Scouting for Prey

I walked with my hands shoved in my pockets, skimming the status windows of the women who passed.

My eyes are swimming a little, but I'm getting used to it. I'm even starting to get a feel for which parts of the window actually matter.

Still... this really is a college town.

Nearly every woman in her twenties who crossed my sight was a student at Hankuk University.

And not a single one of them is mine. A tragedy, honestly.

Yeah. That's exactly what I was thinking.

You didn't know? That's all I've been thinking about from the start.

An AI with feelings. Unreal.

Wherever women crowded, I stopped, swept their windows, and moved on. Again and again.

I passed dozens of women. Enough of them to start building a statistic, and still not one who stood out.

Why won't a single Beauty Rank climb out of Ordinary? Were there really no pretty girls around here?

Right. You're right.

You think so? I'll trust you, Chio.

Holy shit.

By now a quiet unease was lifting its head.

This Status Window isn't bugged, is it? It's seriously nothing but Ordinary.

I ignored the anxiety climbing my throat and walked a long while further.

"Hhk..."

Makeup caked thick over troubled skin. I'd taken her for the absolute ceiling of the scam, glanced at her rank as I passed, and what came up wasn't even Ordinary. It was Ordinary (Low).

The strength went out of my legs. I dropped onto the nearest bench.

As of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠today, I am enlightened. Makeup is fraud. Confirmed.

"Stop."

Even a brief imagining sent a shudder through me.

I let out a long sigh and toed a pebble lying under the bench. It rolled across the pavement and stopped at the far edge of the road.

Thank god the window sees straight through makeup.

The original... Now I'm curious. If someone's had work done, does it judge them before the surgery or after?

After, huh... God, I wish I'd stop running into ordinary women. My eyes are starting to hurt.

Now and then, of course, a woman rated Ordinary High did turn up — the kind of beauty that set your heart hammering if your eyes so much as met. But so what? She was only upper class among commoners.

I wanted true royalty. A natural beauty, if I could get one, who'd never gone under a knife.

I'd been handed power by a god himself. I had my pride. Even if I was going to lose my virginity, it ought to be to a beauty who was pretty at the root.

"..."

Wondering what sort of hypnosis I'd lay on a pretty woman, I felt the trembling in my calves finally still.

Fuck it. No way the world was nothing but ordinary women. Keep looking and one would turn up eventually.

I got up off the bench and started walking again.

A college district. Young women everywhere I looked. So why did every one of them look ordinary to me?

...Don't tell me there simply weren't any women above Ordinary High.

...Then why can't I see them? I'm not out here hunting a legendary Pokémon.

"...Haa."

I'd lost count of the sighs, but fine. The Powder of Fear — even the god had said he'd steeled himself before handing it over. I couldn't go wasting it. He'd stuck Chio on me for my first time, too. Every woman who passed made my crotch jolt awake, but I didn't want to settle for anything that was merely better than ordinary.

Thinking it over again, lowering my standards just a little might not be a bad—

You can refuse?

...Your specs really are solid.

I meant to use the Powder of Fear carefully, just as the god had advised. Sleeping with a woman who didn't satisfy me would only leave me sick of myself. I piled on every excuse I had and refused to stop walking.

And I passed countless ordinary women all over again.

By the time I'd lost any sense of how long I'd been at it, I dropped onto a nearby bench and leaned back. I peeled off the mask — damp on the inside from my own breath — and let out a long exhale.

This is worse than finding a needle in a haystack... How is Ordinary High the ceiling?

Just say it straight. This is a bug, right? Otherwise there's no way they wouldn't show up.

Right. Yeah. So the grading conditions are just too harsh, is that it?

I leaned back against the bench and tipped my head. Somewhere along the way the clear sky had gone red, and I had no idea how much time had passed.

Look at that. The sun's already setting. Does this make any sense? Half a day just to find a pretty girl... How does the system even score looks?

Their faces are all clearly pretty, though... You're telling me that's nothing but makeup? How is every one of them Ordinary?

Noise drifted in from the mouth of the shopping street. College students out for dinner, most of them, no doubt.

So you're saying the face isn't the problem.

Whatever it is, there's a reason I'd have to accept.

Haa... When am I supposed to check all those college girls...

Grrrrgle—!

A pitiful little stomach-clock went off in my gut. Come to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠think of it, I hadn't eaten a single meal since the hit-and-run.

No. Let's think about this coldly. I walked around for half a day, and the best looks I found were above Ordinary. Is there actually anyone in that crowd better than that?

If not, it's just a waste of time. Admit it.

I stood and jammed my cap down tight.

I'll eat fast and start again. I'm not saying I'm quitting. I want to try the hypnosis soon myself.

Well, hunger was hunger. This was absolutely not running away.

I headed for the convenience store nearby.

Ding!

"..."

The part-timer in a black cap pulled low gave a curt nod and went straight back to her phone.

Zero manners.

I picked a hot bar off the warmer and brought it to the register. She flicked a glance at my face, scanned the barcode, and held out a hand, a sigh riding her voice.

"Card."

"Yeah."

"I said give me the card. Hurry up."

"..."

Unbelievable. They keep a clerk like this and still turn a profit?

I clicked my tongue and dug through my inner pocket. At the same moment, Chio's voice came in a rush.

Status Window? Who — her?

Without thinking, I ran my eyes up and down the window floating beside the clerk.

I stopped dead.

The card went back into my pocket.

"Hold on a second. I'm gonna grab a cup ramen."

"Cup ramen? You eating it here?"

"Yeah."

Before I headed for the cup-ramen corner, I scanned the window beside her one more time.

Beauty!