‘This looks like the cash shop of a mobile game that has been running for 10 years, at least quantity-wise. ’

[ This is the Basic Store. There are still two more tiers to unlock. ]

‘…’

[ Now that you have been introduced to my Basic functions, here are some quests. ]

 

• A load a day, keeps the doctor away. (Daily): Achieve an orgasm. Reward: 200P
• Two Punch Boy (Daily): Complete all the following tasks. Reward: 500P
  – 50 push-ups.
  – 50 sit-ups.
  – 50 squats.
  – Run for 5km.
• Out with a few firsts. (Main): Complete all the following tasks. Full Completion Bonus: 50,000P
  – Achieve an orgasm by receiving a handjob from a woman.        1,000P
  – Achieve an orgasm by receiving a blowjob from a woman.         1,500P
  – Achieve an orgasm by receiving a titjob from a woman.              1,500P
  – Achieve an orgasm by penetrating a woman’s vagina.                 2,000P
  – Achieve an orgasm by penetrating a woman’s anus.                    3,000P
  – Make a woman achieve an orgasm by fingering her.                    2,000P
  – Make a woman achieve an orgasm by going down on her.         3,000P
  – Make a woman achieve an orgasm through vaginal sex.            4,000P
  – Make a woman achieve an orgasm through anal sex.                  6,000P
  – Make a woman squirt.                                                                        6,000P

 

‘What if I want to do a dude? I might have sex with a dude, who knows?’

[ Remember that everything is tailored to who you are, and I know you better than you know yourself. ]

‘Touché, I won’t have sex with a dude. I’ll take a proper look at the store later, since I don’t have any points, and I need to get out of the shower.’

 

After getting out, he went to his room to put the dirty clothes in his laundry basket, then went back to the kitchen.

Mayumi spoke as he arrived at the kitchen. “After I take a shower, we can go someplace nice for lunch; I could go for some ramen today. After that, we can go to the store to buy your clothes, and order the parts when we come back.”

“Sounds like a solid plan. But you’re already helping me out a lot, so it’s my treat.”

She smiled. “Ordering the parts is already a treat, but sure. I’ll be right back.”

While she took a shower, he started the process of making himself a coffee on the fancy coffee maker that came with the apartment, then went to his room to change into some pants. He also put on a light jacket.

Reaching inside his laundry basket, he grabbed the pants he wore the day before, when he arrived at the apartment. From the pockets, he removed two items. One was a small taser, and the other a metallic mechanical pencil. Although it was technically a mechanical pencil, it could also function as a prison shiv.

‘Fuck, I was having so much fun yesterday that I went out unarmed.’

He put the two items inside the side-pockets of his jacket, the taser on the left, and the mechanical pencil on the right.

He then went back to the kitchen to drink his coffee.

 

A while later, Mayumi arrived at the kitchen. She was wearing tight jeans and a black hoodie, which had some amazingly drawn art from an RPG game. She also wore just a hint of makeup, and her hair was tied in a bun.

“Shall we go?”

Asahi just looked at her for a couple seconds, then spoke. “Actually, can we have a quick talk before we leave?”

She raised her left eyebrow. “Sure, what’s up?”

“It’s about us.”

She made an obviously fake surprised expression. “Oh no, are you breaking up with me already?”

He chuckled. “Close. You agreeing with me being honest and blunt yesterday, can I take that as a permanent thing?”

She nodded. “Yup.”

“Alright. I might be imagining things here, but we hit it off amazingly well yesterday, right?”

She smiled. “We sure did.”

“Okay. I might be saying this without needing to, but regardless, I like things to be clear. I won’t be making a move on you, or anything similar, at least not in the near future.”

“Oh, and may I know why?”

He scratched his head. “I thought about this a lot, and I arrived at three main reasons. One, you’re my first friend. Two, we live together, so rushing into a relationship in this circumstance would probably be bad. And three, I really don’t want a serious relationship for now, since I intend to have the fun that I missed during high school. If we were to get physically closer with time as well, that would be great, but I wouldn’t want to rush into anything in that direction either, not with you at least. Again, maybe I didn’t need to say all of this, but it’s how I feel.”

