I really don't want to have a girlfriend.

He then turned his gaze to the silver-haired girl, who had an expressionless face but seemed much more approachable than before.

He relaxed his lips and laughed heartily.

"Our goal is to get everyone home safely, and to ensure that everyone's fate and story have a perfect ending!"

It's both willful and immature, seemingly just a casual, heroic slogan.

But no one made a sound of laughter; they simply responded to his words with unchanging, matter-of-fact glances.

Yuu Tenkuji is a man of his word; he always does what he says he will do—and to this day, no one doubts this fact.

Soon after, the living room went dark.

Pure sunlight streamed into the corners of the room, and the silence spread again, now with a touch of homey warmth.

Amidst their usual banter and casual conversation, three pairs of footsteps headed upstairs, followed by the sound of three different doors closing.

The rising sun hangs high in the sky, illuminating the bustling city of Tokyo.

—And beyond that, a thick white fog enveloped the city's borders, swallowing everything up like an avalanche, seemingly slow but actually rapid.

……

the next day.

Day 5 of the first cycle, two days before the start of reincarnation.

Kasumigaoka Utaha, fully dressed, slammed open Tenkuji Yu's door and declared righteously with her chest puffed out:

"I'm so bored, come with me to gather material!"

Chapter 137 A Date at the Mall?

So the two went to a shopping mall near the station.

"What do you mean by 'source material'? You just want to go on a date with me, don't you?"

Tenkuji Yu showed her no mercy and directly exposed her plan.

Kasumigaoka Utaha shrugged noncommittally: "If thinking that satisfies your vanity, then so be it. Should I also thank you for gracing me with your presence?"

"..."

Yuu Tenkuji was too lazy to say anything more. This guy must have prepared a set of excuses to deal with him in advance, which is why he looked so confident.

Whether it was for research or a date, from the moment she stormed into his room with such force and preparation, he knew one thing—no matter what, this girl was going to drag him out shopping today.

So before she could resort to any more coaxing or pleading tactics, Tenkuji Yu decisively gave up resisting, casually changed his clothes, and went out with her.

Perhaps he was bored, or perhaps he was recalling past experiences; the reason didn't matter to him... Anyway, staying at home was just aimlessly gathering information online, while going out might lead to other discoveries.

Two teenagers, who looked like high school students, were casually dressed and swaggering through the shopping mall on Sunday.

“If no one had told me, I wouldn’t have believed that this was a created world.”

Kasumigaoka Utaha looked around, like a tourist who had just come to stroll around. She moved slowly on the clean and bright ground, not in a hurry to visit the boutique counters that stretched out on both sides.

"Everything is undeniably real, without any flaws, even humans... No game can achieve this, right? Yet the system can create at least an entire Tokyo of humans with their own thoughts. Thinking about it carefully, it's really terrifying, comparable to a god."

Recalling all the experiences before being approached by Yuu Tenkuji, she couldn't help but sigh deeply, her heels making a crisp sound on the marble tiles.

“It’s not creation, it’s just copying everything from a certain timeline.” Yuu Tenkuji followed beside her and answered casually, “And this is probably not the power of the system, but a miracle created by the Light Orb... just like the trial space I was in before, which was controlled by my sister alone, but had a cycle of a full year.”

"Although the scope is still within the 23 wards of Tokyo, whether it is my girlfriend or other passers-by who are no different from NPCs, they can all be said to be parallel world counterparts in reality. Of course, there will be no flaws."

“That’s already quite remarkable, since these are things that ordinary humans like us can’t do anyway.” Kasumigaoka Utaha paused, then corrected herself, “I misspoke, I meant ordinary humans like me.”

"What, you want to de-humanize me? There's no reproductive barrier between us."

"You consider yourself ordinary? Forget about being a transmigrator, this guy's cheat codes drag other innocent people down with him," Kasumigaoka Utaha retorted mercilessly. "Goblins and female knights don't have reproductive barriers either, what are you trying to prove with that?"

"Nothing at all. By the way, you have quite a wide range of knowledge. Goblins and female knights... Would a pure romance novel even include something like that?"

