"Come out, Susu…"
Yashiro jabbed the selection button for Tushan Susu's avatar, grinning like a man who'd finally found salvation. Three minutes later, however, his grin froze — the system didn't respond.
"Huh? What's going on?" He poked the pale-blue panel again. The display fuzzed, static snowflakes crawled across the glass, and three bright red digits blinked into place: 404.
Yashiro: "…""No way. It's actually malfunctioning. Of all the timing — the system craps out the moment I pick my waifu!"
He wanted to cry but had no tears left. Just when his heart had begun to bounce on the ceiling, a cheerful chime sounded in his mind.
"Because the Host had severe indecision during selection, the character chosen five minutes ago is now being generated. Due to a series of irregular operations by the Host, a fault occurred; it has been eliminated. Character generation complete — please accept."
Yashiro exhaled so hard he nearly swooned. Okay — false alarm. The system hadn't died. If Susu couldn't be born, other anime wives would do just fine.
No sooner had relief washed over him than the system pinged again.
"Host, select the reception method:
Create from nothing — instantly manifest before you.
Sky-drop — system will fall from three meters above Host; the Host must catch it."
Yashiro's grin returned with the speed of a hungry dog spotting dinner. He raised his hand like a kid grabbing a balloon. "Second option — sky-drop. Let me feel the weight of my system-wife!"
System character generation — result: giant hamster. Character traits: timid, woebegone.
He hadn't even processed the prompt before the sky answered. A massive gray object plummeted from above and slammed into Yashiro, pinning him face-first into the sand.
Good grief. The weight nearly crushed the life out of him.
When he pushed himself free of the sand, there stood — a one-meter-tall hamster. Round, gray-brown fur, chubby belly, two stubby legs: absurdly cute in a way that made reasoning impossible. Its tiny paws pawed at its furry face like it was bewildered by this strange world.
The hamster-system didn't seem to understand its surroundings. Then, as if startled by some inner compulsion, it heaved and tumbled away with tremendous force.
Yashiro scrambled after it, clutching at the creature. He yanked it back, pinched its soft neck and croaked, "Why a hamster?! I excluded animals and male characters — I picked female humans! System, what are you doing?!"
The hamster — true to its timid profile — rolled its eyes, foamed a little at the mouth, and promptly fainted.
Yashiro: "…""Dammit, I didn't mean to choke the system."
He quickly loosened his grip, gently patted the hamster's pudgy cheeks, and tried to revive it. The little body twitched; its paws curled to its chest, then it gave a little flip and ran away on all fours, looking as numbed as a creature that had just fallen into another dimension.
"Nope. Too scary. Host is terrifying." With that, the hamster — now possessing its own personality — did the most logical thing for a self-preserving system: it bolted.
Yashiro slapped his forehead. "Wait. My system literally ran away on its own. What an international joke."
He chased after it, but after only a few steps the hamster smacked into an invisible barrier, rolled like a furry ball, and bounced straight back to his feet.
Yashiro blinked. Then comprehension dawned: the system was bound to him. It could move freely within range, but it couldn't leave its tether. That was why it kept hitting an unseen wall.
Relief washed over him. If the system had really fled, he might have become the one traverser in history with no system at all — a tragic record.
He scooped up the hamster and softened his expression. "Okay, system. Don't run. I'm your Host. I won't hurt you."
The hamster inched away, hiding behind a rock, then poked its head out cautiously. "Promise you won't strangle me. Don't bully me. Don't scare me…"
Yashiro stared at such brittle earnestness and briefly regretted choosing concretization at all. Maybe he should've just left the system abstract.
"Fine. I promise. I won't do anything to you. Come here — I have questions."
"If you have anything to ask, say it. I will answer."
The hamster peered at him as if expecting betrayal at any moment. "Can I re-visualize?"
"No. Each system has only one chance at concretization."
Yashiro deflated a little. "So I'm stuck with a hamster wife."
He swallowed and asked the practical question. "Okay. As a system, what kind of tasks are you going to give me?"
At the word "task," the hamster's eyes brightened like lanterns. The hamster-systems, evidently, measured their worth by Host performance statistics — i.e., how many missions their Hosts completed.
"Yes! Yes… I will grant tasks now."
A display board flickered into being in front of Yashiro, listing missions.
Mission 200: Assist the Uchiha clan in evacuating civilians from Konoha Ninja Village. Reward: [—] energy points.Mission 3: Extract a hair from the Nine-Tails' third tail. Reward: 500 energy points.Mission 500: Reconstruction plan for Muye Village. Rebuild most structures damaged in the Nine-Tails attack. Reward: [—] energy points.
Yashiro stared at the tasks, mouth slack. "Wait — what? Aren't I in the One Piece world? Why are my tasks about Naruto?"
The hamster-system puffed up proudly. "When I calculated the Host's awakening, I predicted you would appear around the time of the Nine-Tails Rebellion. These missions are achievable. If they're too hard, I will select easier ones later for early progression."
Yashiro turned to the hamster, voice cracking. "This isn't Konoha. Did you get the mission list wrong?"
The hamster flinched. It peered around at the jungle, the distant sea, the unfamiliar geography — nothing here looked like Konoha. The little creature closed its eyes and concentrated, feeling the ambient world.
After a moment it snapped open its beady eyes and snapped, furious: "What the hell? Why did you time-travel again?!"