I really don't want to have a girlfriend.

Tenkuji Yu almost fell over when she suddenly stopped. After finally regaining her balance, she turned to look at her with a puzzled expression: "What happened all of a sudden? Did a monster appear?"

"No, no, it's not a monster! It's a ghost! Something that looks like a ghost has appeared!"

Her teeth chattered, her small, sweaty hands gripped his tightly, and she closed her eyes, too afraid to peek out from behind him.

Tenkuji Yu turned his gaze back, his eyes narrowing sharply, and he quickly realized: "I knew it couldn't be that simple. We have to solve it before we can move forward, right?"

"No, can't we just ignore it? Let's just charge straight through."

"Let's give it a try." Pulling Asuna, who was struggling to move, Yuu Tenkuji slowly walked towards the stone steps. He glanced at the gradually increasing "estimated arrival time," and slowly reached behind his back with his other hand to grasp the hilt of his sword.

Only when he got closer did he realize that it was not a ghost, but an old woman with gray hair.

Her movements were even slower than Asuna's, who was afraid of ghosts, as she carefully and cautiously climbed the stairs step by step.

The shadow beneath her feet and the green cursor above her head also indicated her identity as an NPC.

Yuu Tenkuji released the hilt of his sword, somewhat helplessly saying, "He's just an ordinary old man, Asuna."

"Not a ghost?" Asuna cautiously opened her eyes and peeked out from behind him. When she looked at the old woman who was close by, she shrank her shoulders and frowned as she carefully examined her.

“Okay, it doesn’t seem like it… but I clearly saw her suddenly appear on the stairs just now…”

Before the words were even finished, the old woman turned around, a kind smile spreading across her wrinkled face. Her cloudy but gentle eyes looked at the two of them: "Dating so late? What a loving couple."

"Ah, well, you flatter me..." Asuna nodded reflexively to thank her, then blushed slightly, feeling a little embarrassed.

Tenkuji Yu squeezed her small hand and whispered a reminder: "Time is running out."

The clock above their heads had already ticked by almost a fifth, while the "estimated arrival time" displayed on the panel had gradually increased to five minutes after they slowed down and stopped in place.

There's no time to waste here.

"Sorry, let's speed up from here on out!" Asuna nodded apologetically to him, then smiled politely at the old woman. "Sorry, we still have somewhere to go, please be careful."

"What a polite and good child. I wish you happiness." The old woman smiled happily, holding onto the wall, and continued to lift her trembling, weak legs to step onto the second step.

As Tenkuji Yuzai pulled Asuna up the stairs, he felt a pulling force on his hand and was forced to stop again.

He turned around and saw a clear struggle on her small face, a gentle and bright light flickering in her eyes, and her biting lip like a child who had been scolded by her parents for fighting but was unwilling to admit her mistake, timid yet hiding a certain determination.

"Give me... just ten seconds!" Asuna nervously raised a finger and winked at him tentatively.

Yuu Tenkuji couldn't help but sigh: "That's just an NPC..."

"We can't just leave the elderly person unattended! It'll only take ten seconds, it'll be resolved quickly!"

"...I haven't finished yet. If she really did appear out of nowhere, then it's probably related to our mission, and we can't ignore it. So be careful when you're around her, and back off immediately if anything seems off."

"In other words..." She slowly opened her eyes wide, a joyful smile blooming on her lips.

"Don't hesitate, hurry up, we only have a little over three minutes left." Tenkuji Yuichi pushed her shoulder.

"Mmm!" Asuna smiled and nodded vigorously, then immediately turned and ran down the stairs.

But then he discovered that he had followed him there.

"Yu-kun, it's okay if you go first, I'll catch up with you soon!"

Tenkuji Yu stared at her speechlessly: "No, if you let go, the test will fail."

"That's true..."

With an awkward chuckle, Asuna, her cheeks slightly flushed, helped the old lady up the stairs as fast as she could. Then, amidst the old lady's thanks, she grabbed Tenkuji Yu and ran with all her might towards the Civil Affairs Bureau.

As the speed increased, the "estimated arrival time," which had been stretched to six minutes, jumped back to three minutes, exactly matching the remaining time!

"Great, we'll make it!"

Her hair fluttered in the wind, her breath was slightly ragged, and her tone carried a sense of relief and joy.

No sooner had she finished speaking than Yuu Tenkuji pointed to a little girl who had been cornered by a dog and was crying loudly for help on the wide sidewalk next to her.

Then he turned his head and gave her a half-smile.

Asuna: "..."

Before long, a loud, almost frantic voice rang out.

"They actually exploited the weaknesses of human nature! Which despicable bastard designed this mission?!"

△

They helped an elderly woman, a little girl, an injured boy, and a heartbroken young woman, taking up a considerable amount of time along the way. Holding hands and running side-by-side, they gave it their all and finally arrived at the Civil Affairs Bureau with only about thirty seconds left.

On the main street of the square in front.

"Ha...ha...oh no, this is terrible..."

Pressing her hand against her aching side, Asuna gazed with a sense of despair at the tall building that had come into view, inwardly grumbling about the game's lack of realism.

Running for a long time will not only make you tired and out of breath, but also realistically recreate physiological reactions such as the burning sensation in your lungs, muscle spasms from difficulty breathing, and a heavy feeling of soreness, numbness, and weakness. It is impossible to maintain full speed from beginning to end.

