Chapter 198: Juju-sama has more than just pink hair

"That's right, I've finally awakened a skill!" Umi placed one hand on her hip, raised the other in front of her, forming a cheerful scissors gesture, and grinned. "I unlocked an active skill!"

"An active skill?" Amamiya crossed his fingers and rested his chin on them, analyzing quickly.

"Is it because your role-play level passed fifty percent?" he mused. "Below fifty percent, you must only get passive abilities, but above that, you can unlock active skills?"

He paused, considering. "I wonder if this applies to every role, or if your awakening is a unique case."

"Hmm—" Umi puffed out her cheeks in a mock pout, cutting him off. "Shouldn't you be asking me what skill I unlocked?"

Nearby, Sajuna caught on and asked, "So, what skill did you unlock, Umi?"

Umi cast him an approving look and beamed. "It's a charm spell."

As she spoke, she pulled up her character panel, displaying it for the others to see.

Amamiya leaned in, intrigued.

[Role-playing Character: Dream Girl/Succubus Girl] 

[Current Role-play Level: 54%] 

[Unlocked Abilities: Succubus Physique (Passive) – Allows one to appear as an experienced flirt regardless of actual experience.] 

[Note: You're just a natural, aren't you?] 

Passive abilities are constantly active, impossible to switch on or off at will.

[Role-play level at 50% or higher – skill awakened] 

[Current Awakened Skill: Charm] 

[Type: Active] 

[Effect: Cast on a target with a chance to induce an illusion.] 

[Note: Success rate increases with higher role-play levels.]

"See? It says right there—active skill," Umi announced proudly, her hands back on her hips. "The more I role-play, the more active skills I can unlock."

"You're getting ahead of yourself," Amamiya replied calmly. "It only says 'a certain chance' to induce an illusion. A ninety-nine percent chance is a 'certain chance'—but so is one percent."

"Oh…" Umi nodded thoughtfully, but her eyes soon sparkled with excitement. She leaned forward. "Alright, Amamiya-kun, Juju-sama, look into my eyes. Let me try to enchant you!"

At her invitation, Amamiya turned and met her gaze.

Umi, a beauty with naturally large eyes, had added red contact lenses, giving her a striking look that almost seemed to glow with a mischievous light. 

"I'm starting now," she announced.

For a moment, Amamiya's vision blurred slightly, and he thought he saw pink hearts flickering in Umi's eyes.

But then, nothing happened.

"How was it, Amamiya-kun?" Umi asked, hopeful.

"I'm sorry to say… besides the brief heart shapes in my vision, I didn't feel any different," Amamiya admitted.

There was no doubt—the charm spell had failed.

"Failed already?" Umi straightened up, and her gaze shifted to Sajuna, the pink-haired girl nearby. "Hey, JuJu-sama!"

Amamiya turned to Sajuna and noticed something was off. The girl was staring blankly into space, lips parted, her eyes unfocused, showing no reaction to Umi's call. 

It seemed… the charm had found its mark after all.

"The charm actually worked?"

Amamiya raised an eyebrow in surprise and started analyzing. "The charm's success rate may depend on the target's willpower... Don't call her just yet. Let's see how long it lasts."

"Got it." Umi nodded, pulling out her phone to start the timer.

One minute passed.

At last, Sajuna's eyes regained focus. She pressed a hand to her forehead, face flushed, still looking a little dazed.

"JuJu-sama, you were totally charmed," Umi said, hands on her hips with a triumphant smile. "You were in a trance for nearly a full minute!"

"Charmed…?" Sajuna blinked, seeming to snap out of it.

Amamiya took out his notebook, ready to record details. "Inui-san, were you just blank, or did you experience some kind of hallucination?"

"Were you aware of anything happening around you during that time?"

Sajuna turned towards Amamiya, her gaze resting on his face. For some reason, her cheeks turned a vivid red, and she suddenly pressed her knees together, quickly standing up. "I—I need to go to the bathroom!"

"What's going on with Juju-sama?" Umi tilted her head, confused.

"I'm not sure." Amamiya closed his notebook.

…

After a while, the pink-haired girl returned from the bathroom, her cheeks rosy and her face slightly damp, as if she had just splashed water on it.

"Sorry, I got a bit flustered…"

Sajuna walked back to the sofa, moving cautiously, and sat down with her hands carefully smoothing her skirt. She then began describing what she'd experienced while under the charm's influence.

Rather than becoming blank or unresponsive, it seemed that charm induced hallucinations, causing her to lose touch with reality. The visions felt like strange dreams, surreal and totally unlike her surroundings.

"The charm can really last over a minute." Umi gave a thumbs up. "That's some serious control power."

Amamiya closed his notebook and tucked it into his virtual backpack. "But there's a good chance the charmed person would snap out of it if they're touched or attacked."

"Let's test it out," Umi suggested, glancing at Sajuna. "Would you mind trying again, Juju-sama?"

"No way." Sajuna shook her head quickly, recalling the unsettling sensation. "I need a break."

"Alright," Umi said, reluctantly letting it go. "But hey, you haven't bought your daily blind box yet. Want to try a lucky coin flip?"

Sajuna glanced at Amamiya, her gaze hopeful. "…Yes, I'd like to try it."

Right now, skill upgrades were the most useful assets anyone could get—something hard to pass up.

"For you." Amamiya handed her the fate coin.

Unfortunately, the coin still hadn't collected enough fortune and refused to land on heads.

Moments later, Sajuna's unlucky streak started up again.

"Don't let it get you down!" Umi said encouragingly. "It took me tons of tries to get a heads. Just keep flipping tomorrow."

Sajuna nodded, smiling softly. "Understood."

The tests continued, but as it turned out, raising role-play levels beyond fifty percent was nearly impossible, and nothing seemed to make a difference. With no clear solution, Umi eventually sighed, giving up for now.

"I'll go grab my bag so we can work on our homework together."

She meant it; the energetic girl was already on the move.

Meanwhile, Amamiya sat on the sofa, idly scrolling through his phone.

Across the room, Sajuna carefully stood up, holding an empty snack bag to throw it in the trash.

Thud.

The unlucky girl tripped, sprawling onto the floor in a classic "goose landing" pose.

A gust of wind slipped through, lifting the edge of her skirt.

Amamiya looked up, eyes widening in surprise.

It turns out, JuJu-sama's pink wasn't just her hair color!