"Hm?"
When Mio got home and was about to change clothes in her room, she discovered someone lying on her bed.
The only person besides herself who had a key to her place was Shiina Mashiro.
So it was obviously Mashiro on the bed.
Perhaps hearing the sound of the door opening, the lump on the bed squirmed a few times before Mashiro's little head poked out from under the covers. She looked at Mio with sleepy eyes. "Mio. Cake."
"Don't worry, I bought you cake. But dinner's soon, so you can only have one slice, got it?"
"Okay."
Wanting her cake, Mashiro scrambled out of bed in no time, not even bothering to put on slippers before padding off to find it.
Mio smiled helplessly. By the time she changed and returned to the living room, Mashiro was already sitting on the couch eating her cake.
When Mashiro noticed Mio approaching, she skillfully forked off a small piece and held it up to Mio's lips. Mio ate it without hesitation.
Back when she'd first transmigrated, Mio might have hesitated a bit, but after spending so much time with Mashiro, this had happened countless times already.
They'd even bathed together. Why would she care about an indirect kiss at this point?
After swallowing the cake, Mio asked curiously, "Mashiro, don't tell me you've been sleeping since breakfast?"
Mashiro shook her head, then said with her mouth still full, "Afternoon. Slept after finishing the manga."
"Hm? Then why did you come over here?"
"Because... I like Mio's scent." Mashiro stated matter-of-factly, her tone completely flat.
Before Mio could respond, the system's voice chimed in first: "Shiina Mashiro's conquest rating with the host has increased by 1 point."
"Knew it," Mio muttered under her breath, but she didn't argue with the system.
After all, she had to admit her heart had skipped a beat just now.
Seeing Mio's somewhat helpless expression, Mashiro tilted her head. "Mio, what's wrong?"
"Nothing. Just... don't go saying stuff like that to other people, okay?"
"I only like Mio's scent."
"I-I'm gonna go cook!"
Mio stood up and headed toward the kitchen. She was afraid that if she stayed near Mashiro any longer, that conquest rating would just keep climbing. Who could handle this?!
...
8 PM.
Because she still had the negative effects from the [Lucky Card], Mio went straight home after dinner, trying to become a soulless writing machine.
However, task triggers had basically nothing to do with location—what mattered was who was nearby on the system panel.
This was the experience Mio had accumulated since transmigrating.
For example, when she was shopping with Eriri earlier today, all the tasks triggered were Eriri-related. Now, any tasks that triggered would most likely be Mashiro-related.
While Mashiro's tasks were easy to complete, her conquest rating was currently the highest among all targets at a whopping 37 points!
It wouldn't be long before hitting 50, and then task difficulty would enter the next tier.
The current tasks were already torturous enough. Mio didn't even want to imagine what kinds of tasks would appear once difficulty increased.
But no matter how much she wanted to avoid triggering tasks, under the influence of the [Lucky Card], her exploding luck made it impossible to avoid.
"Please find a way to have Shiina Mashiro proactively push you down and kiss you before today ends. Success may reward you with a Shiina Mashiro series card or item. Failure will require drawing a punishment card."
"I won't say much more—please do your best, Host. There's only a few hours left today, so at most you'll trigger one or two more tasks."
"You actually know how to comfort people?" Mio said, somewhat surprised.
"I'm your cozy little cotton jacket, Host~ Sure, I like watching the show, but I've had enough entertainment for today. Plus, when tasks trigger this frequently, it's basically overtime for me. Nobody likes overtime."
"Fair point."
Mio sighed softly. She had actually considered dragging out tasks that weren't too time-sensitive, completing them at the last minute to avoid triggering new ones.
But all signs indicated that task triggers weren't affected by this. In fact, stacking different tasks might make things even more complicated.
With that in mind, Mio lost all motivation to write. She got up and headed next door.
Walking into Mashiro's room, she saw her diligently drawing manga as always.
With Mashiro's drawing speed, she'd already built up quite a stockpile. But even so, she still tirelessly drew every day—whether it was manga or oil paintings.
Seeing Mio enter her room, Mashiro asked flatly, "Mio, didn't you say you were going back to write?"
"I hit a crucial point and got stuck, so I thought I'd come ask for your help."
"Hm?"
Hearing that Mio needed help, Mashiro set down her work. Her expression didn't change, but a glint of curiosity flickered in her eyes.
Mio walked over to the bed and stopped, then pointed at her cheek. "Mashiro, could you push me onto the bed and give me a kiss?"
Anyone else hearing this would definitely have something to say, but not Mashiro. She just nodded lightly, stood up, walked over to Mio, and gave her a gentle push.
Pushed onto the bed, Mio's lips curved into a faint smile. Just as she'd predicted—now she just needed Mashiro to kiss her and the task would be complete.
As expected, zero difficulty~
If completing tasks didn't increase conquest ratings, she'd happily take on a few more Mashiro-related tasks.
Just as Mio was thinking about which reward to choose after completing the task, she suddenly felt something soft press against her lips.
Mio's eyes went wide as she stared at Mashiro, now mere inches away.
Wait, this isn't right. Wasn't it supposed to be on the cheek? How did this turn into a kiss on the lips?
And as if the system was doing this on purpose, time froze at that exact moment.
...