alwaysunqualified

  Chapter 47 - A date with Sakura.

  I was jolted awake by a thump on my stomach. Blinking open my eyes, I saw Sakura grinning down at me, her eyes sparkling. She wore my oversized t-shirt, which was slipping off one shoulder.

  "Come on, wake up—it's my day," she excimed, her smile broadening as she shook me awake with her hands pressed against my chest. It took me a moment to recall that I'd promised her a day out upon my return, and evidently, that day was today. I didn't really mind; we had two free days before meeting up with our team, and no pns in the interim.

  My hesitation stemmed from the fact that I was still naked under the sheets, my clothes having been shredded again—this time to the point of nonexistence. I had hoped to keep up better with Miki this time around; I wasn't nearly as drunk, though her mere breath was intoxicating enough to leave me buzzed. Nonetheless, I passed out after the sixth round.

  Seeing my hesitation, Sakura performed a cartwheel off me and nded beside the bed, where she grabbed my hand and tugged.

  "Wait, Sakura, I'm naked," I protested, but she pulled me out of bed effortlessly, like I was a stuffed toy, the covers left behind.

  "Just put on something from your inventory," she suggested, watching me as I got up, doing my best to shield my modesty with my hands.

  "I at least need a bath," I said, feeling uncomfortably sticky, covered in a mix of saliva, alcohol, and various other fluids.

  Sakura eyed me curiously, then sniffed the air. "You smell like mama Miki and yourself."

  Her comment made me recall that everyone here had enhanced senses. Hiding anything was futile. Yet, I insisted, "That's why I need a bath."

  "Why? You smell as you should," she replied, looking genuinely puzzled. I bathed daily, more often than most, while others only seemed to wash off when absolutely necessary or to rex. Her statement made it seem as though carrying another girl's scent was normal for me. I remembered the odd looks I received the other day and quickly pushed the thought aside.

  Just then, Yuno appeared, lifting Sakura by the back of her neck with a stoic expression and said evenly, "Wait."

  "Um, sister Yuno, it's my day, we all agreed," Sakura said to Yuno, who simply looked at me, ignoring Sakura.

  "Thanks, Yuno," I muttered, seizing the moment to escape to the bath. There, I found Angelica kneeling beside a steaming bathtub. The panel was off, revealing the internal mechanism, a small device responsible for producing water, while the rger tube handled drainage and provided space for bathing.

  Angelica was busy repcing the core inside, holding a small sack of repcement cores in her off hand. The spent ones vanished just like the monsters they were derived from.

  Noticing my arrival, Angelica smiled. "Sorry, brother, it will just be a bit. With everything going on, I forgot to do this yesterday."

  "No problem," I replied, pulling a towel from my inventory to cover my lower half as I watched her swiftly finish the task, a routine she had mastered over many years. Standing up, she gnced back at the tub with a complex smile.

  "This will be the st time," she said, her tone tinged with sadness.

  "Yeah, with us leaving, it will be. It all happened so fast," I agreed, understanding her sentiment. If this were a story, I would have faced numerous challenges before being set up with a wealthy backer and a potential wife. Instead, everything unfolded in one conversation with a fallen noble after bumping into a princess twice.

  "I would say it was slow, brother," Angelica countered. In her view, our current situation was merely the beginning; she believed I was destined for such greatness that this city would eventually be a mere footnote in my journey.

  “No matter what you think, I’m not some grand hero destined to make history. As long as you all are safe, I'm more than happy doing nothing,” I replied, and I meant it. Had it not been for the first Breaking, I might never have dedicated myself to training. Otherwise, I might have just moped around until it dawned on me that I was being stupid, then perhaps settled down happily in the city, opened a shop with my items from the system, and watched over the twins as they grew up.

  “You're just stubborn, brother. Though, I guess all heroes are, or they wouldn’t be able to achieve what they do in legends,” she retorted, clearly not agreeing with me. I don't know if I would call them stubborn, more greedy and horny, but it's hard to criticize them too harshly after experiencing it myself.

