I really don't want to have a girlfriend.

In other words, opportunistic methods are completely blocked by the system, or by the rules of this world.

He still needs to meet with his "girlfriends" and have them help him regain his memories.

"Then let's follow the rules!"

Since there was still a way out behind her, Yuu Tenkuji gave up quite decisively.

After sweeping all the props on the table into the drawer, he stretched and prepared to turn on his computer to look up some things that had become interesting to him that day.

Just then, there was a knock on the door behind me.

"YuYu-kun, do you have a moment? I have something I'd like to tell you."

It's Kasumigaoka Utaha's voice.

Chapter 142 A Confession That Isn't a Confession

4 8 8 ⑦ 4 9 ⑦ 9 9

Is there something you need to say?

Yuuki Tenkuji glanced at the night outside. It wasn't time for a night raid yet; she probably wasn't planning on a feint attack.

So he sat down in a chair and called out towards the door, "Just come in."

Kasumigaoka Utaha opened the door, wearing a very normal thin nightgown, her mature and alluring curves faintly visible underneath.

She seemed to have just taken a shower; her skin was flushed and her hair was moist. The rich scent of her bath wafted to Tenkuji Yu's nose after only a few steps, instantly adding a touch of springtime freshness to the entire bedroom.

After all, he wasn't a virgin anymore. Tenkuji casually and calmly crossed his legs and subconsciously looked at her hand—no pillow, so it probably wasn't a classic song.

“I have a feeling you’re thinking something really rude.” Kasumigaoka Utaha noticed his gaze, put one hand on her hip and narrowed her eyes. “Don’t worry, I’m not planning to use talking as an excuse to sleep here. Don’t get any unrealistic expectations.”

"You're the one who shouldn't overthink it." There wasn't a second chair in the room, so Tenkuji Yu gestured for her to sit on the bed. "What do you want to say?"

The bed dipped slightly, and her waist-length black hair gently fell onto the springy mattress. Kasumigaoka Utaha took a shallow breath, her slender, fair fingers unconsciously stroking the bedding.

"I plan to spend the rest of my time writing novels."

Even after guessing more than a dozen reasons why she came to find him, Yuu Tenkuji couldn't help but show a surprised expression.

"Are you planning to go into seclusion and finish writing the fourth volume?"

If we consider the volume of a typical light novel, the word count for two volumes would be between 200,000 and 250,000. Even if a normal human were to spend 24 hours a day at the keyboard, it would be impossible to write that many words in two days.

Not to mention the work involved in editing, researching, and developing the plot. Unless you are skilled at voice-to-text or have a dedicated studio to help you, it would be quite an achievement to write a 100,000-word light novel in just two days under extreme conditions of not sleeping or eating.

Even the legendary hippo typewriter couldn't do this, and Yuuya Tenkuji believed that Utaha Kasumigaoka wasn't the kind of person who would sacrifice quality for word count.

"How could that be? You overestimate me." Kasumigaoka Utaha rolled her eyes, her fair legs swinging on the edge of the bed. "Having inspiration is one thing, but even if I could maintain a full-speed sprint for two days, I could only manage 70,000 or 80,000 words at most. Forcing myself to write a whole volume would only make the content fall apart. There's no need for that."

This answer was exactly what Yuu Tenkuji expected. He smiled relaxedly and said, "Write as much as you can, huh? It seems you were really provoked by 'her'."

Kasumigaoka Utaha paused for a moment, her delicate chin arching slightly. She leaned back, gazing at the ceiling, and slowly began to speak:

"It's not exactly exciting... I can't catch up with her writing style without years of practice. The depth of her stories and the emotions she conveys are beyond my experience to write. It's like a small hill facing a big mountain; there's no point in comparing them."

"It's rare to see you so insecure," Yuu Tenkuji said with a sigh, leaning back in his chair.

"only……"

Kasumigaoka Utaha raised her hand in a daze, the fluorescent light in her eyes seeming to transform into a morning star, with gentle light emanating from between her fingers.

She clenched her fist and grasped at it, even though it was out of reach.

