I really don't want to have a girlfriend.

The hourly wage is 20,000 yen, and the only price is to go on a date with a beautiful woman with a not-so-good personality—no normal person would refuse this job, right?

Yuu Tenkuji wouldn't sell her dignity for money, and she knows that what a real "rent-a-boyfriend" does isn't as simple as it is today.

Even so, the meaning of becoming a boyfriend, the purpose of the system, why it appeared and why it chose him... these things are completely irrelevant to him.

Yuu Tenkuji only cares about one thing: whether the tasks issued by the 'system' are truly worth carrying out?

No matter how important the process or the reasons may be, no one will strive for a result they cannot obtain—those who oppose outcome-based thinking have only gained something before the result is achieved.

He used to be a person with dreams, but after realizing that he was not capable of protecting his dreams, he decisively became realistic, earning money through hard work and never hoping to make a fortune by winning the lottery.

Therefore, after the system appeared, Yuu Tenkuji suppressed her surprise and excitement, constantly testing and observing, treating the system only as a special way to make money, calculating whether the cost-effectiveness was right, and never drawing any conclusions before the results were in...

Until he actually withdrew the 20,000 yen that had been deposited into his account that day from the ATM.

"..."

Holding the two newly printed banknotes in her hand, Tenkuji Yu pursed her lips and remained silent for a moment before refreshing the deposit record. After confirming that the deposit time and the time indicated by the system were roughly consistent, she checked the records again.

He exhaled forcefully, then suddenly smiled and called his sister.

"Sky".

"what?"

When that lazy, familiar tone rang in her ears, Tenkuji Yu could barely contain her joyful laughter, and said boldly:

"We're having pizza for dinner tonight! Order whatever you want, add as many toppings as you like, don't even think about saving me money!"

"What? What happened? Did you win the lottery?"

Although they have no worries about food and clothing, their family has always adhered to thrift and tries to cook for themselves whenever possible instead of ordering takeout.

Therefore, under Yuu Tenkuji's control, Kasugano Sora could only eat fast food or pizza about once a month, and he had never been heard to speak in such a nouveau riche tone.

Yuzao Tenkuji anticipated this reaction and replied casually, "I just found a new job. The employer is very generous and pays me very well, even daily."

"...It's not a dangerous job, is it?"

"of course not."

"...Are your kidneys okay?"

Tenkuji Yuu immediately burst into hearty laughter.

"Hahaha! The problem is with you, isn't it? You just stay home and wait, I'm going to check your browsing history!"

She hung up the call as soon as he finished speaking.

Yuu Tenkuji looked at the screen with a mix of amusement and exasperation, only to find that she had sent another message.

"Yu, thank you for your hard work."

“...Not at all, Sora.”

As he spoke softly, he couldn't help but smile and made another call; the other end seemed to hesitate about whether to answer, and the busy signal rang for five seconds before it connected.

Before she could say anything, Tenkuji Yu spoke up directly:

"Call me Onii-chan and I'll let you spend half your money."

"...What? Yu has this kind of interest? That's really perverted."

She gave a disdainful snort, but her soft, clear voice carried no trace of disgust.

"I'm not going to play games that require spending money. This offer isn't tempting at all!"

——The Sky Temple Family.

Her silver hair was casually draped over her shoulders, and her petite and slender body lay sprawled on the bed, her slightly disheveled clothes outlining her youthful figure.

Holding a rabbit doll in her arms and listening to his voice, Kasugano Sora revealed a slightly smug smile, her milky white legs sometimes lifting and sometimes lowering, patting the bed casually.

She seems to be in a good mood.

"If Yu is happy, I will be happy too... but I just don't want to do things I don't want to do."

After all, she was a little shy and didn't want Yu to really treat her like a younger sister.

"So, you might as well just give up."

With a slight curve of her pinkish-white lips, Kasugano Sora calmly made her conclusion while looking at her phone, leaving no room for negotiation.

In the end, you think you can make her submit and call you "brother" just by spending money on in-game purchases?

You idiot Yu thinks too little of her, too materialistic...

"Then add this half-price to your allowance, and you can buy as many snacks as you want."

"..."

Knowing that this wouldn't sway her, Yuu Tenkuji immediately changed her mind.

After he finished speaking, there was another moment of silence on the other end of the phone.

Before long, a soft, innocent voice filled with humiliation and indignation rang out.

"Onii...chan."

"Hey, sweet little sister~"

His smile immediately blossomed into a bright one, and then he changed the subject:

"But how many snacks you can eat in a day still has to be in accordance with my rules, there's no room for discussion on that."

"..."

Before the distant volcano erupted, feeling completely refreshed, Yuu Tenkuji hung up the phone, then put her phone on silent, temporarily ignoring the barrage of messages that were about to bombard her.

