"What should I do with this thing?"
Back from her dinner outing with Chihiro, Mio stared helplessly at the sexy outfit spread across her bed. She'd only bought it to tease Yumiko, but then Mashiro had discovered it.
Good thing it was Mashiro. A simple "it's for reference material" had been enough to fool her. Otherwise, Mio wouldn't have known how to explain it.
Though the way Chihiro had been looking at her afterward was a bit... odd.
Whatever. It probably wasn't a big deal.
Throwing it away felt like a waste—she had paid money for it, after all. Her closet was huge anyway, so she might as well put it away. Maybe it'd come in handy someday.
Just as Mio finished tidying up, her phone dinged. A message from Eriri.
Reminding her not to forget tomorrow's appointed time.
Of course Mio wouldn't forget. She was incredibly grateful she was meeting Eriri tomorrow instead of today. With the [Masochist Constitution] still in effect, if a task triggered while she was with Eriri, she might actually die of embarrassment.
After replying to Eriri, Mio sat down at her computer and became a soulless typing machine.
Until the clock struck midnight.
A semi-transparent card materialized before Mio's eyes.
[Lucky Card]
Dramatically increases Host's luck. Duration: 24 hours. Single-use; disappears after activation.
The moment she saw this card, Mio was stunned. She never expected someone with luck as terrible as hers could randomly get something like this.
Too bad she wasn't playing any mobile games right now. Otherwise, with this timing, she could've been a lucky bastard pulling SSRs left and right.
Just as Mio was lost in her daydreams, the system's voice suddenly chimed in: "Although it feels a bit inappropriate to pop up right when Host is about to sleep, there's nothing I can do about it."
"Please find a way to make Shiina Mashiro say 'I like you' voluntarily before she falls asleep. Success may reward you with a Shiina Mashiro series card or item. Failure will result in drawing a punishment card."
"This task should be absolutely no challenge for Host, so I won't bother cheering you on."
Probably because Mashiro-related tasks posed zero difficulty for Mio, the system sounded rather listless.
No fun for the troll meant no fun at all.
Mio felt her luck really was pretty good today. The [Schrödinger's Card] effect had just refreshed when this task triggered, and the task itself was basically a freebie.
To avoid Mashiro dozing off and failing the mission, Mio was about to get up and head next door when Mashiro, in her pajamas, pushed open the door and walked right in.
Seeing Mio still at her computer, Mashiro asked softly, "Mio. Still writing?"
"Yeah, just about done."
Mio didn't rush to complete the task. After spending so much time with Mashiro, she could tell at a glance whether the girl was sleepy or not.
Mashiro didn't seem tired at all right now. She usually waited until Mio finished working before they went to bed together.
With that in mind, Mio's fingers flew across the keyboard, quickly typing out a scene of dialogue.
The phrase "I like you" happened to be part of this exchange. Mio carefully proofread it, and once she was sure nothing was wrong, she spoke up. "Mashiro, could you read these lines out loud for me? Something feels off, but I can't pinpoint it."
"Okay."
Mashiro didn't think too much about it. She obediently sat in Mio's lap and began reading the lines.
The task was completed without a hitch. Mashiro's conquest rating increased by 2 points. [Shiina Mashiro's Drawing Techniques] leveled up by 1.
"It does feel a bit off. But it's late now, so let's just sleep first."
"Mm." Though Mio's behavior seemed a little strange, Mashiro didn't dwell on it.
······
The night passed uneventfully.
At 7 AM, Mio had just opened her eyes when, before she was even fully awake, the system's voice rang in her ears.
"Good morning, Host! Hearing my voice first thing when you wake up—doesn't that make you happy~"
"What do you want?" Mio mumbled groggily.
"Please find a way to wake Shiina Mashiro with a kiss. Success may reward you with a Shiina Mashiro series card or item. Failure will result in drawing a punishment card."
By the time the system finished explaining, Mio was wide awake.
She frowned. She'd just triggered a task before bed last night, and now another one the moment she woke up? This trigger rate was way too high.
This kind of thing had happened before, but something felt off this time.
Mio glanced at Mashiro, still sound asleep in her arms, then checked the time. True, if Mashiro woke up on her own, the task would fail. But Mio really couldn't bring herself to wake her up this early.
So she decided to get up first, wash up, make breakfast, and then wake Mashiro.
Maybe because Mashiro was too obedient, the system was now making her take the initiative.
This was not a good sign.
Getting Mashiro to do weird things to her? Mio could handle that. But having her do weird things to Mashiro? That might be a bit much.
Pushing aside her wandering thoughts, Mio carefully slipped out of bed and tiptoed to the bathroom.
Mashiro was always a deep sleeper, and the room's soundproofing was solid. Mio wasn't worried about waking her.
After freshening up and finishing breakfast, it was almost 8 AM.
She returned to her room. Mashiro was hugging the blanket in her sleep as if it were Mio herself.
Looking at that adorable sleeping face, Mio couldn't help but smile.
After a moment's hesitation, she carefully leaned down and gave Mashiro a soft mwah on the cheek.
But Mashiro didn't react at all.
With no other choice, Mio took a breath to compose herself and prepared for round two.
Just as she was leaning in for another attempt—Mashiro's eyes suddenly opened.
In that instant, their eyes met.
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