Madam, believe me, how can I be a minotaur?

Actually, when she initially heard Asano Makoto talking about Shida Yoichi's high school days, she still harbored a glimmer of hope for Shida Yoichi in the depths of her heart, a place she herself didn't even know existed.

How she wished her boyfriend wasn't such a scumbag, how she wished Asano Makoto was just deceiving her.

After all, he was her boyfriend for so many years, and they had shared beautiful memories, so it was normal to have such expectations.

However, with Asano Makoto's phone call and the things the person on the other end said, that last glimmer of hope in her heart was completely shattered.

Although she felt incredibly heartbroken at that moment, although her heart subconsciously didn't want to accept reality and wanted to escape.

But Konno Yuuka was an independent, strong woman.

She didn't want to escape; she wanted to face reality directly and accept it.

Then, she would dump that scumbag aside.

If she couldn't do it herself, she would find someone else to help her.

What Asano-kun's classmates said was the best help for her.

Although the price was feeling the pain of being torn apart in her heart again and again, it was nothing.

She had to completely separate from that scumbag.

On the other side, after realizing what Konno Yuuka meant by those words, Asano Makoto couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

What a strong woman.

Now that he had felt her determination, Asano Makoto naturally wouldn't refuse her request.

"Okay."

He nodded, said a brief "okay," and then flipped the booklet to the second page, picked up his phone, and dialed the number on it.

Thus, the same process repeated again and again, repeating a full five times.

Being shocked by Asano Makoto's call, incoherently asking about Asano Makoto's recent situation, calming down to apologize to Asano Makoto, and then, upon hearing Asano Makoto's question, beginning to enumerate Shida Yoichi's sins.

Except for a few who didn't answer the phone, everyone went through the same routine, without even a slight change.

And the meal that Asano Makoto originally planned to treat Class Monitor Hashimoto to gradually turned into a small high school reunion.

If Asano Makoto hadn't noticed Konno Yuuka's face turning paler and paler, and if he hadn't suddenly heard a notification sound he had never heard before, choosing to no longer listen to her request and continue making calls, the scale of this gathering would probably have become even larger.

After her request was rejected, Konno Yuuka, who had already taken off her mask, could no longer maintain her strong appearance, lowered her head, and covered her face.

Asano Makoto also took this opportunity to open her information panel.

After the system prompt sound of [Warning, the target's emotions are extremely unstable] rang out, a new attribute appeared in her panel: Stability.

Although this new attribute sounded somewhat like Favorability or Depravity, it was completely different.

Because Konno Yuuka's Stability started with a full 40 points.

But these 40 points were not high at all.

After reading the system's remarks on this attribute, Asano Makoto only felt worried about such a low value.

[Stability: Reflects the target's emotional stability. Once this value drops to 30 or below, the target's emotions are very likely to collapse.]

Clearly, Konno Yuuka was not as strong as she had previously shown.

Although she seemed strong and cheerful on the surface and smiled a lot, she was surprisingly a very fragile woman.

And her beloved boyfriend's years of cheating and lying had completely broken her heart into pieces.

But she was forcing herself to accept this fact again and again.

This kind of behavior was simply like… abusing herself.

Thinking of this, Asano Makoto suddenly understood.

To give an example to make it easier to understand, Konno Yuuka was currently self-harming.

However, other people's self-harm usually involves deliberately hurting their bodies, but she was deliberately hurting her spirit.

Although he didn't understand why she was doing this, things definitely couldn't continue like this.

If he didn't enlighten her in time, Konno Yuuka's spirit would continue to be consumed internally, and her Stability would definitely get lower and lower until she finally collapsed.

But Asano Makoto wasn't a psychologist; he didn't have the ability to guide others with words.

So, after thinking for a while, he made his choice.

He gritted his teeth and reached out his hands to hug Konno Yuuka, who was sitting next to him.

The moment he hugged Konno Yuuka, a pleasant fragrance entered his nostrils, and at the same time, the notification sound of [Task Completed, Reward Issued] rang in his mind.

People are most vulnerable to being taken advantage of when they are in extremely low spirits and need comfort.

But Asano Makoto wasn't such a beast; he wasn't doing this to complete the task.

He hugged Konno Yuuka simply because he wanted to comfort her in the way he knew how.

You know, sometimes a solid hug can bring endless benefits.

Cognitive neuroscientists believe that the human brain and nervous system have set hugging as a pleasant "sensory enjoyment."

Therefore, the human body will continuously synthesize dopamine, endorphins, and oxytocin because of hugging.

And all these substances can immediately produce feelings of pleasure, satisfaction, and relaxation.

Therefore, after receiving a hug, a person's stress will be released, and negative emotions will gradually be replaced by positive emotions.