  "I'm not someone out of legend, even after all these years, eighteen years, and I'm still as clueless as when I was first brought here," I said, shaking my head. She simply didn't understand.

  "It's not about knowing, brother, it's about doing. And in that, you have never let us down. Just leave the small things to me," she replied with a confident smile, starting to leave. "Enjoy your bath."

  Watching her leave, I stepped into the bath. As I settled into the warm water, my thoughts turned to the tumultuous events unfolding around me. Everything was moving too quickly, far too quickly, when all I yearned for was to savor time at home with my family. Yet, I couldn't afford such luxuries, not with looming dangers on the horizon. My mind wandered—first to my future self, burdened with regrets, and then back to my own past with much the same.

  'I should have cherished my second childhood more,' I mused, leaning back to rex in the perfectly tempered water.

  Eventually, I had enough of wallowing. I quickly scrubbed myself clean and climbed out of the bath, resolved to enjoy the day. Despite the pressing tasks, I reminded myself that taking a breather was still productive, especially with the dating system. In the worst case, with sleep being unnecessary, I always have extra hours to chip away at any remaining tasks.

  As if on cue, a notification chimed:

  “Recollection Date starto!”

  [Target - Sakura]

  Reinvigorated, I hurriedly dried off and dressed, selecting clothes from my inventory. As I stepped out, Angelica was there to comb my hair and straighten my outfit meticulously. Satisfied, she sent me off to the door where Sakura awaited, her excitement palpable. She wore her usual armor, her sword by her side and shield on her other.

  Seeing me, Sakura raced over and grabbed my hand. Alice, who had been perched on her head, transferred herself to mine, pounding her tiny chest and waving goodbye to Angelica and Yuno standing behind us. Sakura also waved goodbye, then eagerly pulled me out of the house.

  "So, where are we going, anyway?" I asked, not having made any pns myself. I'd left it up to her, and she was more than happy to decide. Sakura always had a million ideas, things she wanted to try, even if she wasn’t entirely sure she’d like them.

  "To the arena, of course! We should still make it in time for the start, even though you were being so slow," she said, giving me a pyful gre that cshed awkwardly with her cheerful smile.

  "What's going on at the arena?" I asked. The arena was usually only talked about when a tournament was coming up. Outside the big event, it rarely got mentioned.

  "They're hosting a contest," she expined, dragging me eagerly through the bustling crowd that we had quickly become part of.

  Reflecting on it, I remembered Sakura mentioning that they hosted contests between tournaments at the arena. Curious, I asked, "What kind of contests are we talking about?"

  "If we hurry, we'll make it in time for the obstacle race. After that is the shooting competition," she expined. It transted as "shooting," but she meant a broader test of precision involving ranged weapons or any weapon that could be thrown or used with a Blessing from a distance.

  We navigated through the bustling city streets toward the arena, which was far less crowded than when I had st visited. This time, we entered without struggle, walking straight up to the front desk. There, a ste-like green-blue sb awaited, which Sakura approached and pced her hand on.

  [Admission device - records admissions and sends them to the central record base. Primarily used by nobles to scout for new and promising talents they might wish to contact. Also serves to track event participants.]

  After registering us for the two competitions she was interested in, we followed a familiar route through the arena's tunnels.

  "How often do they host these?" I asked Sakura, hurrying to keep up with her enthusiastic pace.

  "Every week, on the first day, for the middle half of the year," she expined, which meant there were about five of these events throughout the year.

  "This is your first time here, right?" I asked, noting how familiar she seemed with everything.

  "I came once with Izzy… come on, brother, this way," she quickly diverted, reaching back to pull me forward as the entrance to the arena came into view. It seemed like another of her adventures undertaken while drunk; I really needed to ask someone about it.

  As we entered the familiar arena, I was struck by how different it looked. The yout had transformed, now featuring a track and field-like obstacle course covering the area's previous stone base. The periphery structures that were part of the previous setup were still there, but the surface was now dirt, with numerous obstacles creating a loop like a track through an obstacle course.

  As we walked out, the voice of a dy calling the contestants to come forward reached us. It appeared we had arrived just in time.

