Chapter 4

"Hitori?"

Tsukikawa Shu shook Goto Hitori's body.

After a long moment, Goto Hitori snapped back from her mental shutdown.

"Sorry, sorry, it's just too sudden, I still can't wrap my head around it..." Goto Hitori hurriedly explained.

"I know tying our fates through marriage all at once is too fast, but I really do like you, and there's a reason for it."

Tsukikawa Shu said with sincerity, "My ability only works through a marriage contract."

Then, Tsukikawa Shu explained his system's rules to Goto Hitori and showed her the system panel.

Even though it was better not to let outsiders know about his golden finger, Tsukikawa Shu had his principles—he didn't want to deceive Goto Hitori.

"In this Inner World, if you can't make good use of this golden finger, it's hard to survive," Tsukikawa Shu said.

Reasonable and sound, no issues there.

As for feelings, love would grow over time, slowly coming along.

"I see."

Goto Hitori twirled the stray hair at her temple and let out a sigh of relief.

At first, she'd been a little worried about being tricked into marriage.

Now it seemed there really was a reason.

And Tsukikawa Shu was indeed her type...

Even if it was a bit fast, being able to marry someone she liked was already satisfying enough.

It was just that she wasn't ready to be a proper wife yet.

Come to think of it, she was only a high school senior—just barely an adult, just reaching Japan's legal marriage age.

She sat beside Tsukikawa Shu, repeatedly twisting her stray hair, face red, unsure what to do.

Her Social Anxiety already made her quiet and bad at expressing herself; now she could only fall silent.

Tsukikawa Shu watched Goto Hitori's shy demeanor and couldn't help but smile.

If you just got close to this socially anxious Bocchi-chan, you'd find she was actually quite cute.

He moved a little closer, then reached out and wrapped an arm around Goto Hitori's shoulder, pulling her toward him.

Suddenly pulled into an embrace, Goto Hitori flinched, instinctively wanting to break free.

Wait, no—I'm his wife now, this isn't too much...

Forcing down the unease in her heart, Goto Hitori squirmed a little but ultimately didn't resist.

Her face was so red it looked like it might bleed.

"Actually... if you can't accept getting married so fast, we can start as lovers first."

Tsukikawa Shu held Goto Hitori close and said, "In the outside world, we can be lovers first, get to know each other."

"Mm... start as lovers first."

Goto Hitori buried her face in Tsukikawa Shu's chest and whispered.

Even though their relationship was already solidly that of Spouses, the outside world didn't know yet, so starting as lovers wasn't a bad idea.

Be boyfriend and girlfriend first, let others get used to it, then talk about marriage later.

At least until after high school graduation!

How should she explain it to everyone?

First, Mom and Dad, Futari, and the little dog... oh, and the Kessoku Band members.

Hehehe, they definitely wouldn't expect her to have found someone already.

She wanted to see their expressions—they'd be so surprised.

And Ijichi Nijika, Yamada Ryo, and Kita Ikuyo had never even been in love before.

She, the one always on the sidelines, had surpassed them!

Before she knew it, in Goto Hitori's vivid imagination, "letting others know she had a boyfriend" turned into "showing off to others that she had a boyfriend."

She leaned against Tsukikawa Shu's chest, grinning goofily, almost drooling.

"Hehehehe..."

Hearing the sound, Tsukikawa Shu looked down and saw Goto Hitori's silly expression.

This girl was definitely thinking about something to show off again.

Tsukikawa Shu knew this socially anxious girl all too well.

"By the way, did you awaken any class?" Tsukikawa Shu asked.

"Class?" Goto Hitori looked puzzled.

"Yeah, I just awakened an Enchanter class," Tsukikawa Shu said.

The two discussed it further and eventually checked the system, finding that awakening a class wasn't all that easy.

When players leveled up to a certain point, they might drop a Class Card, or they might not get one at all.

Aside from that random event from leveling up, the only other way was to obtain one from this Inner World.

A Class Card could be hidden inside some powerful monster, or it might be picked up by chance when opening a treasure chest.

Without a Class Card, a person could only remain a freelancer, unable to unleash skills, and leveling up would only boost their physique and strength.

Moreover, once a class was bound, changing it later would come at a heavy cost.

To switch classes, you'd have to reset your level to zero and use another Class Card—completely not worth it.