In simple terms, the "touch" activated by hugging is the most heart-touching of all senses.

The fact was indeed so.

After being hugged by Asano Makoto, Konno Yuuka was slightly stunned and then began to struggle violently subconsciously.

At this moment, still immersed in feelings of loss, she didn't have the extra thoughts to think about what Asano Makoto's behavior meant.

Therefore, her body subconsciously began to resist the hug of Asano Makoto, a "stranger" whose Favorability was not high enough.

Perhaps because she exercised regularly, she was quite strong, but she still couldn't compare to Asano Makoto, whose Physical Strength had reached eight points.

And Asano Makoto would definitely not let go at this time.

Because just now, the moment Konno Yuuka began to struggle, the prompt sound of [Konno Yuuka's Stability +1] rang in his mind.

Although the prompt sound of [Konno Yuuka's Favorability -1] also rang at the same time, he couldn't care less at this time.

He felt sorry for her, but he couldn't really let the target have an emotional breakdown and commit suicide, right?

Thinking of this, he increased the strength in his hands, hugging her in his arms as if he wanted to merge with Konno Yuuka.

Fortunately, as time passed, Konno Yuuka gradually stopped struggling and allowed Asano Makoto to hug her tightly.

At the same time, the system gradually began to become busy.

Listening to the prompt sounds of [Favorability +1] and [Stability +1] that kept ringing alternately in his mind, Asano Makoto finally breathed a sigh of relief, and his hanging heart finally settled down.

Generally speaking, a 5 to 10-second hug feels the best, and a hug lasting more than 20 seconds can fully stimulate the secretion of oxytocin.

Although Konno Yuuka didn't want to be hugged by Asano Makoto because of her subconscious resistance, her brain wouldn't care so much.

What? Someone hugged me?

Damn it! Secrete hormones!

Well, that's probably how the working mechanism is.

In other words, because her body began to secrete those hormones that could make people relax, Konno Yuuka's emotions gradually stabilized.

Having calmed down a bit, she realized that Asano Makoto didn't want to do anything to her but was comforting her.

This was probably one of the reasons why her Favorability began to gradually recover.

And at this moment, being hugged in Asano Makoto's arms, feeling his broad and solid chest, and smelling the not-unpleasant scent on his body, Konno Yuuka only felt at ease.

Although her heart still couldn't help but feel a little pain, it was much better than before.

Because she wouldn't keep thinking about things related to that person anymore.

Let me hug you for a while, just for a while, really!

I'll leave as soon as I'm better…

At this moment, Konno Yuuka was like a spoiled little girl.

Although she knew that she shouldn't be hugged by a "strange" man like this now, her heart couldn't help but want to greedily enjoy this reassuring embrace.

After finding herself an excuse of "I've worked so hard, it's okay to relax a little, I'll leave as soon as I've rested," she stopped hesitating and instead closed her eyes, leaning her head closer to Asano Makoto's chest.

Girls who have just broken up are most easily taken advantage of; this is not a joke.

Although Konno Yuuka hasn't broken up with Shida Yoichi yet, it's actually about the same, or even worse.

So, about three minutes after Asano Makoto hugged Konno Yuuka, her Favorability increased from 9 to 30.

Her Stability also increased, and it has now recovered to 55 points.

At this time, the constant prompts in Asano Makoto's mind no longer sounded.

He knew what this meant, but he didn't want to let go of Konno Yuuka yet.

Clearly, he wasn't the only one who was greedily enjoying the hug.

Konno Yuuka, who weighed 55KG and was 1.72 meters tall, didn't feel bony to hug; instead, because she exercised regularly, she felt quite comfortable to hug.

Although she wasn't perfect in every way like Miyajima Eriko, nor was she as soft and plump as Kamino Risa, nor was she as light as Kamino Yuna, she had a unique feeling that made people want to cherish her.

So, before Konno Yuuka asked him to let go, he took the initiative to say, "Konno-san, would you like to have some snacks?"

Hearing this nonsensical question, Konno Yuuka, who was already much more awake, didn't react for a moment.

But the next second, in a place where Asano Makoto couldn't see, she couldn't help but smile and asked, "Why would you ask such a question at a time like this?"

Asano Makoto replied seriously, "Because eating is the most helpful thing when people are sad, especially desserts and fried chicken."

Hearing this answer that was very much to her liking, Konno Yuuka couldn't help but show a big smile on her face: "You're right, Asano-kun, I want to eat some snacks."

Asano Makoto nodded: "Okay, I'll go get you some later—after you're not so sad."

Hearing these words, Konno Yuuka felt her heart tremble slightly.

Logically speaking, she should have already recovered.