I really don't want to have a girlfriend.

An invisible ripple suddenly swept across the 'world where nothing exists,' and the gray trails, like chains, instantly extended from the screen to every corner of the world.

From that moment on, whether it was the vast, boundless sky or the four distinct realms of luminous jade, all colors were frozen in place like a black and white photograph, leaving no room for struggle or resistance.

The desolate world fell silent once more, the deathly gray returning to its original state.

Only the broken screen gleamed with a deep black light, seemingly running some kind of high-performance game silently. The sound of overclocking could be faintly heard, as if the whole world was buzzing, spreading invisible power to distant places beyond human reach.

"This is the last one."

A familiar, deep voice gently rang out.

*Slap slap slap*

Several more cracks suddenly appeared on the screen, crisscrossing like scars.

△

"Ouch, that hurts!"

Halfway through her afternoon nap, a disheveled, voluptuous female ghost suddenly jumped out of bed, instinctively covering her forehead where she had been hit. Her bloodshot eyes widened in fright, and her shapely white breasts swayed slightly with her heavy breathing. She looked completely shaken.

"Who...who is it...what's going on?"

The pain in my forehead hasn't gone away, so it's probably not from a nightmare or a hallucination.

Rather than calming down, it was more like she was slowly coming to her senses—Kasumigaoka Utaha grinned, looking around as if searching for a criminal, her resentful and angry gaze finally settling on the notebook lying quietly on the quilt.

After a slight pause, his not-so-friendly expression gradually became complicated, and then, as if he had helplessly accepted the fact, he let out a helpless sigh.

"This thing... I clearly locked it in the drawer, so how did it hit me on the head?"

Although no one would answer her even if she asked, the answer could be simply summarized in one sentence—

Just because humans can't do something doesn't mean a magical notebook can't.

Therefore, the problem lies not in the principle, but in the cause.

"What, have you been out of the public eye for too long and want to make your presence known?"

Saying this in a sarcastic tone, Kasumigaoka Utaha brushed her messy hair behind her ear and picked up her notebook, which had been dormant for some time since her last successful rewriting of fate.

It's strange, really. This thing usually just sits quietly on the table waiting for me to "favor" it, so why is it waking me up with such a violent method as hitting my head...?

"Wait, could it be?!" A certain possibility occurred to her, and her nonchalant expression instantly turned serious. Kasumigaoka Utaha didn't hesitate any longer and directly opened the notebook.

Sure enough, the blank sheet of paper contained terrifying content that made her eyes widen in horror and instinctively jump out of bed.

"The first quarter has ended perfectly, and the second quarter is about to begin!"

"Compiler, you should have followed the guidance of fate and gradually led the story to the most perfect ending."

"However, the being in the unseen realm would not allow any unexpected events to occur on its predetermined path. Even if it meant bringing everything to an end and restarting the next cycle, it still foolishly and stubbornly chose the worst possible outcome!"

"And your duty is to do everything you can to grasp the lever that changes the course before all of this begins, for the good of the world you live in, and for your own sake, to turn the ending around so that everyone can be happy."

"Come, begin writing—the second chapter of composing the perfect ending."

"Section Two"

"Arrive at the designated location (XX, X-cho, XX-ku, Chiba City) by 15:00, starting from this moment."

"Before everyone else could react, he helped the sleeping Tenkuji Yuu, who had fallen asleep on the road, and brought her home, thus beginning the next chapter of their destiny."

"Reward: Any author trial card, improved writing skills, and a flash of inspiration (status)."

"If you fail to rewrite your future, or if someone else beats you to it, your future will plunge into an abyss from which there is no return. I urge you to take good care of yourself."

"Note: While the protagonist is asleep, the Fate Notebook and the future trajectory can be revealed to others, and they will no longer be threatened by the cycle of death and reincarnation."

It shares some similarities with the last one, but its antonyms are quite remarkable—and, it's still just as nonsensical.

I shouldn't have been making a fuss about it, but looking at the "14:50" on the notebook, which was clearly made of ink, it kept counting down and changing numbers like an electronic clock.

Kasumigaoka Utaha couldn't help but contort her beautiful face, clutching her head and stomping her feet in a frenzy.

"Aaaaaaah? What the hell?! What the hell is this?!"

Why did the second mission appear so suddenly?

Why did that junior named Yuu Tenkuji suddenly fall asleep on the way?

Why wasn't she the first to help him up, or would she herself have fallen into the abyss and never recovered?!

This is utterly baffling! One meter away!

And then the most inexplicable thing was that the countdown was almost down to fourteen and a half minutes!

She bit her thumbnail, calculating anxiously, "That area is roughly close to the upscale residential area... It would take at least ten minutes to get there from here, even if I ran as fast as I could..."

This was only because she stayed in a hotel near the city for two weeks specifically for her writing retreat, which was not far from the upscale residential area. Otherwise, it would have taken at least thirty minutes to get from her home to the location specified in her notebook.

As if her heart was being squeezed by tension, Kasumigaoka Utaha couldn't help but shout again, "Fourteen minutes is way too rushed! Why didn't you remind me earlier?!"

In a fit of anger, she slammed the laptop against the wall, abandoned any further thoughts, kicked open her suitcase, and began packing to leave.

For the sake of my future, and for that seemingly very generous reward, I should do as the notebook says first, rush to the designated location as quickly as possible, and then see what troublesome and inexplicable situation I will face next!

She took off her lace nightgown and skillfully pulled up her thermal stockings to her hips, covering her black thong.

I randomly picked a nice-looking outfit that was easy to move in and put it on, then tucked my long hair, which I was too lazy to style, into my hat.

