Video games teach you that the first dungeon is easy.
Lies.
This one wasn't.
The moment I stepped into the abandoned station, everything changed. The lights flickered. The air reeked of rust and death. The tunnels creaked like they were alive.
[Dungeon Instance Initiated: "Infested Station"]
Objective: Eliminate the boss: "Steel Sentinel"
Time Limit: 3 hours
Reward: ??? Penalty: Death
Very encouraging.
I had no weapons—just my fists and a rusty pipe I found among the rubble. But something in me had changed since that day with the mud monster. It wasn't just strength or reflexes. It was... precision.
Every punch, every step, every dodge—it all came naturally. Like someone had installed a "Combat Expert Mode" patch in my brain.
And still... I almost died.
The boss was some kind of mutated robot in the shape of a living train, with blades instead of wheels. I had to use every single Agility point I had to avoid getting skewered.
When I finally took it down, a rain of blue screens fell.
[Boss Defeated]
[Reward: +5 Stat Points, "Broken Sentinel Blade" acquired]
[Level 3 reached]
Level 3 in a single day. I guess that was good.
Though the system immediately threw me a warning.
[New Trait Unlocked: PASSIVE INTIMIDATION]
Effect: "Your gaze creates natural tension. People with weak willpower will avoid eye contact. Those with interest... will react unpredictably."
...Unpredictably?
I found out the next day.
I returned to class like nothing had happened, uniform neat, a new gleam in my eyes.
Not that I felt great. I was exhausted. Every muscle ached. I had cuts the system only partially healed, and I was starving like I'd fought a bear.Spoiler: I had.
And yet, the moment I stepped into Classroom 1-A... the atmosphere froze.
Everyone literally stopped talking.
Even Aizawa-sensei gave me a look—half-alert, half-curious.
And the girls...
God.
First was Ochaco Uraraka. The bubbly girl with the tender gaze turned bright red when our eyes met.
"G-good morning, Kaito-kun…" she said, looking down while fiddling with her fingers.
...Since when did she greet me?
Then came Momo Yaoyorozu, the elegant dark-haired ojou-sama. At first, she avoided looking at me, but kept stealing glances when she thought I wouldn't notice. Her face lit up every time our eyes met.
And Tsuyu Asui? Usually so calm. Today she stared right at me and said:
"Kaito… are you taller, kero?"
"I don't know. Am I?" I replied, half on autopilot.
She blinked. "You also smell different."
WHAT?
WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN!?
Then Mina Ashido burst in like a pink explosion, literally jumping onto my desk.
"Hey, handsome! What did you eat last night, testosterone with steroids?"
I froze.
She sniffed the air around me and said, "You know you've got that 'dark manga protagonist' scent now?"
What the hell was going on?
The worst part came later.
It was combat training class. And surprise, I got paired with Kyoka Jiro. Cool, talented, sarcastic... she usually ignored me.
But today, every time I got close, she looked away and blushed. Her earphone jacks trembled a bit.
She even tripped once and grabbed my shirt collar to stop her fall. For a moment, our faces were dangerously close.
"I-I-Idiot! Why are you so close!?"
"You were falling on me…"
"Don't change the subject!"
I hadn't even opened my mouth.
After training, while I was in the locker room, another weird event: an invisible towel smacked me in the face.
"Oops! Sorry, Kaito-kun!" said the voice of Toru Hagakure, the invisible girl.
"How did you know it was me?" I asked, rubbing my nose.
"Your energy's really easy to sense lately," she said sweetly. "Like… you're glowing."
Glowing?
What am I, a firefly now?
The madness continued the next day.
I passed through the support lab and accidentally triggered a smoke trap on one of Mei Hatsume's inventions. She emerged from the cloud with her goggles on and a manic grin.
"Renjiro Kaito! Just the test subject I needed!"
Before I could say anything, she strapped a belt full of blinking devices around me.
"What do they do?"
"No idea! But they explode in style. Run!"
Which is how I ended up with half of Class 1-A yelling at me to turn off the murder belt.
And as the cherry on top, during lunch, Nejire Hado—yes, the third-year from the Big 3—sat down beside me. The one who normally only talked to her circle.
"Hi, Kaito-kun~. I heard you fought a villain recently."
"Who told you that?"
"Rumors! I love rumors~. But what I like most is your energy. It's... intriguing."
She stared at me. Sweet smile. Big eyes. Way too close.
And for some reason, I felt that if I said something stupid… she might adopt me.
Or worse.
That night, lying in bed, I stared at the ceiling.
"What the hell is happening…?"
[Current Status: Abnormal Popularity Detected]
[Cause: Protagonist Aura Activated + PASSIVE INTIMIDATION + Presence Shift]
"Is this part of the system… or hell?"
My phone buzzed.
Ochaco: "Wanna study together tomorrow?"Then:
Momo: "I've prepared tea. Would you like to join me?"Then:
Tsuyu: "Are you allergic to seafood? I want to cook something."And Mina, with a bold selfie:
Mina: "Have you dreamed of me yet, bad boy? 😘"Seconds later, another message:
Kyoka: "It's not like I like you or anything. I just… wanted to check if you're okay. Idiot."And finally...
Toru: "(≧▽≦) I saw you in my dreams today~!"
Mei: "I made you a rocket launcher that activates with your heart rate."
Nejire: "Sweet dreams, Kaito-kun. I'm starting to dream... of you 💙"
I shut my phone. Covered my face with a pillow.
"I'm so, so screwed…"
---
NT: Haha, the AI only writes nonsense lol