Mash-Up: I'm Not A Substitute

At the same time, completely unaware that Kaguya had now branded him as her number one enemy, Takashi returned to the school hotel after parting with Miku.

He stepped into the cafeteria, chose his breakfast, and sat in a quiet corner.

He took a sip of hot miso soup. The warmth filled his belly, and he felt his body start to wake up.

Recently, Takashi had basically been "free-range."

Coach Amatani Kensuke hadn't given him any new training tasks—because Takashi's baseball fundamentals were non-existent.

Teaching him strategy or how to throw breaking balls now was pointless—there just wasn't enough time.

Worse yet, if things went wrong, trying to teach him too much could ruin his natural talent.

Right now, Takashi relied 100% on his raw potential to pitch—you couldn't see the slightest trace of hard work in his mechanics.

[Ding! System Shop has refreshed. Host may now browse the items.]

The system prompt didn't even surprise him anymore.

He opened the system shop.

[Money: ¥100 / 1 point]

[Intelligence: 1 point / 100,000 points]

[Charm: 1 point / 100,000 points]

[Stamina: 1 point / 100,000 points]

Skills:

Sketching – 100 points

Batty Goal – 1,000 points

Popeye Strength – 10,000 points

French Supercar – 100,000 points

God-tier: Adrenaline Surge – 1,000,000 points

Passive:

Galactic Baseball Hero – 50,000 points

(Refresh time: 720 hours)

Takashi skipped over Sketching and Batty Goal. He wasn't interested in the first, and the second—he didn't even need to look to know what it was about.

He went straight to Popeye Strength.

[Popeye Strength]

Effect: For three minutes, your arms break through their limits. Strength +1.

Cooldown: 5 minutes.

Description: Maybe spinach really can make you stronger? (Note: Do not activate repeatedly—unless you don't mind losing your arms.)

[French Supercar]

Effect: Boosts running speed by +1. No cooldown.

Description: If you Google "French supercar," the first result probably isn't a car.

[God-Tier: Adrenaline—Activate!]

Effect: Overdraws bodily energy, nullifies pain, pushes the human body past its limits, and reverts to primal instincts. 

Once deactivated, user enters a state of collapse. Duration of collapse depends on how long the ability was active.

Description: Even ordinary people can unlock their own version of the Eight Gates. (Note: If you want to stay alive, best not to mess with this.)

[Galactic Baseball Hero]

Effect: Master all forms of bat usage. Power +50%, with a paralysis effect.

Description: Rules? Sorry, wrong channel. Honestly, who uses a bat just to play baseball?

After reviewing the newly refreshed system shop, Takashi had only one thought:

It's time to unleash my talent and give Koshien a little shock.

He wanted to show the world what a real talent freak looked like.

He would defeat absolute discipline with absolute talent!

System, add points!

Let's see where your limits really lie!

"Redeem: Popeye Strength!"

After spending 100,000 points on stamina last time, Takashi's points had hit zero.

Thankfully, the current fireworks festival event gave him double points—enough to recover from being completely drained. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to buy anything.

[Purchased. Congratulations, Host has acquired: Popeye Strength.]

After spending 10,000 points, Takashi was left with only another 10,000.

After all, he had only completed two festival tasks.

He'd earned those 20,000 points from none other than Eriri and Megumi.

No good, I need to speed things up.

A sense of urgency suddenly washed over Takashi.

He rarely got lucky—he wasn't going to let this chance go to waste.

Who knows what the shop will refresh with next time?

And so, he began combing through the fishing pond.

If he remembered correctly, there was a fireworks festival tonight in Hyogo Prefecture.

The girls currently in Hyogo were: the Nakano quintuplets, Kotonoha, Nagisa, Momo, Umaru, and Maki.

Umaru already had plans—pass.

The Nakano quintuplets? Their dad might show up today—pass.

Kotonoha? He had something else planned—couldn't waste this opportunity on her.

Maki? Also a no. If the paparazzi snapped him in makeup, the secret of his Watanabe Takashi persona would be exposed.

That left only: Nagisa and Momo.

Who to choose?

Just as Takashi was hesitating, a fair and dainty hand suddenly slammed down on the table.

When he looked up, he saw Adagaki Aki standing there, one hand firmly planted on the table as she leaned forward, glaring down at him with her usual arrogance.

An unexpected guest, huh?

Takashi raised an eyebrow. "Miss Adagaki, what can I do for you?"

"Are you free right now?"

"I am. What's up?"

"Then come with me. We're going on a date."

Takashi: "?"

That one line from Adagaki Aki completely fried Takashi's CPU.

Did this girl even realize what she just said?

"Let's go."

Adagaki Aki gave him no time to respond. She grabbed his tie and yanked him toward the door.

"Wait—I haven't finished breakfast."

"Date first. I'll treat you to something good this afternoon."

She ignored his protests and pulled him away.

Takashi couldn't help feeling something was very off.

Adagaki Aki, out of character, inviting him on a date? And leaving food behind?

This was the same girl who, as a proud glutton, always finished every bite.

Outside the hotel, a black Audi A6 was already waiting.

After getting in, Aki crossed her legs out of habit. "Let's go."

The black Audi started up and soon merged into the main road.

"At the very least, Miss, could you tell me where we're going?"

Takashi started fixing his tie.

"To buy clothes."

"A date and shopping? Miss, are you planning to become my sugar mommy?"

Takashi joked.

Aki gave him a side glance and chuckled. "Wouldn't be impossible. Just call up all your girlfriends and dump them—I might consider it."

No way that's true!

"Then never mind. I love my girlfriends."

"They're all your girlfriends?"

Aki asked with a tone full of gossip.

"You don't believe me?"

"Well, in today's world, I doubt there are many girls that accept it. Who'd be okay with their boyfriend dating other girls at the same time?"

"That's just because you haven't seen enough."

Takashi had seen a boss who not only had a wife, but also supported five or six mistresses.

And the wife knew about all of them.

"Go on, enlighten me."

Aki looked unconvinced.

"Sorry, I'm not into bragging about that kind of thing."

"100,000 yen."

"I'm not some money-grubber. You've got the wrong guy."

"One phone call. I'll give you 100,000!"

Takashi silently pulled out his phone.

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