Three minutes later.
Nakano Itsuki watched Shirase Haruto from the corner of her eye, her mood caught between awkwardness and confusion as he lowered his head and quietly ate a meat bun.
Honestly, she was at a loss.
Sure, treating a friend to a snack was the most ordinary thing in the world, but…
Who on earth looked a girl straight in the eye and, in that domineering-CEO tone, said, "I'm hungry. Treat me to a meal"?
What confused Itsuki even more was that, just moments ago, she'd been infected by his solemn, weighty aura and had thought she was about to be entrusted with some earth-shattering secret.
It had all been for nothing.
She glanced at the bag of buns she'd just bought. Even she, usually so delighted with them, hadn't yet touched her favorite snack—still too stunned by Shirase's outrageous behavior to feel like eating.
In truth, Shirase's mood was equally complicated.
It wasn't that he cared about leaving a weird impression on Nakano Itsuki because of the system.
What he cared about was the glimpse he'd caught from the corner of his eye just now—two figures diagonally behind him: Nakano Ichika and Nakano Nino.
If nothing went wrong, those two had definitely witnessed his little stunt.
Nino was fine—she was always adorably tsundere, and Shirase felt confident he could handle her reactions.
But Ichika was different.
Even though they were quintuplets, Nakano Ichika always carried that "leader among sisters" air, even acting as a kind of big-sister agony aunt who listened to everyone's troubles.
A walking intel hub.
Nicknamed the Info Sister.
Shirase had been teased by this mature, sly girl before, and though he'd always managed to counter her teasing, who knew what she'd do with his latest weird act once he visited again?
[Host's hunger detected as resolved. System will now resume heroic acts.]
Hearing the prompt, Shirase began to wonder whether this was really a hosting system at all—or some kind of karmic virtue system.
Like that famous old slogan: "Public-spiritedness Contest, starting today!"
"Thank you for treating me to this meal."
The system even earnestly said thank you to Nakano Itsuki.
"Huh? N-no problem, really, it's just a small thing," Itsuki stammered, flustered by the formality. Her hands fluttered up instinctively, her posture a little stiff.
They'd known each other for a while, just ordinary friends. In her memory, Shirase had never been the type to speak so stiffly, nor radiate this heavy, unapproachable seriousness.
But she had no time to question him.
Because Shirase was already gone.
Left with a belly full of question marks, Itsuki gathered herself and returned to her sisters.
"I thought you went to buy meat buns. Why were you suddenly with him?" Nino demanded first.
Ichika chuckled at her side, "What's this, Nino? Jealous?"
"I'm not!" Nino shot back, face burning with embarrassed anger.
Itsuki, as if deaf to their conversation, murmured, "I just feel like Shirase was acting kind of weird."
"When is he not weird?" Nino countered.
A boy who constantly asked her out and bluntly stated his aims—how could that not be weird?
Couldn't he be a little more tactful? Girls were shy about this sort of thing.
And that towel incident…
Nino bit her lower lip, feeling her cheeks quietly heat.
"Yeah, maybe I'm overthinking it…" Itsuki cast one last glance at the direction Shirase had gone.
Ichika's mischievous smile widened as she looked at her sister. "Nino, aren't you going to call Shirase-kun?"
"Call him for what?" Still lost in her embarrassed thoughts, Nino didn't catch on at first.
"To invite him over for dinner, of course~ We all know Kana-nee often comes home late. It's not like an extra pair of chopsticks matters when there are already five of us."
"Hmph. He hasn't even said he wants to come over. Why should I be the one to call?"
Nino flicked a strand of hair behind her ear, turning her head away.
Ichika blinked, her eyes lighting up as she subtly shot Itsuki a look: What's going on with these two lately?
Itsuki blinked back blankly: Why are you asking me?
Right, why was she asking Itsuki?
Ichika realized she was being silly.
Among the five, aside from Nino, only she and Yotsuba chatted with Shirase much. After all, neither of them were shy or quiet by nature.
