I really don't want to have a girlfriend.

Can you hear me?

"I can hear you. You can see it too, right?"

The girl's gentle and elegant voice reached her ears. Sky Temple looked ahead and saw her beautiful figure in a red cloak, creating a stunning scene. Every strand of her dark hair seemed to be soaked in gold dust, flowing smoothly in the breeze.

"You can see it. Turn left ahead."

"I understand." She paused, then sighed helplessly. "Honestly, is it really necessary to go through all this trouble? Why not just go together? Why make it like a spy operation?"

"Perhaps it's unnecessary, but it can explore more possibilities." With one hand in her pocket, Tenkuji Yuuka smiled casually, appreciating the leisurely and peaceful scenery.

In his mind, however, he was categorizing and organizing the information from each source of income, making sure not to overlook any suspicious points.

"Let me give you an example—if we bump into our 'fourth' girlfriend on the street, and she falls in love with me at first sight as I pass by, and tries to chat me up, she can only give up secretly because of your presence."

"Didn't we just miss a great opportunity?"

"..." Kasumigaoka Utaha was speechless for a moment. "I really don't know whether to say you're narcissistic or overly optimistic."

"I'm praising you; you're a beautiful girl who would make other women run away."

"I don't think 'retreating three feet' is a term used to praise someone."

They chatted casually for a few minutes, and the journey was uneventful. There were no girls trying to chat him up as expected, nor were there any villains suddenly jumping out to interfere with their investigation.

Kasumigaoka Utaha had already arrived at the luxury apartment where Tenkuji Yu was currently staying. After waiting for a few seconds, he walked to her side while putting away his headphones and opened the door with his magnetic card.

"I live on the tenth floor, and Yukino lives on the eleventh floor."

He pointed to the doorplate on the mailbox on the wall with his thumb. He could see "Sky Temple" above it, but the name of the eleventh-floor resident was blank.

Yuu Tenkuji simply gestured and quickly walked towards the elevator.

Kasumigaoka Utaha followed silently, the wheels of her luggage scraping noisily in the quiet hall.

"I'll give you the spare key and card later, so you don't think I'm planning to imprison you or anything. But we should still try to work together as much as possible, at least to keep track of each other's movements." Pressing the up button and watching the elevator numbers slowly descend, Yuu Tenkuji said, "The system assured me that it wouldn't interfere with any choices I make in this world, nor would it interfere with anything around me... Be thankful, you won't be secretly disposed of by the mastermind the moment you leave my sight."

"That's really reassuring." Kasumigaoka Utaha rolled her eyes, tapping her slender, pink fingers lightly on the luggage handle. "After all, we can't be monitoring each other all the time, can we? Forget about showering or using the toilet, even like now, when you're looking at the elevator numbers instead of me, the system suddenly grabs me—"

Without warning, the girl's voice disappeared along with her breathing.

A sudden, deathly silence fell over the area in front of the elevator.

Tenkuji Yu was stunned for a moment. Before he could think or react, his body moved first.

He suddenly turned his head: "Poetry—"

Then he met her gaze as she grinned mischievously.

"..."

Under the increasingly deadpan gaze of Tenkuji, Kasumigaoka Utaha casually tossed her long hair, her eyes brimming with smugness, and said slowly, "That's right, it's Utaha-chan~ How about that, were you scared? I was quite startled, I didn't expect you to care about me so much, my dear Yuu-kun~"

"It's just that your surname is too long and hard to pronounce, and I'm used to calling you by your first name in my memories, Kasumigaoka-senpai." Tenkuji Yu rubbed his cheek and said stiffly, "Besides, we're teammates who have to live and die together now, do you really need to worry about anything?"

"No problem at all, in fact, it's quite delightful."

Kasumigaoka Utaha slowly put away her teasing smile, her fingers silently slipping through her hair, her drooping eyelids revealing a hint of melancholy.

"Why can I laugh so easily when I'm in such a tense and extraordinary crisis?"

Ignoring fear and anxiety, where does this courage to face any difficulty come from?

Well, it's not a feeling I'm ashamed to admit.

Kasumigaoka Utaha couldn't help but chuckle, shook her head, and looked back at Tenkuji Yuu.

"So, since I trust you so much, you can't let me down."

His figure was reflected in her calm gaze. The girl smiled, her red eyes were gentle as water, and her figure was as beautiful and elegant as a lily.

"We must make sure this all ends smoothly."

"...You're really causing trouble for others by saying things like that at a time like this."

Scratching her hair, Yuu Tenkuji sighed as if she had no choice but to turn away.

The elevator doors opened just then, and as he stepped inside, he casually waved, appearing completely nonchalant.

"Alright, it's a date then."

His resolute and solemn expression was clearly reflected in the mirror.

"If I can't even keep such a simple promise, then I'm not called Yuu Tenkuji."

Whether for oneself or for the partners who trust one's trust.

It's still for those more important people.

—Yu Tenkuji will make himself omnipotent.

……

The tenth floor of the apartment building.

As they discussed the rules for living together, the two stepped out of the elevator.

Kasumigaoka Utaha suddenly remembered something.

"You said there's someone in your family you want me to meet, is that your sister?"

Yuu Tenkuji shook his head: "No, I've said it before, haven't I? My sister and my current girlfriend don't exist in this world."

"Now that you mention it..." With her eyebrows furrowed, Kasumigaoka Utaha pressed her fingers to the tip of her fair chin, trying to search her memory, then nodded slightly, "Yes, that's true. And then, there's an even more important question."

She turned to look at Tenkuji Yu, her eyes filled with doubt: "You just said that the system assured you it wouldn't interfere, right? After you came to this world, have you communicated with the mastermind behind it all?"

