Stalker?

Since I agreed to attend Horikita's study group session, I would naturally keep my word. There was no reason for me not to attend aside from my reluctance to associate with her and Ayanokoji. Honestly, I would actually appreciate it if she gave me her organized notes since it would make it much easier to study for the midterms.

Unlike someone, I would have to put a real effort into studying. I obviously know that Ayanokoji would solve the problem with the midterms by distributing the old tests a day before, however, I need to earnestly increase my knowledge if I want to continue improving in this school.

As I was lying on my bed inside my dorm room contemplating whether I should at least try to ask Sudo and Yamauchi to join Horikita's study group, a blue text appeared in front of my eyes.

[New Quest received. All quests are randomized and usually created to fit your current situation to motivate you.]

[Quest: Make sure everyone passes the midterms]

[Conditions and rewards:

- Take a place in the top 5 of your class WITHOUT looking into the old tests (High reward)

- Take a place in the top 10 of your class WITHOUT looking into the old tests (Medium reward)

- Take a place in the top 15 of your class WITHOUT looking into the old tests (Low reward)

- Take any place using any means necessary (No reward)

'Damn, that's really hard and when I say really I mean impossibly hard...what the heck?! How am I supposed to take a place in the top 5 when everyone will be cheating?! Plus is it even possible not to spare the old test a glance when it will be handed to me? Well, for that to happen, Ayanokoji will most likely have to get involved with Kushida in that study group thing.' As I was thinking about whether I should even attempt to get any reward since it didn't mention I couldn't cheat in the last condition, a blue text once again appeared.

[It is possible to blurry the answers and questions of the old tests for you if given your permission.]

Seeing the sentence, an idea struck me, prompting my half-asleep eyes to wake up and open widely.

This school is basically encouraging the students to make use of loopholes. Why would the system choose the wording "WITHOUT looking into the old tests" instead of "without cheating" altogether? There would be literally no loopholes since any action trying to gain an advantage could be considered cheating.

'Blurry the questions and answers from the old tests for me'

[Are you sure? Even if someone messages you those questions and answers, you won't be able to see them.]

'Yes, do it.'

[Understood]

Now with the matter of a new quest finished, I turned my attention to the contribution system I unlocked by completing the first quest.

*---*

[Contribution system]

- Current Spendable Points: 10

- Total Points: 10/3000

- Increase all of the normal stats (by 0.1) - 10

- Increase proficiency in one's skill (by 5) - 10

Skills and talents:

Eidetic memory - 200

Athletic prodigy - 100

.

.

.

*---*

Basically, a shop where I could spend those points, unfortunately, all skills were really expensive.

'I don't feel like worrying about anything right now...' I decided to take my mind off the trouble by going for a late evening run. Since at this hour, almost all the students were already in their dorm rooms, I went out without my usual outfit to hide my face.

When I exited the elevator in the lobby and was about to leave, I felt like someone was watching me so I looked around but couldn't find anyone who I was familiar with.

Even after I left the dorm building I continued to feel someone's gaze on my back which genuinely made me nervous.

'Should I just go back and pretend like I was just taking a walk?' Since I couldn't find the culprit, I had no idea what to do now but in the end, I began running away from the dorm building. And after running for a few hundred meters I finally stopped feeling like someone was watching me.

My stamina was still dog shit even compared to my past self and I could only run for about 30 minutes straight at the average speed of around 11 kph which was enough for me to cover the 5 km mark. After 30 minutes of running my heart started beating like crazy and I felt like dropping dead on the ground, thankfully I had Iron Will skill that helped me push the thoughts of stopping just for a breather back from my mind. Unfortunately, after the 40-minute mark, I had to stop because level 1 skill was still only level 1 and I honestly felt like running more would only be harmful to my body instead.

Iron Will would most likely help me neutralize the negative effects of my training but I didn't feel like I wanted to suffer needlessly.

Iron Will lv. 1 (10/100) -> Iron Will lv. 1 (11/100)

Endurance: 1.320 / 5 -> Endurance: 1.340 / 5

Agility: 1.120 / 5 -> Agility: 1.130 / 5

Speed: 0.850 / 5 -> Speed: 0.890 / 5

This was the first time I tried running at a much higher pace without stopping a single time and my speed certainly increased the most from this training. As I was returning to the dorm building with my clothes and hair completely drenched in sweat, a few passing students gave me a weird look.

