Is there any promise for an art student who also excels in public speaking?

A rainy morning during the plum blossom season.

Soaked rooftops, streets, trees, and crows.

A packed train car, strangers pressed chest to back, the mingled scents of mothballs, perfume, and shampoo thickening the air.

Umbrellas dripping in the hands of others wet the cuffs of his school uniform trousers.

The damp fabric clung to his skin.

Not very comfortable.

[Next station, Yotsuya]

[The Next Station, Yotsuya]

Kiyomizu Matsudaira stared intently at the station indicator above the door, but the scrolling yellow text was suddenly overlaid by a few lines of pale blue.

[Tag Synthesis System loading...]

[Loading complete]

[Activate!]

He wondered if his eyes were playing tricks on him. He rubbed them and looked again, only to see a pale blue panel:

[Name: Kiyomizu Matsudaira]

[Stamina: 4]

[Intelligence: 7]

[Charm: 8]

[Items: None]

[Ordinary Tags: Student, Aloof, Introverted, Little Sister Complex, Oedipus Complex]

[Premium Tag: Beautiful Boy]

[Epic Tag: None]

[Divine Tag: Transmigrator (Unique)]

Had the system finally arrived?

Wasn’t this a bit late to awaken a system?

Kiyomizu Matsudaira was a little confused.

On the sixteenth year after his transmigration, on an utterly ordinary morning, in a crowded train car on his way to school, the system finally appeared...

Couldn’t it have come sooner?

Like many before him, Kiyomizu Matsudaira had crossed into this world purely by chance. At first, he fantasized that Japan might be teeming with ghosts, spirits, superhumans, and the like.

He imagined himself as a beautiful boy yokai entangled in a romantic affair with a cool shrine maiden.

Or perhaps one day he’d find a glowing sword and set out to rescue a beautiful girl held captive by aliens in a space pod.

He still remembered being two and a half years old, standing in the yard one evening before a storm, clouds swirling like black dragons, lightning flashing.

His tiny heart surged with excitement.

Standing with his hands clasped behind his back, his small figure illuminated by lightning, he felt an odd sense of fate and declared, “In time, I shall raise the white serpent in revolt...”

Two seconds later, his mother dragged him back inside, scolding all the way.

“It’s raining and you’re not even coming inside. Is there something wrong with this child’s head?”

After that day, Kiyomizu Matsudaira abandoned his unrealistic dreams and accepted he would live as an ordinary person.

In this life, he was raised in a single-parent family—his strict but loving mother, and his sweet, adorable younger sister.

Their circumstances were comfortable.

He looked pretty good, too—well-known at school as a beautiful boy.

His grades, though not top of the class, were well above average; with some effort, he could easily get into a top-three university.

Evaluating himself, Kiyomizu Matsudaira felt he was quite well off.

If he had any shortcomings, it would be his social anxiety and introversion—a lack of conversational skill.

In fact, to overcome this, he’d once asked his childhood friend to date him for a while in middle school.

Instead, he managed to make her socially anxious, too.

It was like the Chinese football team hiring an Italian champion coach to get into the World Cup, only for Italy to miss the tournament two years in a row.

After three months, his childhood friend steeled herself and broke up with him.

She left resolutely, afraid she’d be completely ruined if they kept going, and asked him not to contact her for six months so she could recover.

Recalling this episode, Kiyomizu Matsudaira couldn’t help but sigh.

His feelings were complicated.

Helpless, a bit resigned to accept the way things were.

...Rosy youth, it seemed, was not meant for him.

Now here was the problem.

He’d already accepted a mundane life, and now the system showed up.

System, that’s on you.

Still, Kiyomizu Matsudaira wasn’t too upset.

Better late than never.

A cheat like this—who would say no to using it?

He opened the system, ready to explore its functions, all the while thinking: I wonder if it can cure social anxiety.

Just then, a prompt popped up.

[Detecting host’s emotional state]

[Current desire: to overcome social anxiety]

[Task matching initiated automatically]

[Match successful]

“The system’s pretty considerate,” Kiyomizu Matsudaira couldn’t help but praise.

[On a rainy morning straight out of a Makoto Shinkai film, you spot a girl being watched by a pervert on your way to school. Longing to take your first step towards social interaction, you realize this is your chance...]

