My Pick Up Artist System-Chapter 287: Fingered by fate

*Fwoosh*

While staring at Willy as he morphed from an ominous black ball to a circular wheel, Ben was standing in a Crane Kick stance...

He had sweat on his forehead, not having realized how challenging it was to balance himself using this technique. However, he couldn't use Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu on a gargantuan sausage snake, so he figured he might as well Karate Kid the thing...

After all, at least going by canon, the Crane Kick would be effective against Cobra Kock…

It didn't matter if the move blatantly violated the rules either… Hundreds of people in attendance would ignore that without argument and award Ben the fight… Besides, this wasn't a karate tournament. This was his bedroom.

In any case, on this occasion, Willy had been well-behaved, leading to Ben not having to unleash his wrath on the world through a bunch of failed sequels and remakes…only finding his way in a budget YouTube sequel series decades later.

Now though, things became simpler. Lowering his arms and hanging leg as he exhaled, Ben took a few seconds trying to look mysterious, in the traditional martial arts style...before focusing on the genuine task at hand.

He understood his priorities though, with his first one being obvious—looking cool…but since he'd already achieved that, he walked over to Willy and focused on his second priority—getting rewards. So when Ben reached the wheel's lever, he didn't hesitate, and pulled it.

*Whir*

Stepping back, he observed as the wheel spun amongst its infinite options of treasures and d*cksasters…

This time though, Ben still ended up with a lucky outcome.

A minute later, when Willy disappeared, Ben was holding onto three items that would seem worthless, if their texture wasn't reminiscent of dazzling rubies…

Shining in his hand, these were three pieces of long strings. Yet, they were not the kind grandma sewed into a sweater. When they touched his skin, Ben got the subtle feeling he was in the presence of a massive force, one that could swallow him with ease, like the first time he entered the ocean as a toddler.

Then when he read their description, he understood why these strings were so special, because they were all epic grade!

[Red String of Fate(Consumable, Epic) x3 - Tie the string around your ankle and someone else's to link your fates together, increasing the odds of encounters. The length of time for the strengthened connection will be up to a day, though possibly much shorter, depending on how much fate energy is expended to facilitate meetings]

Ben spread a wide grin, because it was an epic consumable! No, even better than that, there were three! Fate was really on his side this time!

Although a consumable wasn't as useful as items or skills, these lustrous strings were still worthy of their epic rating. After all, the system was there to help Ben pick up women, and the key to that was finding opportunities with them. Well, that's where these strings came in. These treasures meant he could set up such opportune encounters with any three beauties he chose!

With three red strings of fate, he would no longer have to bate!

…

Finally, Ben had reached the end of the rewards, and the results were beyond satisfying. Now, he appreciated what his parents meant when they said listen to your teachers. Every time he heard Professor Tremblay and Miyuki moan...it was like rewards were falling on him! Thus, if it wasn't clear before, it was now; There was no better place than university to exercise his head...

However, as his body forced him into a yawn, it reminded Ben how exhausted he was and that he needed sleep. In any case, this week wouldn't be a boring one, because with his newly-acquired mid level multiplier for personal talent, he could take photography and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to the next level!

***

The next day, Ben was once again inside the student extracurriculars buildings of NYU where the Photography Club held its meetings. On this occasion though, he hadn't been lured here by bunny buttcheeks…

Instead, he was here due to his agreement with Charlotte, who was next to him and had been quieter than usual since they sat down. He noticed she was wearing more makeup too, even stranger for her. 'She wants to look good for the critique, huh…'

On occasion, she would sneak glances at him, at which point he'd reassure her that everything would be fine. He wasn't surprised she was nervous about the club's current session though.

Today, the club would critique portrait photos as a warm-up and learning session for the upcoming competition, which Ben had convinced Charlotte to enter with him. Earlier, he made her email him the pictures she'd snapped of him, which he submitted to the critique as he also enrolled them in next week's contest. Soon, they'd receive feedback on those photos.

In fact, at the moment, a senior of the group was at the front of the room speaking to all the seated members about the procedure for the critique and also, the competition. Although it was a beginner's contest, it turned out to be a bit more serious than Ben had expected. Well, to be exact, this competition itself was nothing grand. Rather, it was what came next that was notable; The winner would have their photos entered into something substantial—the International Photography Awards!

Although entry only happened online, the club would pay for the entry fee as well as help organize the winner's photo portfolio for the event.

At first, learning about the unknown stakes caused Ben to raise his eyebrows, but now having heard of those Awards, he didn't care much. He just took it as something to encourage the beginners, so he didn't put much thought into it. However, that wasn't the case for everyone else.

Although he didn't notice, several other youngsters amongst the listeners gazed with shining eyes, squeezing their fists when the speaker mentioned the famed International Photography Awards. After all, it was one of the world's most prestigious photo contests!

As for Ben, he was more concerned with the meeting today and how he could best raise his personal talent stat through improving in photography. That's why when the critiques began and some of the senior photographers spoke of techniques and methods of improvement, Ben prepared himself to better absorb that knowledge.

As such, he took out the mid level stat growth multiplier from his pocket, and activated it!

Immediately, the familiar rush of enthusiasm struck him like the first time he listened to dubstep!

Become a champion!

Develop your talent!

Get the cover of Shounen Jump!

However, he managed to control himself this time, having gotten somewhat used to this particular surge of motivational energy last week. To his side, Charlotte was narrowing her eyes at him though. She sensed Ben was off, like he was in a strange state, but something was missing…

Yet, with twitching eyes, he restrained himself, almost as if he was running out of memes…

Regardless, the critique continued with various people offering constructive criticism. Listening to it, Ben gained a lot too, picking up on mistakes he'd made during his first week of photography and discovering new methods to improve his skills. As the number of presented submissions increased, he also realized something.

Within this group, in terms of photography skills, he and Charlotte were amongst the weaker members, but it made sense. The reality was they both started photography not long ago. Meanwhile, some people here did it semi-professionally or studied it as their major in university.

So when Charlotte's photos of him came up, although Ben was proud of his various poses...he recognized the quality was amongst the worst submitted today. He even noticed a few of the senior members frowning at the photos. But so what? He didn't expect anything in the first place. They were both beginners in the end.

Fortunately, the veterans understood that too. So they began offering advice on how the photographer could improve. Yet, not everyone in the room maintained such a wholesome mindset.

"Is this a joke? I thought this was a critique for beginners, not for people who'd never held a camera…" Several rows in front of Ben, sat a young man with short red hair, crossing his arms as he sneered at the photos. Although he hadn't yelled his comment, it was audible to many people around, including Charlotte…

Ben turned to her and saw her face turn pale as her body backed away towards the wall…

'This bastard...' Watching this, Ben grimaced. He knew how sensitive Charlotte was to criticism. Each word must've pierced her heart like a needle...

Yet, the worst part was--he was responsible! He'd convinced her to join this critique, thinking the people here were mature enough that it'd be an easygoing experience. So what was with the attitude on this rusty ginger?

Glancing at the loudmouth, rage began to boil in Ben's chest...