I really don't want to have a girlfriend.

They jumped up at the same time, dodging the crystal arm's swing, and smiled knowingly at each other in mid-air.

Then, he lowered his head:

"Haa!"

The one-handed sword and the rapier became two intersecting rays of light, and the point of intersection was right on the heart in the center of the crystal statue.

"Crack—"

The two landed steadily.

A faint cracking sound suddenly rang out, and the statue resembling a burly man came to a complete stop.

However, soon, under the tranquil night sky, the crystal-like light suddenly exploded, transforming into a dazzling, heart-shaped rain of light.

— Strategy complete.

The swordsmen sheathed their swords, and looked up in surprise as the fluttering hearts landed on them, a beautiful, dreamlike sight.

"So beautiful..."

Unconsciously letting out a sigh, Asuna couldn't help but reach out her hands, as if she wanted to hold the rain of light in her hands.

Even though the love passed right through her palm without leaving a trace, she still had a pure and joyful smile on her face, like a child seeing snow for the first time.

Tenkuji Yu walked over, stared at her, and nodded: "It is very beautiful."

"Right?"

Asuna replied excitedly, her eyes sparkling, completely unaware of his flirtatious preparatory movements.

"I never expected that defeating a boss would trigger such special effects! I really wish I could fight this kind of monster every day!"

"..." After thinking for a moment, Yuu Tenkuji gave up on his awkward flirting and instead took out an item from his inventory. "It's probably not going to work out. Look."

It was a card carved from crystal, with the words "pass" written on it.

"What is this?" Asuna put down her hand, walked to his side, and gently leaned her shoulder against his. She opened the item description and murmured aloud:

"The ticket to the 'Land of Love' can only be obtained by two people who love each other joining hands to defeat the 'Crystal Guardian of Love'..."

"Wait, what does that mean?!"

The words fell as if in agony.

Asuna staggered back several steps as if electrocuted, her orange eyes wide with panic as she stared at the pass, her face flushed red as she stammered:

"There's no such thing as mutual love! Why should we get it?!"

"Who knows, maybe the system has a bug?"

Tenkuji Yu shrugged, putting away the pass while giving her a meaningful glance: "Or perhaps, you sensed someone's ill intentions and think this is a kind of twisted love?"

"Holding ill intentions..."

After a moment of stunned silence, Asuna suddenly covered her chest with one hand and drew her sword with the other, the tip of the sword trembling as she raised it toward him.

She gritted her teeth slightly, her watery eyes, filled with shyness, widened in a threatening manner, much like a female knight cornered by a thug.

"I could never have any ill intentions towards you, so it can only be you, Yu-kun!"

"As expected, even though you said that marriage in a game shouldn't be taken seriously, you still had bad intentions towards me... I'm so sorry, I trusted you so much!"

With her teasing expression gone, Tenkuji Yu sighed, rubbing her forehead. "You're being way too dramatic... Seriously, this is the second time, isn't it? Am I really that untrustworthy?"

"And don't you think about it? If the description of the pass is completely correct, the fact that we 'love each other' means that we both have ulterior motives towards each other?"

Asuna blinked and slowly calmed down.

"...Okay, that seems to be right."

"Got it?" Tenkuji Yu raised an eyebrow at her, a mischievous smile playing on his lips. "So, if I really have ulterior motives towards you, it means you also..."

"It's a system bug!"

With such certainty that she stopped the rest of her words, Asuna sheathed her sword and turned away with a flourish.

Her chestnut-brown hair danced in the moonlight, obscuring her profile, which, even in the bright glow, remained as rosy and radiant as the setting sun.

"Okay, okay, let's stop talking about this pointless topic. We're in a hurry, let's get the passes and set off immediately!"

After saying that, Asuna, as if afraid of being discovered, took the lead and walked towards the crystal door.

Yes, yes~

Without saying anything more, Tenkuji Yu shrugged and followed her with a smile.

"Congratulations, host, you have received the reward: Lockpicking (Proficient Level)."

"Congratulations, host, you have received the reward: Premonition Perception (Status) (once)."

Just before she entered, Yuu Tenkuji suddenly called out to her.

"Oh, right, Asuna."

"What's wrong?"

Asuna turned around, meeting his seemingly serious expression with a puzzled look.