Even if they could, they were still about 500 meters away from their destination, and the panel showed that it would take at least a minute to get there—this was based on the fact that their bodies were lighter and their speed was much faster than in reality.

No matter how you look at it, there's only one ending.

—We're probably too late, aren't we?

It was all because I turned back then. Perhaps ignoring those people would have been the right thing to do...

The moment this thought crossed my mind, my steps suddenly became heavy. A sense of helplessness drained my strength, and a feeling of powerlessness filled my hands and feet.

Asuna gradually slowed her pace, lowered her head slightly, and gritted her teeth in resentment.

Her long hair concealed her expression. Tenkuji Yu glanced at her, then slowed down as well, casually saying:

"What, are you tired already?"

"You look too relaxed..." Asuna sighed, took the initiative to let go of her hand, brushed the strands of hair that had fallen in front of her eyes, and said with a wry smile, "I'm sorry, it's my fault that this mission failed."

Sky Temple raised an eyebrow: "Giving up so soon?"

"What else? Even in a game, you can't run 500 meters in 30 seconds... There are only 20 seconds left now."

Taking a deep breath and trying not to show her disappointment, Asuna looked up at Yuu Tenkuji earnestly: "Or do you have a way to salvage this? Like a hidden teleportation array or something?"

"She's clearly a complete novice at the game, yet she knows about teleportation arrays..." With a hint of amusement, Yuu Tenkuji suddenly walked up to her and squatted down with his back to her.

The sword on her back had been put back into her inventory, leaving her with only strong, broad shoulders.

"Come on up."

"Huh?" She blinked her big eyes in surprise.

Tenkuji Yu urged, "Hurry up and get on! There's no time for you to hesitate!"

"Ah...yes! I understand..."

Asuna stared blankly at his retreating figure, but her body unconsciously did as he said.

She straddled his waist with her long, fair legs, placed her arms on his shoulders, squeezed her thighs together slightly, and leaned her upper body forward as if she were about to hug him.

Once Yuu Tenkuji stood up from the ground, her thinking returned to normal. She subconsciously bit her pink lips, feeling waves of heat rising from where their bodies had touched, as if she had fallen from autumn into summer.

Just as he was about to ask something, he took a running start and instructed, "Hold on tight, don't open your mouth to speak, the wind is going to get a bit strong."

"..."

Asuna reflexively shut her mouth, not even having prepared herself mentally for what was to come.

With a loud "bang!", it felt as if air exploded beneath my feet.

A powerful pulling force suddenly came from below, almost throwing her off his back.

"Ah ...

The scenery rushed past my eyes, my vision was distorted into colorful stripes, and I felt as if I were lying on a train carriage, being slammed into my face like a giant hammer.

Asuna couldn't help but scream, but her mouth was filled with air. She could only quickly lie down and hug him tightly, pressing herself against him with all her might, trying her best not to be pulled away from this temporary "safe haven" by inertia.

"I told you the wind was a bit strong." His soft laughter was right next to me.

The strong wind stung her ears, and her chestnut hair flew straight behind her like a carp streamer. Asuna barely opened her eyes and looked at his neck, her nose filled with his masculine scent.

"What...what kind of skill is this?" she asked with some difficulty.

"Hmm? I guess so. You probably won't be able to learn my unique skills."

With "acceleration" enabled, Yuu Tenkuji rushed straight towards the Civil Affairs Bureau while glancing at his rapidly decreasing health bar.

Not only that, but the excruciating pain that felt like his body was about to fall apart once again spread throughout his body. Even though it was composed of data, one could still hear the bones and muscles emitting a terrible scream.

He quickly got used to it and said casually, "I only just realized I could carry you on my back. Luckily, we still made it in time."

"Oh, I see..."

Asuna didn't say anything, or rather, she felt like she couldn't say anything at all.

She simply wrapped her arms around his neck, pressed her cheek against his cheek and neck, bit her lip slightly, and felt her lips burning.

Close your eyes, the strong wind rushing past your ears, the swift yet light footsteps, and the calm and steady breathing of Tenkuji Yu are like flames illuminating the darkness, making you sway with peace of mind.

Even though it's a game, this warmth can seep into your heart.

With only three seconds left, he irrationally shortened the distance, as if teleporting, and the entrance to the Civil Affairs Bureau was right in front of him.

"Um...your hand..."

"Oh, sorry, I don't carry people on my back much."

Tenkuji Yu quickly moved his hand down from her round, soft buttocks, firmly supporting her plump, taut thighs, preventing them from sliding backward.

With the strange sensation in her buttocks gone, Asuna let out a small breath, afraid that her violently beating heart would escape her mouth.

In the blink of an eye, the two of them burst into the Civil Affairs Bureau, and the clock just stopped at the last mark.

"Arrive at the Civil Affairs Bureau within the time limit and confirm that you are maintaining an intimate posture—the test is complete."

The words flashed before my eyes, and then a page fell from mid-air.

Asuna reached out and caught it, then leaned her head against his and looked at the contents together.

"Marriage certificate..."

"..."

In the awkward silence, Yuu Tenkuji could feel the temperature rapidly rising on the cheek pressed against his.