The Six Trials of Yukinoshita Haruno

The Twelve Labours are a tale from Greek mythology.

The greatest hero in ancient Greek mythology, son of the chief god Zeus and Alcmene—Heracles—completed twelve tasks deemed utterly impossible in his lifetime. These extraordinary feats later became known as the Twelve Labours.

Even for those not deeply versed in mythology, many have heard the term through paid games, and Yuu was one of them.

So, what confused him wasn't [what are the Twelve Labours], but [why would a competition be linked to the Twelve Labours].

Haruno didn't seem like someone with chuunibyou syndrome… Or was chuunibyou already a national trait of the Japanese?

"Here's the deal."

Seeing his expression, as if questioning her intelligence, Haruno didn't get mad. Instead, she wagged her right index finger and said:

"From now on, each activity is a trial. As long as you can outperform me—or, more precisely, beat me directly—you'll pass that trial."

"If you can clear all twelve trials… Hmm, that might be too tough, and we don't have enough time."

Her index finger suddenly stopped, then swiftly pointed straight at him.

Haruno tilted her head, raised an eyebrow, and flashed a confident smile.

"As long as it's something in this place and can be used for competition, if you can beat me six times, I'll acknowledge you as a great hero who's passed the trials!"

"…"

The atmosphere fell silent for a moment.

(How embarrassing. We're not kids anymore—who wants a title like that?)

Just as Yuu thought this and was about to refuse, Haruno added:

"And I'll give you a reward truly worthy of a hero!"

"Of course, if I've said this much and you still plan to back out…"

Her finger turned into a palm, patting his shoulder, her smile overly friendly.

"I'll complain to your agency, saying you took the money but didn't do the job, scamming us innocent, sweet customers."

Yuu: "…"

(Don't lie—there's not a shred of innocence or sweetness in you!)

Though he grumbled inwardly, Yuu wasn't fazed by her threat.

While rent-a-boyfriends were managed by the website's agency, required to follow reasonable business arrangements and hand over half their monthly earnings, that had nothing to do with Yuu.

The system handled the agency's side. Forget handing over 210,000 yen he hadn't even received—if that annoying agency called to scold him or lecture him on pleasing clients, he'd hang up immediately.

He was running system missions, not actually earning money for others. If she wanted to complain, fine, as long as it didn't stop him from mining.

Of course, since he wanted Haruno's rewards, to prevent her from getting bored and leaving, Yuu agreed to the [Six Trials of Yukinoshita Haruno].

But before that, he needed some preparation.

"You seem awfully confident?"

With arms crossed, Yuu put on an annoyed face, as if provoked by her casual attitude.

"Do I look that weak?"

"Weak? No, no!" Haruno quickly waved her hands.

"Didn't I just say? I've tried most of the sports here and never lost to peers, let alone…"

Pausing, Haruno eyed him up and down, making a gesture with her thumb and index finger to indicate a certain length, pursing her lips to stifle a laugh.

"A kid like you."

"…"

(Damn it!)

Fine, no need to pretend this time. Yuu's twitching cheek clearly showed his irritation: [Just you wait, I'll show you how "small" I am].

As a man, how could he not react when called small in public?

Win or lose, he had to prove himself!

"Alright, I'll decide what we compete in, okay?"

He snatched the guidebook from Haruno's hand, his eyes scanning the list of facilities, the corner of his mouth curling slightly.

"Sure thing~"

Unaware of his change in expression, Haruno stretched her fingers, smiling casually.

"Pick something you're good at—that'll make it more fun!"

Though she proposed it first, she didn't see this as a real competition but a simple game of cat and mouse, with a laid-back, nonchalant attitude.

Either she was too confident in herself, or she didn't take this ordinary Japanese high schooler seriously at all.

To that, Yuu only wanted to say—

Even in a cat-and-mouse game, there are exceptions like Tom and Jerry.

"I've decided."

Handing the guidebook back, Yuu glanced at the skill list only he could see, his voice brimming with an inexplicable confident smile.

"First, let's compete in this."

◆━⊰✧⊱━◆

10-Meter Air Pistol Shooting Range.

"You sure you want to face me in shooting?"

While requesting two lanes, two air pistols, and two boxes of pellets from the staff, Haruno looked at Yuu with interest, even kindly advising:

"I've been to professional shooting ranges often. Even my coach said my skills nearly surpass his. Why not pick something else?"

"No need to worry." Like a kid with a new toy from his parents, Yuu didn't look up at her, instead curiously examining the pistol and pellets in his hands.

