In This World That Favors Men, I... ~Starting a Sweet School Life in a World With a 1:8 Gender Ratio~ - 91

Chapter 91: Withdrawing from the Otome Game

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“No! Ugh, I’ve had it! What is this? What is this, what is this? Everyone keeps getting in my way!”

Ever since she transferred to her current school, Kurara Tsuzuki had been constantly irritated because her romantic conquests weren’t going as planned. Even though she had transferred schools full of motivation, she couldn’t get close to the boy she had her eyes on. 

 Whenever she tried to approach him, for some reason, a crowd of people would gather in between them. As a result, she couldn’t even introduce herself, let alone charm him. That kind of situation had been ongoing for a while now.

And on top of that, there was an even bigger miscalculation. This school was an academic powerhouse—a ridiculously elite one at that—so the pace of the classes was terrifyingly fast, and there were constant tests.

Although she had breezed through the transfer exam using a little cheat involving her diary, she couldn’t afford to burn energy like that for daily tests. She had to rely on her own ability.

However, despite her pride in being fairly smart, she was surrounded by even more talented students, and more than anything, they all put in an absurd amount of effort. That kind of environment was completely incompatible with her.

Why would anyone spend their dazzling high school life just studying?

That was all she could think.

But if things continued like this, there was a high chance she’d be dropped to a lower class next term. If that happened, she’d be separated from the same-grade boys she’d worked so hard to keep nearby. In other words, her charm effect would weaken. She was starting to panic at this point.

“Even when I get up early to catch him on his way to school, it still doesn’t work. Why is nothing going right?”

《The opposing force is heavily investing energy for protection. There are clear interferences in the scenario.》

“The opposing force… You mean that sweets-world-related whatever? Isn’t it your job to do something about that?”

《Because of the interference and the stalled scenario progression, we’re running low on otome energy.》

“Even after raking it in back at Azuchi Momoyama Academy?”

《Azuchi Momoyama Academy was a prearranged scenario stage, so even if we used energy wastefully, we were able to take control and gather energy efficiently. However, this school is different. We’re an irregular presence here from the start.》

“So what does that mean?”

《In short, we’re perceived as foreign entity. A hostile element, so to say. We have to constantly defend ourselves while forcing our way in, and that requires continuous energy consumption. At this rate, we’ll run out of energy soon.》

“That’s bad. I don’t want to lose the ability to brute-force my way through. But I’m getting nowhere like this. What should I do?”

《We recommend withdrawal. In order to move the game scenario forward the way you want, you’ll need a supply of divine blessing energy.》

“Withdrawal, huh… It’s frustrating, but I guess there’s no helping it. Still, is there even a place where I can earn a ton of divine blessing energy in a short time?”

《We’ve found the optimal location for recharging. It’s a place constantly overflowing with rich otome power. However, there are no students there who qualify as romantic targets for Master.》

“No romantic targets? And I can still gather energy?”

《You won’t have to expend energy pushing the scenario forward, so the energy yield should be quite high.》

“Hmm… Well, no time like the present. Let’s move there. Rather than fumbling around here, it might be way more efficient to gather energy all at once and then target the next hunting ground with plenty of energy.”

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“Hey, Yoriko. How are the pudding sales doing?”

“They’re selling like crazy. They were doing well from the start, but ever since the collaboration began, the puddings are always sold out. After the Sweets Walker release date, we’ve been flooded with inquiries and orders.”

“That’s great news. We’re also getting swamped with job offers on our end. It’s almost painful to turn them down.”

“Well, for us, we’re grateful to have someone like him become our exclusive poster boy. As Yuusei-kun’s popularity rises, attention on our products increases too. Plus, word-of-mouth marketing is more effective.”

“Yuusei-kun is oddly enthusiastic when it comes to promoting pudding, isn’t he? But it doesn’t seem like he’s doing it for fame. He agreed to do the EXA commercial because of our personal friendship, but he doesn’t seem interested in other gigs.”

“It feels like a waste given how photogenic he is, but I’ve heard that many men, since their future livelihoods are already secure, prefer to take things easy instead.”

“And Yuusei-kun really doesn’t have that hungry ambition, so I guess he’s like that too.”

“Alright. It’s about time. Shall we head to the screening room?”

“I can’t wait for the preview. A double feature with bath salts and full-body soap. This project is such an indulgence project!”

“I heard it turned out really well. Once it airs, I think it’s going to draw even more attention than before.”

“Of course. Yuusei-kun was amazing during the shoot.”

“Seriously. If I were a bit younger, I’d take my chances and make a move on him, even if it meant getting rejected.”

“Let’s face it. To him, we’re just the older ladies from work. I’d love to take a shot as his elder partner, but my financial power doesn’t even come close to that.”

“Even if I had the money, I’d hesitate. Yuusei-kun’s just too good-looking. Without the fuel of youth, you can’t make a bold move like that.”

“Hearing he’s dating three classmates makes it even harder to imagine.”

“Being young is the best, huh.”

“Truly. There’s a huge wall between the teens and the twenties. I really feel that now.”

“And between working adults and students? The gap is absolutely humongous. Alright, time for work, work! Let’s make this project an absolute success!”

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