NOVEL NEXT Chapter 90: Chapter 90: Another Red Light Reward and the Date Begins
"Eh!? President! Are we doing this? Right here!?"
Kanako blurted out something completely inappropriate.
Haruto knocked her on the head.
This girl had spent some time in a high-security female prison.
Although she was still innocent in some ways, her thinking had clearly been influenced by her environment.
Holding her close, Haruto pressed the lottery draw button.
Previously, he had earned a Level-4 lottery draw for containing the The Hanged King.
As the button was pressed—
A brilliant light flashed across the system interface.
Haruto's eyes widened.
No way!?
He looked at the system panel, then at the girl in his arms, feeling a surge of excitement.
Originally, he just wanted to test if her luck could be used.
But unexpectedly,
Red light!
A dazzling red glow streaked across the system interface and landed with a resounding impact.
[Reward Obtained: Divine Enlightenment Fragment]
"Kanako, you currently don't have a romantic partner or any intention to get married, correct?"
Haruto asked in a serious tone.
Kanako was dumbfounded.
"Uh… I don't think so?"
She was telling the truth but still felt nervous.
Haruto nodded. "Good. That means I don't have to alter your memories."
Kanako: !?
"For the future of humanity, I must make you my personal possession."
With that, Haruto declared something outrageous.
But looking at the experimental results, if Kanako could influence lottery odds—
Then getting red-light rewards every time…
No matter what, he had to make her his exclusive property.
"For the future of humanity… Actually, if it's you, President, I don't mind!"
Kanako stopped thinking altogether.
Her image of the mysterious and powerful president shattered. But that was fine, she was a sucker for good looks. If it was Haruto, a ridiculously handsome guy, she had no complaints.
After leaving the Foundation, Haruto returned to his apartment and carefully examined the red-light reward.
[Divine Enlightenment Fragment: A metaphysical concept, not of this world's gifts. It is the supreme enlightenment; unobservable, indescribable, and unrecordable in its essence. Its origin of fragmentation is unknown, but even a single fragment contains incomprehensible power.]
[Using the Divine Enlightenment Fragment allows an individual to elevate the concept of one of their traits, with a probability of transforming it into Supreme Divinity. Due to its fragmented state, it retains partial abilities, enabling conceptual elevation of a trait.]
[Note: The final enhancement result depends on the strength of the chosen trait. Traits that are closer to Supreme Divinity have a higher chance of reaching metaphysical conceptual power.]
Haruto pondered over the system's explanation.
Choosing a trait for conceptual elevation…
Since stronger traits had a higher chance of reaching Supreme Divinity, he had to pick from his golden-tier traits.
As for enhancing his Divine Intelligence Fragment…
Haruto had considered it.
But after trying, the system informed him that it couldn't be elevated to Supreme Divinity.
Clearly, even as a fragment, Divine Intelligence was already considered Supreme Divinity.
So, his choice came down to three options,
Blacklight Virus (evolution)
Kamui Mangekyō (space and mind)
The World (time)
Kamui Mangekyō was the first to be eliminated as it was far weaker than the other two.
That left Blacklight Virus (evolution) and The World (time). Haruto hesitated between the two.
Ultimately, he decided…
To wait and see!
Blacklight Virus still had room to evolve.
He would absorb more powerful genes and refine it further before making a decision. Then came the joyful yet exhausting school festival.
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The The Hanged King's incident barely caused a ripple at Sobu High. The three deceased students were officially withdrawn from school. The reason? Completely legitimate.
Aside from Megumi Kato and Yukino Yukinoshita, everyone else had their memories erased. The theater play had to replace three actors at the last minute, but it managed to continue.
With the pressure of six invitations, Haruto meticulously planned out his schedule.
A true master of time management.
However, plans never keep up with change.
First day of the school festival, Haruto was completely absent.
The reason? The so-called "City of Rome" was once again dealing with vampires.
Similar to the previous werewolf incident, it was another case of a highly contagious anomaly.
Through the "First Embrace," vampires could convert normal people into their kind, though the turned individuals couldn't further infect others. It was something the Mobile Task Force could handle, but air travel was too slow, risking further spread.
So Haruto had to personally fly there with his wings.
Thus, his school festival plans were reduced to just two days...
After utterly annihilating the vampire progenitor and venting his frustration, Haruto returned to his apartment, looking dazed.
There was no escaping the incoming battlefield of romance.
Lying on his back, Haruto stared at the ceiling, lost in thought. Before long, he heard the sound of a doorknob turning.
Without even looking up, he knew it was Shiro.
Ever since Shiro had maxed out her lock-picking skills, Haruto had simply stopped locking his door.
It was pointless.
Shiro found Haruto lying there, his expression blank as he stared at the ceiling.
Curious, she climbed onto the bed, snuggled up to him, and blocked his view to meet his gaze.
"Onii-chan, not happy?"
Haruto smiled helplessly.
"Not exactly unhappy, just a bit... exhausted."
Shiro tilted her head in confusion.
"Shiro will help Onii-chan."
Even though she didn't understand what he needed help with, Shiro spoke earnestly.
Haruto was about to tell her that she couldn't help.
A battlefield of romance was something she'd only make worse if she were old enough to participate.
But then, Haruto suddenly realized—with Shiro's abilities...
Sitting up, he pulled out his tablet.
Through the Foundation's systems, he effortlessly connected to all the surveillance cameras inside Sobu High.
Splitting the numerous feeds across the screen, he pointed at them.
"Shiro, Onii-chan is about to play a game. You're the only one I can rely on. Can you help me clear it?"
Hearing this, Shiro nodded immediately, her crimson pupils glowing brightly with excitement.
Haruto then pulled up six photos.
Portraits of Megumi Kato and the others.
"Onii-chan needs to accompany these six people in the areas shown on screen, but there are rules."
Haruto pointed at the display.
Shiro blinked.
Why did this game feel so... unpleasant?
Still, since it was a request from Onii-chan, she listened carefully.
"Game rules: Over the next two days, I must accompany each of these six people for at least four hours in total."
"Each time, I can only be with one of them, while the other five will move randomly across the school grounds."
"Additionally, these people here are their friends. They don't pay much attention to me, but if they see me, they might inform the six about my whereabouts."
"If, while with one person, any of the other five spot me, I lose. If I don't reach the required time with each, I also lose."
Shiro nodded absentmindedly.
"Super easy stealth game. No problem!"
Haruto chuckled and ruffled her hair.
Shiro really was his precious little lifesaver.
And so, the next day, the Operation: Date Warfare began.