“Negative examples are also worth considering. Just don’t look at them with prejudice. Everything is just material.” Kasumigaoka Utaha tossed her long hair gracefully, and under his somewhat amused gaze, she nonchalantly turned her slightly flushed face away.

"On another note, did Itoko tell you all this? Copying world lines and all that? I didn't hear her mention that."

"After all, you wouldn't understand even if I told you, and it's not important information. Even for me, she wouldn't explain it to me unless I asked her directly."

Tenkuji Yu paused slightly, then asked, "She wanted to come out with us, right? Why did you refuse her?"

Kasumigaoka Utaha rolled her eyes at him: "I don't want to be mistaken for a young mother, walking around with you and our daughter like a married couple."

Tenkuji Yu raised an eyebrow: "So it's okay to go on a date like a couple?"

"puff!"

Kasumigaoka Uta couldn't help but laugh, and this time it was her turn to give him an amused look.

"With this kind of distance between us, how can we look like a couple?"

Indeed, because Tenkuji Yuya deliberately slowed down, the two were now in a position with the woman in front and the man behind, maintaining a distance that was neither too close nor too far, and there was no ambiguous or intimate atmosphere at all.

More like ordinary students doing errands for the school than young couples out having fun.

Yuu Tenkuji was speechless and could only shrug: "Fine. So how do you plan to 'gather material'? You're not going to decide to walk through the entire mall just to experience what a real date feels like, are you?"

"Don't worry, I don't like shopping for too long either, especially in malls on holidays, it's crowded and my feet get tired." Kasumigaoka Utaha strode to the elevator, pressed the button and pointed to the floor information board, "Anyway, it won't be too much of a hassle for you... Let's go to the third floor first."

When Tenkuji Yu looked up, his calm expression changed.

"……underwear?"

"That's right. Anyway, the world will completely restart in two days, right? I plan to change into different styles of designer lingerie every day, buy some other things, and spend all the money I've saved."

Kasumigaoka Utaha crossed her arms and laughed happily, saying, "Treat two days from now as if it's the end of the world, and let loose without any scruples—that's today's topic, isn't it?"

"I hadn't thought of that... You truly are a novelist." Tenkuji Yu clapped his hands in admiration. He didn't have such romantic ideas; his mind was filled with questions about the future and reality.

Even so, he had no intention of following Kasumigaoka Utaha's example and going on a "pre-apocalyptic shopping spree" with her—even if he bought the entire mall now, Tenkuji Yu probably wouldn't be happy.

After all, he had low material desires; otherwise, he wouldn't have used all the money he earned from working to support his younger sister.

—But what if it's not about buying, but about actively trying new things?

During these two days of "vacation," I'll do things I wouldn't normally do, and then forget them all when the cycle begins, as if I never did them...

Suddenly, Yuu Tenkuji became interested, and many thrilling and exciting images flashed through her mind. She inexplicably began to look forward to the next part of the trip.

"What's wrong? Why are you laughing so excitedly all of a sudden?" Kasumigaoka Utaha looked at him with a puzzled expression.

"Don't worry about it. Have you decided what to buy today, besides underwear?" Yuu Tenkuji temporarily put aside her thoughts and changed the subject. "Making money is not easy, and how you spend it is also quite important, especially since the 'end of the world' is in two days. If you don't have enough money, I have some here. Spend it as you like. It's not a problem to raise several hundred million in a short time with a few tricks."

"Do you think I'm going to buy a deserted island or a plane... As expected of a light novel protagonist, he's just so capricious." Kasumigaoka Utaha complained indignantly, then waved her hand. "If you really don't have enough money, I won't be polite to you. But it'll probably be a bit difficult to use up all my saved royalties in two days."

"That means you don't usually spend money extravagantly." Tenkuji Yu glanced at her sideways. She was a quiet, elegant, and noble girl, but she didn't give off any luxurious air of a rich young lady. Instead, she had the feeling that the girl next door had grown up to be beautiful and seemed aloof, but her essence had not changed.

