I really don't want to have a girlfriend.

With a throbbing vein on his forehead, Xu Xiangzhi pushed up his glasses twice in a flustered manner.

He barely maintained his composure and patiently explained, "This is what I meant by 'marrying someone of equal social standing'! As the daughter of a company president, if her future husband is just an ordinary company employee whose monthly salary can barely support the family, let alone the reaction from the Yuuki family's main branch, Asuna herself will also..."

Tenkuji Yu asked again, puzzled, "Wait, what does marriage have to do with Asuna?"

Nobuyuki Sugo clearly didn't understand what he was asking, but was annoyed that he had been interrupted again: "Of course! Marriage isn't just a matter for one person..."

"Alright, I understand everything you're saying." Frowning, Tenkuji Yu gradually dropped her act and said impatiently, "If it's related, why not let her speak for herself instead of you speculating for her? Are you an amoeba in her stomach?"

“You…” Nobuyuki Sugo’s face twisted slightly.

Tenkuji Yu simply scoffed.

"You, you, you... tsk tsk, you know it yourself. The principle is the same, but how one chooses to act is up to their own will."

"So let's be frank and keep it simple."

In Sugo Nobuyuki's suddenly contracting pupils, Tenkuji Yu's expression vanished instantly, his gaze sharpening as he stared at Sugo's face, his voice taking on a dangerous hue:

"Mr. Sugo, are you planning to steal my girlfriend?"

"Using your status as a department head and a social elite, you disregard my mutual affection with her, and ignore Asuna's own wishes, and just want to forcibly tie her to your so-called 'material life'?"

As if forced back by the icy aura contained in those eyes, Sugo Shin subconsciously took two steps back, but then remembered that the Yuki family mother and daughter were watching, so he forced himself to straighten his neck and forced a sneer.

"Hmph, I never said anything like that... Your reaction is too immature. How about calming down a bit, little brother Tenkuji?"

Yuu Tenkuji couldn't help but click his tongue: "Don't call me that. I'm not small. Compared to you, I'm like Rayquaza and Caterpie. You're just like that Caterpie that can't learn the Harden move. You're useless except for shooting silk."

"???" Nobuyuki Sugo, who had no experience in trash talk, was completely dumbfounded.

After having his fill of verbal sparring, Yuu Tenkuji ignored Sugou, who was weak as a chicken and could only spout nonsense. He turned to look at Asuna Yuuki with a serious expression.

"Asuna, if we don't say it out loud, others probably won't know how much we value that matter."

"Yu-kun..."

Meeting his intense gaze, Asuna instinctively clenched her fists at her chest, holding her breath as her heart pounded powerfully.

Glancing at Kyoko Yuuki beside him, Yuu Tenkuji declared calmly and solemnly in front of her:

"Immature or impulsive, it may be."

“I can do anything for Asuna. Whether she wants to escape her current life or wants a future happier than anyone else’s, as long as she still loves me… Don’t talk about being a department head, I’ll even be the company president, I’ll show you.”

"It doesn't matter how many competitors come. If she can't even handle something this simple, why should I let her entrust the rest of her life to me?"

"After all, she is the one who makes the choice."

After a pause, her voice, like a sigh, slowly fell to the ground: "You agree, don't you? Sugo, Lady Yuki."

After saying that, Yuu Tenkuji turned around, simply raised his hand in greeting, and then stepped into the deep night.

Only the three people standing at the door of Yuuki's house remained, each with a different expression, as they fell silent, gazing at his leisurely back, which seemed to suggest that he could do anything.

Nobuyuki Sugo's face was ashen, as if he were plotting something bad.

Kyoko Yuuki shook her head, as if she had watched a childish and funny play.

Asuna Yuuki quietly clenched her small hand and wiped away the tears that welled up with emotion with the back of her hand.

The anxious expression completely disappeared, replaced by a resilience and courage that rose slowly like the morning sun.

As she looked towards the figure disappearing into the night, she took a deep breath and a bright smile bloomed on her face.

