Omniverse: The Invincible Me Just Wants to Slack Off

Kitagawa puffed out her cheeks and shot Chen Tian a glare, her face round from the bun stuffed in her mouth.

But the next second, a rich, savory burst of flavor exploded on her tongue, and her eyes instantly narrowed. "Mmm... this is so good~"

Chen Tian looked down at the little sun in his arms—fiercely declaring war one moment, easily won over by food the next—and the curve of his lips deepened unconsciously.

The morning light outside the window, the warm body in his arms, the scent of food and violet body wash lingering in the air.

Jujutsu Kaisen? Get the hell out of here!

Satoru Gojo? Stay the hell away from me!

I just want to be a lazy fish, drowning in countless beauties~~~

He tightened his arm around her waist, bent down, and kissed the golden strands sticking up on top of her head.

Kitagawa, still lost in the deliciousness of the bun, let out a vague "Huh?" and nuzzled against him like a cat being petted.

The white steam rising from the steamer basket bathed the morning kitchen in an especially warm glow.

Chapter 23: Random Travel

This heart of Neon, an international metropolis.

Now, however, it was scarred and battered—a scene of utter devastation, all from the Culling Game.

Fortunately, Chen Tian hadn't wanted to see his little sun get downcast.

The scheduled twenty-day bloody free-for-all? After he stepped in, it was completely over in just over ten minutes.

All the curses and Curse Users that appeared in Neon during the Culling Game?

Under the Enma Sword, all beings are equal. Ten-plus minutes, and the cleanup was done.

He'd forcibly suppressed this massively destructive game to its lowest possible point.

Even more absurd was the speed of reconstruction.

It was unbelievably fast!

The destroyed skyscrapers, the shattered streets, the collapsed public facilities...

It was as if someone had hit fast-forward, and everything snapped back into place with a series of clicks.

The whole of Neon had transformed into a construction maniac.

No idea if they'd consulted with Dongda University, or if, before Chen Tian crossed over, this world had gone through some Ultraman plotline.

But this world had gained experience in infrastructure. Within just a week after the Culling Game ended, all of Dongjin had already recovered to eighty percent of its former state.

Chen Tian and his little sun—Kitagawa Marin—also planned to take the Shinkansen back to Dongjin.

It wasn't that he couldn't open a portal, but a week ago, Kitagawa had felt that since they were going back to school soon, why not make a trip of it and play their way back to Dongjin?

And so—buying random tickets, getting off at random stops, ignoring direction and destination—a blind-box trip began.

"Next stop is—Hakodate!" Kitagawa stood on tiptoe, poking at the ticket machine screen, her golden hair tips brushing Chen Tian's nose. "No peeking at the ticket destination!"

Chen Tian smiled and nodded, letting her snatch away the two random tickets.

This silly girl, had she forgotten she'd just shouted out the destination herself?

When the platform announcement rang out, the girl was folding the map into a paper airplane, landing it in a perfect arc into the trash can. "From now on, we leave it to fate!"

At five in the morning on Mount Hakodate Observatory, Kitagawa, wrapped in Chen Tian's jacket and munching on a buttered corn cob, suddenly tugged at his scarf. "Look!"

Morning light pierced through the clouds, gilding the bay's outline. Her eyelashes were dusted with frost, but her smile was radiant.

Chen Tian pressed the shutter—in the frame was a sun brighter than a million-dollar night view.

In the afternoon at the Kanemori Red Brick Warehouse, she tried squid ice cream from twenty different shops, then finally snatched the only normal vanilla flavor from Chen Tian's hand. "Silly Boyfriend, you can only eat what I've tasted~"

After a day in Hakodate, Kitagawa dragged Chen Tian back to the station.

She bought another random ticket, then turned to look at Chen Tian, who was standing behind her with a gentle smile. She wrinkled her nose.

With a wave of her hand, she took the lead, a smug grin spreading across her small face.

"Let's go. Next stop."

The two quickly arrived at their new destination—Aomori.

As soon as they got off the train, Kitagawa's eyes landed on a hot spring advertisement on a station billboard.

"Apple hot springs?" Kitagawa stared at the inn's main selling point on the ad, her eyes lighting up.

That night, in the milky-white pool floating with red apples, she suddenly pressed Chen Tian against the edge. "Don't move!"

