In Pursuit of Happiness, Starting from Sakurasou

The matter of Kamiigusa Misaki losing her innocence...

Just like that, it passed.

She didn't mention it, and naturally, Hozuki Nozomi wasn't stupid enough to bring it up.

However, now that Kamiigusa Misaki had become his, there was something that needed to be done—Mitaka Jin had to go.

Having a smooth-talking playboy like him living in Sakurasou, someone who could juggle six different women without slipping up, was far too dangerous for the girls here. Nozomi had originally planned to have both Mitaka Jin and Kanda Sorata move out, but since he had only recently inherited Sakurasou, kicking them out outright would ruin the dorm's reputation.

At first, he didn't care much. There weren't any girls he particularly liked living in Sakurasou, so their presence didn't matter.

But things had changed.

Now, Ogiwara Sayu had moved in.

And after last night's… accident, Kamiigusa Misaki was his woman—whether she acknowledged it or not.

As a man—and a time traveler—Nozomi didn't bother denying his own possessiveness.

Just as he was mulling over this, a familiar mechanical voice rang in his mind.

[Ding! New quest triggered: Clean up Sakurasou.]

[As the landlord of Sakurasou, how can you allow a charismatic, smooth-talking playboy to live in your house?]

[Not to mention, there's also a kind-hearted, cat-loving boy whose innocent charm can be dangerously appealing to clueless girls.]

[For the sake of maintaining a harmonious dorm environment, find a way to make Kanda Sorata and Mitaka Jin leave Sakurasou on their own.]

[Quest Rewards: Special skill or item, 1 million yen fixed reward. No penalty for failure.]

Nozomi's eyes gleamed.

His golden finger was really something.

Whatever he thought about, the system delivered.

Making Mitaka Jin leave wasn't going to be difficult.

One straightforward method was to simply confirm a relationship with Misaki-senpai.

Mitaka Jin was the type to have his cake and eat it too—while he toyed with multiple women at once, in his heart, Kamiigusa Misaki was still his "white moonlight," the one he truly wanted to marry.

To him, the other six women were nothing more than stepping stones—a way to satisfy his needs while "practicing" for the real deal.

But reality doesn't work that way.

If Nozomi were to officially date Misaki, Mitaka Jin would undoubtedly be devastated. Losing his so-called "true love" would leave him no choice but to leave Sakurasou.

However…

That approach wasn't ideal.

After all, if he confirmed a relationship with Misaki now, wouldn't that restrict his own options?

How could he flirt with other girls if he was already tied down?

So, he would have to go with Plan B.

Among the many women Mitaka Jin was fooling around with, there was one major issue—one of them was married.

That's right.

Mitaka Jin, in all his self-proclaimed genius, had gone and messed around with another man's wife.

And now, Nozomi had exactly what he needed to ruin him.

It just so happened that a certain hidden surveillance camera had caught Jin kissing this woman.

Mitaka Jin probably never even considered the possibility of being recorded. After all, the surveillance cameras had been installed discreetly, purchased at a high price for security purposes.

Originally, Nozomi had set them up purely for safety.

But now?

They were about to become the perfect weapon.

All he had to do was send the footage to the woman's husband.

That would be checkmate for Mitaka Jin.

Of course, there was one potential obstacle—Akasaka Ryunosuke.

Sakurasou's resident tech genius could easily hack into the surveillance system with the help of his AI assistant, Maid-chan. If Ryunosuke decided to dig into the footage, things could get complicated.

But even if he found out, so what?

Ryunosuke and Mitaka Jin weren't exactly close friends.

And let's be real—Mitaka Jin, with his messy love life, wasn't exactly the type of person Ryunosuke would go out of his way to protect.

Besides, Ryunosuke wasn't included in the system's "Sakurasou cleanup" mission.

That probably had something to do with his severe gynophobia—his crippling fear of women.

The guy broke out in hives just from physical contact with a girl.

A pretty boy with zero interest in romance was no threat whatsoever.

Besides, Nozomi still needed Ryunosuke for something important—maintaining Sakurasou's network.

The guy was practically a legendary programmer in the industry, so keeping him around was a huge advantage.

In fact, as a sign of goodwill, Nozomi had even reduced his rent.

Speaking of money, Nozomi was technically set for life.

As long as he collected rent and completed system tasks, he could comfortably coast through life.

But…

That sounded boring.

Suddenly, an idea popped into his head.

Why not make games and anime?

After all, he was a time traveler.