"I want to know what stories my life will lead me to write."

"Her story is indeed very exciting, but if I calm down and think about it carefully, if it were mine, there would be many more things I could change, and I could also make my protagonists take a completely different path... Every time I think about these things, inspiration keeps flowing in and makes me so excited!"

Kasumigaoka Utaha laughed and looked at Tenkuji Yuu.

That was truly a smile of pure, excited anticipation, unique to the creator.

"Even if I can't finish writing it, even if nothing is left after reincarnation, even if I forget it after I leave, it doesn't matter—I just want to write. I want to quickly write down everything that happened during this time, all the changing feelings and thoughts, and use this heat, comparable to molten iron, to make 'Love Metronome' an even more wonderful and touching story!"

"Perhaps this is the only thing I can do in this world?"

Tenkuji Yu shook his head: "You underestimate yourself too much."

"Isn't that right?"

"Of course, if it weren't for you, perhaps I really would have become the system's plaything in the end, just like Itoko arranged?" he said with a smile. "Since we met, 'my story' has become 'our story'—we've come this far, do you still want to say you did nothing?"

Kasumigaoka Utaha blinked, seemingly quite surprised that he would say that to her.

After a moment of silence, she blushed slightly, touched her hair, and lowered her head shyly, rubbing her pink and round knees together: "Even if you try to win me over with words like that, I won't obediently sleep with you~ You have to say at least a few more words!"

Tenkuji Yu laughed heartily: "Hahahaha! Don't worry, I won't say it again!"

"Really? Then let me explain."

Kasumigaoka Utaha instantly dropped her affected manner, raised her head, her cheeks flushed and her eyes moist, and said with a light laugh, "Since this is our story, will you, as the male protagonist, give me a perfect ending?"

"..."

Tenkuji Yu was speechless. This direct hit came so suddenly that he didn't know what to say.

—That doesn't make sense. Was she really this bold before? Knowing she wasn't interested in that kind of thing, she still went straight for it. Wasn't she afraid of making things awkward?

What should he say at this point? Should he be tactful or direct? Or should he just laugh it off?

The air fell silent as the two stared at each other, seemingly able to hear each other's breathing.

Just as Tenkuji Yu had finally decided what to say and her mouth had barely opened slightly, as if seizing the perfect moment, Kasumigaoka Utaha spoke first:

"You think I'm confessing my feelings to you? Unfortunately, I'm a results-oriented person. I will never confess before the relationship is established, nor will I give anyone the chance to reject me."

After shutting him up, she hummed twice, a mixture of smugness and slight disappointment, and swept her long hair from her chest to her back.

Whether it's just my imagination or not, I always feel that beneath that thin nightgown, there doesn't seem to be any fabric that restrains a woman's inner beauty...

"On the other hand, the more time I spend with you, the more I realize that you're actually quite easy to see through."

Ignoring his slightly changing expression, Kasumigaoka Utaha sighed to herself, "Because of your other girlfriends, you want to keep your distance from me. And because you have a strong sense of self-respect and want to show your gentlemanly character, you never express any improper thoughts about me. At most, you'll just steal a glance or two... Obviously, aside from the fact that you spread your legs wide, you are much more outstanding and upright than most men in the world."

Yuu Tenkuji thought she was being praised, and though he was still a little doubtful, he decided to thank her anyway.

As if she wasn't going to let him say a word, her tone suddenly turned critical: "In contrast, you have so many flaws that they're endless. Although you're not as annoying as the brainless, gentle male protagonist in light novels, those annoying traits haven't disappeared since I first met you; in fact, they've become more and more obvious."

"Wait a minute, that's just your biased and dogmatic opinion. I don't have that kind of awareness!"

Tenkuji Yu finally managed to interject, offering a weak defense of himself.

Kasumigaoka Utaha glanced at her sideways, her eyes conveying disdain without needing to say a word.

Yuu Tenkuji pretended not to see it and had no intention of admitting it.