  "Wish me the Goddess of Fortune's favor, brother, Alice," Sakura said before she dashed off to join the rapidly filling line, which was crowded with competitors of various tiers. Among them, a girl with light blue skin caught my attention. Her skin was speckled with tiny, star-like freckles that shimmered with every movement.

  She seemed to belong to a race I hadn't encountered before, reminding me of the broad expanse of this world. With days far longer than Earth's, this pnet must be much greater in size.

  I watched as the next contestant approached the organizer, a handful of cores in her grasp, which she handed over. The organizer, easily identifiable in only a bright red shirt and trailing white body paint, was hard to miss. Around the arena, a few others were dressed simirly, assisting her.

  The organizer took most of the cores and pced them inside a container next to the stage, setting aside a few on a table designated for the prizes for the top pcements.

  As she closed the container, the stage shimmered and the obstacle course began to transform, adjusting itself according to the tier of the contestant. Since this girl was in a higher tier, the course morphed into a series of complex shapes that were dizzying to even look at, let alone try to navigate.

  [Tier 6 Obstacle Course - Incorporates illusions, time shifts, and spatial distortions to increase difficulty. Time inside the course is magnified, allowing participants to appear to all finish in a fixed amount of time from an external perspective, regardless of the actual duration spent inside.]

  [This course is scable up to Tier 9.]

  Once the previous contestant completed her turn, the next one stepped up and the process repeated. The cores from the st contestant were quickly depleted, prompting the opening of the stage container for a new set. The following participant, belonging to a lower tier, was required to contribute considerably fewer cores to start.

  Off to the side, a screen dispyed the entire race of the st girl, while an adjacent TV showed the performance of the girl before her. This cycle continued until it looped back to the first TV. I counted the girls in line, then picked out the TV that would soon show Sakura, and sat down with the crowd to watch.

  It took less than thirty minutes for Sakura's turn to come. Alice cheered loudly from atop my head as Sakura appeared on the TV.

  Once inside the course, Sakura gave a wave to seemingly no one—though Alice waved back enthusiastically—before she got serious. She assumed the stance of a track racer, stretching one foot behind her. Her sword and shield shifted closer to her back, where she secured them with her Blessing.

  When the signal was given, Sakura dashed forward, and thanks to the live feed, I could see the space around her twisting as she moved, propelling her forward like a spaceship in a sci-fi movie. It reminded me of how I moved in the pool years ago. It seemed Sakura had picked up a few tricks from me. Clearly, she had also been training hard in my absence, when not cshing with Izzy, at least.

  Sakura skillfully navigated past the initial obstacles, weaving between poles that jutted from the ground, only slowing when she entered an area where time dited, visibly decelerating her on the screen. Once through, she accelerated into the next section, filled with tunnel-like structures. She had to quickly determine the correct path; choosing incorrectly would send her back to the start of this obstacle.

  Reacting swiftly, Sakura extended her hand and released a ball of air into each pipe-like tunnel using her Blessing. Watching the results, she saw the air hit the ground three times at the exit and dove through the third tunnel without hesitation, emerging on the other side and immediately repeating the process for the subsequent paths.

  After clearing the st pipe, Sakura entered a fog-like area which she blitzed through with ease, using her Blessing to shield herself from the illusory effects.

  The final challenge was a sandpit, but the sand was unnaturally pitch bck, and animate hands of sand reached out to ensnare her. This was the most difficult obstacle for her. Despite her attempts to repel the sand with her Blessing, the relentless onsught eventually broke through her defenses. A hand managed to capture her, hurling her back to the start of the section.

  I suspect the difficulty arose from how her Blessing operates; she had to either pull air or sand away from herself, as she couldn't simply push it away from her body, which ultimately led to her being overwhelmed. However, on her third attempt, Sakura managed to endure long enough to cross the finish line just as the sand hand clutched around her.

  As she completed the race, Alice cheered exceptionally loudly, drawing quite a crowd. Some joined in the appuse, while others watched Alice's adorable antics with affection.

