"Mori Shinra, you're in this state and you still want to come to school? I don't remember you being such a diligent student."
Hiratsuka Shizuka clutched her head, feeling a headache coming on. Was she some kind of great villain in her past life? The problem students she encountered were getting more and more absurd.
The previous student who wrote "A Review of My High School Life" like a criminal manifesto was enough of a headache, and now she had Mori Shinra.
Did this guy think school was a battlefield? Lightly wounded, but not leaving the front lines?
No, no, no, even on a battlefield, you'd have to go to the rear to recuperate if you broke a bone, right?
"Sensei, people can change. Besides, setting aside my classroom performance, I think I'm quite a good student," Mori Shinra replied with a straight face.
Although he always spaced out in class, never listened, never reviewed his lessons after school, and most of the homework assigned was done perfunctorily, he was still a good student.
Hiratsuka Shizuka couldn't really deny this point. If the top student in the entire school for science subjects wasn't considered studious, then probably no one was.
It was just that Mori Shinra's daily performance didn't look studious at all. She really couldn't understand why a guy who was usually so lazy and seemed to not care about his studies at all could get such good grades.
Geniuses were truly incomprehensible.
"A studious guy wouldn't sleep in class."
"That's not necessarily true. Some people act like they don't like studying at school, but then they go home and cram like crazy. I usually call this type of person a 'study bitch'."
"Are you describing yourself?"
"Of course not. I'm always consistent, both at home and at school, I'm just like this," Mori Shinra replied matter-of-factly. Paired with the cast on his left leg, it was an indescribably comical sight.
Hiratsuka Shizuka didn't laugh. Instead, she rested her forehead on one hand as if her headache was worsening, while her other hand pulled a pack of Seven Stars from her white coat pocket. With a flick of her wrist, a single cigarette magically jumped halfway out.
The mature female teacher lowered her head slightly, placing the cigarette between her lips. She then patted her pockets, seemingly looking for a lighter.
Click~
A small flame appeared in front of her. Hiratsuka Shizuka instinctively leaned forward and took a light puff. Seeing the tobacco ignite, she even muttered a "thanks." It wasn't until the rising smoke created a screen between her and the student that she suddenly realized.
Who just lit her cigarette?
"You're welcome. It's only natural for a student to show respect to their teacher," Mori Shinra replied with a smile.
Hiratsuka Shizuka: #
"Where did you get a lighter?" Hiratsuka Shizuka's tone was unnervingly calm, like the River of Oblivion that guides souls to the afterlife.
Mori Shinra's gaze focused on the top of Hiratsuka Shizuka's head. Both the bright red font in her status bar and the ominous, deep red aura emanating from the beautiful teacher were giving him a silent warning.
"I chew on it for fun when I have nothing to do."
A gust of wind blew past.
It was a delicate, yet powerful-looking fist.
Fortunately, the beautiful straight punch hit empty air. Unfortunately, the owner of the fist seemed intent on a follow-up strike.
"The next one won't miss, you know."
"I'msorrythelighterwaspickedupfromyourdeskwhenIpassedbybecauseIthoughtyou'ddefinitelywanttosmokewhenyoutalktomesoIthoughtifIhelpedlightitforyouyoumightjustletmego."
This time, Mori Shinra's high-speed divine speech was faster than ever before, breaking through his previous limits.
Great terror lies between life and death, and therein lies the opportunity for a breakthrough.
Boohoo, I'll never play around like that again.
Just kidding, I'll dare to do it again next time.
"Honestly..."
Hiratsuka Shizuka took her lighter back from Mori Shinra's hand, then exhaled a puff of smoke. "Are you really okay?"
"Of course, it's just a minor fracture."
Someone who had died once before wouldn't joke about their own life. Mori Shinra shifted his gaze to an empty spot to his left, where there was something Hiratsuka Shizuka couldn't see—the system panel.
That's right, Mori Shinra had awakened a system. As a reincarnator who had been in this world for over a year, he originally thought he was on the "plagiarism" route, but he didn't expect the settings could change after a year.
System route, engaged!
To be fair, for the reader, both routes have their own appeal. But for the reincarnator, the brainless point-adding of a system was definitely more satisfying.
Although Mori Shinra's system wasn't a point-adding type, its functions were in no way inferior. In some aspects, it was even more engaging than simple stat-stacking, because his system gave him superpowers.
