"Eh?"
Goto Hitori froze, unable to process what she had just heard.
After quite a while...
"Ehhh?!"
Goto Hitori jumped up, her face instantly flushing red.
"Someone liking me... how could something like that possibly happen..."
Goto Hitori could hardly believe it.
How could someone as gloomy and withdrawn as her possibly receive a confession from a boy... How was that possible?
"I've always been watching you."
At that moment, Tsukikawa Shu took Goto Hitori's small hand and said, word by word, "It's just that I never had the chance to get close to you and tell you how I felt."
"I like you. Can you be with me?"
"Th-th-this..."
Goto Hitori seemed to shrink several sizes all at once.
It was the first time in her life someone had confessed to her.
She had fantasized countless times about being confessed to and pursued, even imagining how she would have a passionate romance, or how she would stylishly reject or accept the other person.
But now that a confession had really come out of nowhere, Goto Hitori's mind went completely blank.
Goto Hitori was too embarrassed to speak, her mind utterly blank.
Should she reject him? But he was so handsome, and he was someone who could understand her...
Should she accept? But they had known each other for less than a day, even though he might have known her for a long time...
But if she didn't accept him, maybe no one would ever pursue her again...
Goto Hitori's lips trembled as she desperately tried to find a more suitable answer.
"I've always wanted to be with you, Hitori."
Tsukikawa Shu pressed his advantage at that moment.
"You'll never have to play guitar alone in loneliness again. You'll have someone you can talk to."
"I'll show you a world beyond your home and school, and I'll help you slowly overcome your social anxiety."
"I'll accept all of your flaws."
"Please form a Destiny Pact with me. Let me stay by your side, okay?"
Tsukikawa Shu kept tightly holding Goto Hitori's hand, squeezing hard enough to make it hurt a little.
In truth, Tsukikawa Shu was nervous as hell too.
It was his first time confessing to a girl...
Face-to-face, they were both complete beginners at romance.
"...Okay!"
After a while, Goto Hitori finally couldn't hold back any longer and agreed with her eyes shut.
She had never been good at rejecting people in the first place. Now that a boy who cared about her had confessed to her, there was no way she could think that much about it.
[Goto Hitori has accepted the Destiny Pact] [Your Wife-Taking quest has been completed]
At that moment, prompts began appearing before Tsukikawa Shu, and the system started handing out rewards.
[You have obtained the talent: Double Experience, Double Item Drops] [You have obtained a blue-grade weapon: Muramasa] [Each time you kill a monster, you and your partner will both receive the full equivalent amount of Experience Points] [You have awakened the class: Enchanter] [You have obtained the "Formation Master" Class Card]
Looking at the system prompts, Tsukikawa Shu thought it over.
Being able to gain the same amount of Experience Points as his partner meant that farming monsters would be twice as effective from now on.
After killing a monster, Experience Points would no longer be distributed according to damage dealt. Instead, both of them would receive the full amount at the same time.
For example, if Tsukikawa Shu killed a monster worth 100 Experience Points, not only would he receive those 100 Experience Points, but Goto Hitori would receive 100 Experience Points as well.
If the two of them each killed a monster worth 100 Experience Points, they would each receive 100 × 2 Experience Points.
Forming a contract meant double the happiness.
And for Tsukikawa Shu, the more wives he formed contracts with, the greater the rewards he would gain from killing monsters.
It really was worthy of being called the Wife-Taking System. From now on, he really would have to rely on his wives to become stronger.
With that in mind, Tsukikawa Shu opened the description for "Enchanter."
[Enchanter:] [There is a chance to obtain dropped skills from monsters that possess skills] [By killing players who have entered the Inner World, you can plunder their skills and classes] [After obtaining skills and classes, you may use them yourself or give them to your partner]
The system's Novice Gift Pack looked pretty good.
Then Tsukikawa Shu's gaze returned to Goto Hitori.
Goto Hitori still had not come back to her senses.
"I'm no longer single? I'm no longer single? Someone like me is really no longer single? I got out of being single that easily?"
Goto Hitori pinched her fingers as she asked herself over and over again.
She had not even noticed that the system panel before her had changed.
"Bocchi-chan?"
It was not until Tsukikawa Shu went over and gave her a push that Goto Hitori finally snapped out of it.
"This unworthy girl... humbly asks for your guidance!!!"
Goto Hitori seemed to realize something and immediately performed a dogesa.
"No, no, there's no need for that."
Tsukikawa Shu hurriedly said.
"Take a look and see whether anything changed after forming the contract."
Tsukikawa Shu continued.
"Changed?"
Only then did Goto Hitori notice that some new things had appeared on the system panel before her.
[Destiny Pact] [You have formed a Marriage Contract with Tsukikawa Shu. Your destiny will be bound to Tsukikawa Shu's]
"Eh? A Marriage Contract?"
Goto Hitori was dumbfounded.
When he said he wanted to be with her just now, was this what he meant? They had not even dated yet, and they were already married?
Then she hastily read through the description of the Marriage Contract again, and promptly went blank.
Other than sharing Experience Points equally, the more important part of marriage was that they would share both fortune and misfortune.
If one party died or suffered a major blow, the other party would be implicated as well.
This was more binding than a legal marriage! And it could not even be dissolved.
"I haven't even saved up enough dowry yet..."
Goto Hitori thought of the little ceramic pig at home. The so-called dowry inside consisted of only a few clinking coins.
In an instant, she went limp again.
"What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"
Tsukikawa Shu hurriedly supported his wife, whom he had been married to for less than an hour.
"Y-you... why did you want to marry me so quickly? What exactly about me could possibly attract you?"
Goto Hitori asked.
At this point, she no longer knew what she was feeling.
Confusion? Embarrassment? Shock? In short, reality had completely crashed her brain's CPU.
Although she longed to stop being single, suddenly getting married was way too fast... Even her imagination could not keep up.
"Well..."
Tsukikawa Shu scratched his cheek.
Could he say that he had fallen for her after watching the anime? No one would believe that.
"Because you're cute," Tsukikawa Shu said.
"...Huh?" Goto Hitori blinked.
"Anyway, you're just really cute!"
Tsukikawa Shu emphasized it once more with complete seriousness.
"Ehhh? I'm cute?" Goto Hitori was stunned.
She could not believe that, aside from her friends, someone else would actually say the word cute about her.
On the contrary, plenty of people had said she dressed like a total country bumpkin.
"Y-you like me just because of that?"
Goto Hitori asked. "I'm not even pretty..."
Although the other members had made her wear casual clothes or maid outfits and often praised her for looking good when she joined the band, Goto Hitori had absolutely no confidence in herself. She felt they were only deliberately flattering her.
"That's right!"
Tsukikawa Shu said decisively, then took Goto Hitori's hand.
"So, even though this is sudden and there hasn't been any buildup... please marry me!"
"Right here in this Inner World!"
Seeing the sincerity in Tsukikawa Shu's eyes, Goto Hitori froze for a moment before her face instantly turned bright red.
"M-m-m-m... marry!"
And she would be marrying a boy who suited her tastes so perfectly. It was a little fast, but she really had no reason to refuse...
Her face flushed as she gradually began to feel lightheaded, her expression becoming increasingly unfocused.
It was like she had drunk fake liquor. At first she was dumbfounded, then unable to hide her shyness, and finally she broke into a foolish grin.
"Hehehe..."
The sudden happiness had completely gone to her head.
Goto Hitori's brain crashed!
Before you continue