She laughed. “Sorry, I’m not laughing at you. No wonder we hit it off so well. I was actually awake for an hour in bed after dinner, thinking about this. We’re pretty much on the same page here.”

He raised his right eyebrow. “You actually thought about it?”

“Of course. I never bonded this much with someone in this short amount of time before, and it’s not like I’m not attracted to you.”

A tinge of red spread through his cheeks. “Well, I guess that’s that then. Oh, one last thing, just so you don’t freak out in case I have to use them. I carry these for protection.”

As he finished saying that, he showed her the taser and the mechanical pencil.

She smiled and pulled a small taser, similar to his, from her hoodie’s right pocket. “Great minds think alike?”

Discussing their weapons’ features, they left.

 

Since Mayumi had been there for a few days, she had already explored the neighborhood, so she guided Asahi.

They walked to the restaurant while chatting.

Remembering something, Asahi spoke. “I actually forgot to ask you something. How come you’re staying in that apartment? You don’t seem the type to actually pay a kidney a month to stay there, which means you did something that the Uni valued a lot. May I know what that is?”

A tinge of red appeared on her cheeks. “Sure. It’s probably a combination of me always getting perfect grades, placing fifth on the entrance exams, and having already successfully released a game by myself.”

His eyes widened. “Of all the things we talked about, you chose to leave releasing a game out of the conversation?!”

“I get weirdly embarrassed about it, not that I’m not proud of it, which I am. But you probably never even heard of it.”

“Try me.”

“It’s called Poof-Poof Grove.”

His eyes shone with excitement. “You mean the five-hour long platformer with super cute pixel-art, good writing and tight controls? I not only own, but I platinumed it, and left an 8.5/10 review. That’s incredible for a solo dev debut, specially at your age.”

She started to get visibly excited. “Really? Although I can’t complain about the sales, it’s still a tiny little indie. I can’t believe you actually played it, I’m glad you liked it.”

“Are you thinking about opening your own studio after Uni?”

She nodded. “Yeah, a small one, with really talented and passionate people, something really pro-consumer. What about you?”

“Probably do my own thing. I don’t wanna work for a studio, and I don’t know if I want to open my own.”

“Well, I’ll warn you right now then. If you turn out to be talented and passionate, I’ll nag you until you join me.”

They laughed and talked before reaching the restaurant.

 

The medium-sized restaurant was at a little over half-capacity, with mostly booth-style tables, resembling a North-American diner.

As Asahi was sitting on one side of the booth, and Mayumi was about to sit on the other, someone approached them from her side. It was a good-looking guy, almost 1.8m tall, wearing stylish clothing.

“Hey babe, why don’t you ditch the shorty and come have fun with me and my friends? My treat.”

Both Asahi and Mayumi saw the guy coming a mile away.

Asahi just sat down, without even changing his expression.

 Mayumi, however, smiled at the guy. However, instead of sitting across the table from Asahi, she walked over to his side and sat beside him. Seeing what she was doing, Asahi scooched over near the wall to make space for her.

Since she had long legs, despite her being taller, their shoulders were at almost the same height while sitting.

She sat basically glued to him, leaning in and gently rubbing her nose against the side of Asahi’s head, then taking a little nibble at his earlobe.

She then leaned her head on his shoulder, and looked at the stunned good-looking guy. “Did you say something?”

Instead of the tropey cliché that Asahi was used to, the guy just dragged his defeated self in silence, back to his booth where his friends were trying to suppress their laughter.

As she watched the guy leave, she turned her face to Asahi and whispered into his ear. “Sorry if I overdid it, but I hate stupid douchebags like that.”

Asahi smiled and turned his head, touching her cheek with his, lightly rubbing it.

He then spoke with a half-joking tone. “Of course, but we need to keep it up until they leave, otherwise it won’t have a lasting effect.”

Mayumi chuckled. “For the record, I’m not pretending. Although I share your thoughts on us, I really am into you.”

She then lightly kissed his neck. As she pulled back, she stuck out the tip of her tongue, with a mischievous expression.

Asahi’s cheeks reddened. “You won’t make this easy, huh?”

She shook her head. “Sorry, hard mode only. Blue balls or bust, literally.”