Her fingertip traced his collarbone. "This is where I bit you in Sapporo last time... Huh? Where'd it go?" The steam from the water blurred the tips of his ears, which had suddenly turned red.

The next morning, she ran through the apple orchard in her yukata, her hem scattering a trail of white blossoms.

The elderly orchard couple smiled and handed them freshly squeezed juice. "Ah, to be young."

Chen Tian, staring at the lipstick-stained rim of the cup, silently bought ten cases of apples to ship back to Dongjin.

In front of the Shinkansen platform, Kitagawa stood on tiptoe, peering at the ticket machine. "This time, let's buy Sendai! I heard the beef tongue there is super—delicious!"

Chen Tian shoved the freshly bought strawberry daifuku into her mouth. "Didn't you say yesterday we were going to Kanazawa?"

"Mmph..." Kitagawa chewed the pastry with puffed cheeks, then her eyes suddenly lit up. "Then let's flip a coin to decide!" She fished a five-hundred-yen coin from her shorts pocket, glinting in the sunlight.

The coin arced through the air. Heads for Kanazawa, tails for Sendai.

The coin ended up stuck in a drainage grate.

"Hahaha—" Kitagawa laughed so hard she hung her whole body off Chen Tian's arm. "Then we'll go to whatever station the next train stops at!"

So Sendai's beef tongue became Kanazawa's gold-leaf ice cream.

Kitagawa held up the glittering cone for a selfie, Chen Tian's reflection just visible in the shop window behind her.

On the fourth day in Nagoya, Kitagawa insisted on trying the legendary "Fried Chicken Wing Challenge"—eating ten super-spicy wings in ten minutes.

The result: tears streaming from the heat, she threw herself into Chen Tian's arms demanding kisses.

On the fifth day at a Kyoto guesthouse, the owner mistook them for a newlywed couple and insisted on giving them matching yukata.

Once Kitagawa put it on, she refused to take it off. In her own words: "I'm wearing this to school to show those women eyeing you up, hmph~"

Just thinking about it made her happily clatter her wooden geta across the courtyard to feed the koi.

On the evening of the seventh day, when Tokyo Tower's silhouette finally appeared on the horizon, Kitagawa suddenly pulled out all their train tickets from the week, bundling them together with a rubber band.

"This is going in our memory box!" She stuffed the tickets into Chen Tian's chest pocket, poking a finger at the spot over his heart.

Chen Tian looked at her adorable expression, smiled, and ruffled her golden hair. "Alright, whatever you say."

Kitagawa wrinkled her nose at him playfully, then immediately whipped out her phone, fingers flying.

Turns out, over this past week, every carefully chosen photo, every sweet moment—leaning together watching the sunrise on Mount Hakodate, splashing in the Aomori hot springs, their reflections in the Kanazawa shop window—had long been plastered all over her social media.

The kicker: every single post tagged Shinomiya Kaguya, along with a few other names—"Ice-Cold Sharp-Tongued Woman," "Passerby A," "Doujinshi Sister."

The phone screen's glow lit up her smug smile.

She tapped open one of the most popular posts. Below it was a reply from "Young Miss," carrying that signature elegant tone of the Shiongo Family, but the words practically dripped with sourness: "Have a nice trip. Seems like some people have too much free time."

Another comment from an account with an anime avatar (labeled "Doujinshi Sister") was even blunter: "Got the material √"

Followed by a string of passive-aggressive lemon emoji.

"Hmm hmm hmm~" Kitagawa looked at those comments, not annoyed in the slightest. Instead, she hugged her phone and curled into Chen Tian's arms, laughing like a cat that got the cream, her shoulders shaking.

"Look how sour they are!"

Chen Tian glanced down at the screen, then at the little sun in his arms clearly "staking her claim," and chuckled. "Little vinegar jar."

"I am not!" Kitagawa shot back immediately, but the corners of her mouth curled even higher as her fingers flew across the screen again, probably liking one of those sour comments.

The two of them had just dragged their suitcases out of the Shinkansen ticket gate, merging into the bustling station crowd.

Kitagawa immediately raised her index finger to tap her lips, scrunching up her little face in deep thought. "Ehh~ where should we stay tonight? That place with the starry ceiling? Or the one with a full view of Tokyo Tower? Ahh, so hard to choose..."