She shoved her phone, wallet, access card, and damned laptop into her bag, threw on her coat, and stormed out of the hotel room with a fierce and impetuous air.

……

After talking with Asuna Yuuki and giving her his home address, he told her she could come to the party anytime she wanted to change her mind.

Yuu Tenkuji left Hoshino and headed towards the apartment where Masuzu Natsukawa and Yukino Yukinoshita lived.

On his way from the city center to the upscale residential area, he lowered his head and pondered: "Hmm, I should call Xia Chuan first... to confirm whether she has retained any memories from last time."

So he took out his phone, opened his LINE contacts, and was about to tap on Natsukawa Masuzu's profile picture when...

"Congratulations, host. You have met the prerequisites for the fifth mission."

"what?"

The gentle female voice that echoed in his mind made Yuu Tenkuji subconsciously stop in his tracks, and he blurted out in a daze.

However, he reacted very quickly. Before anyone could cast a questioning glance his way, he had already switched to "walls have no ears" mode and continued walking forward.

At the same time, he asked the system in confusion, "Dog, your master didn't do anything. It's only been less than half a day since I completed the fourth mission. How did I meet that prerequisite requirement?"

However, the system continued as always, selectively ignoring his questions.

"The final trial may now begin."

"Once the final trial is completed, the system's mission will end, and it will automatically disappear from this world after fulfilling any one of the host's wishes."

After listening quietly, Yuu Tenkuji couldn't help but raise her eyebrows with interest.

"Oh, is there such a good thing?"

Chapter Twenty-Two is titled, "The Final Trial Mission".

"Because the system's energy is being consumed at an extremely rapid pace, it is recommended that the host activate the final trial as soon as possible. If you miss this opportunity to choose, the fifth mission will be more difficult than you can imagine."

"Oh?" Having heard something else that surprised her, Tenkuji Yuu called Natsukawa Masuzu while mentally asking the system:

'Why are you in a state of rapid depletion if nothing's wrong? Are you planning to betray me again?'

The system responded this time: "The goal of restoring memories will continuously affect the current world line. If the system does not actively control and restrain it, those who are close to Yukino Yukinoshita will gradually remember everything that happened in the previous four world lines, making the current world line extremely unstable and causing harm."

"Besides Yukino, the only people I'm really close to are Mrs. Yukinoshita?"

Thinking about this, Tenkuji Yu felt as if he had been doused with cold water, and he couldn't feel any joy at all.

After all, if Mrs. Yukinoshita were to recall how, during their first meeting, he had stolen her eldest daughter; and during their second meeting, he had openly declared his intention to give her younger daughter and another girl happiness, thus cheating on her with two women...

Yuu Tenkuji wouldn't be surprised if his wife secretly took Haruno and Haruno to America for a blind date one day.

It's not that my wife can't regain her memory, but at least I need to be prepared before I can figure out how to make her accept the fact that both of our family's best beauties have been taken by the same pig.

"Okay, so it seems I still have to thank you for cleaning up my mess?" Yuu Tenkuji sighed. "Then the second question... oh, wait a minute."

The call was busy for more than ten seconds before it was answered. Then, the girl's voice, which sounded calm but was actually quite nervous, came through the receiver.

"Hello? What's up?"

Tenkuji Yu asked in a normal tone, "Natsukawa, are you home right now?"

"exist."

"I have something I want to talk to you about. I'm right outside your apartment building. Could you come down for a moment?"

"it is good."

Without asking anything, her answer was unusually crisp and concise, even showing a hint of impatience.

Based on this alone, Tenkuji Yu could roughly confirm that Natsukawa Masuzu also retained the memories of the previous mission.

Of course, we need to ask her in person to confirm the specifics.

After the call ended, Yuu Tenkuji put down her phone, walked to the floor intercom of the luxury apartment building, and pressed the doorbell on the eleventh floor.

A pleasant doorbell rang, and while waiting for Yukino to answer it, he continued to ask the system questions:

"If you miss this choice, won't you just disappear once your energy is depleted? Why is there a fifth mission with increased difficulty?"

"When the energy is exhausted, the system will reclaim all the host's skills and status, convert them into energy to start the fifth mission, and then enter a long period of hibernation."

"??? You actually play like that?"

Yuu Tenkuji's eyes were full of disdain: "Although it's just returning to the starting point, my physical abilities shouldn't be weakened. I believe I can still complete your crappy mission beautifully... But how can you be so shameless? Taking back what you gave away, and even using it to annoy the person who gave the gift. Which shameless guy created such a garbage system?"

The system continued, "It will only awaken after the host completes the task and gains energy, and will return all the reclaimed rewards."

"I get it, I get it, it's that usual 'forced into a corner' scenario again." Tenkuji Yu rolled her eyes and said irritably, "Seriously, this is the last time, couldn't you just let me complete the task smoothly according to the rules? Why do you have to pull this stunt all of a sudden? It's like you're forcing me to choose the worst option."

After all, the so-called "final trial mission" had appeared in the last mission as well, and it was used to threaten him to make a choice he didn't want to make. If Yukino hadn't been willing to sacrifice herself for him, the system would probably have already stuffed this final trial mission into his arms.

Yuu Tenkuji still remembered that the system had warned him like this:

"Warning: The final trial mission will have irreversible effects on this world and all its creatures. Please choose carefully!"

Now, it makes no mention of the danger of the "final trial mission," as if the salesperson is betting that the person answering the door is a housewife who doesn't know how to refuse and is also unaware of the product's side effects, expecting her to nod and accept it foolishly until she begins to realize something is wrong.