Does anyone get the mechanics?
[Wish Power System Panel]
Host: Mori Shinra
Constitution: 3 (↑)
Spirit: 10
Ability: Emotion Perception
Wish Points: 0
There were no flashy, detailed descriptions; Mori Shinra's system panel was quite minimalist, with only four categories in total: Constitution, Spirit, Ability, and Wish Points.
Constitution represented physical fitness. The standard value for a normal, healthy adult was 5, which also applied to the Spirit category.
The '↑' after Constitution indicated that Mori Shinra's constitution was currently in a state of improvement. The reason was simple: he was currently injured. Once his injuries healed, the stabilized value would be Mori Shinra's actual base value.
The main reason Mori Shinra dared to come to school the day after the car accident was that he could monitor his physical condition in real-time. The moment that '↑' changed to a '↓', he'd immediately call 119 and have an ambulance take him back.
Prudence!
Spirit points were linked to the duration he could use his abilities. For a low-consumption skill like Emotion Perception, as long as Mori Shinra didn't get the crazy idea to perceive the emotions of everyone around him and just focused on one or two people, he could use it as a passive skill without any issues.
As for how to acquire abilities, that was tied to Wish Points. He could earn Wish Points by helping others fulfill their wishes, and 1 Wish Point could be used for one "Wish." A Wish could grant abilities, constitution points, spirit points, free points, or ability points.
The first draw was a guaranteed ability, which was how Mori Shinra got Emotion Perception. After that, every ten wishes guaranteed either an ability or an ability point. Ability points could be directly applied to existing abilities, upgrading them into more powerful ones.
The evaluation: it was designed by someone who plays gacha games.
Fortunately, there were no "Thanks for playing" trash results polluting the pool. Every wish resulted in an improvement, and there was a pity system every ten pulls. You could say it was quite generous.
After installing this mod, Earth OL went from Hard Mode directly to Easy.
"Actually, they call it a fracture, but it's really just a slight hairline fracture and soft tissue contusions. It should be mostly healed after about a week of rest."
"Then you should be obediently resting at home, you fool!" Hiratsuka Shizuka felt her fists clenching again. This student was just too much trouble.
Hiratsuka Shizuka glanced at Mori Shinra's mummy-wrapped left leg, stubbed out her cigarette, and raised her wrist to check the time. She sighed and said, "Forget it, just wait in the office for a while. After I'm done dealing with the club matters, I'll drive you home."
"Speaking of which, it seems like you've never joined a club, have you?"
"I believe the Go-Home Club is a type of club. It helps train a student's sense of family responsibility." Mori Shinra had no interest in clubs. Compared to joining a club and singing praises to youth, he would rather spend his time on other, more meaningful things.
Before getting the system, Mori Shinra felt that entertaining himself was more meaningful, so he would either read novels or play video games at home, not putting any thought into his studies at all.
After getting the system, Mori Shinra felt that he should move on from such low-level pleasures. He set a small goal: to become Homelander before going to university.
"You're the first person to embellish going home to play games as 'training a sense of family responsibility'."
"That was the old me. The me now wants to be a person useful to society, a person who enjoys helping others," Mori Shinra said in a deep tone.
"Did your head also suffer a soft tissue contusion?" Hiratsuka Shizuka asked, puzzled.
"What are you saying? What are you saying? Great terror lies between life and death. Isn't it normal to change after a car accident? Hiratsuka-sensei, you'll understand when you reach my age," Mori Shinra sighed, like an old man who had weathered many storms.
Hiratsuka Shizuka: ?
"How can I reach your age? Can time flow backward? And are you indirectly calling me old?" Hiratsuka Shizuka's eyes narrowed, and a sinister black aura began to radiate from her.
Killing intent! It's killing intent!
In a normal novel, a sinister black aura might just be an exaggerated figure of speech, but now, thanks to Mori Shinra's Emotion Perception skill, the emotions of those around him were visualized.
A large character for 'Danger' silently appeared above Mori Shinra's head.
"Time cannot flow backward, and people cannot truly understand each other. Just like when I first met you, teacher, I was thinking, 'She can become a teacher at 18? Is the Japanese education world making some kind of mistake?'" Mori Shinra's flattery was so obvious, it was like finding shoes in a shoe cabinet.