If you didn't know her true nature, just by looking at her appearance, you would really think she was a well-behaved girl from a scholarly family.

Unfortunately, its internal condition is as bad as Aunt Susan's underwear that she hasn't changed in three days...

Taking the elevator to the third floor, a bright and clean corridor stretched out in front of me, with various lingerie counters on display. The few tourists scattered around were all women.

As if she had stepped into an area where feng shui was incompatible, Tenkuji Yu felt a brief discomfort, but before Kasumigaoka Utaha cast an interested glance at her, she calmly and casually looked around.

"Do you have a favorite brand, or are you planning to specifically choose the expensive ones?"

"Buy the most expensive one from the brands you like." Kasumigaoka Utaha tilted her head with a smile. "Or are you going to help me choose?"

"I have absolutely no knowledge of women's inner beauty." Like a clueless straight man who's impossible to flirt with, Tenkuji Yu calmly crossed his arms. "I don't even know your measurements or your preferred style, so how am I supposed to help you choose?"

The more he acted this way, the more Kasumigaoka Utaha wanted to see him waver for her.

So she spoke up decisively: “Your measurements are…” she said, uttering a string of mysterious numbers, then lowered her voice and said, “I usually like to wear black, purple, and red lace, and occasionally I wear a T-back out of interest… but today, I want to try on a style you like.”

"What I like?" Yu Tenkuji feigned doubt. "I don't think you look good in boxer shorts."

Kasumigaoka Utaha's lips twitched slightly.

"...I mean, what kind of underwear do you want to see girls wear?"

She bet the black stockings she was wearing that this guy was definitely pretending to be ignorant again!

What kind of extreme ambiguity is this, where the woman goes straight for the man and the man engages in a push-and-pull dynamic? She doesn't want to become the strongest new anime heroine!

Should I really not have dragged him shopping with me...? If this continues, I'll probably get high blood pressure in less than two days, right?

While Kasumigaoka Utaha was taking deep breaths to calm herself down, Tenkuji Yu spread his hands and said, "Sorry, I don't have any special hobbies. After all, it's just a piece of cloth."

He would never say that he would look best without wearing anything.

Only when underwear is worn by a woman he likes does it have value beyond the fabric, and only then will a man start to consider the style.

Yuu Tenkuji was only slightly interested in Kasumigaoka Utaha's body; it was nice to feast his eyes on her, but there was no need for him to actively pursue anything.

Let her tease me however she wants. If she's so capable, she should make me fall for her. She's two-timing me before she's even regained her memories!

"Tsk, asking you was definitely the worst choice." Kasumigaoka Utaha clicked her tongue in frustration, tossed aside her cascading black hair, and strode forward with heavy steps. "Fine, let's just go pick it out. You can tell me what you want to buy, and I'll pay for it."

Yuu Tenkuji kindly reminded us: "They only sell women's underwear here."

Don't you usually wear this?

"...So this is how you see me? I'm so disappointed."

Hearing his helpless tone, Kasumigaoka Utaha finally smiled again and hummed smugly.

……

"Where are the most expensive styles available, and in larger sizes?"

Kasumigaoka Utaha found a counter of a well-known brand and, without any hesitation, directly explained her intentions to the store clerk.

Under the curious yet strange gazes of the female shop assistants, Yuuki Tenkuji calmly followed them as they moved among the colorful underwear, his eyes fixed straight ahead.

"These are the latest luxury and elegant styles from this season..."

"No need for introductions, I can choose for myself."

Waving away the female shop assistant, Kasumigaoka Utaha casually picked out a few items from the shelf and turned to walk towards the changing room.

Seeing that she had no intention of continuing to tease him, Tenkuji Yu spoke up as she lifted the curtain, feigning innocence, "Do you need my evaluation after you're done wearing it?"

Kasumigaoka Utaha turned her head slightly, her tone suddenly turning cold: "Want to see me without clothes? Then you'd better reflect on your attitude."

"Alright, I'll wait for you outside." Tenkuji Yu didn't mind; it was just a casual remark, a matter of returning the favor.