I really don't want to have a girlfriend.

"Then I went out of town to level up, and because the wild boars were so realistic, I got run over and killed."

"..."

After he finished speaking, the living room fell silent for a long while.

Tenkuji Yu blinked: "Finished?"

Kasugano Sora nodded expressionlessly: "I'm done."

Yuu Tenkuji thought for a moment and kindly added an explanation for her: "Because the wild boar looked so realistic, when it charged at you, your legs went weak and you couldn't react, so you ended up being hit and killed?"

"What?!" Kasugano Sora's face instantly turned red, and she glared at him in embarrassment and anger, slamming her small hand on the table. "Idiot Yu, don't overinterpret! I didn't say that!"

"Yes, yes, you didn't say that." Tightening his grip on his plate, Tenkuji Yu completely ignored her flailing arms and legs, and continued, "So what exactly do you find scary about it?"

"It...it...it's sparsely populated, and the map is too big! I haven't even mastered any professions yet, and the only way to get stronger is through fighting and killing. The whole game is filled with violent elements—that's what terrifies me, is that wrong?!"

Shouting loudly, she revealed two rows of fine, even, white teeth and made low growling noises, looking like she wanted to eat someone.

The gray-spotted kitten, quietly munching on its food in the corner, glanced at me and confirmed that humans can also get agitated.

Yuu Tenkuji stuffed his fried egg into her mouth, giving her a reassuring smile: "Of course, can I use the helmet then? Now that you mention it, I want to experience what fear feels like too."

"Ouch." Qiong bit off his egg in one bite, glaring at him with displeasure as she chewed. "Hmph, come to my room to get it later! Remember to record your first battle; I want to see how brave you are when you get knocked down by a wild boar!"

"Just kidding, I'm super good at games, okay?"

That's true. Kasugano Sora, who's been relying on her older brother for support in games lately, couldn't argue with that and could only pout and sulk.

After finishing breakfast and washing the dishes, she was about to go back to her room to rest when she suddenly called out to Yuu Tenkuji.

"Yu, how's that high-paying job you're working on?"

"How did it go?" Tenkuuji Yu paused, looking at her slightly serious eyes, various guesses flashed through his mind, and finally he said calmly:

"The boss ran away with his sister and the money, but I still have my job. I can only earn an income when a new boss takes over."

"You've already earned so much, money doesn't matter to you."

With a dismissive wave of his hand, as if money were dirt, Kasugano Sora looked into his eyes and spoke solemnly. Her cool and indifferent voice, however, was like a meteorite falling into the town, stirring up a huge wave in Tenkuji Yu's heart.

"Ever since you changed jobs, I've felt like something about you has changed, but I can't quite put my finger on it. When I woke up this morning, I felt like I'd forgotten something important, something related to you, something related to your changes."

"After thinking it over and over, the biggest point of suspicion is that suspicious job. Did something bad happen? Or did I run into someone I dislike?"

"Don't always keep it to yourself. Anyway, I'm just staying at home with nothing to do, so listening to you complain... well, it's not a bad thing."

As she spoke, she shyly looked away.

"..."

Tenkuji Yu opened his mouth, and after a long while, he smiled with a heavy, sentimental tone, and spoke to her:

"Looks like you're quite aware of your otaku tendencies, my little otaku sister."

"Is this the atmosphere for complaining about that?!"

Kasugano Sora flew into a rage again, ramming her head into his abs. Finding them as hard and bouncy as a mattress, and unable to make him back even half a step, she sullenly went upstairs.

Yuu Tenkuji watched her retreating figure and the glimpse of her fair thighs as she went upstairs, and fell into deep thought.

"...Damn system, can you come out and explain what's going on?"

Chapter 3 Let's Play Games (1/27)

"The timeline has been recovered. Due to the theory of parallel multiverses, it is normal for the host to experience déjà vu, unease, or disorientation from the presence around them. Please do not worry about it."

With voice permissions unlocked, I can finally use Onion Girl's voice to answer my questions.

Yuu Tenkuji grew increasingly annoyed as he listened, and couldn't help but click his tongue: "What do you mean 'don't care'? Can't you even remove the sense of déjà vu? This indecisive way is like a middle-aged man urinating, where a few drops still slosh out after he's finished."

"..." The system did not react to his vulgar language, or perhaps it simply chose not to pay attention to him and simply ignored him.

Yuu Tenkuji understood the nature of this broken system to some extent, but for his own sake, he still had to ask:

"I won't hold it against the others, but is everything alright with Yukino Yukinoshita? There won't be any sudden recollections or her dragging me into marriage, will there?"

"No. Just like the romantic feelings the host had for the previous target, the memories of the previous target have been completely erased."

"Tsk, that's good."

Despite receiving an affirmative answer, Yuu Tenkuji couldn't help but scratch his head in frustration.

Why is it that other people's systems are silent, reliable, and dependable partners, while mine is so unreliable, like a defective product?

Can't you show the same decisiveness and assertiveness you displayed when giving out rewards?!

Unfortunately, I was forced onto this pirate ship, and now I can't escape even if I want to. Thinking too much will only cause me more headaches.

