How to get on the protagonist’s flower path

I was dumbfounded.

If “favor” is just a short form of “taking me for a fool,” then yeah, that sounds about right. All I did was act kindly, sticking to my “sunshine” character concept, and they’re already making a big fuss!

Anyway, it seems like the Opportunist sees me as the character I intended to portray.

The “Character Appearance” feature seems to be designed to show me how I appear in the novel. It was actually pretty useful to see myself from the Opportunist’s point of view.

Being able to view myself objectively like this is definitely valuable.

Plus, the info about the training room was another solid gain. Since it shows the flow of thought as naturally as if I were reading the novel, it even provides these extra bits of information.

Training Room 7, huh. I’ll organize that info and check it out later.

Next, I decided to look at the Reader Reactions.

[Reader Reactions]

These are the reactions to ‘Kang Nahyeon’s’ appearance in this part.
Reactions are updated continuously.
View both recent and past chapter reactions.

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c_head
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What’s this? Is she a heroine?

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point
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Yeah, but probably not the main one.

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Academy novels are all about harems, lol.

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They need a sniper for a dungeon? Is it one of those dungeons where you have to hit targets?

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point
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Seems like it. With those skills, accuracy must be key.

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ㅇㅇ
Here we go again! Extra heroine appears! I bet the protagonist helps her awaken some hidden talent later, lol.

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point
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Let’s kill her off before she becomes a heroine.

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Heroine before death! Heroine before death!

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Kill who? Why don’t you die instead?

I gritted my teeth as I scrolled through the comments.

Seeing these reactions made something very clear to me.

It seems like this “Meta System” really is showing this world as a novel to someone else—real readers, most likely.

And these comments seem like they’re from real people watching the story.

So then…

My mind was racing toward a conclusion.

If I want to earn Meta Points, I need to play to these readers and try to elicit favorable responses.

In other words, in this “novel”…

In this academy-based, male-oriented web novel, I have to cater to the extreme tastes of readers who crave satisfying “gotcha” moments and endless harems.

These readers expect something to happen whenever a female character around the protagonist’s age shows up. And if that character becomes confirmed as a heroine, they show a lot of interest and affection.

Interest, attention—those are what get me points.

So, what does that mean?

It means my target position has shifted from “just a companion” to “a heroine.”

Damn it.

There weren’t many specific comments about the character of ‘Kang Nahyeon’ in this chapter. Most of the reactions were centered around expectations for the harem and predictions about the story.

It’s my first appearance, so I guess that’s to be expected. Still, I seem to have been noticed as a supporting character, which is good. It’s best to keep showing up steadily.

Sure, it’d be nice to make a big impact right from the start, but I can’t just slap someone in the face out of nowhere to leave a strong impression.

…Although, looking at the Opportunist’s face, I kind of want to.

In summary…

This “Meta System” is definitely beneficial for me. Even though I have to earn Meta Points to use it, it allows me to increase my stats however I want.

That’s a huge advantage for an Awakener, especially in this world.

Because in this world, level-ups are annoyingly random, like a lottery.

For example, let’s say I level up once.

In a normal game, you’d get a fixed amount of points to invest, right?

Well, here, the number of points you get is completely random.

You might get 1 point, or 10 points, or you could keep getting 1 point forever, then suddenly get 100 points out of nowhere.

The only certainty is that you get something.

It already sounds like a bad game, right? But that’s not even the worst part. The real issue is that those points are distributed randomly.

And it doesn’t just distribute to your stats.

Let’s say you level up and get 100 points by some stroke of luck.

You might want to invest those points into your stats because your stats are terrible, but instead, the system automatically assigns them to an entirely new skill you didn’t ask for.

And what if that new skill doesn’t even match your role? Well, then you’re screwed.

It’s a double gacha. Is this really a game? No, this is worse than a game—this is real life.

Ha… what a joke.

Anyone addicted to this messed-up system must have masochistic tendencies. I have no doubt that Opportunist has a knack for masochism.

Setting aside the Opportunist’s personality, let’s think about my strategy moving forward.

These 10 points I have now are probably what I earned from the entrance ceremony and the first-day class.

And since the Opportunist currently thinks I’m interested in him, I should stick close to him and… wait, damn it.

I should stick close, acting like I have feelings for him, and naturally position myself as one of the heroines.

At least, thanks to the Meta Point system, I think I’ll have a much easier time becoming a useful hunter.

I just need to mooch off the Opportunist’s connections and investments as soon as possible and then get the hell out of his orbit.

To do that, the first step is getting close to the characters involved in the main story.

Since the upcoming events are tied to saving the world from destruction, getting close to the heroes who’ll stop it is definitely not a bad idea.

As I mulled over my thoughts, I finished unpacking my belongings. I smiled contentedly at my neatly organized room.

Now, should I go train and use the opportunity to bond with some of the other characters?

I changed into my training gear and grabbed my terminal.

Training room reservations… where is it… here.

[Reserve Training Room]

[Room 6 – In Use]

[Room 7 – In Use]

[Room 8 – In Use]

The reservation system only shows whether a room is in use, not who’s using it.

Probably to stop people from flocking to famous students just to chat with them.

But thanks to the Meta System, I could roughly guess who was in which room. Room 6 and Room 8 would likely have Na Yuri, one of the game’s main heroines, and the protagonist, Opportunist.

Room 7 probably had Stoic, the game’s original protagonist.

I debated between reserving Room 5 or Room 9, hoping to bump into a main character, and finally chose Room 9.

I finished packing up and made my way to the training hall.

As a resident of the lowest-ranked dorm and without access to transportation, I had to walk a good distance.

The Guardian Academy campus is ridiculously huge, so by the time I arrived at the training hall, it was already early evening.

I was starving. Maybe I should’ve brought something to eat.

When I entered the hall, it was mostly empty, probably because it was the first day.

And proportionally, it was quiet…

“Why are you here?”

…Or not.

“Why? I’m a student of Guardian Academy too.”

Ah, looks like that “event” is happening—the one from the novel where the game’s main heroine and the Opportunist have a conflict.

Good, keep going.

I quickened my pace.