Vol 1 Chapter 9【Vol 1 – The Woman Next Door】

【Purchase Lv. 2 Scouter for ¥150,000?】

Obviously. Tap.

【Purchase Transformation Potion for ¥1,000,000?】

A little steep, but — tap.

【Purchase Binoculars for ¥700,000?】

Yeah, yeah, you’re coming home too.

Shopping done. Time to check what he’d actually bought. Please don’t let any of these be duds. He pulled up 【INVENTORY】, heart going ba-dump, ba-dump.

【INVENTORY】 【Lv.1 Scouter】 【Lv.2 Scouter】 【Master Key】 【Sleep Spray】 【Camera】 【Transformation Potion】 【Binoculars】

He tapped through each item description.

【 Lv. 2 Scouter】 【Stare at your target woman while the Scouter is active to pull up conquest-relevant information.】

No change from the Lv. 1 description.

【Transformation Potion】 【1 dose】 【A potion that transforms you into the appearance you desire.】 【Only the conquest target will see your changed appearance.】 【Everyone else will see your true self.】

【Binoculars】 【X-ray binoculars. Note: cannot see through thick surfaces such as walls.】 【Blink to activate.】

Neither the 【Transformation Potion】 nor the 【Binoculars】 immediately suggested an obvious use. The wall-penetration limit on the Binoculars was annoying, too. Still, they couldn’t be useless — he’d figure out a purpose for them eventually.

He was about to close the 【GAME WINDOW】 when he remembered he’d never checked the remaining uses on the 【Master Key】. He hadn’t burned through many of them, so buying another probably wasn’t urgent — but he was curious how the count had been calculated after leveling up.

【Master Key】 【Opens any door.】 【Stand in front of the desired door and tap the item-use window to activate.】 【Remaining uses: 4】 【Item enhancement is available upon level-up.】

Still four uses. Disappointing. But then another line caught his eye — enhancement? He tapped it out of curiosity. A new window overlaid the first.

【Enhance this item? Enhancement cost: ¥100,000】

Reasonable enough. Worth a shot.

【Enhancement complete.】

Done in under a second. He immediately pulled the 【Master Key】 description back up.

【Master Key】 【Enhancement Lv. 1】 【Opens any door.】 【Stand in front of the desired door and tap the window to activate.】 【Uses: 7】 — Purchasing again will not restore uses. — Uses can be recovered via enhancement upon level-up.

The count had gone up. When he first bought the 【Master Key】 at Level 1, it came with 6 uses. Which meant enhancement had bumped it to seven — and apparently the two uses he’d already burned at Level 1 had been quietly restored as a bonus. Ha.

If that works for the Master Key, it should work for the others as well. The item description had said enhancement unlocked at level-up, so everything he’d bought at Level 1 should be eligible. He checked the 【Sleep Spray】 and the 【Camera】 back to back.

【Sleep Spray】 【Does exactly what the name implies. Boasts impressive potency.】 【Tap the item window, then look at your target.】 【Duration: 1 hour】 【Usable range: 2M】 【Item enhancement available upon level-up.】

【Camera】 【X-ray camera. Can photograph anything you set your sights on.】 【Tap use, frame your shot, and blink to capture.】 【Uses remaining: 1】

The 【Camera】 either couldn’t be enhanced yet or required a higher level — it was hard to tell. Either way, enhancement wasn’t available now. The 【Sleep Spray】, on the other hand, was ready. He tapped without hesitation.

【Enhance Sleep Spray? Enhancement cost: ¥100,000】

Same price as before. Was ¥100,000 cheap or expensive? Hard to say. He could afford it either way, so he pressed down on the message.

【Enhancement complete.】

Same notification as the 【Master Key】. He immediately checked the updated description.

【Sleep Spray】 【Enhancement Lv. 1】 【Does exactly what the name implies. Boasts impressive potency.】 【Tap the item window, then look at your target.】 【Duration: 2 hours】 【Usable range: 2M】

• • Duration extended via enhancement: 1 hour → 2 hours

• • Usable range extended: 1M → 2M

More satisfying than the 【Master Key】 result, all things considered. The extra hour wasn’t mind-blowing, but the increase in range was genuinely welcome. And if it kept scaling — it might become the ideal defensive tool. One meter was practically point-blank. Against Sakurai Ami lunging at him with a kitchen knife, the range had honestly scared him. Get it up to five meters, and he could use it with real confidence. There was clearly room to grow.

Anyway — new items purchased, enhancement unlocked—time to start hunting for a new target. Time kept moving whether he was ready or not.

But he was exhausted.

Mental fatigue, probably.

This doesn’t feel like a game. Running on empty wasn’t something he could just push through indefinitely. Hunger, sleep, basic bodily functions — everything was completely, stubbornly real. His thoughts were already going sluggish. He gave in, told himself he’d pick back up after a nap, and fell onto his bed. He pulled the covers up and closed his eyes.