Yuu Tenkuji temporarily put the matter out of his mind, tidied up the living room, and went upstairs.

△

After calming herself down and touching up her makeup at the hotel, Yukinoshita Haruno drove aimlessly for a while.

Driving from the city center into a residential area, we passed a red brick wall covered with children's graffiti and old posters of local candidates from ten years ago.

Even though there was nothing particularly special about it, she subconsciously stopped the car and, as if revisiting a familiar place, began to look around thoughtfully.

"A familiar feeling... Is this place familiar because I was a child?"

She doesn't know. She always feels like her IQ has dropped several levels, and no matter what the question is, she can only answer "I don't know".

Somewhat dejected, he returned to the car and leaned against the door.

With her hand holding the wooden comb resting on her chest, Yukinoshita gently closed her eyes as if taking a nap in the afternoon sunlight, her long eyelashes trembling.

This warm feeling emanating from the bottom of my heart... it really feels so familiar.

Unconsciously, Yukino Yukino revealed her first genuine smile of peace and joy that day.

After a long while, she turned around, got into the car, and left the place without looking back.

"...This is just the first stop."

Looking at the road ahead, which was clearly some distance from her home but seemed familiar as if she had driven it dozens of times, Yukinoshita stepped hard on the gas pedal and muttered to herself with a sharp look in her eyes.

"I will find it, absolutely!"

The passenger seat features a wooden comb adorned with colorful paintings that resemble flowers blooming in a sunny day, shimmering with the colors of sunlight.

△

With nothing to do after dinner and the system making it hard to concentrate on studying, I decided to play games to pass the time.

Yuu Tenkuji went to Kasugano Sora's room and made another appointment to play Warcraft Hunter on her sister's game console in her sister's room that night. Finally, he received the virtual stealth device that Yuuki Koichiro had given him.

Its official name seems to be "NERvGear". It looks like a boxing headgear, but with several data cable ports.

After following the instructions to get everything set up, he didn't bother asking anyone who had played the game for advice. He put on the helmet, lay down on the bed, and prepared to jump right into the game.

"A holographic virtual stealth game...that's something to look forward to."

Possessing "Game (Expert Level)" skills, Tenkuji Yu smiled calmly, not flustered at all, and shouted with her eyes closed:

“Link Start!”

Then the light of the data lit up in the darkness, the feeling of lying in bed quickly disappeared, and the whole person seemed to suddenly appear in the weightless space, and every move was quite wonderful.

Yuu Tenkuji looked down at himself; in this login space, he was just a luminous being with four limbs.

The instruction manual states that this machine captures the instructions given to the body by brainwaves and transcribes them into the body in the virtual world, replicating all senses of touch, smell, hearing, and taste to achieve a 100% immersive experience.

He rotated his arm and couldn't help but sigh, "It's impressive, but isn't it dangerous? If someone tampers with it inside, wouldn't that be like handing your life over to this machine?"

"System, if I get controlled by this machine, will you save me?"

Faced with this sudden problem, the system remained silent for a moment.

Immediately, its voice still rang clearly in my mind, no different from that in the real world.

"This machine poses no threat and the host can use it with confidence."

Yuu Tenkuji patted his chest with relief, grinning like a ruthless farmer: "Yay, you're finally of some use!"

system"……"

After confirming that the system and the skills it provided would not become ineffective even in the virtual world, Yuu Tenkuji created a new account and directly entered the only game in it.

Sword World.

The luminous object seemed to be drawn in, rapidly approaching the massive floating city, before being sucked into the bottommost layer.

The scene flashed before his eyes, and Tenkuji Yu saw the familiar character creation interface. He couldn't help but raise an eyebrow and smile eagerly.

"Gender... It seems quite interesting to have a transgender account. I don't really want to do anything, I just want to test how realistic this game really is."

"Then there's the face... Should we make it handsome? Or deliberately ugly? Aren't there often protagonists in online games whose looks are reduced by 30%, yet they're still so good-looking that you can't take your eyes off them...?"

"Well, I guess I'll just forget about it."

After saying all that, Yuu Tenkuji finally entered the name "Haru" and directly used his real-world appearance and gender to log in to the game.

If you are confident enough in yourself, then there is no need to change your appearance parameters.

In the blink of an eye, the feeling of weightlessness around me suddenly disappeared, and the feeling of being pulled by gravity returned to my body.

Tenkuji Yu looked around, tugged at his cloth clothes, rubbed the grass on the ground with the tip of his shoe, picked up a weed, smelled it, chewed it, and then spat it out.

“Qiong is right, the realism of these five senses truly deserves to be called the ‘Second World’…”

Compared to the empty system space, although it lacks a bit of realism, it contains more elements and is more interesting.

I just wonder if that feeling has been replicated as well...

A bold idea flashed through her mind. Tenkuji Yu pinched her chin with one hand, looked at the Western-style town in front of her, and fell into deep thought.

"First... how about trying to make money by killing monsters?"

As for what to do with the money after making it... well, that's hard to say.

Chapter Four: Aincrad

Perhaps it's because it's not fully developed yet.