I ran out of my room into the hallway, slowing down for a bit when the door of Murakami's room appeared to my right, and, once my foot connected with the dirt of the street, once again speeding up with all my strength.
I went around the building and forced my way into the storeroom. There was no light, and yet I had no trouble finding the THING I was looking for.
The hammer...
...To find nails was a much more difficult task, and when I finally found some, I tried to take them so carelessly that I pricked myself and all the nails fell to the ground into the darkness… It wasn't a pleasant experience trying to find them with no light at all. It took me some time, so, while running out again, the pressure of the time limit felt even stronger pressing me on my back.
It was very hard for me to again slow down once I was in the hallway. Trying to be very stealthy, I returned to my room and sighed.
So...
Once again, I went over the plan I had in my head.
We had been just given the uniform — mine was lying in the corner, still untouched. But that's because I am a man. I don't really care about clothes. But. What will a young girl do just after receiving a new dress? Just my assumption, of course, but I think she will be trying it on.
I placed my ear to the wall. The was some noise coming from the other side. Yes, I was right! She was undressing right now. And maybe she is so occupied by that new dress, that she won't notice a little bit of noise I was about to make. So… Let's go. I placed the nail on the wall and aimed for it with the hammer…
But then I thought some more and slowed down. She might, after all, notice something if I will be too loud. Well... Then I have to do it quietly. Oh, there is one way I can go on about it.
I need something soft that will absorb the sound… But what? There's nothing in that room apart from…
I know.
I have taken off my pants and placed them on the wall. Now, them being soft and all, they will absorb most of the sound and vibration, if I were to pierce a hole in the wall through them.
At last, the moment of truth has come. I hit the nail with the hammer. Yes! It works! Almost no sound at all! Now, I just have to make a little hole and peek inside… I was about to hit it again, when suddenly...
The door opened.
"Hey, what do you… Think… ck…"
I turned my eyes to the doorway.
There was a girl standing there, staring at me with her eyes open wide.
Well, I guess it is high time to describe the uniform Murakami had been wearing.
It consisted of a blue jacket, a white shirt, and a blue-green checkered skirt.
To answer her question, I thought it looked very well.
Murakami blinked.
I felt cold bellow my waist. Well, of course. I was in my underwear right now.
"I…"
"I'm hammering a nail. For a picture. I mean to make a hanger," I said immediately.
Murakami closed her mouth.
Then she smiled.
"Great idea!"
"Yeah…"
"…"
"…"
"Good luck!" the girl shouted and immediately shut the door.
Once again I was all alone in my room. I lowered the hammer and made a deep sigh. Had I been a smoker, I would have been smoking right now. All of that was… Just… I couldn't even grasp the word that I wished to say.
And suddenly…
Ring!
'Mission accomplished!'
I froze. Then, feeling surprised as hell, I opened the magazine. There I saw on the second page that I had 22 points. And my genre score also went up. Now it was 16/16. Feeling relieved and confused at the same time, I lowered the magazine and started to think.
What the hell just happened?
Did I accomplish the mission? But how? I could swear, Murakami was dressed when she opened the door. Maybe she was without her underwear? No. Points don't match. Oh well, guess I just can check in the mission tab.
And so I did…
[Look at the heroine in underwear — Done
Reward: 16 points]
"Seriously?"
"YES!" suddenly the clown shouted from the page. "You had been in your underwear, yes? Mission accomplished!"
"…"
"What? Have you forgotten what our genre is right now? It is romantic COMEDY!"
…Let's just say that I will punch the person who thinks that it's funny.
I put on my pants. Well, I mean I tried to, but they were nailed to the wall. Whatever. My gaze shifted to the bag with the uniform. I put it out. It was colored the same way Murakami's skirt was. Blue and green. The trousers were quite comfortable.
After I calmed down, I asked Yuji several questions. He told me, that if I actually saw the girl in her underwear — or without — I would still have accomplished my mission. It is a ROMANTIC comedy after all. Well, thinking about it now, all of it turned pretty well. It's better to be seen as a weirdo than a creep.
Oh, and if I could get points just for being funny, maybe I should buy a joke book?
Now, I had 22 points. I was still quite poor, and yet it was at the very least something. Time to make a purchase.
I put my finger on the Annotation of the story priced 4 points. Immediately, the number 22 turned into 18, and also the following line appeared:
[Annotation will be available upon the competition of the first Ark (or One-shot)]
…
Well. There were still about 15 hours before the end of One-shot. It's funny how just several minutes before I wished the time to slow down, and now I couldn't help but wish for it to hurry.
Seems like in the evening I will be able to see what exactly kind of story I managed to get myself into. But before that, I still had 18 points. Well, time to waste them as well.
I started turning pages until I saw the SHOP word…