"Would you like to hold hands and go inside?"

The air was silent for a few seconds, then the girl started frantically trying to do something again:

"Hands... Huh?! What, what are you saying all of a sudden! Holding hands is so weird, the mission didn't require that—"

"I'm just worried about causing any unforeseen complications. If you don't want to, then forget it."

Yuu Tenkuji didn't insist and prepared to step through the door.

Asuna stood there, head down, silent.

"What's wrong?"

She sighed softly, and lifted her face, flushed with the rosy glow of the sunset.

"...I see."

"It's just holding hands, it's just in a game, it's nothing."

She gave him a slightly sharp glare, then pouted slightly, and before the crystal door, took a deep breath as if she were going to take a gamble—

Then she reached out and took his little finger.

Just like that, the heat and heartbeat came through, along with a tremor of unfamiliarity with the unknown and things never before faced.

She tightened her small face and silently looked away, not wanting to meet the eyes of the person in front of her who was looking at her teasingly.

"Let's go... Wow?!"

Before she could react, Tenkuji Yu suddenly turned her hand around and grabbed the small hand, holding it tightly in her palm.

Then, pulling her limp body, which seemed to have suddenly lost its strength, he stepped through the brightly lit doorway.

—Next stop, "Land of Love".

Chapter Forty-Eight: Entering the "Land of Love"

Holding Asuna's hand, Yuu Tenkuji passed through the crystal door and first glanced at the built-in system panel.

"Congratulations, host, you have received a reward: Tennis (Master Level)."

It seems that doing this without permission actually earns you some points.

Thinking this, I felt the little hand in my palm suddenly slip away like a mischievous little fish.

Turning around, the chestnut-haired girl hid her hands behind her back, tilted her fair chin, and looked around, feigning curiosity as she exclaimed:

"Is this the 'Land of Love'...? It really feels like it's filled with an atmosphere of 'love'."

Her gaze wandered around, but deliberately avoided looking at him. The fair and rosy skin on her neck was as tempting as a strawberry-filled daifuku.

"Oh, yes."

With a light laugh, Tenkuji Yu didn't pay any attention and also began to examine this <Special Scene Instance>—the Land of Love.

To be precise, they were now standing outside the city gate on a dirt path surrounded by trees.

Behind them were the still-present crystal gates, and all around were trees, their lush greenery spreading outwards, with darkness stretching into the distance. Only the road leading to the city gate was bright and straight.

It's as if it's implying that they shouldn't stop, and that as long as they don't stop, the "flower of love" will automatically bloom ahead, leaving no desire to turn back and explore.

But Yuuki Tenkuji thought that this was probably just because the designer hadn't perfected the scene of this instance, and simply pasted a few background layers on it for convenience.

Throwing a knife might just cause it to crash into the invisible wall that represents the edge of the scene.

However, he wasn't so bored as to do such a thing, and instead turned his gaze to the city gate directly in front of him.

The towering stone walls made of white bricks do not enclose the inner city in a square or circle, but extend outwards in an arc from the city gates to both sides.

It's estimated that from the air, this city would look like a heart – its city gate alone is a giant pink heart. Coupled with the country's unique name, it's not hard to imagine what kind of architectural style this place would have.

"Suddenly, I don't want to go into this city anymore..."

As if startled by the giant heart, Asuna muttered something while touching her hair.

“Agreed, let’s go back. Let’s carry Grandma Ma over here and let her take the flowers herself.”

After saying that, Yuu Tenkuji turned around and prepared to leave.

Asuna grabbed his collar and smiled at him with an innocent and charming expression:

"You've already come all this way, do you still want to run away?"

Before he could answer, the girl suddenly unleashed a burst of powerful strength, dragging him towards the city gate like a piece of trash.

The guards were dressed normally, no different from the NPCs in the starting town, which relieved the two players who still had a normal sense of aesthetics.

Because she was still dragging along the lazy and unwilling Tenkuji Yu, Asuna took the initiative to talk to the soldiers.

She smiled politely: "Hello, we are adventurers from afar. We are visiting your country to..."

Before she could finish speaking, the two soldiers at the door drew their weapons, swords pointed forward, and coldly aimed them at her.

"Show your pass, or you'll be expelled!"

"..."