Ray finished his school sign-in task and headed towards the direction of his homeroom. Along the way, he witnessed a girl whispering and gossiping about him with a blush on her face.

'When you've got a face as beautiful as mine; I can't really blame them for swooning over me just because of it.'

[...]

'What; is my remark somehow incorrect?'

[ Your narcissism is coming out again, host. ]

Ray could only frown at Aina's response.

'By the way, how are you able to converse with me even though we're not actually talking?'

[ Please don't look down on Aina, host. This system contains technology that would transcend your understanding; even if I were to explain it.]

'You can keep talking big all you want, but at the end of the day you're still just a glorified ti-84 calculator.'

The two of them were still bickering by the time Ray reached the 10-3 classroom.

Ray peered inside and located his next target.

A beautiful girl with long black hair tied up into a ponytail. Her skin was tanned in comparison to Emi, yet it still retained an alluring vibrancy to it. Differing from the charismatic and headstrong student council president; Rena had a much more casual and approachable aura. And although being the top student in her class; she would happily help other classmates in their studies. This combination had in turn lead to most of the male student population deifying her in one way or another.

Ray's desk was next to Rena's, so he headed on over and greeted her as he sat down.

"Good morning Rena."

" Oh hey, good morning to you too Ray." 

Rena nonchalantly returned Ray's greeting; however, her eyes became somewhat glazed over as she visually inspected his figure.

" Is there something wrong, Rena?" You've been staring at me pretty intently for the last minute or so."

Ray's remark felt similar to having cold water thrown at her face. She quickly turned away from him in an attempt to hide the embarrassment on her face.

Ray noticed her embarrassment and laughed joyfully inside his heart.

'You could say that this face of mine is a 'lethal weapon' against the opposite sex.'

Not long after, the bell rang and class would start momentarily.

The teacher soon entered the classroom with an average-looking boy trailing behind him.

" Everybody, your attention, please! We've got a new student with us today. Skye, please introduce yourself. "

As a qualified otaku, Ray could tell that this guy was the main protagonist of the game. He was pretty tall, at about 178cm; and had short black hair. His overall looks were unremarkable, but he had that distinct protagonist aura about him; which made people feel naturally at ease in his presence.

'Hold on a second, we're still in the first semester. Isn't the protagonist supposed to transfer in sometime around the start of the second semester?'

[ Due to the host's arrival, a butterfly effect has taken place. Which has, in turn, caused the plot timing to shift in an attempt to minimize your impact on it.]

Ray sighed helplessly, he hoped that he would've been afforded some kind of headstart over the protagonist. But it would seem as though the world itself disagreed with this notion. The boy later introduced himself as Skye Meyer. He spoke enthusiastically during his introduction, so the class had received him rather warmly.

Like every other school dating sim protagonist, the teacher asked him to choose a desk; and he chose the desk next to the window.

[ Ding! A new mission has been triggered.]

[ Prevent the main heroines from falling in love with the protagonist.]

[ Reward: {Life skill: Elementary Cooking}.]

[ Penalty: The host's house will be taken as forfeit.]

Ray had expected a mission like this to pop up at some point; so there wasn't really any reason to complain about it. Even so, he was pretty disappointed by the reward on offer.

' Aina, aren't you being too stingy with the rewards at this point?'

[ Host, both the mission and its rewards are calculated by me personally, and I can assure you that the rewards are proportionally valued. Nevertheless, it would appear that the host has continued to underestimate the system's power. The elementary cooking skill harbors knowledge of the culinary arts equivalent to that of Gorden Ramsy. ]

Upon hearing this, Ray smiled inwardly. Not only would he be able to cook Michelin-star-worthy food; but he might even be able to locate the forbidden Lamb Sauce.

Homeroom soon began normally and nothing noteworthy really transpired. Four hours of the mundane classes slowly passed by; then, at last, the lunch bell rang.

During the lunch break, Skye's desk was surrounded by his classmates. Most of them were male since Skye's looks were average. Meanwhile; most of the girls were busy gossiping about Ray's seemingly sudden improvement in appearance.

Ray was about to head to the cafeteria to buy some lunch, but then he noticed the crowd out in front of his classroom.

 Rena had her back pressed against one of the hallway's columns; with two delinquent type individuals standing only a few feet from her.

It didn't take long for Ray to surmise what was happening. This was the token"the protagonist stands up for the heroine" event. Tailor-made for the protagonist to instantly boost the affection of one of the main heroines.

'What a cliche and uncreative story.'

[Host, we've done this bit before; now shut up and get to it already.]