A few days later, the long-awaited ball finally came.

Ray arrived at Kyouko's residence, ready with all his presents and surprise.

For today, he had prepared many things in his inventory. From the diamond box that he gained when he successfully escape from the tropical dungeon to the recent rewards of reducing Skye's protagonist halo to zero, everything was saved for this moment.

If his assumption wasn't wrong, this ball would be a gathering of protagonists and antagonists. All those antagonists and secret characters that Ray had missed from the first game and some other characters from the spin-off series should be gathered in this place celebrating the birthday of Maple-leaf city major.

Therefore, he must act like he was going on a battlefield.

There is an opportunity in the midst of chaos, and Ray would be gunning for that opportunity today.

Not long after, Kyouko appeared from the inside of her office.

She wore a black silk dress that was made from the best thread in the maple-leaf city. The black-silk dress emphasizes her charm as a mature woman and gives the feeling of a queen to everyone who saw them.

On the side of her hair, a beautiful rose hairpin was lying quietly there. This rose hairpin was from Ray's spiritual ranch, and it emitted a somehow calming and fragrant aroma that complements Kyouko's beauty tonight.

Kyouko approached Ray and waited for his compliment, but Ray was completely dumbfounded at her beauty tonight, contrary to her expectation.

" *Chuckle* Don't stare at me like that dear, you will make me blush."

Kyouko's words somehow brought Ray back to reality, and he couldn't help but feel embarrassed. The woman before him tonight was certainly different than every other woman he had been before. Even though Jean was the prettiest amongst them all, and Rena was the most adorable, they still lack the charm that Kyouko emitted right now.

Ray smiled at Kyouko and gently offer his hand to her.

" You look so beautiful tonight, my Kyouko."

If this was Kyouko's first time with Ray, she would surely die full of embarrassment. But unfortunately to Ray, this Kyouko had been full of Ray's praise every day, so she decided to tease him a bit.

" Then, are you saying that I'm usually not beautiful?"

*Crack*

Suddenly Ray felt like he was in the face of two perilous choices. He still remembers that in his previous world, he had read something like this on the internet. Kyouko's mood depends on how he chooses his answer, and he must choose the best among the worst.

The cold started to run through his spine, and he used 130% of his brain to think of a solution. But just when he was about to open his mouth and give his response.

" Just kidding, dear. Your face is so cute when you are that serious, you know."

Kyouko winked at Ray, leaving our poor mc petrified in place.

' Woman, they are really terrifying.'

***

Soon the two got down from Kyouko's office and went into the car that Kyouko had prepared for them.

" Dear, are you really serious when you said that you will drive us to the ball?"

" Don't worry, Kyouko. Just trust your beloved husband. Xiansheng, come out."

Behind Ray, a portal appeared, and Xiansheng came out from it.

" Really? you summoned me, an ex-deity for driving..."

" 3 glasses of osmanthus wine, and Flappy will be there to listen to all your talk."

" On your left, sir."

Ray displayed a smug smile and brought Kyouko into the backseat. In all this world, maybe only he has the pleasure of having an ex-deity as a driver.

With the driving skills of Xiansheng, it didn't take that long before they arrived at the venue of the ball.

All was thanks to this goofy dragon. Because he didn't want to waste so much time driving, he used the Geo-pillar to blockade some roads, making the road congested free.

[ Look, even a wise old deity is influenced by your shamelessness just by staying with you for a while. You should be ashamed of yourself, host.]

' It is not shameless, call it... Adapting, Improving and Overcome.'

However, the complication in today's ball was only started.

Just when Ray and Kyouko reached the entrance of the ball venue, trouble has come to find them.

" Oh, it is miss Kyouko. Is this young man Miss Kyouki's nephew?"

The one approaching Ray was a pretty good-looking middle-aged man. He has high cheekbones, a short mustache, and short black hair. His hair is constantly slicked back with two loose locks hanging across his forehead making him look like the old man that always brings that death god everywhere in a certain detective manga.

On his body was a super expensive suit that could reach about $100,000 just for one suit, and on his arm, he displayed the latest product of Patek Philippe watch.

Looking at this middle-aged man, Kyouko smiled politely and tried her best to quickly get out of the conversation. But then..

" Miss Kyouko, how about my offer before? If we were to married, our two companies will merge, and we surely will dominate the market in maple-leaf, no, even Karasuno prefecture."

'*Sigh* One more simp added to the list. Ray was starting to get bored with this kind of person, but since this world was based on a dating sims game, then he was certain that most of the people here are a simp.

Just imagine, a game based on the story of five youth fighting for the heart of the protagonist. It must be the broken society that taught them this.

Ray knew for dealing with this kind of person, he must be patient and search for a weakness. So the first thing he does was to appraise the information of his enemy.

' Aina, use appraise.'

[ Sure host~]

.

[ Name: Richard Edogawa]

[ Power value: 400 ]

[ Intelligence: 100 ]

[ Affection: (10) - A relative of Kyouko, so I must be nice to him.]

[ Affection (Kyouko): (50) - I want to pin down her mature body below me]

[ Charm value: 115 ]

[ Special skill: Business management, Business eyes, Misfortune dispersing]

[ Villain halo: 200 ]

[ Description: The second minor antagonist of Super Duper Love Plus Ultra game, The owner of Stellar cosmetic's rival.]