Chapter 35: The 2D Stock Market Grand Opening! Buy Buy Buy!

…

[Monthly Quests: A World Awaits Your Change! Dare to Make a Grand Splash, Even if the Entire World is Your Opponent!]

Huh? Another “against the entire world” cliché…

Seriously, enough already! Stop with these flashy mobile game ad slogans! I quit the whole “Chuunibyou” phase years ago!

After skipping past that ridiculous “Human-shaped Walking Artillery” skill, Himekoji Akito finally regained his ability to snark.

[Understood!]

[Changing introduction text—]

[Monthly Quests: No More Waiting! Monthly Treasures Keep Coming! Earn 2D Points Till Your Hands Go Soft! Your Life is Precious; You Were Born to Challenge!]

Hold on! Don’t drag life into this! This sounds increasingly weird! Also, I wasn’t born for some perverted System like you!

Himekoji Akito’s forehead was covered in metaphorical sweat…

So, better move on to the next feature quickly—

[2D Stock Market: Perfect Shot, Guaranteed Profit! Beat the Market, Hard to Lose Money!]

Yeah, right… As if I’d believe that…

Still, might as well take a look.

[Stocks Now Available:]

[Hiratsuka Shizuka Stock—]

[Open: 50.00 High: 55.78 Current: 52.31 Turnover: 1.67% Volume: 388.9K P/E: 95.89 Market Cap: 68.11B]

[Prev. Close: 48.17 Low: 46.23 Volume Ratio: 1.31 Turnover Value: 746M P/B: 5.49 Float Cap: 44.55B]

Himekoji: “…”

Hey, isn’t the only customer of this stock app… me? So where the heck did all that “volume” and “turnover value” come from?!

And, Hiratsuka-sensei’s market cap is 68.11 billion?! Even cloning a hundred of her and selling them couldn’t reach that price!

[To make the data appear realistic, everything except Open, High, and Current prices is made up.]

The System responded to Himekoji Akito’s complaint completely seriously.

I knew it!

Well then, remove the word “basically” too!

[Understood!]

[Everything else is made up.]

Huh? After the update, it actually understands human language?

How wonderful!

“From now on, just show me the valid data in the stock market interface!”

[Understood]

[Refreshing interface display…]

[Interface refresh complete]

[Yukinoshita Stock—]

[Open: 10.00 Low: 7.32 Limit Down: 7.32]

[Yuigahama Stock—]

[Open: 35.00 High: 35.23 Current: 35.12]

[Eriri Stock—]

[Open: 38.38 High: 38.88 Current: 38.68]

[Hanjo Ayame Stock—]

[Open: 30.00 High: 30.33 Current: 30.12]

[Hikigaya Stock—]

[Open: 16.00 High: 16.10 Current: 16.02]

[Hayama Stock—]

[Open: 13.00 High: 13.00 Current: 13.00]

[Miura Stock—]

[Open: 11.00 High: 11.00 Current: 11.00]

[Nanami Stock—]

[Open: 8.00 Low: 7.32 Current: 7.55]

[Katou Megumi Stock—]

[Open: 1.00 Low: 0.98 Current: 1.00]

[More stocks being released…]

[Stay tuned!]

Alright, Himekoji Akito had to admit, he was getting a little excited!

Because, if he could trade stocks… wouldn’t that mean he could earn 2D Points without relying on those stingy reward options?

Stock market tycoon! Richest man in the world! Reach the peak of life! Redeem whatever he wanted!

Could such a life be far off?

Yeah, time to study the market!

Opening prices varied, but the day’s change was mostly kept within “1.” However, two obvious exceptions stood out—

One was Hiratsuka-sensei, rising by 2.31 points.

The other was Yukinoshita, plummeting a whopping 2.68 points! All the way to limit down! What the heck?

Hold on, stay calm!

Let’s make a bold guess: these “XX Stocks” were probably based on a popular term in the ACG subculture or online forums, representing the favorability between the protagonist and other characters.

Undoubtedly, the protagonist should be Himekoji Akito himself.

Made sense — who else could it possibly be?

Huh? Ask again, who else?

Someone as handsome as him should be the protagonist in any work!

Ahem, okay, stop that! Honestly, saying that feels awkward…

Anyway, if he guessed right, didn’t stock price changes basically depend on his own thoughts?

Take today’s Hiratsuka-sensei stock, for example.

Himekoji Akito didn’t just help her with housework; he’d also helped her reach extreme blissful “peaks” several times earlier in the day.

He’d thoroughly demonstrated the dominance of the System’s “Strong Essential Balm,” while also showing off his own talents and charm as a “Housekeeping Gigolo.”

See? The stock price just went “whoosh, whoosh” upwards!

Huh, wait!

Himekoji Akito suddenly noticed something odd. True to his style of doing good deeds anonymously, shouldn’t Hiratsuka-sensei remain unaware that he was responsible for last night’s “grand favor”?

Where did this favorability come from then?!

Well, something even more baffling existed—

Yes, that would be the Yukinoshita stock.

Hadn’t he messed with that young lady recently?

Things had been perfectly fine, yet the stock price absolutely crashed! Limit down! Limit down!

Let’s briefly explain “limit down” (according to Baidu Encyclopedia):

Limit down refers to a price limit circuit breaker set by a stock exchange. If a stock drops by the maximum permitted (-10%), it hits “limit down.”

Technical analysis views a limit down as an extreme manifestation of pessimistic sentiment. It often distorts technical indicators, warranting special attention when analyzing market trends.

Key words: Pessimism! Extreme!

All we can say is… the Yukinoshita stock is cursed…

So, ignore it!

Himekoji Akito rubbed his chin thoughtfully, feeling he’d figured out a reliable, practical money-making method.

So, he eagerly began his trading journey.

“Check my account balance.”

[Available Account Balance: 10 (2D Points).]

“10…”

Himekoji’s mouth twitched, heart aching.

Well, he knew his remaining 2D Points. After deducting 200 each for “Sneak” and “Sap,” 10 was indeed the sum left.

He just refused to accept such a pitiful start. He’d still clung to the delusion that the System might provide some seed money…

But nope!

No point researching then!

He could only afford Nanami stock or Katou Megumi stock.

Nanami was too expensive, so Katou Megumi it is! I’ll buy ten!

“All-in on Katou Megumi stock!”

Himekoji declared boldly.

[Preparing to purchase 10 shares of Katou Megumi Stock. Confirm?]

“Confirm!”

[Confirmation complete. Processing purchase. Purchase successful—]

[Account Holdings: Katou Megumi Stock. Shares: 10. Trade Price: 1.]

“Oh, one more question…”

[Happy to assist.]

Himekoji grinned awkwardly. “That… who is Katou Megumi?”

[Apologies. No relevant query results found.]

Even the System didn’t know?

“The name feels vaguely familiar…” Himekoji scratched the back of his head, perplexed.