  Considering the conditions, Sakura's performance was great, she secured 7th pce out of fifty-three participants, an impressive achievement given that her Blessing wasn't tailored for speed, unlike the Blessing of the girl who took first pce, which allowed her to easily outpace the obstacles.

  Sakura emerged from the arena visibly excited about her pcement, along with several other girls who were equally thrilled and rushed to their respective groups. There were also a few who appeared disappointed and needed consoling from their friends.

  "Good job," I said, a sentiment echoed by Alice who gave Sakura a thumbs up—a gesture she picked up from me, which made Sakura ugh.

  While waiting for the shooting competition to begin, we ventured off to the side and indulged in some sweets from the nearby stalls. We opted for a treat resembling Earth's jelly-filled donuts, except these held actual liquid inside, a feat only possible in this world. It was quite the novelty to turn them upside down and see the liquid remain perfectly enclosed.

  The donuts were sold by tiers, and gncing at mine, I understood why:

  [Potion Gze - provides stamina replenishment for Tier 1]

  This seemed to be a tastier alternative for participants engaged in multiple events, a preferable option to chugging a potion. Pills were prohibited due to their sting effects that could unfairly advantage a competitor.

  As we enjoyed our snacks, we observed other ongoing competitions. There was a treasure hunt, which I felt confident I could win with my skill. Another was a team soccer-like game, except pyers could use both hands and Blessings, and the goal floated mid-air, with pilrs scattered between. The st was a performance-type competition where contestants showcased creative uses of their Blessings.

  Eventually, the organizer called us up for the shooting competition. Sakura eagerly pulled me toward the front of the line, though we ended up in the middle as other girls used their Blessings to get ahead. I didn't see the point; the order seemed inconsequential, but I hurried alongside Sakura to keep her spirits up.

  The line moved swiftly, and soon it was our turn. This time, I covered our entry costs—100 cores for me and 10,000 for Sakura, the amount determined by our tiers. It was at least a way to make use of the excess cores accumuting in my inventory.

  We were allowed to enter together, even Alice, who did not have to pay, and the area we entered was a rge open space filled with multiple spinning disks. The organizer informed us that we could start whenever ready, and the timer would begin at the first shot. The objective was to hit as many moving disks as possible without stepping out of the small designated starting area, with each disk becoming increasingly difficult to hit as they were destroyed.

  I gnced over at Sakura, who was already sizing up the targets. Her gaze was intense, fixed on the disks as they oscilted back and forth. She held a rge bow I hadn't seen before, with a quiver of arrows strapped to her side.

  After gauging the movement patterns of the disks, Sakura stretched out, drew her bow, and nocked an arrow, readying herself. I could see the arrowhead start to disturb the air at the tip of the bow as she gnced over to ensure I was watching.

  She wanted to demonstrate her progress, to show me the fruits of her bor on a concept I had introduced years ago. It was simir to how she had used her Blessing earlier, to show off her ability to manipute space.

  I observed as she released her first arrow, swiftly nocking a second, which she released as soon as the first struck its target. This rapid succession continued, with each arrow requiring more intricate maneuvers to hit its mark. One arrow bent in a wide arc, another executed a sharp U-turn mid-air, and another pursued a dodging disk, requiring six more arrows to finally corner it. However, the subsequent target proved too elusive; no matter how many arrows she fired, it seemed to teleport, evading each shot with uncanny precision.

  Sakura looked quite satisfied when her time was called, and she lowered her bow, turning back to me as if seeking approval. I let Alice handle the praise, watching her flutter over and affectionately rub Sakura's head. Instead of vocalizing my approval, I decided to demonstrate what she was aiming for by focusing and allowing her card to slot into pce in the field.

  As the information surged, I grasped her limitations and capabilities. I opted to disregard the bow that had been sitting idle in my inventory for years, having never really found the time, pce, or motivation to train with it after my initial idea of combining it with Sakura's Blessing.

  Instead, I drew my gun, which was already loaded, and applied her Blessing to the tips of each bullet. Managing six at once was a challenge, but achievable. Sakura could probably do better, and perhaps so could I with arrows since bullets are significantly smaller.

