The Jounan High School koubai—a combination of a convenience store and a small cafeteria—was a maelstrom of adolescent energy at the start of lunch period. The air was thick with a chaotic but uniquely comforting miasma of freshly steamed nikuman, fried yakisoba-pan, and the sweet scent of bottled green tea. Trays clattered, and a hundred different conversations blended into a dull roar of gossip, anime debates, and frantic, last-minute homework comparisons.
Navigating this human sea should have been a challenge. But Samantha moved through the throng with a new, almost predatory awareness, the crowd parting before her like she was a shark and they were minnows. It was an instinct she hadn't possessed that morning, a subtle gift from her 'Basic Combat Skills' download.
Clinging to her arm with the tenacity of a human limpet, however, was a force of nature that no combat skill could counter: Suzuki Liza.
"You can let go now, Liza," Samantha sighed, trying to gently detach her friend's fingers from her forearm. "We're not crossing the Shuto Expressway during rush hour."
Liza gasped, feigning an Oscar-worthy level of offense. "But this is our sacred lunchtime ritual, Sam-chan! You cannot desecrate a tradition that has been passed down through the ages!"
"A tradition that started last Tuesday, you mean?" Samantha raised a skeptical eyebrow, her expression deadpan.
"You find a table, I get the food, I cling to you for dear life on the way back, and you pretend to hate it but secretly cherish my effervescent companionship," Liza explained, her eyes sparkling with mischievous glee. "It's the perfect shoujo manga dynamic. You're the cool, stoic heroine, and I'm your cute, energetic best friend who provides all the comedic relief."
"Deep down, I tolerate it," Samantha corrected, her voice flat. "There's a canyon-sized gap between 'tolerate' and 'cherish.'"
"Tomato, tomahto," Liza grinned, unfazed.
Samantha surrendered. Arguing with Liza's boundless, caffeinated-squirrel energy was a losing battle. She spotted an empty table near the window and steered them toward it, Liza still attached to her arm. Just as Liza let go to place their trays on the table, the System, with its impeccable and infuriating timing, chose to make its presence known.
TING!
[Daily Mission Complete: Treat Your Best Friend to a Snack]
[Reward Acquired: Skill – 'Basic Hand-to-Hand Combat' (Rank: E)]
There was no sound, no flash of light. Instead, it felt like a neural cascade, a torrent of information flooding her mind. It wasn't like learning from a book; it was a foreign software package installing directly onto her brainstem.
How to distribute your weight. How to angle your body to minimize target areas. The biomechanics of a proper straight punch—fist tight, thumb on the outside, power originating from the hip, not the shoulder. Eight different ways to break a wrist hold. The precise nerve cluster below the ear that could disorient an attacker.
It was all there, a deluge of violent knowledge settling into her muscles with a ghost-like familiarity. She flexed her hand, not because it felt stronger, but because her brain now understood it as a potential weapon. If someone grabbed her now, her body wouldn't just freeze. It would know, instinctively, how to respond.
"Huh," she murmured, her eyes wide with a flicker of genuine shock. "That's… unexpectedly useful."
"Feeling stronger, my little apprentice?" Mochi whispered, hovering smugly near her shoulder.
A small, genuine smirk touched Samantha's lips. This wasn't a stat boost. This was practical. This was something she could use, especially now. "Okay, I'll admit it. That was a good reward."
"See? Not all missions are a complete scam," Mochi puffed out its non-existent chest. "I am a purveyor of only the finest system-sanctioned gifts."
"Implying some are a scam?" she narrowed her eyes.
Sensing a conversational minefield, Mochi quickly back-pedaled. "A-Ahem! So! What's next on the agenda? Ready to see the updated mission board?"
Before she could agree, the System refreshed on its own, her main objectives blinking into view with an ominous clarity.
[MAIN MISSION #1: Ignite the Flames of Passion!]
[Objective: Make one (1) individual develop genuine romantic feelings for you.]
[Difficulty: ★★☆☆☆ (Normal)]
[Time Limit: 29 Days, 18 Hours]
[MAIN MISSION #2: The Shadow Over Kisaragi]
[Objective: Save your older brother, Kisaragi Ren.]
[Difficulty: ★★★★☆ (Hard)]
[Time Limit: ???]
[Penalty for Failure: Unthinkable.]
Samantha's blood ran cold. The smirk vanished from her face. "Wait, wait—hold on a second."
Liza, unwrapping her melon pan, glanced up. "Hm? What's up?"
Samantha waved a dismissive hand, her eyes glued to the horrifying text. "Nothing. Just remembered something." Her focus was entirely on Mochi, her voice a furious, choked whisper. "Explain this. Now."
Mochi floated closer, peering at the screen as if seeing it for the first time. "Explain what, contractor?"
She pointed a trembling finger at the second mission. "That! The difficulty! Why is it four stars?!"
"Ah," Mochi said, nodding wisely. "Well, that indicates that the probability of failure is high, and the threat level is severe. It's a very dangerous mission."
"No shit, Sherlock," she retorted, her voice dripping with venomous sarcasm. "I'm asking why. What changed? Yesterday it was just a sub-mission!"
