Heya! Long time no read!
Once again, I apologize for putting this fanfic on hiatus.
I need to write something that can earn me a bit to support my NEET life.
On that note, I'm here to promote my new book, Lycoris Undead.
It's a zombie apocalypse story based on this fanfic and the manga/anime Highschool of the Dead.
I hope everyone will give it a read and add it to their collection.
Anyway, here's a few chapters.
Enjoy!
***
"Isn't it a little early to start ogling the girls?"
"Shut it, idiot. Don't get us caught."
"We finished our task quickly for this, so they can't call us slackers."
"If you're not joining us, then get lost, pervert."
Whether I join or not, you've already labeled me a pervert, Ren thought as he sat down on the bench with his trio of friends.
Their group had indeed finished their cleaning task—or, more specifically, dusting the entire right-side bleachers on the second floor of the gymnasium.
Still, using their free time to ogle the girls in their class as they prepared the mats and other equipment below felt like a waste of time to Ren.
Especially when he could simply flirt with them while helping.
What a true pervert.
Ren's friends thought this as they noticed his ogling eyes and looked at him in disbelief.
"Neither of you three has any right to judge me, perverts," Ren said, distracting both his friends and himself from his indecent behavior.
"What's this about, anyway? You're not re-ranking the girls again, are you?"
Taking advantage of Ren's desperate attempt to change the subject, his friends proceeded to explain the topic of their rather wholesome ogling meeting.
"It's not re-ranking. We're just sorting the girls based on our types."
Karl was the first to speak, bluntly explaining his preference in girls.
"For me, I'd definitely go for the strict and cold type who secretly hides a warm and loving personality. Yes, none other than the classic tsundere."
There were a total of nine girls in their class, which consisted of twenty-four first-year cadets.
Karl's list of tsundere girls included Noire Benibara and Natalie Kurobara, who both came from the same influential political and military family.
"Just imagine getting treated harshly in the morning during class, only to return home and have her pamper you with affection while asking for forgiveness."
You're just a masochistic pervert, Ren thought.
His other friends silently agreed with him.
"Why go for a troublesome tsundere when you can relax and be pampered all day by kind and cheerful girls?"
The next to reveal his type was Mike, though his true preference was obvious to everyone in their ogling group.
You're just into girls with big boobs.
Everyone else had the same thought as they watched Mike ogle the girls he was talking about.
Mike's list included Carol Marigold, a wealthy foreign student, and Evelyn Himawari, who came from one of the country's most prominent families.
"Putting the dirty thoughts aside," Ivan said, becoming the third to share his type and, unexpectedly, the most honest of them all.
"I'd definitely go for the cool and confident type, but with a shy side when it comes to romance and sex."
Still, Ren, Karl, and Mike found a way to make fun of their friend.
"You just had to ruin it at the end, didn't you?"
Ivan's list included Diane Sakura, who came from the country's imperial lineage; Elizabeth Tsubaki, who came from a prominent cultural family; and Alexa Momiji, a prodigy of the Martial Arts Leagues.
"What about Nobara and Kimberly?" Ren asked, noticing that his friends had somehow forgotten to include the two girls on the list.
"Well, the quiet and mysterious type is definitely interesting," Mike said, referring to Nobara.
"And a lewd and naughty type will always hook you up," Karl added, ogling Kimberly.
"But the rumors going around about those two make it kind of hard to approach them."
Everyone fell silent when Ivan reminded them of the rumors surrounding the two girls.
There were rumors that Noire was using Nobara, her personal servant, as leverage in indecent ways to control Dex and his henchmen.
There were also rumors that Kimberly had been Dex's woman.
"Aren't you supposed to fight that MMA wannabe in close-quarters combat practice today?" Karl asked, clearly hoping Ren would beat Dex up out of jealousy.
"Don't put too much faith in me," Ren replied, showing no sympathy for Karl.
"My combat skills are just a hobby my parents taught me for self-defense and survival."
***
After discussing the types of girls they liked, Karl, Mike, and Ivan moved on to the next topic of their ogling meeting.
"Ren, do you think I have a chance with any of the girls I like?" Karl asked bluntly, his expression unusually serious.
Ren nearly fell off his seat in disbelief.
"Why are you asking me?"
Ren looked at Karl, then at Mike and Ivan, who were both waiting for his answer.
Apparently, it was obvious to them that Ren should be the one judging and analyzing their chances of finding love.
Ren gave it some thought for a few minutes before giving them his honest opinion.
"Noire seems to be interested only in men with immense wealth and a very high family status. As for Nat, she also has high standards, but she's focused on her studies and taking care of her younger sister. She doesn't have time for a boyfriend."
"So an average dude like me doesn't stand a chance..." Karl muttered, looking absolutely dejected.
An awkward silence suddenly surrounded the four ogling boys as if they were mourning Karl's love life.
Then Mike bravely spoke, like a man volunteering to be the next victim.
"What about me?"
Ren had already expected this question after Karl's initiative, so he was able to respond immediately—or rather, shut Mike down.
"Carol already has Kyle as her fiancé, and he comes from a distinguished military family. The same goes for Eve, who's rumored to be engaged to Marcus, the current National Karate Champion. He also comes from a very wealthy family."
Another silence surrounded the ogling boys as they mourned Mike's love life.
As for the last one, Ren decided to give Ivan's love life a quick death by pushing him off the high cliff.