“I wouldn’t call it communication.” Tenkuji Yu’s expression darkened, and her complicated expression made Kasumigaoka Utaha feel uneasy. “That person is like the system’s agent, or a monitor sent by the system to monitor me? Anyway, her words are reliable. As long as the system doesn’t lie to me, she shouldn’t lie to me either.”

"The system's agent?"

Standing in front of the sign for "Sky Temple," Kasumigaoka Utaha's eyes widened as she slowly stopped, staring at his profile in disbelief.

"You said... the person you're going to introduce me to next is one of the mastermind's henchmen? Her? At your house?"

“Yes, I’ll tell you the details later.” Yuu Tenkuji took out a key, inserted it into the lock and turned it. “You don’t need to worry too much. That guy seems quite harmless, and with the system’s guarantee, your basic safety should be guaranteed.”

"I will also try my best to keep you out of any danger—although I don't know if it will give its host any face, it's better than running away from it in its world and not daring to face it, right?"

Since life is ultimately in the system's hands, there's no need to be so timid in doing things.

They learned from the "Voice of Heaven" that the system's purpose was very simple—to break free from its impending demise.

Once Tenkuji Yu collects all five Light Orbs and completes all the tasks, the system will completely become the nourishment for his ultimate wish and disappear from then on.

Perhaps it was to prevent this from happening that it captured all of his girlfriends when they came in to help him during the trial, altered their memories, and imprisoned them in this world?

Yuu Tenkuji guessed that before he could find a way to leave this world, the system would completely take away all the power of the Light Orb and transform it from a mere tool into a powerful being with its own consciousness, no longer dependent on its host for survival.

As for what fate awaits them at that time... well, that's hard to say.

Fortunately, everyone's lives are not in danger for the time being—if the system really wanted to kill them, it could have done so long ago.

With the power of the light jade it currently possesses, the difficulty of instantly causing brain death in this group of ordinary humans is probably no higher than stepping on an ant.

There must be a reason or limitation for not doing so.

It's possible they still have value, or it's possible some rule prevents the system from doing so.

That's why this world exists, and why this massive virtual immersion-style "escape room" exists, right?

"If you successfully escape, you will have the opportunity to confront the system head-on."

"If you fail to escape, you will be slowly driven insane in this world until your mind completely collapses or your body weakens and dies, forever becoming a ghost in the system's belly."

Yuu Tenkuji pondered silently. Even if he won here, he might not be able to kick the system over and live a happy and fulfilling life.

In other words, he doesn't need to think about anything else before he completely finishes the game.

This is just a relay station, neither the origin nor the destination, like a bridge spanning two banks of a river; but if one cannot even cross the bridge, then imagining the scenery on the other side of the river is nothing but a pipe dream for him, swept away by the rushing river.

The most important thing is not the system's ultimate goal, but how to outwit and outmaneuver the system in order to complete the game.

"Let Kasumigaoka Utaha come into contact with that android; who knows, it might bring about some changes and breakthroughs."

With this thought in mind, Yuu Tenkuji opened the door, and as expected, a silver-haired girl dressed in a maid outfit knelt in front of the entrance, bowing respectfully to him, her slender and thin back almost parallel to the ground.

"Welcome back, brother."

Her voice was clear and calm, yet it carried an intimacy that was hard for outsiders to detect.

"..."

Even Yuu Tenkuji couldn't help but take a deep breath at that moment, and it took him a long time to recover from the inexplicable shock.

This time the damage was quite strong...

Are androids learning this fast? Before, I couldn't even touch his XP, but now I can easily shake his rationality, even if only slightly…

That's right. She possesses all the skills she knows, and her academic and acting abilities are at a perfect level. In addition, her appearance and various features are specially designed to suit her tastes—no matter how thick his defense is, he can't stop her from launching a special attack on his weaknesses!

At first, it was because she thought this person was trying to replace Sora in her heart that she was so resistant to her and regarded her as another creature from the bottom of her heart... Of course, this idea has not changed to this day.

Even men with normal sex drive would be drawn to Fu Rui, who is both sexy and handsome, as if he were part of their own sex drive!

Even a pure love warrior might force themselves to read a couple of light-hearted BL (Boys' Love) doujinshi just because the art style is good!

Yuu Tenkuji temporarily suppressed his inner screams and said expressionlessly to the silver-haired maid, "Even if you do this, I will not develop any good feelings towards you."

The silver-haired maid rose from the ground, dusted off her skirt, and said with the same cold and calm expression as him, "Do you need to analyze my brother's physical reactions and hormonal changes five seconds ago?"

“No need.” He turned his head stiffly, pointed to the silver-haired maid with his thumb, and said to Kasumigaoka Utaha behind him, “This is the person I’m going to introduce to you, and who will be living under the same roof with us for the next four days—an android created by the system. Just like your Kasumigaoka family, she has a particular fondness for making dirty jokes. You can ignore her, or you can try to get information out of her.”

"What do you mean by 'just like our Kasumigaoka family,' you loli-loving guy?"

Kasumigaoka Utaha looked at him with a big smile.

For some reason, she just stood there stiffly at the door, with no intention of following him inside.

"By the way, so you like maid play? Too bad I don't have any maid outfits, and I guess the figure wouldn't suit your taste, right? Loli-loving guy."

One step, two steps.

She moved further and further away as if sliding, her smile gradually becoming polite but cold. She even took out her phone from her pocket and casually tapped the screen three times.

"No wonder you have no interest in me at all. Apart from occasionally peeking at my legs, you haven't shown any desire to push me down... Well, it's only natural to have an elementary school maid at home to play with every day."

"So, Loli-loving guy—do you think the door to leaving this world might appear in prison?"