  Still, I smiled, looking over at the enthusiastic Sakura and Alice before firing six shots in quick succession. I hit the first five targets rapidly. However, unlike Sakura, I struggled with bending the bullet back around. Instead, I spun the cylinder open, scanned the chambers, and swiftly loaded bullets from my inventory as fast as I could gnce, then snapped it back into pce and re-cocked the hammer as Sakura's Blessing took effect on the new bullets. I let the one stray bullet continue its flight and fired a new set, striking the target before repeating the process.

  The next target proved too elusive; it managed to dodge the bullets, which weren't fast enough, and my control wasn't precise enough to corner it as Sakura had. I ended up scoring one less than her, not bad for a first attempt. The faster speed of the bullets likely aided me, and I might have been able to corner the target as she did with a spray if I had been a bit closer.

  "How was it, brother?" Sakura asked as she saw me stowing away my gun.

  "It was great, and it'll be a big help," I replied, reflecting on the effectiveness of a simir approach I had used with the shade. I knew once I accumuted more love points, I could purchase bullets with various effects. Using Sakura's card along with the bullets' faster speed could potentially allow me to track higher-tier opponents, though I was uncertain of the limits. I also considered combining it with another Blessing that could bypass defenses or further increase their speed.

  After we left the competition area, the results were announced. Sakura pced 14th and I was 37th. This competition didn't categorize by tiers; otherwise, there wouldn’t be enough participants. Interestingly, it wasn't the highest-tier participant who won, control was more crucial than raw power, even though strength and speed were beneficial factors.

  Opting out of watching the other competitions for the day, we left in high spirits and decided to explore the city. Half way, we stumbled upon a secluded rest area hosting a py about a guardian of a city who defended her people with a bow from a tower. She was so skilled she could even eliminate threats from other cities, including a king threatening her from his throne hundreds of miles away. Her vigince continued for thousands of years until one of her arrows barely missed a man, who, in admiration of her prowess, ceased his threats and sought her hand in marriage through traditional courtship.

  Despite his efforts, she showed no interest until a monster attacked, and he died defending her city. Legend had it that she regretted never giving him a chance and fired an arrow on the first day of the year dedicated to the goddess of death, hoping he would see it in the afterlife as recognition of his sacrifice.

  After the py, we meandered through the city again and eventually found ourselves at the local park, a familiar pce from our youth. I noticed Sakura watching a group of children pying a simplified version of the game from the arena, her eyes reflecting longing.

  "Do you want to py?" I asked Sakura. She never really had the chance to py with other kids here when she was younger, and they say it's never too te.

  "Yeah," she nodded, now that the risk of getting my face caved in by a runaway ball was minimal. Just in case, though, I took a reinforcement pill—getting killed by kids in a game seemed like it would make the list of top ten stupidest ways to go.

  Sakura didn't get much chance to py with other kids when she was younger because of me, and by the time I was able to give her that chance, she was nearly an adult. I sometimes feel like I had robbed them of their childhoods, particurly Sakura. She had always seemed more like a little crybaby who should have been out roughhousing with other kids, whereas Angelica appeared mostly grown up ever since I arrived.

  Sakura approached the group of children and easily struck up a conversation, even showing off her Blessing by pyfully bsting them off their feet. Looking over, I saw the moms gnce our way before returning to their chatter, likely gossiping if their ughter was any indication.

  One nice aspect of this world is the ck of suspicion about adults interacting with children. Nobody assumes you're up to no good—unless you're a noble, but even then, the concern isn’t about physical harm to the child, and that concern usually only applies to boys. Still, it was odd to always see boys being the more coddled ones.

  Once everything was settled, Sakura grabbed me while Alice took off to the side, cheering enthusiastically. We joined one of the teams, specifically the one that was short a pyer, which drew some compints from some girls on the opposing team.

  That sted until a speeding ball shot past me, earning cheers from the other team. Even kids ranging from levels ten to fifteen were stronger and faster than me, though the gap wasn’t overwhelming; I could still react.

  My teammates gave me a look, and with a shrug, I expined, “I am love blessed.”