They both laughed and talked, pretending to be a couple throughout lunch, growing even more comfortable around each other. However, they didn’t escalate the physical intimacy beyond that.

Although Asahi wasn’t experienced with relationships, he wasn’t stupid either. He knew that what her kissing his neck was her being playful, in a friendly way.

From the time he had with her, he also knew that it was highly unlikely for her to verbally confirm that she was into him, if that wasn’t the case.

 

The trip to the sports/fitness store was a breeze. Growing up around that stuff, Mayumi was like a fish in water. It took less than an hour for her to reach the cap of Asahi’s budget, with the most efficient purchases. Sneakers, several shorts, pants, shirts and pairs of socks. They also got some gym accessories, like a water bottle, lifting gloves and such.

Asahi quickly realized that without her, under the guidance of the sales people, he would probably have bought stuff that the store needed to dispose of. This was an area that he had close to zero knowledge in.

They walked back, carrying several bags each.

On their way home, Asahi stopped. “Can we stop by a drugstore?”

“Are you not feeling well?” She asked, concerned.

“It’s not that, it’s for acne cream, and whatever else you suggest. I’m gonna go all in with this make-over thing.”

She bit the right side of her lower lip. “You’re not hung up on that douche from the restaurant, right?”

He chuckled. “No, quite the contrary. It’s because of that huge confidence boost you gave me that I can go all in.”

She smiled. “In that case, I can suggest some skincare stuff.”

After stopping by the drugstore, they went home.

 

Upon arriving, they dumped the bags in Asahi’s room, then Mayumi went to hers to change. Asahi changed into shorts, grabbed an old laptop from his backpack, then went to Mayumi’s room.

After waiting for a minute outside her door, it opened, revealing her in an outfit similar to the one he first saw her in, booty shorts and a tank top with no bra.

“Come on in, let me show my baby to you.”

Her room was heavily decorated with posters and miniatures, all from different video games.

The desk supported three 30” monitors, and a full-tower pc case. There was also a high-end microphone attached to a mechanical arm, audiophile headphones, a sound mixer, a device with rows of screen-like buttons, a fancy RGB keyboard, and finally a mouse with a lot of buttons.

In front of all that, there was a high-end office chair that looked comfier than his bed.

The tall purple case had a translucent side panel, showcasing the green tubes filled with cooling liquid that went through the components.

“Ah, I can see where part of the money from your game went.”

She grinned. “You bet.”

He approached the case to take a better look at it. “This is gorgeous. You just convinced me in going with a custom loop.”

She displayed an excited smile. “Awesome! What is the budget we’re working with?”

“¥850000 for the whole setup.”

Her eyes widened. “That much?”

He smiled. “Yup, that’s why I’ve been using this old laptop. I wanted to save up and build a kick-ass pc.”

She realized that he probably had zero days of proper fun during the entirety of the past three years. Well, before he moved in with her, that is.

Grabbing him by the arm, she dragged him to her bed. “Come on, let’s start the conception of your first child.”

They sat on top of her bed, leaning against the headboard, with pillows cushioning their backs.

Hours upon hours passed with them looking through several websites, and placing the orders. When they realized, it was already almost 10pm.

They ordered a couple pizzas, and took turns using the shower before the order arrived. After they ate, they bid each other a good night, and went to their rooms.

In his room, Asahi locked the door, then took out wet wipes, a roll of paper towel, and a small tube of lube from his suitcase. From his backpack, he took a pair of earbuds.

He then took his clothes off, and proceeded to watch porn on his laptop.

 

As he woke up in the morning, there was a message floating in front of his face.

[ Good morning. ]

He had purposefully not interacted with the System since he left the house with Mayumi, for two reasons. One was that he really didn’t want to be distracted by it while spending time with her. And two, he wanted to test if the System would auto-adjust to fit his preferences, and to what extent.

‘Good morning. It seems that you really adjusted yourself to fit my preferences without me saying anything. You really do know me better than I know myself.’

[ Correct. But I will keep asking before doing certain things, regardless of me knowing the answer. Would you like the rundown of the points you gained from yesterday? ]

‘Did I gain more than the 200P from the jerking off quest?’