"Yes, I understand... From now on, I will no longer run away from reality."

"I want to fight for my own future, just like you!"

Chapter Sixty-Eight: Even Slowly, Still Moving Towards the Goal

Back home, as soon as Yuu Tenkuji opened the door, he met the gaze of Kasugano Sora, who stood like a guardian deity in the entryway.

"too late!"

A delicate, scolding voice rang out.

She held a dolphin in her left hand and a black rabbit in her right, staring at me with eyes as cold as stars.

"Sorry, sorry, I went to my tutoring class today and accidentally ran a little overtime." With a relaxed smile, Tenkuji Yu changed into her indoor shoes, patted her head, and prepared to head straight to the kitchen.

"I'll go cook right away."

"No need to rush, I just ate some snacks to fill my stomach." After saying that, Qiong suddenly stepped forward, grabbed his sleeve, and started sniffing like a puppy.

Sniff, sniff—

The silver-haired girl closed her eyes slightly, her small nose twitched gently, and she looked at him intently and seriously.

From her neck and hair to her shoulders and chest, the warm, gentle breath made Yuu's whole body itch, like an unexpected pre-coital encounter—then, as Sora's breath went further down, she pulled back and flicked Yuu's forehead.

"You don't smell like any other women, right? Don't worry, I'm not back so late because I was on a date with a girl. I really have important business to attend to."

Yuu Tenkuji, who had simply taken the "female classmate from the cram school" home and had already used "a completely new look" to destroy all evidence, smiled teasingly at his sister without any guilt.

"Hmph, who cares about that? It's just strange that you're not wet at all, even though it's rained outside."

Kasugano Sora casually turned her head away, as if hiding something, and strode into the living room.

"I'm hungry, Yu, hurry up and cook some food."

Just before leaving, she murmured thoughtfully to herself, "This strong sense of déjà vu... Have I done this recently? I don't remember..."

Yuu Tenkuji: "..."

My dear sister, you did this several times during summer vacation, forcing me to have an awkward conversation with the barbecue stall owner just to get rid of the smell on me. Have you forgotten all of this?

Oh right, you really forgot.

Not just you, but also Yukino Yukinoshita, the bald owner of the barbecue stand...

Of all the people in the world, I'm probably the only one who still remembers it.

Finding it quite amusing, Yuu Tenkuji couldn't help but chuckle, then put down her schoolbag and headed to the kitchen.

……

After finishing her delicious dinner and taking a relaxing bath, Yuu Tenkuji closed the door to her room.

He told Qiong that he had a lot of things to do lately, so he couldn't play games with her for the time being. Although he was very dissatisfied, Qiong seemed to think that he should start studying hard recently, so she didn't keep him here. Instead, she told him to finish his business and play the latest cyberpunk game with her before returning to her room to continue being a homebody.

Tenkuji Yu wasn't lying to her; he was much busier now than he was during the summer vacation.

Sitting down at his computer desk, Yuu Tenkuji opened his new computer—which he had equipped with the best graphics card and hardware, using the bonuses he received from the system, and capable of running a certain single-player game at full settings—and sent another message to Asuna Yuuki.

After putting my phone aside and waiting for a reply, the computer had finished booting up.

"I previously gave them a reward for expert-level internet skills, so let's see just how far they can go this time..."

Yuu Tenkuji glanced at the system panel, stretched his fingers, and began typing rapidly on the keyboard.

Searching for information related to internet technology, she clicked on a website with detailed explanations. After browsing through it briefly, Yuu Tenkuji, who was already well-versed in the relevant technologies, gradually revealed a confident smile.

His guess was correct.

"Network Technology (Expert Level)" not only taught him how to fix network problems, but also gave him advanced skills such as setting up web pages, writing code, network security, intrusion and cracking, compilation and decompilation, program analysis, etc. These are high-end skills that ordinary engineers need to study and practice for a long time, and which they can acquire by sacrificing their hair and liver.

It was just a reward, but it allowed him to skip the process of "from beginner to master" and directly grasp this modern tool in his hands. For some reason, after learning about the complexity of this technology, Yuu Tenkuji suddenly felt a little pity for those programmers.