He had watched countless anime in his past life, many of which hadn't even been created in this world. If he could bring those masterpieces to life, he'd not only make a fortune but also leave a lasting impact on the industry.

And the key to making this happen? Kamiigusa Misaki.

Misaki-senpai was an animation genius, a natural-born creator who could bring even the most outrageous ideas to life with her raw talent. The only issue was Mitaka Jin.

Currently, Mitaka was acting as Sakurasou's so-called animation planner, but his skills were seriously lacking. His ideas often failed to meet Misaki-senpai's expectations, leaving her disappointed time and time again.

This, in turn, made Mitaka feel inferior to her—deep down, he knew he wasn't on her level, which was why he never truly dared to accept her love. He didn't feel worthy of her.

Nozomi smirked. Then let me give him a reason to leave.

Besides, the anime industry wasn't the only place worth investing in. There was another high school that had potential assets for his plans—Toyogasaki Academy.

Thinking of that school, two names immediately came to mind: Kasumigaoka Utaha and Sawamura Eriri.

Kasumigaoka Utaha, the elegant black-haired onee-san with a sharp tongue, and Sawamura Eriri, the tsundere blonde artist with twin tails.

Though he hadn't met them yet, Nozomi had done his research. He had found out that Kasumigaoka Utaha, under her pen name Kasumi Utako, had already published a romance light novel called Love Metronome.

A talented author and an elite illustrator… If he could recruit them for his project, the results would be legendary.

The thought made him look forward to the future even more.

But first, there was Mitaka Jin to deal with.

He decided to take a two-pronged approach.

Step one—Let Mitaka witness firsthand his intimacy with Kamiigusa Misaki.

Step two—Expose the evidence of Mitaka's affair with a married woman.

Nozomi wasn't naive. A man like Mitaka Jin wouldn't leave Sakurasou just because he was heartbroken. But if his reputation took a hit? If his entire womanizing act crumbled in front of everyone?

That would be checkmate.

Of course, it was a little underhanded, but as long as it completed the system's mission of cleaning up Sakurasou, it was worth it.

Without wasting time, Nozomi spent half a day preparing the evidence—high-quality photos of Mitaka kissing the married woman goodbye. He printed multiple copies and ensured the images were clear and undeniable.

Although Nozomi didn't personally know the woman, his Game Life System had a navigation function. With it, he could track his objectives with ease.

By opening the task guidance menu, a golden arrow appeared before him, pointing toward his destination. It was an ability so useful that even someone with zero sense of direction could become an ace navigator.

"Sayu, I won't be eating breakfast. I have something urgent to take care of, so don't wait for me."

After casually informing Ogiwara Sayu, who was still curled up in her futon, Nozomi left Sakurasou.

Stepping into a quiet alleyway, he put on a baseball cap and a face mask.

"Activate task navigation. Guide me to the home of the husband of the married woman Mitaka Jin is involved with."

[Ding! Task navigation activated. Destination confirmed. Follow the guidance arrow.]

Nozomi hailed a taxi and followed the guidance to the man's home.

When he arrived, he saw his target—a bald office worker who looked like he had long given up on life.

Nozomi didn't waste words. He tossed the envelope at the man's feet, turned around, and got back into the taxi.

The man looked confused.

However—human curiosity is a dangerous thing.

Instinctively, he bent down, picked up the envelope, and opened it.

The moment he saw the photo, his face twisted in rage.

If he had a full head of hair, it would've turned green on the spot.

No man could tolerate his wife cheating on him—especially not with a pretty-boy gigolo like Mitaka Jin.

But of course, Nozomi knew that there was a chance the man might forgive his wife or pretend nothing happened. That's why he had a backup plan.

He sent another copy of the photo evidence directly to the Student Council office of the Suimei University of the Arts High School.

Why? Because Mitaka Jin was only able to juggle multiple women because no one exposed his affairs.

But now, not only was he caught with a married woman, but there were also photos of him getting cozy with his other girlfriends.

Once the student council got their hands on this evidence, Mitaka Jin's reputation was done for.

Now, all Nozomi had to do was wait.

With Mitaka Jin taken care of, the next person to handle was—Kanda Sorata.

*************88

White moonlight: A popular phrase in Chinese novels that refers to someone's first love or true love.

+++++++++

I didn't feel good about the Mc's methods in this chapter but y'all wanted a chad MC. Drop your thoughts in the comments about how you felt regarding the 3some too.

Shoutout to Luke, Axel, Ethan, Newbie 25 and Nathan for their support!!