On the way home, Ichika seemed to think of something. She gently nudged Nino with her elbow. When Nino turned to her with a puzzled look, Ichika slipped her phone into her hands.
Frowning, Nino glanced down. The screen showed a paused video.
From the interface, it was clearly not an app but the phone's built-in recording function.
Ichika smiled sweetly. "I thought you'd be interested, so I recorded this just now."
Just now?
Nino instinctively tapped play. Immediately Shirase's figure filled the screen.
Ichika's angle was perfect, capturing the alley scene clearly.
Shirase strode up to two oddly dressed young men with cigarettes dangling from their mouths. In the corner of the frame, a middle-schooler cowered against the wall. Without a word, Shirase raised his hand—smack, smack—two crisp, echoing slaps.
So fast it was hard to believe.
Even from a distance, the sharp "pa-pa" of the blows carried faintly through the recording.
With just those two slaps, the bullies collapsed, unable to rise.
The video ended there.
Holding the phone, Nino muttered, "Does this guy actually have some superhero dream of punishing evil and promoting good?"
Even she, who thought she understood Shirase well, couldn't make sense of him at this moment.
Ichika only smiled gently. "Shirase-kun protecting others… isn't that pretty cool?"
Nino blinked, then unconsciously hummed in agreement, a faint smile glimmering in her eyes.
And then she heard someone burst into laughter: "You're blushing. And you still say there's nothing between you and Shirase…"
"You idiot Ichika! Shut up!"
...
Meanwhile.
Having finished his [Free Hosting] session, Shirase stood gloomily at the roadside.
Because the progress bar had landed squarely at 99%.
Which meant he'd need yet another [Free Hosting] run to unlock the [Wheel-of-Fortune Lottery].
As for [Fixed Hosting], he used it almost daily, but its progress gains were unpredictable—sometimes 0.5%, sometimes just 0.01%.
Like those "help cut the price" gimmicks on a certain discount-shopping app.
So if he wanted to unlock the new feature quickly, [Free Hosting] was undoubtedly the best choice.
[Ding-dong. Thank you for using [Free Hosting]. The system rewards you with one Triple Experience Card. This item can be used in any hosting mode.]
[This system always serves with sincerity, making your life worry-free and colorful. Please rate your experience.]
A rating box appeared in front of Shirase's eyes.
One star to five.
Honestly, he wanted to give the system one star.
He'd been annoyed with it for a while now.
But after thinking it over, he chose five stars.
[Thank you for your five-star rating! This time's cashback reward is a "High School Star Player Experience Card."]
"Star Player Experience Card?"
Shirase blinked. In the system's [Inventory], alongside the familiar Triple Experience Card, there was now something new.
[Star Player Experience Card: Instantly turns you into the most eye-catching star on the field. Duration: 30 minutes.]
The item certainly sounded impressive. But in the soccer club… he was only there to make up the numbers.
Still, the experience card was in hand.
Last time had already proven this card worked wonders for studying.
For instance, when he'd used it for vocabulary memorization, the Triple Experience Card had been unbelievably effective.
Just as Shirase sat down at home, the door opened.
A lazy, tired-sounding voice drifted in: "Shirase-kun, is dinner ready yet? I'm starving…"
A beautiful figure in a black business-suit dress stepped inside.
Kojima Kana.
Seeing him in the living room, she smiled warmly, then turned to change her shoes.
Today she wore black openwork heels, the arch of her foot and her slender ankle radiating a soft allure beneath her sheer black stockings. The dark fabric stretched upward, disappearing under the hem of her suit dress, making it impossible not to want to follow it with your eyes.
"I'm seriously starving today. I should've grabbed something to eat outside first."
Kana kept muttering, tipping her toes slightly. The thin heel of her shoe clicked softly against the wooden floor. Her smooth, pale heel slipped free as she went barefoot—her well-proportioned calves encased in stockings looking even more enticing now.