are we really doing this again, idiot? Close out the prompt!

Magic abilities: see above .

Clyde forced himself to remain calm at the prompt . Mortem could be behind it . As for Toru being level thirteen, he felt a little confused . Why was Harumi simply level one? Is she the Viper in disguise? No…there were a few others low-leveled too, but only children less than five years old were at the first level . Clyde set the mystery to the side for later digestion as Toru approached .

"h.e.l.lo, my dear Harumi," he said . "Had any time to think on my invitation?"

Harumi scowled at him .

"I already told you, I'm not interested . "

Clyde's anime trope senses activated . He took a few secret steps out of Harumi's reach so that she couldn't grab his arm or hand, then give off the wrong message, which would drag him into her mess . She was a sweet girl, but he had no intention of sticking his nose into anyone's affairs . He had enough on his plate .

She indeed grabbed at the air that was supposed to be his arm . Something seemed to spark within her because the girl marched right over to him to s.n.a.t.c.h his arm anyway .

Toru and Clyde shared surprised expressions . "Please excuse us while I show the new student to his cla.s.s . "

[Your relations.h.i.+p with Toru has dropped from Neutral to Distaste . ]

Great, so much for befriending a possible powerhouse . Clyde couldn't get mad at Harumi for using him to avoid an unwanted advance . He also didn't want to be on a hit list for someone who could possibly make him disappear .

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