After the farewell kiss with Iroha, Yuu stepped toward home.
The night was cold as water. Only his body and shadow crossed the deserted street. The surrounding environment was so silent as if supernatural occurrences could happen at any time.
Street lamps formed safe zones. In every gap of that warm yellow light, darkness crept like a tide, as if wanting to swallow him whole, starting from his ankles.
His footsteps made no sound. Letting his body walk home like a car on autopilot, Yuu worked his brain with all his might, furrowing his brow pondering something.
The faint smile on his face had disappeared since he parted with his girlfriend.
He didn't know how long it had been.
"This is a trial."
As he stepped onto the slope, the force of his footsteps suddenly increased. Those footsteps echoed loudly on the quiet street.
Although there was no one around, Yuu suddenly spoke in a low voice. His slowly opening eyes looked sharp and cold. His gaze was directed into the distance, as if staring at an existence high in the sky, difficult to see in its entirety.
"I think this is a trial to regain the past... and I was forced to accept this trial."
He slowly raised his hand, his fingers extended far toward the moon, as if inviting the moon princess to descend and dance with him. However, his expression remained indifferent and calm.
"Only by regaining what's called the true past can one grow, and I can also continue moving forward toward the future I've long dreamed of."
Yuu grinned, laughing softly as if mocking: "Hmm? You want me to think like that, Damn System?"
The system that had just shouted reminding him that he had found a clue now remained silent, as if its mouth were gagged.
Yuu indeed didn't expect the system to answer his questions. He was just taking advantage of his high mood, talking to himself about things he had thought about during his earlier contemplation.
"You know? Actually, I've been confused about one question during today's date."
He passed a small park. The swing hung still in the air. The slide stood upright and solemnly like a sleeping giant monster.
"In memory, I'm clearly a very popular man, you could say my love life was overflowing—I was bothered by rich girls at school, tracked by several sports club members during holidays, and had to often deal with disturbances from girls whose attention I accidentally attracted while completing achievements in the past."
Yuu spoke softly. The park silently watched his figure leave: "Why now, for a month since the beginning of the third year of high school, has that group of girls disappeared as if evaporating? That allowed me to flirt with kouhais every day, and successfully date Iroha after a date?"
This was too abnormal.
Logically, he who had been bothered by so many girls should be fighting with wit and courage daily against his pursuers, trapped in male-female relationships difficult to unravel and separate, as in his memory.
However, from Christmas night in his second year of high school until the beginning of his third year after he woke up, until the end of May now, that group of people disappeared as if they were NPCs whose data had been deleted. Besides leaving background stories in his memory, they weren't visible anywhere.
When realizing this, Yuu had sent a mass message to confirm—and the result matched his guess.
Among many chat contacts on LINE, only Sora, Iroha, and Kanade replied. The rest, whether teachers, friends, or pursuers with good relationships, until fifteen minutes passed, his messages weren't even read.
This was like slipping a Pokémon card into a Yu-Gi-Oh deck. Before the card on top was flipped, it was hard to find that too strange presence.
Of course, this didn't prove anything. There were many reasons that could serve as explanations.
If he forced himself to say this was a Trial Bonus, Yuu also couldn't find sufficient arguments to refute it.
"So, this isn't the mistake."
Then, what was wrong?
What did the system want him to fix? Something tangible, or intangible?
Something already close, or something far over there?
What Yuu thought about were unlimited questions full of unlimited possibilities.
He glanced at the empty basketball court, as if he could imagine the cute scene of energetic little girls playing basketball there, struggling hard to throw the ball into the basket with their small and slender arms.
Thank goodness Yuu wasn't a pedophile. He just smiled like a father, then continued his steps without stopping, toward the deeper darkness.
"Next, this Life Achievement System is also very interesting... Clearly all this time, you've always asked me to achieve certain professional achievements, like Rental Boyfriend or Sword Master, but in this final trial, the hidden clue turned out to be dating?"
"Why, what achievement do you want me to complete this time? Faithful Boyfriend or Human Sea King?"
In a relaxed tone as if chatting with a friend, Yuu smiled. Suddenly, he sighed softly and looked down at his palm that had just embraced Iroha. His expression was somewhat complicated.
In his memory, he clearly had never kissed anyone else. Even while being a Rental Boyfriend, although the noble girl who was the mission target tried with all her might to get him, tried to possess him physically and mentally, seducing and actively attacking him many times, he firmly maintained his innocence and purity—besides wanting to give his first kiss to his true girlfriend, this was also to make it easier for him to completely break off relations with clients later.
But just now, even without Iroha saying it, Yuu felt his kissing skills were very proficient.
Kissing skills reaching perfect level didn't mean he had hundreds or thousands of kissing experiences—this was different from playing music or acting. The system only gave him related knowledge and techniques, but didn't give him inherent and competent skills, as if he were possessed by an expert.
However, when their lips touched, Yuu not only didn't feel tension or awkwardness in giving his first kiss, but he also reflexively led the girl toward climax as if he already knew what reaction she would give next, and slowly sank into the joy of lip contact. This first kiss experience was so perfect that when they separated, Iroha looked dizzy and drunk, and it took her a long time to regain consciousness.
And perfect level technical knowledge told him clearly that this wasn't something a beginner could do—even Yuu with that skill, unless he had experience at proficient or expert level, he would definitely need time to reach this level.
"When clearly I've never kissed anyone else besides Iroha..."
No matter how small, Yuu wouldn't underestimate this strange clue.
Memory and reality weren't synchronized, and he chose to trust his feelings.