[Task: Rescue the girl being harassed]

[Reward: Draw one tag from the girl]

Take down a pervert?

With a let’s-try attitude, Kiyomizu Matsudaira slowly shifted his gaze.

The morning rush hour train was packed to the brim, with no sign of anything amiss.

Every face was the same mask of indifference and numb fatigue—a sight that moved Kiyomizu Matsudaira.

What had become of this country?

Why did ordinary people always suffer?

It had to be the system’s fault!

Time to become Prime Minister and set things right...

Ahem, getting ahead of himself.

For now, the target was the pervert.

Kiyomizu Matsudaira’s eyes roamed, but he couldn't spot anyone suspicious.

Of course, no villain would wear their evil on their face.

Perhaps a different approach.

If it was hard to find a pervert among ordinary people, why not look for a beautiful girl instead?

Genius.

He adjusted his aim and began searching again.

Three seconds later, in the opposite corner, his eyes lit up.

The scene was like going from 1080p to 4K—right in the center of this suddenly high-definition world was a familiar profile.

A 4K-quality beauty.

Delicate features, pale skin.

Wearing the same school uniform, her figure graceful and alluring.

From the hem of her tartan skirt peeked a pair of long, shapely legs wrapped in black stockings—legs made to be admired.

Between skirt and stocking, a strip of creamy skin—the “absolute zone.”

It looked soft and smooth to the touch.

Perfect for a lap pillow.

The middle-aged man in a suit behind her probably thought the same, his gaze fixed on her legs.

No doubt he had lewd thoughts but lacked the courage to act, so he simply stood there.

But on a crowded train, all he needed was for someone to jostle him, and his hand might “accidentally” brush against her...

Kiyomizu Matsudaira glanced over and immediately forced his way through the crowd.

At that moment, the train rounded a bend, causing everyone’s bodies to tilt.

Now!

Seizing the chance, the man in the suit reached out.

But in the confusion, his hand landed on a male student’s thigh instead.

Meanwhile, the girl sensed something pressing up behind her and spun sideways with a raised arm.

A sharp elbow strike!

“It’s me, Hachi!” Kiyomizu Matsudaira called out, catching her elbow in his palm with practiced ease.

At the sound of his familiar voice, the girl’s expression relaxed at once.

She stopped trying to move away and instead leaned her back against the boy’s chest, just as naturally.

Immediately, Kiyomizu Matsudaira turned to the man in the suit, his face cold and domineering: “She’s with me.”

Was this a boyfriend protecting his own?

Already guilty, the man shrank from his aura and slunk to the other side of the car.

[Task complete]

[Award: One tag draw]

“Hey, Kiyo...” the girl turned to him.

“Don’t talk,” Matsudaira cut her off, focusing on the system.

[Name: Akatsuki Yanami]

[Ordinary Tags: Student, Foodie, Dessert Lover, Social Butterfly, Childhood Friend, Art Student]

[Premium Tags: Beautiful Girl, Stunner]

Scanning the girl’s tags, Kiyomizu Matsudaira understood the system’s intention.

To help the host overcome social anxiety, the system had him assist a girl with the “Social Butterfly” tag, then gave him a chance to draw a tag.

It looked like a lottery, but the “Social Butterfly” tag was clearly prearranged.

How sneaky.

He willed the system to start the draw.

[Drawing...]

[Obtained Ordinary Tag: Art Student]

[This tag grants you decent drawing skills]

“...?”

Wait, what?

How does being an art student help with social anxiety?

Impossible to understand.

Kiyomizu Matsudaira was left pondering.

Did he get a knock-off system?

Just as a crisis of faith was about to set in, the system released a second task.

[During lunch break, the campus is thick with the scent of youth and hormones. Asked by a teacher to join a club, you head to the club building seeking an opportunity. You happen to pass the Speech Club, about to be disbanded by the student council for lack of members. You realize this is a perfect chance to practice your speaking skills...]

[Task: Deliver an inspiring speech to the club members]

[Reward: Premium Tag—Orator]

[Hint: Art Student and Orator can be combined to synthesize a new Epic Tag]

“?”

“What on earth do Art Student and Orator combine into?”