Although the flattery was clumsy, the effect was remarkably significant.
Mori Shinra watched as the color of the aura around Hiratsuka Shizuka became like a clear sky after the rain, and he quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
Boohoo, I'll never play around like that again.
Hiratsuka Shizuka looked at the somewhat unreliable boy before her and suddenly thought of something. Since he said he wanted to be a person who enjoys helping others, wouldn't the club she was in charge of be a perfect fit for his needs?
Could there be a more perfect coincidence in the world?
"Could there be a more perfect coincidence in the world?" Mori Shinra couldn't help but ask Hiratsuka Shizuka.
He had just said he wanted to be a helpful person, and Hiratsuka Shizuka immediately introduced him to a club called the "Service Club."
'Those who have, give to those who lack with a heart of compassion. People call this volunteerism. The activity of this club is to extend a helping hand to those in difficulty.'
This was the reason for the establishment of the Service Club by that person named Yukinoshita Yukino.
Honestly, after hearing Hiratsuka Shizuka's introduction, Mori Shinra felt that the club president must be something special. Regardless of whether her character was noble or not, just being able to get the school to approve the establishment of a club with such a vague reason meant she was definitely no ordinary student.
"So, want to join?" Hiratsuka Shizuka asked.
"I can give it a try," Mori Shinra replied conservatively.
Hiratsuka Shizuka was somewhat surprised to hear this. She had been prepared for Mori Shinra to come up with all sorts of excuses to refuse.
After all, he was already a second-year. If this kid really wanted to join a club, he wouldn't have waited until now.
But unexpectedly, he was now saying he was willing to give it a try. Could it be true, as he said, that he had a great enlightenment after a brush with death?
Hiratsuka Shizuka was skeptical.
However, despite her skepticism, since Mori Shinra had the intention of joining the Service Club, she was determined not to let him go.
In her view, although Mori Shinra's daily behavior was often unreliable, he could still be considered a good kid... right?
Besides, Hiratsuka Shizuka also wanted to see what kind of chemical reaction would occur when a straightforward personality like Mori Shinra's met that awkward child, Yukinoshita.
Weren't life's encounters built upon a series of coincidences?
"There's no time like the present. You can come with me to the Service Club later," Hiratsuka Shizuka said to Mori Shinra.
Hearing her words, Mori Shinra shook his bandaged left leg and asked in a slightly subtle tone, "I'm going over like this?"
"Since you could make it to school, I imagine walking a few more steps to the special building won't be a problem. Or do you want me to carry you there?"
"Eh? Wouldn't that be too much trouble for you, teacher?"
"You actually dare to think that far!"
Sigh, you were the one who proposed the plan, but now you're not happy when it's time to do it.
The creature known as 'woman' is truly hard to fathom!
Mori Shinra lamented in his heart. Even with a superpower like Emotion Perception, which was invincible in social situations, he still couldn't glimpse the true feelings in a woman's heart.
'A woman's heart is a needle at the bottom of the sea.' The ancestors truly did not deceive me.
Perhaps only an ability like mind-reading could contend with it?
The special building used for club activities wasn't far from the classroom building, only a few minutes' walk. Of course, that was for someone with two healthy legs.
Mori Shinra, the cripple, walked very slowly, especially when going downstairs. Friends who have sprained an ankle know that going up is easy, but coming down is hard. What's more, Mori Shinra had a fracture. With only one good leg, he could only go down step by step, relying on the handrail and his medical crutch.
After following him at his pace for a few steps, Hiratsuka Shizuka found the efficiency to be far too low. At the landing on the staircase corner, she simply snatched Mori Shinra's crutch and lifted him up, carrying him in a way one might carry a sack of cement.
"Whoa, hey!" The sudden event startled Mori Shinra into exclaiming involuntarily. He was even more terrified when he saw that Hiratsuka Shizuka was wearing high heels, his 'face turning pale with fright'.
Hmm, on second thought, it didn't look like carrying a sack of cement. It was more like a bandit entering a village to snatch a bride.
And Mori Shinra was the bride.
After a bumpy ride, Mori Shinra's good leg was back on the ground, and the crutch was back in his left hand. Hiratsuka Shizuka, acting as if nothing had happened, asked him, "Later, when we go upstairs, do you want me to..."
"Absolutely not!!!"