Congratulations on choosing your target and turning the tides away from the heroine!

Your path is slowly being forged.

*Please note that your target cannot be changed, you'll succeed once you reach 100% likeability with said target, however you'll also be able to see your likeability with other targets in order to prevent the heroine from reaching her ending as well*

What's with the weird tip? Eryx wonders, his hands sweating profusely as he takes deep breaths, it wasn't easy choosing his target, and the fact that he cannot change it is also something he isn't sure he won't regret later on. He is somewhat satisfied with his choice, after all he did use almost all two full minutes to think about it. Thinking not only about the interactions he had with the targets before the ceremony, but also on his memories from the game, which aren't many. I should use my last seconds to check the changes in the status window, he thinks.

Status window

Name: Eryx Algeo

Age: 19

Species: Newborn Vampire

Affiliation: Algeo Family ; Link Academy

Title: Bastard of the Algeo Family ; Link Academy’s freshman

Thirst: 10%

Chosen target: Sevan Helge

Progress: 22%

Heroine chosen target: Luc Algeo ; Sevan Helge ; Aster Faucher ; Kitsu Ueno ; Prometheus Onasis ; Nash Vega ; Cassius Felix

Heroine’s progress: 25%

Active Missions: 

Defeat the heroine! (In Progress)

Attend the entrance ceremony of Link Academy (In Progress)

Halfway there (New) (In Progress)

Your own path (New) (In Progress)

Skills:

Thirst - (Inactive)

Heartbeat - (Inactive)

Algeo’s Soul - (Available for use)

Newborn - (This skill will be deactivated once you consume enough blood) 

Phoenix - (Available for use) (4/4)

I have two new quests, he notices, checking them out as time starts to flow around him slowly. One of the quests is for him to reach 50% likeability with his target while the other is for him to choose a proper major at the end of the introductory week. Both are of assistance to him and the rewards are decent. Reaching 50% likeability will give him a higher probability to trigger meeting events with his target and choosing his major will give him 5% likeability by itself if he chooses the “right” one. What would even be considered right in this scenario? Something that fits me or the same as the target?

Even if he wishes to dwell more in his quests and choices, the loud sound of the microphone having technical difficulties drives the whole crowd silent, his bright orange eyes go to the stage where his target is.

There are a couple of reasons why he ended up choosing Sevan Helge as his target. The first reason is that he was the only one that seemed even slightly friendly towards him, even if it was because of a favor to a teacher, he'll at least answer and interact with Eryx compared to Nash, for example. Kitsu laughed at his face, and even if he didn't take it personally, he still didn't enjoy it. Aster seemed like a lot, and Eryx doesn't really know how to deal with that type of person, the same with Cassius as he seems like a wildcard, plus Eryx isn't a fan of being around drugs when he just became clean, even the legal ones. 

In the end he was between Prometheus and Sevan, however the musician seems like an airhead, plus him being friends with Aster surely makes Eryx life harder. So in the end he chose Sevan just because it seemed easier to at least progress his likeability. Even if he wished to go back and change his choice, he can't. There's nothing saying we must date anyway, he thinks, staring as the members of the Students Council take the stage. He just needs to like me 100%, that can be a platonic type of like, right? He attempts to calm himself down, he must stay strong to his choice, if he falters even a little, the future of his family might be doomed.

“Welcome to the academic year 498 of the Link Academy”, Sevan’s voice is projected through the whole garden filled with students. His speech is short and concise, speaking about the members of the Students Council, opening the door for those who want to partake in, and also explaining how the Academy works and how everyone can find their dorms. Truth be told, Eryx tuned out half-way as he was more worried about the new system notifications he had gotten.

[NEW FEATURE AVAILABLE]

Check the likeability you have with the other targets! You cannot change your choice, but you still can become a rock in the heroine’s path of flowers!

To check your likeability with the other targets, just think about it.

Try it now!

Eryx hesitates, after all if he checks and his likeability is higher with someone else, he might regret his decision, even so, it is a good idea to befriend some of the targets to at least keep them away from the heroine. I wish I could see the individual likeability she has as well…

[NEW FEATURE AVAILABLE]

Just as you thought about it, the system that roots for you granted your wish!

Now alongside the likeability you have with the targets you'll be able to see the heroine's as well!

Isn't that nice?

Is the system reading my mind? He wonders, a bit freaked out by the sudden message, not that he could do anything even if he knew for sure that the system can read his mind. He never heard of another vampire being able to read minds, see the future, read emotions or even read certain aspects of one's mind, sure, but to be fully capable of reading another's thoughts? At least there isn't any record of it. 

Fine, I should check, he sighs, looking at the stage where Sevan is still speaking, his serious white eyes focused on the crowd. I really hope I don't regret it.

Likeability Chart

Luc Algeo: 96% (Heroine's: -3%)

He can't help but laugh at such a sight, he has 96% likeability with his own brother? One that claims from the bottom of his heart to despise him? I wish I could frame this, Eryx thinks, but he's also glad that the heroine has negative likeability with his brother as he really doesn't wish to see Luc all in love in this lifetime. Seeing Nicolas and Azrael during holidays was enough trauma for at least a century.