“Sigh…” Kasumigaoka Utaha sighed softly, as if she couldn’t do anything about him. “I can understand it to some extent now. Even though you’re a scumbag who’s cheating on four women, your girlfriends would still risk unknown dangers to come into this world to save you.”

"why?"

Tenkuji Yu didn't know what she wanted to say, just as he didn't know what method he had used to create a harem full of beautiful girls in modern times.

Gazing out at the night sky, Kasumigaoka Utaha seemed to be speaking to him, or perhaps murmuring to herself, whispering in a voice so soft it could disappear at any moment:

"Because even with all your flaws, you'll still attract girls without them even realizing it, making them gradually fall head over heels for you."

"It has nothing to do with the system or anything like that; it's this charm that's what makes you so unfair."

Yuu Tenkuji twitched the corner of his mouth as if he found it strange, surprised and somewhat amusing at the same time.

"Charm? Me?"

He looked at her expressionless profile, as if she were a small moth stubbornly flying towards the fire, and shook his head, saying:

"I don't know about others, but when I was with you, I don't think I did anything that could be described as extremely charming, did I? Are you too deeply affected by your memories?"

"Perhaps it is, perhaps it isn't." She looked over, her eyes calm and cold, her attitude surprisingly serious. "I won't say how much I like you, but if you ask me to give a reason why I hate you, I can't think of a single word."

Tenkuji Yu pointed at herself: "Even if I'm a scumbag who's a sister complex and a loli complex, and also cheats on four people at once?"

Even so.

Kasumigaoka Utaha smiled helplessly, rested her elbows on her thighs, propped her cheeks up with one hand, tilted her head and gazed at his speechless, subtle expression, and spoke softly.

"You can be our male lead too, Yoyo-kun."

……

After that, Kasumigaoka Utaha heard that he was practicing hypnosis, trying to recall things from the past in this way.

"Try hypnotizing me."

She made this suggestion so frankly, seemingly without considering the possibility that he might take advantage of her during hypnosis.

Since someone volunteered to be part of the experimental group, Yuu Tenkuji couldn't think of a reason to refuse—not to mention whether he wanted to hypnotize girls into his playthings, even if he did, with his hypnosis skills at best only at the proficient level, he couldn't possibly pull off the scenarios that would appear in the doujinshi.

Being able to sleep peacefully is considered a success.

The hypnosis process went surprisingly smoothly. With just a little influence from words and a five-yen coin, Kasumigaoka Utaha gradually closed her eyes and swayed gently on the bed with a dazed expression.

Her small, rosy lips parted slightly, and the defenseless girl seemed like a fragile blade of grass that could be pushed over at the slightest touch. Strands of hair falling from her collarbone outlined a captivating curve, and the air was so quiet it was as if a fire had extinguished all sound.

Tenkuji Yu stood straight in front of her, noticing that the angle at which she was facing him was not good, and decisively used "Mirror of Still Water"—he had indeed overestimated his composure.

To prevent Kasumigaoka Utaha from not being truly hypnotized and deliberately opening her eyes at this moment, only to witness a scene that would definitely be censored if written down, Tenkuji Yu forced himself to calm down and shifted his body slightly so that his crotch wasn't facing her directly.

Then proceed to the next step in a serious manner, using language to guide her to recall memories of the real world.

Apart from that, Yuu Tenkuji did nothing else.

He's not a virgin, and he has a girlfriend he cares about. Even if he's playing a hypnosis game with a beautiful girl in his room, he can't possibly take the opportunity to give her an order like "become my weapon."

He could only think about it in his head; he was once again proud of his gentlemanly and noble character.

"wake up!"

After snapping her fingers, Kasumigaoka Utaha slowly opened her eyes. There seemed to be a hint of confusion in her eyes, but she quickly regained her clarity, and her jewel-like wine-red eyes shone with a calm and composed light.

"How was it? Did it work?" Tenkuji Yu looked her over carefully and asked without any expectation.

With her gaze fixed on him, Kasumigaoka Utaha silently watched for a long time before pursing her lips and shaking her head in slight regret.

"really."