  This seemed to bring some understanding, and the team's strategy shifted from relying on me to protecting me. Consequently, the other kids shifted their focus from scoring goals to aiming the ball at me, but it was all in good fun. Thanks to my experience dodging sers for a year, I managed to get through the entire game without getting hit.

  The game also became easier as Alice distracted some of the girls, coaxing them away little by little to pamper her. She couldn’t help but use her skill, drawing excmations of "oh, so cute!" from the girls as they gradually lost interest in the game and flocked to her side.

  As the sun began to set, the kids were called away, leaving Sakura, Alice, and me alone. We moved to sit on a bench nearby. I was breathing hard, but Sakura looked as though she hadn’t just spent hours sprinting around with the kids.

  As we sat there, Sakura leaning against me in her armor—which was surprisingly comfortable—I gnced at her affection level, still at zero. This was concerning; I had expected it to have normalized by now.

  "We should go home," Sakura suggested, breaking into my thoughts as she stretched and looked up at the sky.

  "Let's stay longer," I countered, "I said we'd spend the whole day, and we still have ten hours to go." My insistence was partly due to her affection level. I had thought it would be an easy fix, but now I was starting to worry.

  "Yeah," she replied, leaning back against me without protest.

  After a brief silence, I decided to address something long overdue. "Hey, sorry about... well, how I was as a kid," I began. Pying with the kids had reminded me of my earlier days here, when I was being a dick.

  "Why?" she asked, looking at me with confusion.

  "Because you never got to py with other kids like you should have, always having to stay with me," I expined, feeling a pang of guilt. It was ultimately my fault for always insisting on being away from others.

  "I wanted to stay with you," she countered, her response simple yet filled with honesty.

  "You also wanted to py with the kids," I said, recalling how often she mentioned it when I first arrived. Over time, she spoke of it less, which I couldn't help but feel was my fault.

  "True, but Mama Amelia always said you have to keep in sight what's most important or you're liable to lose it. And you are more important," she replied, her tone free of bme.

  "Still, I'm sorry," I said. Even if she genuinely meant what she said, she should have had the opportunity to do both.

  She reached over, tapping my head to halt my train of thought. "Don't, if anything, I should be the one apologizing."

  "Why is that?" I asked, puzzled by her inclination to shift the bme onto herself.

  "I can't do anything to help you. I can't manage like Angelica or Seraphina, I can't protect you like Sk?gul or Yuno, I don’t have some kind of one-of-a-kind Blessing. Even the abilities I worked so hard to master, there are a number of girls on your list who can do it better," she mented.

  "Why are you comparing yourself to them?" I asked, not sure how we got here.

  "Because I'm the oldest, I should be protecting the family," she stated, as if it were an indisputable fact.

  "Has that been bothering you?" I asked, finding her concern mispced, yet I knew better than to dismiss her feelings outright.

  “It’s all I can do,” she said, looking down.

  “It's not,” I insisted, frustrated by her self-deprecation.

  “It is. I can't…” she trailed off, then stopped herself.

  “Can’t what?” I prodded gently, but she fell silent, so I decided to give her some space. If she wasn't ready to speak, I wouldn't push her—not right now, at least. I'd give her some time before I brought it up again.

  “You don’t want to marry us, but I want to do something for my family,” she finally admitted, her voice low.

  I was about to dismiss her concern as trivial, but then it hit me. In their culture, not being in line to marry your brother was seen as an indicator of worthlessness. If I were to marry someone else, a notion many seemed to assume was decided, without them being included, it would imply that my sisters were worthless. This stigma must have been weighing on her, likely exacerbated by the comments of others.

  Reflecting on this, I understood why they both seemed to be striving harder. ‘Damn, I didn’t consider this when I made my deal with Seraphina, focusing only on their safety. I should have thought it through more carefully, maybe phrased it better. Then I was taken away right after, letting this issue fester for five years.’

  Alice, noticing my pse into silence, gave me a soft smack, though I barely felt it. She continued until I responded. “Look, it’s not like I won’t…”

  "Really?" Sakura's expression brightened immediately.