Of course, the programmers at a certain Hedgehog Cat Novel website are an exception.

"In that case, perhaps we can give it a try..."

An idea flashed through her mind, and Yuu Tenkuji opened the search bar again, finding a website where she could legally practice hacking techniques.

Then I unplugged the network cable and, using the knowledge in my mind, wrote a new firewall program for myself within half an hour. This protected the computer and also created an anti-tracking system. Only then did I reconnect to the internet, click on the website, and register a new account.

He didn't intend to become a hacker; he just wanted to test what he was capable of.

He registered on a security website specifically for hackers to practice their skills. It was entirely in English and contained hacker news, technical articles, hacker forums, and a large number of beginner tutorials. In addition, there was a leaderboard for challenge tasks, with difficulty levels ranging from E to S. Although not entirely accurate, it at least gave a general idea of ​​the skill levels among hackers.

Without hesitation, Yuu Tenkuji started his challenge from Rank E. The sound of his keyboard tapping echoed crisply in the room. He smoothly rose to Rank A, until he encountered a problem in Rank S that even expert-level skills could not solve.

After pondering for ten minutes, he simply took his hands off the keyboard and leaned back in his computer chair.

He interlaced his fingers and stretched upwards, closed his eyes and yawned. Even though he had failed in the challenge, he was not resentful at all. Instead, he laughed heartily.

"Wow, I didn't expect it to be so much fun! I got hooked before I knew it."

He glanced at the time and realized he had been sitting motionless in front of the computer for three hours straight, like a statue—it was clear how focused he had been.

The result was a gleaming A-grade nameplate next to the account ID, as well as several private messages sent to the supplementary mailbox.

He glanced at the links and found messages inviting him to join hacker alliances, security centers, and technology companies. There was also a website similar to the Adventurers' Guild's bounty board that offered jobs to internet technology experts.

After noting all of this down and making careful plans for the future, Yuu Tenkuji picked up her phone and opened the message that Asuna Yuuki had sent half an hour earlier.

"Yu-kun, after you left, Mr. Sugo also said he had something urgent to attend to and had to go back first... Although he's my sworn brother, I don't really like him. His smile can be creepy sometimes, completely different from yours."

"Also, I just mentioned something to my mother..."

Chapter Sixty-Nine: Guess, Do I See You?

"We can go home together after tutoring, and Mom even gave me a day off for a date this weekend!"

Upon seeing Asuna's message, Yuu Tenkuji raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"You just gave up so easily...?"

He thought that Kyoko Yuuki would first let him demonstrate his value, compare him with Sugo, and confirm that the deal wouldn't be a loss before letting Asuna date him.

Unexpectedly, she agreed to their date so easily... Does she already consider him her future son-in-law?

"If you hadn't become my classmate, and if she hadn't been reluctant to give up the high-quality teaching staff at 'Ichiyo Academy,' she probably wouldn't have been so decisive... After all, if we didn't transfer classes, she simply couldn't prevent us from seeing each other. Forcibly separating us would only backfire, so it was better to go with the flow and agree to my request, and wait and see."

"Hmph, it took me half an hour, my throat was practically dry, to convince my mother of this. Otherwise, seeing her on weekdays is fine, but going out on weekends won't be so easy~"

He seemed quite pleased with himself.

However, now Yuu Tenkuji understood more or less—it wasn't that Kyoko Yuuki was kind-hearted and couldn't bear to break up this young couple, but rather that Asuna Yuuki had persuaded her at home with reason and emotion, and only after mustering the courage to have a face-to-face conversation with her did she manage to secure the current 'lenient treatment'.

"You've got quite a knack for this, Asuna..." Yuu Tenkuji couldn't help but laugh.

Asuna Yuuki once said that the real her was different from the imaginary world. She could not so boldly swing her sword at others, nor could she run freely on the grassland. The shackles that bound her were her mother, who disciplined her with strict education since childhood and never spoke ill of her.