If Yukino Yukinoshita were there, she would probably change her opinion of him again—he has almost two different expressions when he faces other people and when he faces his sister, like the refreshing and natural feeling when he takes off his mask after wearing it for a long time.

However, Tenkuji Yu quickly regained her usual composure, directly calling up the system panel and looking through the row of reward notification records.

"Although the 210,000 yen that Yukino Yukino gave me was still swallowed by the system, as long as I work hard to deepen my relationship with her and fulfill my duties as a boyfriend, I should be able to earn it all back from her... Wait, will the mission end once I 'satisfy' her? I need to make a long-term plan, otherwise the next one will be even more difficult to deal with..."

Just like mining, no matter how difficult the mine is, once you know how to dig, the rest is just a matter of practice.

The identity of "renting a boyfriend" is the most reasonable and useful pickaxe provided by the system, so naturally he should make the most of it!

Because it's a win-win situation, and their relationship is built on the foundation of money, Tenkuji Yuu can scheme against Yukinoshita Haruno without any psychological burden.

"Then, there are the other rewards."

His gaze was fixed on a certain prompt.

"Slight improvement in physical fitness (explosive power, endurance)"... This is the only reward related to physical fitness.

After several attempts, Yuu Tenkuji discovered that this "slight" was indeed very slight; at least he did not feel a significant increase in running speed.

I estimate we'll need to dig out past physical fitness records and test them again with our current physical condition to know exactly how much we've improved.

Let's skip that for now.

Skill rewards often come with money. While earning 20,000 yen, he also gained five new skills—throwing, makeup, short story writing, lullabies, and massage, ranging from proficient to perfect.

If you want to test it out, you can use up the proficient level skills first, and save the rest for future use.

Since it can only be used once, and we don't know the extent of that "once" or whether we can get duplicate skills from Yukinoshita Haruno, it's better to be cautious.

"The advanced level includes massage and short story writing... Hmm, let's go home first. I should be able to finish a short story before dinner, and it's also easier to try massage at home."

As for the person to try the massage, needless to say, it's... yourself.

How could they possibly use their sister as a test subject? What if something terrible happened?

Only if he feels fine massaging himself this time will he feel safe to "attack" Qiong next time he gets the massage skill.

After arranging what needed to be done next, Yuu Tenkuji subconsciously looked up and glanced at the warm afternoon sun in July.

The weather was unusually calm, without the sweltering heat that could evaporate sweat, and leisurely white clouds lurked on the distant edge of the sky, only occasionally drifting by.

"...Is a new life about to begin?"

He muttered to himself, chuckled inexplicably, and then started walking towards the station.

Chapter Ten: A Perfect Experience

JR Shibuya Station.

As the crowd moved forward, Yuu Tenkuji was about to head towards the ticket gate when she was drawn to the noisy crowd beside her.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a street piano performance—a well-known piano factory often holds such promotional events, placing pianos in places like train stations and music venues for visitors to play freely. Many YouTubers or live streamers perform street music in these crowded places to increase their popularity.

Right now, a YouTuber and her team have set up their filming location. After greeting the people around them, they begin playing the opening theme of a recently popular anime.

Many people also took out their phones, wanting to record this performance they happened to encounter.

Standing on the outskirts of the crowd, Yuu Tenkuji watched as the YouTuber, whose face was covered by a mask, gently laid his fingers and smoothly played a melodious prelude.

After thinking about it, I decided to stop and listen.

"Pork lard and bones, let's gnaw on them!"

Someone nearby began to sing along to the melody, while Tenkuji Yu turned his gaze to the system panel, stroked his chin, and looked thoughtful.

Five minutes later, the YouTuber finished playing. Yuu Tenkuji clapped along with the crowd, and after the YouTuber packed up his filming equipment, got up and left, and after most of the people nearby had dispersed, he sat down on the piano bench.

The sound of a finger striking a key is crisp and clear; it's a good piano.

"Although I can't tell whether it's good or bad either."

After making a self-deprecating remark, Yuu Tenkuji looked at the "Lullaby (Perfect) once" reward on the system panel and asked herself:

'System, if I want to play lullabies on the piano, can this skill teach me how to play the piano?'

The system did not respond; instead, the words "Lullaby" glowed faintly, as if indicating "Available Now."

That should mean yes.

Of the five skill rewards that Yu received from Sky Temple, only "Lullaby" is a perfect-level reward. Logically speaking, the highest-level reward should be saved, just like the favorite strawberry should be eaten last. If you want to test skills, the proficient and expert levels should be better test subjects.

But Tenkuji Yu had a different plan.

The sooner he familiarizes himself with the system's various functions, the better. He'll try out all three levels of skills sooner or later, and besides, he doesn't know when he'll be able to use a skill like Lullaby...

Why not test it now and see just how perfect the so-called "perfect" level really is?