"Even if my life is lost—I'll die without regret."
A female security officer was performing emergency treatment, needle and thread moving deftly as she stitched the wound on my arm.
"A-aw… ow… ow…" I winced. "Miss, could you be a little gentler?"
I spoke fully aware that the woman in front of me was deliberately not using any anesthetic.
She let out a quiet snort. "Hmph. Damn playboy. You better not mess with that girl's feelings."
She stared at me sharply from behind her glasses, her gaze piercing, as if she wanted to peel away my intentions layer by layer. I could only respond with an awkward, stiff smile.
Honestly, I had no intention of flirting with Nora or anything like that.If I thought about it… I probably would do it if the system forced me again—by threatening to change my gender.
And I would rather diethan become a woman.
"All done. Now go over there."The female officer pointed toward Nora, who was standing not far from us. The girl kept glancing in my direction, unsure whether she should wait… or leave first.
"U-um… it's already late," I said. "Could I get a ride home? I don't really want to wait for the next bus."
"Sorry," she replied with a polite smile—too polite. "Our transportation isn't available right now."
"Huh… fine then."Even though I knew it was on purpose, I was too tired to argue.
So I walked toward Nora.
'Can you shut up,' I thought. 'By the way… what was that Love Point just now?'
My eyes immediately lit up.
Without waiting, I opened the shop the system had just introduced.
Mobile Suite
Barbatos: 150,000,000,000
Supreme Colossus: 21,000,000,000,000
Etc.
Armored Suite
Cassanova: 700,000,000
MKV Primal: 1,200,000,000
Etc.
Weapon
Star Beam: Choose Type
Excalibur: Choose Type
Etc.
Blueprint
Mobile Suite
Armored Suite
Weapon
My brain immediately kicked into overdrive. Numbers spun rapidly in my head.
Then—
my eyes went wide.
150 billion…divided by 50 thousand…
"Three million…" I muttered.
That meant I'd have to get close to nearly three million girls just to buy one Mobile Suite.
"…Even Genghis Khan would pass out if he heard this."
I let out a long sigh.
From the very beginning, the system's way of thinking had never aligned with human logic.And the longer I talked to it, the more it felt like my sanity would erode.
So I chose to ignore it.
I closed the system interface and returned to reality.
In front of me, Nora stood awkwardly, her hands clasped together. Her face flushed slightly when our eyes met.
"Your wound…" she said softly. "A-are you really okay?"
I lifted my bandaged arm and moved it a little. It still hurt—but it was manageable.
"I think I'm fine."
Nora gave a small smile.A smile that, for some reason… felt nice.
"Let's wait at the bus stop."
Nora nodded and walked beside me. The whole way there, neither of us spoke. The silence only made things feel more awkward.
"Were you planning to run home earlier?" I asked, trying to break the ice.
Nora nodded lightly. "I know a shortcut… so I thought it'd be better to walk back to my apartment rather than bother Kurogane-san."
"Just call me Akira," I said casually.
"E-eh…?"She blinked, then swallowed softly. Her shoulders tensed slightly, and her fingers unconsciously gripped the hem of her clothes.
'You know, System… I'm already fed up. Do whatever you want. Just don't explain things I can already see.'
"What's wrong?" I asked. "You don't like it?"
Nora shook her head quickly. "N-no, it's not that… it's just…"
"From now on, I'll call you Nora too."
Nora's eyes widened, then a small smile slowly formed on her lips.
"O-okay, A-Akira-san."
We finally arrived at the bus stop. With my social battery completely drained, silence fell over us again until we parted ways and went home.
"I'm home," I said as I opened the door to the luxurious house my father had provided. The lights turned on automatically thanks to the IoT system set by schedule.
No one greeted me.
Just like the original owner of this body—no personal servants, no maid.
I smiled faintly. The atmosphere felt familiar.Spending a short time with Nora earlier had almost made me forget this kind of emptiness.
"System," I said quietly, "when no one stops you from going anywhere, and no one waits for you to come home at night… what is that called?"
"Freedom… or loneliness?"
<…>
"Forget it."
I started rummaging through drawers and storage spaces around the house.
"Tch. No alcohol. No cigarettes."I clicked my tongue. "Guess Akira really was a good kid."
From what I remembered, Akira's father was extremely strict—no drinking, no smoking, not even tattoos.
"I'm pretty sure Akira's dad's family name is Trump."
"You really can't take a joke, can you?"
Finding nothing, I decided to take a shower, clean myself up, and then start browsing the internet.
Because the game world had become reality, I needed to learn everything I could about this world. I began tracing its history, and what shocked me was how closely it resembled my previous world. Nearly everything followed the same pattern.
The only point of divergence came at the end of the nineteenth century, when a portal suddenly appeared and humanity was forced to survive under the threat of monsters.
…
I woke up at 4:00 a.m. After changing into workout clothes, I took my sword hilt and headed to the park for morning warm-ups.
I swung my sword a thousand times.But this body felt far stronger than my previous one.
So I increased the intensity to five thousand swings.
4,9984,999
Suddenly, a maid passed in front of me and bowed lightly.
"Young master."
My brow furrowed. I hadn't seen this maid last night.
5,000
I wiped the sweat from my forehead.
"Did my father or mother come?"
"Your father arrived last night at nine," she answered calmly. "He came because of an important matter."