Perhaps because there was another spirited young girl standing nearby, the trench coat woman didn't try to pay in other ways again.
Instead, she reached into her trench coat, fumbled for a moment, and pulled out a slightly damp bill, handing it to Uesugi Kazuki.
As he took the bill, another achievement prompt popped up before Uesugi Kazuki's eyes.
[Life Achievement Triggered: First Co-op Play.]
[Oh, it's nothing, the probability is zero.]
[Reward: Mechanics +1]
[Lower Back +1]
He didn't understand why "Co-op Play" would grant a "Mechanics" skill, just as he hadn't triggered any achievements while attending classes at school.
But after taking the damp money and giving the woman her change,
Uesugi Kazuki decided he needed to find a place to wash his hands immediately, otherwise, he wouldn't want to touch anything.
After a "Please come again!" to send off the trench coat woman,
Uesugi Kazuki turned his attention to Tokushima Masako.
"Ma'am, how may I help you?"
Tokushima Masako stared at Uesugi Kazuki with icy eyes. "Why did you stand me up today?"
Uesugi Kazuki, with his standard customer service smile, looked at Tokushima Masako. "Hello, ma'am, this is 8-12 Convenience Store. How may I assist you?"
"You!" Tokushima Masako slammed her hand on the counter in anger.
First, she glared at Uesugi Kazuki with a dagger-like gaze.
Then, as if she suddenly thought of something, a smile that was certainly not friendly appeared on her face.
She then walked out of the convenience store without another word.
Seeing Tokushima Masako also leave the convenience store, Uesugi Kazuki immediately turned around and went to the sink behind the counter to wash his hands.
No other strange things happened in the convenience store after that.
Eventually, when it was time, the older employee came out and expressed gratitude for Uesugi-kun's hard work.
He said that Uesugi-kun's performance today was up to standard and presented Uesugi-kun's future work schedule, asking him to sign it if he had no objections.
That schedule showed Uesugi Kazuki working seven days a week, four hours each day.
It basically filled all of Uesugi Kazuki's available time for part-time work each week.
Regardless of Uesugi Kazuki discovering that working could also trigger achievements, he would have definitely still agreed to this arrangement.
After all, they were paying him too much.
But after realizing that part-time work could also trigger life achievements, Uesugi Kazuki immediately changed his mind.
There were some things in the world that money couldn't buy.
Instead of spending all his part-time hours at the convenience store, he might as well get two more jobs, at a restaurant and a fast-food kitchen.
That way, even though the money would be less, the opportunities to rack up achievements would be more.
Round it up, that was a profit of a hundred million.
So, Uesugi Kazuki apologized, saying he could only work three evenings a week and was sorry for the inconvenience.
Even after he cut his working hours by half, the older employee wasn't angry.
After all, they were truly short-staffed, and Uesugi Kazuki's performance today was excellent; his eyes were on the task, and his hands were constantly busy.
Even when he hid in the manager's office in the back, this young man neither slacked off nor was light-fingered.
He was sure this kid was exactly the talent he needed.
So, three days it is. Better to have him for three days than not at all.
Uesugi Kazuki's work schedule was quickly finalized.
After confirming his schedule, it was time for Uesugi Kazuki to head home.
Although he didn't want to see Uesugi Riko, his homework still needed to be done.
However, after Uesugi Kazuki left the convenience store, he hadn't walked many steps before someone stopped him.
The person who stopped him was, naturally, Tokushima Masako, who had earlier slammed her hand on the counter at the convenience store.
Originally, Uesugi Kazuki didn't want to deal with this girl.
But because Tokushima Masako, who was probably furious by now, was carrying a wooden sword,
Uesugi Kazuki had no choice but to stop and deal with this girl who was relentlessly hounding him.
"Now, give me an explanation. Why did you stand me up today?"
Tokushima Masako, with the wooden sword in her hand, stared into Uesugi Kazuki's eyes and asked.
Being harassed repeatedly by a girl, Uesugi Kazuki was losing his patience.
Did I steal your family's brown sugar, or your mom's underwear? Why are you targeting me like this?
"Because I have no interest in you, or the kendo club. Are you satisfied with that?"
Uesugi Kazuki, already a bit impatient, said to Tokushima Masako.
The words had barely left his mouth before Uesugi Kazuki regretted them, because right after he said he wasn't interested in Tokushima Masako,
Tokushima Masako swung her wooden sword at him.
Although it was a "wooden" sword, getting hit by it would still hurt.
Seeing Tokushima Masako swing the sword, Uesugi Kazuki unhesitatingly turned and ran.
As he sprinted, Uesugi Kazuki tried to recall how he had offended this girl to make her come after him again and again.
Could it be that the original owner of this body accidentally got someone pregnant and then didn't want to take responsibility?
But clearly, sprinting wasn't ideal for recalling memories.
Besides remembering that the original owner of this body indeed had a very bad argument with this girl,
Uesugi Kazuki couldn't remember why they had that argument in the first place...
Could it really be that someone got pregnant...?
So, Uesugi Kazuki, feeling a bit guilty, silently cursed the original owner of this body for giving him so much trouble.
At home, he didn't get along with his stepmom; at school, he had conflicts with a female classmate.
He decided that when he got back today, he definitely needed to check if the original owner was a decent person and if he kept a diary.
Considering the problems he was currently facing, Uesugi Kazuki hoped that the original owner of this body must have kept a diary.
Since Uesugi Kazuki had no additional weight apart from his almost empty school bag, he had an advantage.
After running half a block, Uesugi Kazuki successfully shook off Tokushima Masako.
However, although he had shaken off Tokushima Masako, he didn't have a chance to retrieve his bicycle.
Plus, he really didn't have much money on him, so Uesugi Kazuki had no choice but to walk home.
And then, along the way, Uesugi Kazuki felt that even if this was Tokyo and people played rough, wasn't this a bit too much?
When passing by some dark alleys or going through the bushes in a park, Uesugi Kazuki could hear the exciting sounds from "adult films."
He even saw a yellow-haired guy in a park, who called out to Uesugi Kazuki to "pet his dog" a couple of times.
But after seeing the dog, which was wearing glasses, Uesugi Kazuki turned and walked away without looking back.
Even when the yellow-haired guy shouted after him, "Don't be shy, it's only a thousand yen," Uesugi Kazuki didn't turn back.
Considering the trench coat woman he met at the convenience store earlier, Uesugi Kazuki wondered on his way home,
Is there something wrong with this world?
---
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