Gotou Hitori was so embarrassed she couldn't say a word. Her mind was a complete blank.
Should she reject him? But he was so handsome, and he actually understood her…
Should she say yes? But they'd only just met today—though maybe he'd known her for a while already…
Still, if she didn't accept him now, maybe no one would ever confess to her again…
Gotou Hitori's lips trembled as she struggled to find a suitable answer from the swirl of thoughts.
"I've always wanted to be with you, Hitori."
Tsukikawa Shuu pressed forward with his confession.
"You won't ever have to play guitar alone anymore. You'll have someone to share your thoughts with."
"I'll take you to see the world beyond home and school, and help you slowly walk out of your social anxiety."
"I'll accept all your flaws."
"Please, form a contract of destiny with me—let me stay by your side, okay?"
Tsukikawa Shuu held tightly onto Gotou Hitori's hand, gripping it so hard it almost hurt.
In truth, he was just as nervous inside.
It was the first time in his life he'd confessed to a girl…
Here they were, face to face, two total newbies to love fumbling their way through.
"...Okay!"
After a moment, Gotou Hitori finally gave in. Eyes squeezed shut, she agreed.
She'd never been good at rejecting people, and now, with a boy confessing who actually cared about her, there was no way she could overthink it.
[Gotou Hitori has accepted the contract of destiny]
[Marriage quest complete]
At that moment, Tsukikawa Shuu's system interface began flashing with notifications, distributing rewards.
[You have gained the talent: Double XP and Item Drop Boost]
[You have received a Rare Weapon: Tachi Muramasa]
[From now on, you and your partner will both receive 100% of experience points from each monster kill]
[Class awakened: Enabler]
[You have received the class card: Territory Master]
Tsukikawa Shuu pondered the system notifications.
Sharing experience equally with his partner meant grinding monsters would now be twice as efficient.
If he killed a monster worth 100 XP, both he and Gotou Hitori would each receive 100 XP.
If each of them killed one monster worth 100 XP, they'd both get 200 XP in total.
Forming a contract wasn't just romantic—it doubled the joy.
And for Tsukikawa Shuu, the more wives he contracted, the greater the rewards from monster hunting.
Truly, the "Wife System" lived up to its name—he'd really be growing stronger through his wives now.
Thinking of that, he tapped on the explanation for the "Enabler" class.
[Enabler:]
[Chance to acquire skills from skill-using monsters upon defeating them]
[Can plunder skills and classes from players who enter the Inner World]
[Skills and classes can be used personally or given to partners]
This beginner's reward package wasn't half bad.
Then, Tsukikawa Shuu turned his gaze back to Gotou Hitori.
She was still in a daze.
"I'm not single anymore? I'm not single anymore? Someone like me is actually no longer single? And it happened this easily?"
Gotou Hitori kept fiddling with her fingers, mumbling to herself over and over.
She didn't even notice the system interface in front of her had updated.
"Bochi-chan?"
It wasn't until Tsukikawa Shuu gently nudged her that Gotou Hitori snapped out of it.
"A useless girl like me... I'll be in your care!!!"
Seemingly realizing something, she immediately dropped into a full dogeza bow.
"No, no, no, you don't need to do that!" Tsukikawa Shuu said quickly.
"Take a look—see if anything's changed after we formed the contract."
"Changed?" Gotou Hitori finally noticed the system panel had new information.
[Destiny Contract Formed]
[You are now bound in marriage to Tsukikawa Shuu. Your fates are linked.]
"Eh? Marriage contract?"
Gotou Hitori was stunned.
So when he said "be together," he meant this? They hadn't even properly dated yet, and they were already married?
She skimmed the explanation of the marriage contract and was left dumbfounded.
Besides sharing XP, the more important part was that their fates were now fully intertwined—for better or worse.
If one of them died or suffered a major blow, the other would be affected as well.
This was more binding than a legal marriage! And it couldn't even be undone.
"I haven't even saved up a proper dowry yet…"
Gotou Hitori thought of the ceramic piggy bank she kept at home—her so-called dowry fund, which still only held a few clinking coins.
Suddenly, she collapsed in despair again.
"Are you okay? Feeling sick?" Tsukikawa Shuu quickly rushed to support his brand-new wife, married less than an hour ago.
"Why… why did you want to marry me so quickly? What part of me even attracted you?"
Gotou Hitori asked, her emotions in complete disarray.
Confused? Embarrassed? Shocked? Her brain had just blue-screened from real-world overload.
She had wanted to stop being single, sure, but to go from that straight into marriage? It was all too sudden—even her imagination couldn't keep up.
"Well…"
Tsukikawa Shuu scratched his cheek.
Could he just say he'd fallen for her after watching the anime? No one would believe that.
"Because you're really cute," he said.
"...Huh?" Gotou Hitori blinked.
"Anyway, you're just super cute!" Tsukikawa Shuu repeated firmly.
"Eh? Ehhh? I'm… cute?" Gotou Hitori was shocked.
She couldn't believe it. Aside from her close friends, had anyone ever actually called her cute?
On the contrary, plenty of people had called her plain or frumpy.
"So… so you fell for me just because of that?" she asked. "I'm not even that pretty..."
Even though her bandmates had made her dress up in cute outfits or maid uniforms and praised her looks, Gotou Hitori never had much confidence. She thought they were just flattering her for fun.
"Exactly!" Tsukikawa Shuu answered without hesitation, gripping her hand again.
"So even if this is sudden, even if there was no build-up—please, marry me!"
"Right here in the Inner World!"
Looking into Tsukikawa Shuu's sincere eyes, Gotou Hitori froze, then her face instantly flushed red.
"M-m-m-m-m-married!"
And to someone who fit her tastes so perfectly, too. Even if it was a bit fast, she really didn't have a reason to say no...
Her face was bright red, and she began to drift emotionally—her expression becoming dazed.
It was like drinking fake wine: first confused, then bashful, then breaking into silly giggles.
"Hehehe..."
She was completely overwhelmed by sudden happiness.
Gotou Hitori's brain had officially crashed!