Chen Tian didn't interrupt, just smiled at her conflicted expression, quietly pushing the luggage beside her.

Chen Tian's phone rang. The screen flashed "Unknown Number."

He picked up casually. "Hello?"

"Yo~ Nero-kun!" Satoru Gojo's exaggerated, teasing voice came through the earpiece. "You're back?"

Chen Tian raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

"Don't play dumb!" Gojo's voice carried a laugh. "Surprise! Come out the south exit! I'm here to pick you up! And I brought—"

Chen Tian hung up cleanly. The screen went dark.

He turned to look at Kitagawa, still counting hotels on her fingers, and softened his voice. "Xiao Meng, decided yet? Which one tonight?"

Kitagawa pouted in frustration at the question, deflating like a little pufferfish. "Ugh... so hard to pick!"

She suddenly spun around and hugged Chen Tian's arm, rubbing against it. "Feels like no matter which hotel I pick, it won't be as comfy as sleeping in our own little nest~"

She looked up at him, her eyes behind the red contact lenses carrying a hint of coaxing and expectation. "Or... go home?"

When Chen Tian heard the word "home," a bitter smile tugged at his lips.

Ever since his detached house in Suginami Ward had been completely destroyed in the earlier chaos, he hadn't paid it any attention—and no calls had come in about rebuilding or clearing the rubble.

That place was probably still a mess.

Kitagawa saw his bitter smile and immediately realized—she'd forgotten!

Her face dropped for a second, and she stuck out her pink tongue in chagrin. "Ah! Right..."

But the next second, she hugged Chen Tian's arm tight, bouncing in place like a fully charged little sun. "Whatever! Tian Jun, I've decided! Come on, let's go to the taxi stand!"

She beamed her radiant smile, as if that little hiccup had never happened, using her signature energy to instantly dispel the shadow. "I'll lead the way!"

Chen Tian looked at her vibrant, lively demeanor, and the trace of helplessness in his heart vanished, leaving only warmth.

He smiled and nodded. "Okay."

The two had just reached the taxi waiting area when their steps faltered.

Diagonal ahead, an extremely conspicuous white-haired figure was squatting boldly on top of the metal railing of the waiting zone. Even with the black blindfold on, you could feel the smug "caught you" grin radiating from him.

It was Satoru Gojo.

And on the sidewalk beside him stood his three students:

Yuji Itadori, beaming like sunshine, waved vigorously. "Nero! Over here!"

Nobara Kugisaki cupped her face in both hands, her eyes full of stars. "It really is Nero! Nero!!"

Megumi Fushiguro was the quietest, merely giving the two a slight nod. "Nero-senpai."

Satoru Goho hopped lightly down from the railing, his long legs carrying him in a few strides to stand before the pair. His voice drawled out, dripping with mockery. "Aiyaa~ I told you I'd come pick you up, so why'd you hang up on me?"

Ignoring Chen Tian's slightly furrowed brow, he slung an arm around Chen Tian's shoulder. "What, no place to stay?"

A mischievous grin spread beneath his blindfold. "I told you, didn't I? That little place of yours—wasn't it demolished? Can't even find a single intact tatami mat anymore, right?"

Chen Tian raised his arm and easily brushed Gojo's hand off his shoulder. "Didn't Nanami Kento tell you? Don't bother me."

"Oh~ no—" Gojo immediately clutched his chest, striking an exaggerated pose of a wounded maiden, his voice dripping with grievance. "Nero-kun, you're so heartless! My heart—it's shattered!"

Chen Tian couldn't be bothered with his over-the-top theatrics. His gaze swept the surroundings—just as expected, Yuji Itadori's shout of "Nero" had been like a pebble tossed into a dense crowd, stirring ripples.

Quite a few passersby had already turned to look with curiosity, whispers beginning to float through the air:

"Huh? Is that Nero?"

"That white-haired guy in the sunglasses and mask?"

"It really looks like him! Look!"

"Where's Nero?"

"Is that blonde next to him Kitagawa?"

Feeling the gazes converging around them, and even some bold fans starting to edge closer tentatively, Chen Tian let out an almost inaudible sigh. He turned to Gojo, who was still in the midst of his "heartbreak." "Spit it out, Gojo. What do you want with me?"

His tone carried a hint of resignation, but more than that, it was a clear "say your piece and get lost" kind of hurry.