Chapter 26: The Exclusive Path (Selectable)

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Back at school, to indulge some of Haruhi’s eccentricities, Seiryo Miron had ended up dressing rather lightly. It was already October, yet her pale thighs were covered only by a pair of knee-high socks.

A night breeze swept past. She stamped her feet, wrapped her chilled shoulders with her arms, and pushed open the door to the convenience store.

The shop was small, but fairly well-stocked. She glanced at the oden simmering on the counter, steam curling above. Seiryo Miron called out, “Is anyone here?”

No one answered. With nothing else to do, Seiryo Miron wandered aimlessly through the aisles. As she passed by the storeroom, she thought she heard some sort of commotion from within.

Bending down to press her ear to the door, she was just about to listen more closely when the door swung open.

“So you really came,” said Haruhi Harano, his broad frame blocking the narrow doorway. Seiryo Miron glimpsed nothing but darkness within the storeroom.

“I’m just passing by to buy a bottle of water. Don’t flatter yourself, you fat oaf,” she retorted, tossing her golden hair with a disdainful snort before striding away with icy hauteur.

Haruhi Harano wiped the sweat from his brow, then glanced back at the scene inside the storeroom.

He couldn’t help but recall the warning on the introduction of the Super Strength Pill: “High constitution individuals, use with caution.”

Looking at the sight before him, he thought, Impressive—Mrs. Uehara still hasn’t regained consciousness. She lay sprawled in the shape of a star atop a box of instant ramen, limp and dazed. She hadn’t expected that after guarding his purity for so many years, it would end here, today. Haruhi Harano was finally a man!

He gently closed the storeroom door, humming a little tune as he walked to the register, and turned off the oden that had been bubbling for ages.

“When are you off work?” Seiryo Miron stood beside him, her face bored.

Haruhi checked the time—it was already 8:23. He’d just spent over forty minutes in the storeroom. “Soon. I’m off at nine.”

“Alright.” Seiryo Miron nodded, found a stool from somewhere, and sat beside Haruhi, head down, absorbed in her phone.

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For once, things were unusually quiet. Yet those big eyes, though fixed on her phone, kept drifting toward Haruhi, as if with a trace of expectation.

Haruhi ignored her, turning instead to his system interface. The chime of system notifications had been ringing in his mind nonstop—he just hadn’t had the chance to check them.

[Ding!]
[Choice completed. Reward: Super Strength Pill x10]
[Ding!]
[Uehara Yoshimi Stage Mission completed. Reward: Attribute points: 10]
[Exclusive path unlocked: The Alluring Convenience Store Owner. (Selectable)]
[Ding!]
[Uehara Yoshimi Stage Mission One completed. Stage Mission Two now available. Please check for details.]
[Ding!]
[Uehara Yoshimi Stage Mission Two completed. Reward: God-tier Singing Voice Experience Card x5, Support Points: 10]
……

Looking at the stream of actions, Haruhi was dazzled. What was going on? Why was Stage Mission Two already completed?

He quickly pulled up Uehara Yoshimi’s character panel:

[Name: Uehara Yoshimi (Seiji Yoshimi)]
[Age: 31]
[Intelligence: 43]
[Charm: 89]
[Figure: 90]
[Stamina: 56]
[Favorability: 67 (Good Friend) Note: Kindly Mrs. Uehara’s starting favorability toward anyone is 30]
[Profile: Formerly Seiji Yoshimi, the mature and sensual Mrs. Uehara. Married into the Uehara family at 18, widowed at 20, she now runs the convenience store alone and cares for her daughter, who is in middle school.]
[Current Status: For a moment just now, she felt the past thirty years had been lived in vain… Other statuses currently undetectable. Suggest trying again in two minutes.]
[Stage Rewards:]
Mission One: Reach favorability 40. Reward: Attribute points: 10. (Completed, Exclusive Path: The Beautiful Convenience Store Owner.)

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Mission Two: Engage in relations while favorability is below 60. Reward: God-tier Singing Voice Experience Card x5, Support Points: 10. (Completed.)
Mission Three: Reach favorability 80 and make Uehara Yoshimi truly wish to remove the ring from her left hand. Reward: 10 million yen, Beauty and Youth Pill x1. (Not completed.)
Mission Four: Not unlocked.
Final Reward: 1. One billion yen. 2. Two properties in Tokyo. 3. Master-level artistic talent. (Choose one of three.)

Seeing the favorability had reached 67, Haruhi Harano felt a surge of joy. As expected, he had found the fastest way to a woman’s heart! The netizens hadn’t lied!

Curious, he tapped the flashing exclusive path:

[Exclusive Path]
[The Beautiful Convenience Store Owner:]
[The story begins.]
[You are a high school student from rural Hokkaido, studying in Tokyo. Your family’s modest income means you can’t afford to live comfortably in Tokyo, so you take a part-time job after school.]
[Of course, working at a convenience store is the obvious choice—just like in the novels. Thanks to your honest, straightforward demeanor, you land a job at Uehara’s store and become a proud part-timer.]
[Here, you meet the kindly store owner. The first time you see her, you swear she’s the most charming woman you’ve ever met! As you spend more time together, you discover that Uehara Yoshimi is not only beautiful on the outside, but also kind at heart, and she looks after you with gentle care.]
[Later, a chance incident reveals Mrs. Uehara’s secret to you. Because of this secret, your relationship leaps forward overnight! Though you both know that night was a mistake, you silently agree to continue.]
[For a long time afterward, you maintain this relationship, both knowing it is wrong.]
[But secrets can’t stay hidden forever. One day, in the bathroom at the Uehara home, your relationship with the store owner is discovered by Uehara Miko. In an instant, it’s as if the world collapses.]
[You gaze at Uehara Yoshimi’s face, full of desperate, tragic beauty… (Further story unlocks at 70 favorability.)]
[You may choose this exclusive path. Once chosen, your stage missions will change.]
[Note: Only one chance. No going back. Whether you reach a bad end or a perfect one depends on your choices.]

Haruhi Harano nearly choked in frustration—right at the most critical part, he couldn’t see any more. Damn system!

Still, based on his years of gaming experience, he guessed this must be one of the story’s endings: Uehara Yoshimi’s exclusive route. Here, there was a clear difference—there was no system, no Seiryo Miron. This was a story that belonged to just him and Uehara Yoshimi!