"Well," Mochi tilted its head, its expression unhelpfully contemplative. "I would surmise that the System, in its infinite and dispassionate wisdom, has determined that the threat against your brother's life is… well… credible, active, and significantly more powerful than you are."
"Threat from what?!" Her whisper was ragged with panic. She instinctively scanned the bustling cafeteria, but everyone was just a normal student. There were no monsters, no men in black suits, no shadowy apparitions. Just teenagers eating their lunch.
"Beats me," Mochi shrugged, the casual gesture a horrifying counterpoint to its words. "Could be anything. A rival sorcerer from a hidden magical society? An ancient curse tied to your bloodline? A particularly aggressive delivery truck driver? The System is very nondescript about these things. It probably just knows something wants him… you know… dead."
The floor seemed to drop out from beneath her. A cold, heavy knot of pure terror solidified in her gut. Her brother wasn't just in vague danger. He was being hunted. By something the System rated as a four-star threat.
Ren was strong, confident, smart. He was her Nii-san. But against whatever this was… he was just a normal high school student.
"That's… not particularly reassuring, Mochi."
"Life is a cruel and arbitrary mistress," Mochi sighed with the air of a world-weary philosopher. "Now, where were—"
Another sharp, insistent ping cut it off.
A new set of missions—smaller, bordered in a lurid shade of pink—flashed onto her screen.
[Daily Relationship Mission Unlocked!]
[Objective A: Give your best friend, Suzuki Liza, a kiss on the cheek.] → [Reward: Agility +2]
[Objective B: While her attention is elsewhere, touch Suzuki Liza's chest.] → [Reward: Skill - 'Stealth' (Rank: E)]
Samantha nearly choked on her own saliva.
The blood drained from her face, only to rush back with a vengeance, flooding her cheeks with a hot, crimson flush of pure, unadulterated mortification.
What… in the actual… hell?!
Liza, who had been happily munching on her pastry, paused mid-bite and tilted her head. "Sam-chan? Are you okay? You look like you just saw a ghost order a strawberry parfait."
Samantha stared at the screen, her mind short-circuiting. Her brain, now equipped with Eidetic Memory, helpfully recalled a dozen trashy light novels with nearly identical scenarios. This was a fan service quest. A cheap, tropey, yuri-bait side quest of the most shameless variety.
"Mochi," she hissed, her voice trembling with a mixture of rage and embarrassment. "You have five seconds to explain this abomination before I try to figure out how to exorcise you."
Mochi frantically avoided her gaze, its glowing form fidgeting nervously. "W-Well, you see… The divine algorithm… uh… works in mysterious and… frankly, sometimes very perverted ways?"
"Is the System programmed by some greasy, basement-dwelling shut-in?!"
"Hey, don't shoot the messenger!" Mochi raised its tiny hands in surrender. "The System is all about forging bonds! And sometimes… it interprets 'forging bonds' in the most literal, physically awkward way possible! Blame the core programming, not the cute mascot!"
Samantha pinched the bridge of her nose, squeezing her eyes shut. Her life had officially devolved into a badly written light novel, complete with a ridiculously overpowered older brother in mortal danger and now, forced yuri subplots.
"So you're not going to do it?" Mochi asked, a hint of genuine disappointment in its voice. "Aww, and here I was looking forward to the chaos. The romantic tension! The awkward stammering! It would have made for a great highlights reel."
Liza was now looking at her with genuine concern, her half-eaten melon pan forgotten. "Seriously, Sam. You're making a face like you're trying to solve a quadratic equation using only the power of interpretive dance. What is going on with you today?"
"I—" Samantha's mind raced. How could she possibly explain this? "It's nothing. Forget it."
Liza's face fell into an exaggerated pout. "Aww, c'mon! No secrets between best friends! It's, like, rule number one of the Bestie Code!"
"Rule number two is respecting boundaries," Samantha countered weakly.
Liza leaned forward, her eyes sparkling with unrelenting curiosity. "Pleeeease? I'll buy you that limited-edition manga you wanted!"
"Absolutely not."
"Fine," Liza huffed, crossing her arms and sinking back in her chair with theatrical indignation. "Be mysterious. See if I care. But my investigative senses are tingling! I will uncover your secret, Kisaragi Samantha! It is my sacred duty as your best friend!"
Just as Samantha breathed a sigh of relief, Liza's expression brightened again, her mood shifting with whiplash-inducing speed. "Since you won't tell me, I'll just have to keep you under close supervision! We're hanging out all day! After school, we can go to the arcade in Shibuya! My treat, to make up for you being weird!"
Samantha groaned internally. A day of 'supervision' from Liza, all while she was trying to covertly figure out how to stop her brother from being murdered by a four-star threat and avoid the System's perverted side quests.
Just perfect.
The bell rang, its shrill tone signaling the end of lunch.
"Come on, slowpoke!" Liza chirped, grabbing her hand and pulling her to her feet. "We'll be late for Mr. Tanaka's classical literature class! You know how he gets about tardiness!"
Samantha allowed herself to be pulled along, her head spinning. A looming, unknown assassin. An impossible romance quest. And now, a new mission to grope her best friend for a stealth skill.
This is going to be a long day, she thought, a sense of profound exhaustion settling over her. And I have a terrible feeling it's only just begun