"I trained intensively at a shooting range in Hawaii, so I don't think I'll lose to you."

Haruno blinked, her surprise unmistakable: "Really?"

"Kidding—I'm not surnamed Kudo."

"…"

[Ding!]

[Congratulations, host has received a reward: 666 yen.]

An oddly specific reward, both in source and amount. Yuu ignored it.

The moment he touched the air pistol, techniques for quick pellet loading, managing recoil, and whether the muzzle affected accuracy—along with other shooting-related knowledge—flashed through his mind.

Give him a target, and he could hit it anytime.

Accuracy wasn't a concern either—aiming for the left eye wouldn't miss to the right, and aiming for the navel wouldn't hit… someone else's navel.

Most importantly.

This time, though he hadn't used any skills, he already had professional-level shooting ability.

(Is this a passive skill now…?)

Looking at the system panel, Yuu sank into thought.

This was beyond his expectations.

He thought the system only gave one-time-use skills to push him further down the mining path. So, whether it was piano or throwing, he'd try to memorize the feeling during skill use, attempting to make the system's skills his own.

But unexpectedly, the system dropped a huge surprise, revealing he could gain permanent skills in one go.

Though he felt a bit resigned, wondering what was all my overthinking for, the dominant feeling was joy and relief—along with a slew of questions.

What were the conditions for gaining permanent skills? Did it relate to changes in Haruno's heart?

Were the proficient, expert, and perfect levels random?

Was there a guarantee? Could he pull a gacha?

Why have one-time skills if permanent ones existed—what was the point of single-use skills?

Could permanent skills be upgraded? How?

The more he learned, the more he didn't understand.

Like wiping dust off a treasure, despite studying it all night, Yuu had only glimpsed the tip of the system's vast iceberg. Many unknown features awaited him to dig deeper and reap more benefits.

What could he do? The system wasn't intelligent and wouldn't answer his questions.

"Overall, it's a good thing."

Calming his thoughts, Yuu exhaled slowly.

He picked up a pellet, flicking it with his thumb like he was about to fire a railgun.

As the pellet fell due to gravity, the pistol spun half a circle in the air.

Before it could enjoy much free air, the pellet was loaded, the muzzle steadily pointing downward, ready to fire.

The entire motion was seamless, with perfect coolness points.

The coach nearby gaped slightly, staring at him in shock.

(Bro, it's just loading a pellet—do you need to show off like that?)

Yuu only shrugged. No one understood how he felt right now. Back then, he too wanted to be Nobi Nobita.

Not the one who could crawl into people's guts, but the universe's number-one sharpshooter.

By the system's classification, Nobita's shooting skill was probably perfect-level, right?

Though Yuu was only at expert-level now, it should be enough to handle the smug Haruno.

*BANG!*

A gunshot came from the side, snapping Yuu out of it.

Haruno was firing test shots, or warming up.

One shot per target, as she needed to confirm aim position and adjust accuracy carefully, so she couldn't fire rapidly like with electronic pistol targets.

After five shots, Haruno set down her pistol, retrieved the slowly returning target, and examined it alongside her previous four.

"Hmm, five shots, forty-four points…" She smiled, muttering at a volume Yuu could hear.

"Didn't expect my skills haven't dropped at all after so long without practice~"

For 10-meter shooting, an average above 8 rings was already competition-level for small events.

What she said wasn't boasting—Haruno's shooting skills were indeed on par with a coach, far surpassing casual shooting enthusiasts.

"So, Yuu-chan."

Not having seen his pellet-loading move, Haruno turned, her eyes glinting with mischief but her tone like a kind neighborhood older sister, speaking softly:

"Want to try a few warm-up shots? Or if you're not feeling it today, want to switch to something else?"

She'd even thought of an excuse for him to back out.

Yuu shook his head, set up his target paper, and let it slide along the rail to the 10-meter mark.

"No need for practice—let's just start."

He tilted his body, his right hand raising the pistol's muzzle straight, his left hand in his pocket for balance.

His pupils narrowed slightly, staring straight ahead, as he said calmly:

"If that's your high score, I'm not sure I'll lose to you."

"…"

The moment those words left his mouth, Haruno's smile froze, her eyes turning cold and expressionless as she stared at Yuu.

But soon after, she smirked faintly, turning back and assuming a standard shooting stance.

"Heh~ That's interesting."

Her tone was still nonchalant, but it no longer carried the carefree, flippant vibe from before.

"But this Onee-san…"

Haruno said softly.

"…Hates people who boast the most."

The next instant, the sound of gunfire rang out.