But for Tsukikawa Shu, this wasn't a problem.

An "Enchanter" could originally plunder others' skills and Class Cards for their own use.

"It just so happens I have a Class Card here. You can give it a try," Tsukikawa Shu said, opening his system interface for Goto Hitori to see.

[Unused Formation Master Class Card]

[Upon equipping, it will be shaped according to the user's attributes]

"Can I really accept something like this?" Goto Hitori looked at Tsukikawa Shu.

She hadn't helped much—was it really okay to take something from him like this? And she had no idea how to repay him.

"What are you thinking?" Tsukikawa Shu patted her head and smiled. "You're my wife now."

"Wife!"

Goto Hitori still couldn't get used to that identity.

She blushed again and said:

"Alright, I'll give it a try."

"If I don't awaken good attributes, don't blame me..."

Tsukikawa Shu looked at Goto Hitori's timid demeanor, hugged her, and chuckled. "Of course not. Just go ahead and use it."

"Okay!"

Goto Hitori mustered her courage.

Tsukikawa Shu transferred the Class Card, and Goto Hitori clicked to use it.

[Formation Master Class Card used successfully]

[Based on user attributes, Formation Master awakening successful]

[You have awakened "Curse-type Formation Master"]

[You have acquired skill: Curse of Negative Emotions on the Whole Field]

[Skill effect: After using the skill, Goto Hitori will recall deep-seated embarrassing memories, emitting intense negative emotions that infect all creatures in the area, drastically reducing their will to fight—Fighting Will -50, Sanity -50]

[At the same time, all creatures in the area will fall into a melancholic mood, generating negative thoughts like "Living is so exhausting," "Life has no meaning," "Why fight?" "Let's just lie down!" "May the world end!"]

Tsukikawa Shu: "..."

Goto Hitori: "..."

That skill really suited Goto Hitori's personality.

"Sorry, my personality is so gloomy..." Goto Hitori said, her expression dark.

Thin wisps of black smoke were seeping from her body—clearly, the skill had been triggered!

"This is just the system's attribute assessment based on each person. Hitori, don't worry about it..." Tsukikawa Shu quickly said upon seeing this.

Then he hugged her again.

"You still have me now, you know. If anything's bothering you, don't keep it bottled up—you can tell me," Tsukikawa Shu said.

"That's right." Goto Hitori snapped back to reality.

Now she had a boyfriend—no, a husband—way ahead of her friends. What was there to be sad about?

"Hehehe."

Goto Hitori lay in Tsukikawa Shu's arms, giggling foolishly again.

This girl was really easy to cheer up. Tsukikawa Shu breathed a sigh of relief.

Only Goto Hitori was this easy to fool, so easily taken as his wife. If he'd run into someone as hard to handle as Yukino Yukinoshita, he might have ended up dead in this Inner World the next day for failing to awaken a golden finger.

The first night passed safely.

They slept together, holding each other.

Even though Goto Hitori was now his wife, Tsukikawa Shu remained conservative and didn't cross any lines.

Goto Hitori was willing to accept him, but they'd only officially met for a day—going all the way would be too fast, and she might not be ready.

Their fates were already tied together, and Goto Hitori wasn't going anywhere. The rest would come slowly, step by step.

"Come to think of it, getting married after knowing each other for just one day is already pretty fast," Tsukikawa Shu couldn't help but laugh.

This is basically a knockoff of TONIKAWA: Over The Moon For You, isn't it? Marry someone after knowing them for a day, then just shower each other with sweetness nonstop.

The next day, the two slept until noon.

Mainly because Goto Hitori had overexerted herself and was too tired, lying in Tsukikawa Shu's arms and unable to get up.

Only when the sunlight grew harsh and shone directly into her eyes did Hitori groggily crawl up.

Rubbing her eyes, she glanced at her phone.

"It's noon!"

Hitori was startled.

She usually liked sleeping in, but during her school days, she'd never slept this late before.

"No rush now," Shu said with a smile. "Recharge your energy so we can grind monsters better today."

The two walked out of the office building and began searching the area for monsters worth experience points.

[You have taken a wife. Map upgraded.]

[Within a ten-kilometer radius, all monster information can be viewed, and monster lairs are automatically marked.]

Following the system prompts, Shu and Hitori arrived outside an abandoned subway station.