Kitsu Ueno: 2% (Heroine's: 32%)

A meet cute was enough to get her 30%? He thinks, glancing at the man next to him, he didn't exchange any other word with Kitsu after their interaction earlier, however thinking about the premise of the character of being dangerously in love, it makes sense that he would fall for her quickly. How does a harem route work when one of the targets is a psychopath? He wonders.

Nash Vega: -45% (Heroine's: 45%)

Now this pisses him off, he has exactly the same number as the heroine, but his is negative. He barely even spoke to the boy and he hates him? This is extremely unfair, he thinks, reminiscing about the fact that Nash was his former target when he played the game, he can't help but feel betrayed. 

Prometheus Onasis: 51% (Heroine's: 1%)

Oh, he freezes when he sees the number, why does he have such a high likeability with Prometheus? Maybe I should've… He stops himself from thinking further, if he goes down that spiral he will never move forward.

Cassius Felix: 4% (Heroine's: 54%)

Holy shit, what did the heroine do to get such high likeability with that annoying piece of shit? Eryx shakes his head, he's never befriending him either way, so there's no reason for him to actually care. If she was in a route where she needed to reach full likeability with only him then maybe he would've cared.

Aster Faucher: 23% (Heroine's: 48%)

I don't even want to know why he likes me so much when we just met, Eryx thinks, feeling shivers down his spine for just thinking about the Mayor's son. He'll never know how to deal with popular and outgoing people, and he doesn't intend on starting it now.

Sevan Helge: 22% (Heroine's: 0%)

Huh? How is it possible for him to have exactly 0% likeability with her? It's almost as if he doesn't know her. But I saw her talking with him, Eryx thinks, trying hard not to smile, even covering his mouth with his hand. This is fucking hilarious, he doesn't even knows her enough to form even a minimal amount of thought about her person.

After all, it's impossible for someone to have 0 impressions of someone, even if they just met. Perhaps he was truly ignoring her at that time. Eryx can’t help but feel a small sense of accomplishment, even if he truly only managed to get 2% likeability with Sevan, as the other 20% were given as a system reward.

‘’This is boring’’, he hears Kitsu commenting next to him in a murmur, his eyes go to him, even if he did annoy him by laughing at him, he sure seems like the best contender to become his friend at least. I just hope his psychopathy doesn’t spread to friendships. 

‘’We should at least hear it, we’re the ones that benefit this the most, after all’’, Eryx says, as the speech is explaining how most facilities work, something that is definitely more helpful to freshmen than any others.

Kitsu looks at him, ‘’Where did you disappear to earlier?’’ He asks as if he wasn’t so engrossed with meeting the heroine that he didn’t even notice Eryx disappeared until much later.

‘’Do you even care?’’ Eryx asks, driving the other silent. He sighs, he should stop being so defensive, however it is hard to make friends when the last ones he had were taking advantage of him. Luckily for Eryx every time he was taken advantage of by his past friends, he was so damn high that he couldn’t remember anything afterwards, and maybe that was the only good thing about that all. ‘’Do you know which major you’re entering?’’ He asks after a few moments of silence.

‘’Business’’, Kitsu answers, ‘’You?’’

‘’I don’t know yet’’, Eryx says with a shrug, ‘’I’m not particularly good at anything’’.

‘’You don’t need to be good at something to learn it’’, Kitsu points out, and sure maybe he is right, Eryx isn’t really there to study after all. ‘’Plus, I don’t think your major influences your goal much’’.

Eryx scoffs. ‘’Yeah’’.

The speech ends after a few minutes, he chats with Kitsu Ueno a while more, exchanging numbers before walking to different sides of the garden. He seems fairly normal, he thinks as he walks towards the stage, I guess we really can’t judge people so easily. Of course he means in the sense that Kitsu seems normal while he’s really a crazy psychopath.

Sevan is surrounded by students when Eryx finally manages to reach him, a situation similar to how Aster Faucher was before, however in this moment is more due to the fact that he is the Students Council’s President and those students have questions not ulterior motives. Well, Eryx does, so sure, some others might have as well, just like the heroine, standing next to Sevan, who’s speaking softly to him. She doesn’t play around, huh? Eryx thinks, while he sits on one of the steps of the stage, watching and waiting, just then noticing.

I can’t smell her, such realization makes him realize why no one ever thought she was human, she doesn’t smell at all, how is this even possible? He asks himself, as he watches the heroine accidentally fall on top of Sevan. And maybe that’s it, the moment the man finally notices her, his white eyes glancing at her softly as he holds her arms, pushing her away gently. Eryx can’t hear what he says, but he can guess by the way Sevan’s lips move. ‘’You’re quite clumsy’’, his tone is probably rude and cold, but that is just the setup of his character.

As a way to soothe his own mind, Eryx checks the likeability chart again, seeing how the 0% of the heroine didn’t even move, maybe that wasn’t it, maybe he didn’t really notice her, or perhaps that is a lie, that number is a mask of his own feelings.

Even if Eryx knows the system has no reason to show him fake numbers, what can he do when the life of his whole family is at risk? Can he really trust this mysterious system?