[ Yes. ]

‘Then just the total. I don’t wanna taint my experiences by gamifying them, especially with Mayumi.’

[ You currently have 20,200P. ]

‘…!!’

‘What? How? Wait, no, I don’t wanna know.’

He sighed and rubbed his eyes.

‘Store.’

As he perused the store, he understood why there were so many items. The majority were Basic Learning Boosts, which multiplied his learning speed by 10 for 10 days, but for a specific thing. The less encompassing they were, the cheaper it was to purchase them.

There were also Basic Stat Improvement Boosts, which multiplied the rate of improvement of one of your stats by 10 for 10 days.

However, buying them wouldn’t do anything by itself, he would still need to study and exercise.

He looked at something and raised an eyebrow. ‘This seems really good.’

[ Recording/Peeping Detection (Passive) – Detects if you are being spied on, pinpointing the location of the person or object. Cost: 5,000P]

‘If I buy this, does it start working immediately?’

[ Yes. ]

‘Good, then I don’t need to buy it right now. The stat boosts cost 2,000P each and the miscellaneous ones vary in price, so it’s better for me to focus on them for now. Do the Boosts also activate instantly?’

[ Yes. ]

‘Great.’

He then took a shower, because he was still a bit sticky from the previous night, and put on some of the sportswear that he bought with Mayumi.

Mayumi was still asleep, so he just ate a slice of leftover pizza from the fridge, and left a note on the counter. He then brushed his teeth, and left the apartment.

On the way to the gym, he bought four boosts. Appearance, Athleticism, Physique and one named Body Control, that also cost 2,000P. According to the System, it would help him learn how to control his body better, getting rid of unnecessary movements. He also watched videos of stretching exercises on his phone.

 

The gym was located in a separate structure, in the back of the apartment building’s property, where the recreational facilities were. There was also a heated pool, a sports court and a sauna.

The gym itself was quite big, with dozens of machines, a zone for stretching, and another one with racks of dumbbells and more.

There were a few people spread around, but he paid them no mind, aside from greeting them if he passed nearby.

Getting to the mostly empty zone for stretching, he started the routine he learned from the videos. It’s not like he never exercised or stretched before, so within less than a minute, he noticed the difference of having the several boosts from the System. He was more focused in what he was doing, and he corrected his mistakes on the spot, with much more efficiency.

After stretching for almost ten minutes, he started to do push-ups. Normally, for someone out of shape, doing fifty would be a bit much, but not only he had the boosts helping him, his body actually had fairly good genetics. Although not great, it was enough.

When he got to the 50^th push-up, his arms were already incredibly tired, making him almost collapse on his face.

‘Wow, there is no way that I’d be able to do this without the boosts.’

He rested for a couple minutes before continuing. After he finished the sit-ups and squats, he was tired, and sweating quite a bit. Sitting down on a bench, he drank a sip from the water bottle he brought with him.

‘This is incredible.’

Although he was tired, he could feel that it was the type of fatigue that it would go away with just a quick rest. That was the benefit of making as few unnecessary movements as possible. He was still far from perfect, but his speed of improvement felt much higher than ten times faster.

While he rested, he looked up proper breathing and jogging techniques.

After a few minutes of rest, he approached one of the many treadmills and took a picture of it with his phone, then used an app to pull up the basic instructions. In less than a minute, he had already started his jog.

He started slowly, adapting to the information that he looked up.

In the middle of his jog, he saw a familiar figure in the distance, Mayumi. She was wearing leggings and a sports bra.

She approached his treadmill with a smile. “That’s a really good form, have you done track before?”

“Nope, just looked it up online.”

Her eyes widened. “That’s quite impressive. After you’re done there, I’ll show you a workout routine for you to follow for the time being. It’s a bit rough, so we might make it a two-day routine.”

He just nodded.

After a couple more minutes, he saw a System message, which made him stop. The only message he wanted to see for now.

[ Daily Quest Two Punch Boy Completed. Rewarded: 500P ]

The reason he asked the System for that specific alert, was to know when to stop. Although the treadmill had a distance counter, the System’s acknowledgement was what mattered for the quest.