Yuu slowly raised his head, took a deep breath toward the moon, and said with a serious expression: "So System, I suspect the memory you gave me is wrong!"
This was the final answer he obtained after mature consideration.
A few seconds passed, the system didn't respond.
The night was silent.
However, Yuu instead showed a satisfied smile because his plan succeeded.
"Heh, right?"
He stepped forward gallantly, his gaze as if wanting to penetrate the darkness and search for a beam of light.
"Because you know, wrong memory will only make me quickly find its weakness, like lying must have three parts truth and seven parts falsehood—but facing a clever person like me, even one part falsehood is dangerous to reveal."
"So, what you gave me must be real. Including my memory, including things I've done, everything is mine."
The familiar street, the familiar roof of the house, the familiar house, everything was visible.
Hoping to quickly go home and meet his little sister, Yuu smiled more relaxed and happy, while continuing to reveal his conclusions.
"But System, your mistake is you used the lying method I know best."
"You're like another me, setting up a complicated trap for yourself—and because I know my habits, how could I not find the best solution?"
Yuu shook his head and sighed emotionally: "This time, I thought you were on the fifth floor, turns out you really were waiting for me on the fifth floor."
The system of course didn't respond, because he hadn't stated the answer yet.
Arriving in front of his house, Yuu looked up. Light leaked from the gap in the curtains on the second floor. He knew his sister was still playing games in her room, or maybe waiting for him to come home and holding back sleepiness... The latter possibility was small for his sister who was active at night.
Whatever it was, this was the most familiar place in his life.
From beginning to end, from unchanging to changing, the starting point was here, and the endpoint...
Certainly, not an imaginary world made from dreams, or from this memory.
"Finally, allow me to make the most basic deduction, Dog System."
Taking out keys and opening his house door, Yuu said casually.
"The memory I have now is real. All the people I met are also real—you think I'll guess my sister is fake? Unfortunately, even if this Sora isn't the Sora I know, I won't consider her a mistake that must be fixed."
"Then, you, the achievement system, aren't doing the work you should, and only appeared after I got a girlfriend. You didn't even directly give achievement missions related to dating, but only used girlfriend clues to hint at something... I don't know if you did it on purpose, but reaching this point, isn't it already clear?"
As if he was too lazy to continue playing, Yuu stopped his smile and said to himself with a flat expression:
"If the trial where I am isn't a dream, but rather something experienced by me in another world, then both memory and my sister would of course become reality for this Tenkuji Yuu. For me who is the same person, that can at most only be considered fake, not a mistake."
"So, the only mistake lies with you, who lied but showed weakness, right?"
"—System."
To the existence that always accompanied him, loved and hated, Yuu gave his conclusion in a cold voice.
"I don't know if Tenkuji Yuu in this world met the real Life Achievement System—if so, it means you replaced my memory, and made me consider another me as myself."
"If not, it means you changed your form, and fabricated a convincing story, hiding the truth you don't want me to remember beneath the surface."
As for that truth, the answer was also very clear.
"This has to do with girlfriends, right?"
Yuu said confidently: "Your purpose, the real reason you created this trial, or even your true identity—like the guidance system often appearing in fan-fiction novels in my past life, making me date others, that's your task, right?"
"Tell me the answer, System."
One leaf knows autumn, and seeing the small knows the large.
Although evidence wasn't sufficient, with just one clue he recently obtained, Yuu could speculate with full confidence.
Most importantly...
After all there's no punishment, so just guess as you please.
After submitting this most likely answer, even if his guess was wrong, he could use the elimination method to lock onto the next answer.
Therefore, no need to be careful.
Yuu stood at the entrance, didn't turn on the light, and waited silently for two or three seconds.
Without a bell sound, in the silent and dark house, the system's cold electronic voice suddenly sounded in his mind—if it were a slightly cowardly host, he might be shocked to the point of a heart attack?
However, he was pleased his guess was correct.
「Congratulations to the Host for successfully completing the target.」
「The mistake has been corrected, Boyfriend System returns to serve you.」
「Currently in trial scenario, service functions are suspended.」
「Opening the next trial stage.」
「Stage One: Finding the Host's lost item.」
Just in a few brief sentences, the darkness returned to silence.
Like a student listening to lessons attentively, Yuu waited for the system to fall silent, only then did he hum cheerfully, take off his shoes, and walk toward the upper floor.
Passing through the thick darkness, he had no intention of turning on the light at all.
Not to mention his owl-like vision ability, his sharp senses, plus his familiarity with the house, allowed Yuu to accurately find his room without bumping into anything, even when he climbed the stairs with closed eyes.
"Moving forward two steps in one day... Truly me."
After that habit of boasting, Yuu began analyzing the new information he obtained as he entered the room.
"The Damn System's true identity is Boyfriend System... Tch, from the name alone it's already bad. That must be a Sea King system that changes girlfriends like changing clothes... So, because I was forced by it to date many girls, that's why my kissing skills are so proficient?"
His memory didn't change just because he completed the target. He could only continue guessing... Although he really didn't want to face this reality.
He was a pure 24-karat innocent little virgin in this life and the past. What terrible suffering and torture did he have to experience to be changed into a harem scumbag man who loves everyone he meets?
Yuu shook his head. He decided to set aside his true self for now. His top priority was to solve the puzzle given by the system as quickly as possible, and complete this damn trial like an escape room or murder mystery game.
Fortunately, compared to the initial situation where there were no clues at all, now there were many objects he could analyze, at least he knew which direction he should strive toward in the future.