I could even hear some of them whisper 'Who the hell is running at this late hour?'

'Damn! My heart is still beating faster than that time when I asked my first crush out and got rejected' After I finally arrived at the lobby, the feeling of being watched returned which honestly frustrated me so I searched the lobby with my eyes and actually found one person I knew.

'Is that...Haruka Hasebe? What is she doing here?' I wasn't sure whether it was her who was watching me since she was sitting there and fiddling with her phone. Not wanting to catch her attention in case she wasn't the culprit, I tried to quickly approach the elevator while occasionally discreetly glancing in Hasebe's way.

"Eh?" Both of us exclaimed once our eyes met when I was just about to pass by her which caused me to stop in my tracks right in front of her. I quickly averted my eyes and tried to act normal.

"Uh, good evening, um, Hasebe-san"

"...Good evening, Ike-kun. Are you returning from the club activities? Though I don't remember you joining any club." Hasebe asked with a curious look but I felt like she was just fishing for answers to what exactly I was doing so late in the evening because...

---Haruka Hasebe---

Affection: 3

???

???

"Oh, I just had somewhere I had to be really fast so I ended up running and sweating a lot, haha"

Hearing my answer, she momentarily frowned before nodding with a polite smile which made me think that she didn't buy my answer. With her abnormal affection score, I was actually suspicious of what exactly she knew about me. Considering her personality, lascivious body, and past Ike's history of behaving like a pervert, it wouldn't be an exaggeration if she hated me and tried to avoid me, yet...She doesn't have any problem looking me right in the eyes.

Feeling like I had nothing to gain but a lot to lose from this interaction, I decided it would be best for me to leave, however as I took a single step toward the elevator, she stopped me.

"Ike-kun, I am currently struggling a bit with my studies due to incoming midterms so I was thinking if you could tell me a few of your tricks. After all, you were probably the one who improved the most out of all people." Hasebe stood up and asked me with a friendly smile.

'So she really was paying attention to me! I knew that the most important characters would most likely ignore my changes but I was slightly afraid of this happening'

"I actually received help from Horikita-san." I explained with a composed expression.

"From Horikita-san?!" Hasebe's reaction was within my expectations, after all, Horikita wasn't talking to anyone aside from Ayanokoji. She was even refusing to talk to Kushida and Hirata.

"Yes, I swallowed my pride and asked her for help with my studies. At first, she refused but after she saw I was serious about studying, she ended up giving me a few of her notes. She is surprisingly easy to get along with once you know how to interact with her. Anyway, I should probably go take a quick shower, have a good night."

"Eh? ...I see, thank you for the explanation...good night" Hasebe continued standing in the lobby in a daze even after I boarded the elevator.

Now I better hope she won't ask Horikita anything before our first study group session. If she asks her anything after that, Horikita might even confirm it, depending on Hasebe's wording.

----Hasebe's POV----

Even after he left the lobby, it took me several seconds to recover. The changes Kanji Ike has shown to the class weren't that big, however, once somebody looks at him outside the school, the changes become larger and during this short conversation, I managed to notice that with every word exchanged, the changes become even more apparent.

'It's obvious that he went out exercising but why is he trying to hide that fact so much as to lie me in the eyes? No...if he really went out running then I can't really say he lied to me since he did say he ended up running somewhere. But why is he hiding his hard work to change from everyone else so much?'

The first time I noticed his changes was during the swimming class. Several boys usually waited for the girls to change as if to trying to catch the first glimpse of their bodies in swimsuits but Ike at that time was already swimming in the pool without sparing them even a glance. From that lesson, I started paying more attention to his actions and couldn't help but notice many minuscule changes.

Today, when I called the elevator down to return to my dorm room, I saw Ike inside the elevator on the camera inside the lobby. I was too curious to pass this chance and ended up hiding amidst the other students to observe his actions. While in the class he acted slightly childish and was friends with several idiots, outside the class he has shown to be quite sharp. I even almost ended up being discovered when he started looking around with a suspicious look on his face.

'This does not make me a stalker...right? I must admit, he acts more mature when no one is looking and even during our conversation his eyes never glanced at my chest a single time' I couldn't help but recall an image of him inside my head. By the amount of sweat, it didn't look like he went just lightly jogging.

'His thin hairband preventing his wet hair from falling down into his eyes...while its usage isn't quite popular among the boys, he knows how to sell it, no!' I quickly shook my head and discarded the image in my head.