  "Yeah, how about we put off any decisions until after I actually marry Seraphina? Then we can talk about it," I suggested, hoping to dey the topic, possibly indefinitely, while alleviating some of her concerns. Her response, a tight hug, and Alice's approving thumbs-up told me that my words had hit the mark.

  [Sakura’s Affection has returned to normal.]

  [+100 Sakura Affection points.]

  We stayed out to watch the stars until the early hours, then walked home through the peaceful town, a stark contrast to the hustle and bustle of the city. The night was tranquil.

  Once we arrived home, we were careful to be quiet so as not to wake the twins. I wished Sakura goodnight and handed her the sleeping Alice before she headed to her room.

  Retreating to my room, I y down and began to scroll through my menus. A sudden thought about Sakura’s behavior earlier struck me. I quickly searched up everything I knew about how affection points worked. As I reviewed the information, a troubling question emerged: ‘Am I the reason their affection gets stuck at 500?’

  'They say love is a two-way street; could it be that I have been the one blocking the road? Then what about Yuno, the princess, and Vyx—are they outliers? One driven by her trait, possibly directly influenced by the goddesses' interference when I first got here, while the other two were propelled by a skill,' I pondered, examining their profiles.

  Revisiting the affection scores, I wondered, 'Maybe the reason their affection doesn't grow outside of dates is that I used "Charm Her Pants Off" to push them past the usual stopping point. Or maybe Yuno is an exception again.'

  'Then why didn't Selen and Cire increase like she did when I told them about Love Land?' I questioned myself, recalling the trust I pced in them by sharing one of my deepest secrets. Cire's words echoed in my thoughts, 'Because they love me in different ways. A more selfish way and an unsure way, while Sakura just loves me, so she went right to six hundred. Then is six hundred the next barrier?'

  Reviewing my logs about Affection, I revisited the information I derived a long time ago about a connection resonating at 1000 and how an intense emotion will help them grow. As I read through everything, I tried to piece together all I knew, searching for a coherent understanding of the dynamics at py.

  [In Love - A girl has hit 500 Affection.]

  [Madly in Love - A girl has hit the affection limit.]

  [Limitless Affection - A girl has passed the maximum affection limit.]

  [Affection is the representation of the connection between your sparks. At 100 a connection is established. At 500 a connection is finalized. At 1000 their spark will resonate with yours. Past 1000 they release their spark to you, becoming a part of your power. Once this occurs, their existence is tied to yours; they can perish only if you do.]

  [Making people like you is an effective way to make them let their guard down, allowing the connection to grow. However, this is not the sole method; any intense emotion directed towards you, such as pain or fear, may also strengthen the connection, albeit less effectively.]

  'From one through one hundred, no particur action is required other than eliciting some form of positive or negative emotion from the girl; the more at ease she is, the easier it is to establish a connection. However, it seems this method only works up to 500. Beyond that, the connection needs to resonate, which means I also need to engage. Revisiting the information, the text uses a different term here: "strengthen" rather than "grow." An extremely strong emotion can also push the affection score higher, like a suspended bridge effect but it's less effective. So, I can grow a connection, resonate a connection, or strengthen a connection. Does this imply that I can have a strong but shallow connection or a broad but weak connection? And what does the actual number signify? Is it genuinely about love?' These thoughts circled in my mind as I delved deeper into the data.

  As I pulled up the girls' profiles, I tried to visualize how each retionship functioned and what transpired when I established these connections. The more I reflected, the more I felt my theories were correct, or at least headed in the right direction. As I pondered, a faint rainbow-like light emanated from my chest, followed by a notification.

  [Your bond with your dating system has reached Tier 2.]

  [All dating parameters have increased by 100%]

  it seemed that even the system recognized I was on the right track. However, I needed to test it further before making any pns. Suddenly, my thoughts were interrupted by a warm, wet mouth engulfing my fccid dick. The tongue swirled slowly, teasing me as it danced around my sensitive flesh. Her teeth lightly grazed my shaft, sending a jolt of pleasure up, disrupting my thoughts.

  I didn't have to look to know it was Miki; she was insatiable.