"Forget about Diane. She's definitely out of your league. Not to mention, she's always guarded by Arthur, the No. 2-ranked Kendo practitioner in the country."
"Liz is only interested in someone who can beat her in swordplay.
"As for Alexa, there's definitely something going on between her and Jun. They're childhood friends, after all."
"That Jun? He was a baseball prodigy and could probably play for the national team if he enrolled at Capital University. Yet he chose a military academy because of Alexa," Mike said, unknowingly adding salt to Ivan's wounds.
"I watched him play in high school, and he was really impressive, both as a pitcher and a batter," Ren added, throwing more dirt onto Ivan's grave.
"I also watched Alexa's Mixed Martial Arts debut after she gave up her title in the Karate League. She completely obliterated her opponent."
"Why are there so many impressive guys in our class that it makes us average dudes completely invisible to the girls?" Karl cried, making the entire ogling meeting awkward.
"Maybe I can give it a shot and beat Elizabeth..." Ivan said, still refusing to accept a loveless college life.
"Just give up..." Ren said, finally showing some sympathy for his friends.
Or so Karl, Mike, and Ivan thought.
"You can't even beat that third-rate guy, Tristan, who's always blabbering about being childhood sweethearts with Nat, Eve, and Liz."
"You're acting weird," Ivan said, noticing Ren's composure slowly crumbling from irritation.
"It's unusual for you to get annoyed at Tristan."
"And since when did you get on a nickname basis with Natalie, Evelyn, and Elizabeth?" Karl followed up, finally noticing how Ren had been addressing the three girls since the beginning of their ogling meeting.
"Don't tell us there's already something going on between you and those three girls," Mike added, recalling the past four months since the school year began.
Getting fed up with his friends' constant blabbering—which had already attracted the attention of their classmates, especially the girls—Ren decided to give them something to speculate about just to shut them up.
"It's not like what you think..."
BANG!
Suddenly, the sound of a gunshot interrupted not only Ren, Karl, Mike, and Ivan's ogling meeting, but everyone inside the gymnasium.
BANG!!!
GYAAHHH!!!
GRAAHHH!!!
ARGHHH!!!
RARGHHH!!!
More erratic gunshots followed.
Then came panicked screams, dying cries, and the terrifying roars of what could only be monsters.
"Just what the heck is happening outside...?"
***
Florescence Academy Self-Defense Force — Class 1 Roster
1. Diane Sakura
Age: 19 | Height: 165 cm | Hairstyle: Long black braided hair
2. Arthur Tsurugi
Age: 20 | Height: 179 cm | Hairstyle: Blonde
3. Noire Benibara
Age: 20 | Height: 160 cm | Hairstyle: Long black hair
4. Nobara
Age: 18 | Height: 165 cm | Hairstyle: Short white hair
5. Natalie Kurobara
Age: 18 | Height: 164 cm | Hairstyle: Pink-blonde twin tails
6. Gian Kumamoto
Age: 19 | Height: 157 cm | Hairstyle: Black
7. Elizabeth Tsubaki
Age: 19 | Height: 174 cm | Hairstyle: Long black hair
8. Tristan Dokusou
Age: 18 | Height: 171 cm | Hairstyle: Black
9. Evelyn Himawari
Age: 19 | Height: 169 cm | Hairstyle: Long light-blonde hair
10. Marcus Hazenoki
Age: 19 | Height: 181 cm | Hairstyle: Brown
11. Jun Okusu
Age: 19 | Height: 185 cm | Hairstyle: Brown
12. Alexa Momiji
Age: 19 | Height: 168 cm | Hairstyle: Short dark-red hair
13. Kyle Sawara
Age: 20 | Height: 172 cm | Hairstyle: Blonde
14. Carol Marigold
Age: 18 | Height: 162 cm | Hairstyle: Long curly blonde hair
15. Ren Hasu
Age: 19 | Height: 183 cm | Hairstyle: Midnight blue
16. Mike Keyaki
Age: 19 | Height: 171 cm | Hairstyle: Brown
17. Karl Hinoki
Age: 19 | Height: 163 cm | Hairstyle: Black
18. Ivan Sugi
Age: 20 | Height: 188 cm | Hairstyle: Blonde
19. Dex Buta
Age: 20 | Height: 187 cm | Hairstyle: Fake blonde
20. Kimberly Hebikawa
Age: 19 | Height: 160 cm | Hairstyle: Long fake-blonde hair
21. Tom Nekoda
Age: 19 | Height: 167 cm | Hairstyle: Brown
22. Frank Saruta
Age: 19 | Height: 157 cm | Hairstyle: Blonde
23. Doug Inuzuka
Age: 20 | Height: 173 cm | Hairstyle: Black
24. Phil Kojima
Age: 19 | Height: 164 cm | Hairstyle: Black
Instructor: Nacht Kageyama
Age: 29 | Height: 191 cm | Hairstyle: Black
***
PoruShark Writer's Note:
1. The setting of the story is the fictional country of Florescence, which was an American-Japanese territory before gaining its independence. That is why the characters' names are a mixture of English and Japanese names.
2. The supposed location of the country of Florescence is somewhere between Japan and the Philippines. Its size is roughly the same as Luzon Island in the Philippines, or about half the size of Japan's main island.
3. The characters are first-year college students at a military academy called Florescence Academy, located in the country's Central City.