At that moment, Kaito was lying on the sofa in his house while scrolling through his phone. From the looks of it, he was playing some kind of mobile game.
He hadn't even taken off his school uniform yet.
{ You seem awfully relaxed, } Kaoru commented.
"Yeah, I am."
Kaoru genuinely didn't know how to react anymore. Even though he had a mission with a time limit that would expire tonight, the host of her system somehow looked completely unconcerned.
{ You know, I didn't mention this earlier because I thought it was obvious, but since you seem this relaxed, I guess I should tell you now. }
Kaoru suddenly spoke in a serious tone, causing Kaito to pause his game for the first time in several minutes.
"What?"
{ Open your mission tab. }
"…Why?"
{ Stop being annoying and just do it already, } Kaoru snapped, sounding slightly irritated.
"Wow, you don't have to get so worked up over something so trivial."
{ Hmph. }
Kaoru let out an annoyed huff.
Meanwhile, Kaito made a face as though he genuinely had no idea what he had done wrong.
"Status."
A semi-transparent blue screen instantly appeared before him.
NAME: Kazama Kaito
AGE: 15
HEIGHT: 1.78 meters
SKILLS:(None)
SPECIAL PHYSIQUE:(None)
BROKEN DESTINIES:
MISSIONS: 2
After the screen appeared, Kaito opened the mission tab.
1. The Pink-Haired Girl
Objective: Prevent Lala Satalin Deviluke from meeting the protagonist, Yuki Rito, in the bathroom.
2. The Perfect Tutor
Objective: Make Kirisu Mafuyu choose you as the tutor for her two problem students.
Another blue screen appeared.
"Alright… now what?"
{ Now click on the first mission. This time, use your fingers. }
"I feel like I should remember not to do this outside," Kaito muttered as he tapped the mission with his finger.
The moment he did, another window popped up in front of him.
1. The Pink-Haired Girl
Objective: Prevent Lala Satalin Deviluke from meeting the protagonist, Yuki Rito, in the bathroom.
Reward: Skill — Dynamic Vision Lv.1
Failure: ???
Kaito stared at the screen silently for a few moments.
Then he slowly began to sweat.
"K-Kaoru…" he called out nervously.
{ What? } Kaoru replied, even though she already knew exactly what kind of reaction he was about to have.
"I thought we were friends…" Kaito said while pretending to wipe away tears. "Are you really going to become one of those evil systems that forces people to complete missions?"
{ ^_^ }
{ I would never do such a thing. }
"You damn liar. I can't even see you, but I know you're smiling right now."
{ You're merely experiencing temporary hallucinations. }
"Hallucinations my ass."
…
(After several minutes of Kaito complaining nonstop.)
…
"So why didn't you mention the reward part of the missions earlier?" Kaito finally asked.
{ Because I thought it was obvious. What kind of mission system doesn't have rewards? }
"…Convenient logic," Kaito muttered.
{ You know I can still hear you even when you mumble, right? }
"Shut up!"
After venting his frustration for a bit longer, Kaito eventually calmed down enough to ask another question.
"So I understand the reward part now… but what about the failure penalty? Why are there question marks?"
{ Because the punishment for failure is random. }
"…Like luck-based random?"
{ 👍 }
A bad feeling instantly crept up Kaito's spine.
"I'm starting to get a really terrible feeling about this…"
{ Then you should probably start preparing. Your first mission is going to happen very soon, } Kaoru reminded him.
The moment he heard those words, Kaito quickly checked the time on his phone.
And immediately froze.
He really didn't have much time left before dinner.
Which also meant—
Lala would be arriving soon.
"Damn it! Why did you let me relax around doing nothing without warning me earlier?!"
{ "…" }
Without wasting another second, Kaito jumped off the sofa and rushed toward the bathroom to take a shower and change clothes.
...
After taking a quick shower, Kaito was now in his room, his hair still slightly damp as he changed into casual clothes.
A black long-sleeved shirt with a white print across the chest, along with a pair of comfortable gray pants.
The gentle breeze coming through the window caused small droplets of water to slowly slide down the tips of his hair.
At that moment, he was sitting at his study desk, quickly scribbling something onto a sheet of paper with a pencil.
{ What are you writing? } Kaoru asked curiously.
"Recapping," Kaito replied without stopping.
The sound of the pencil scratching against the paper continued for a few more seconds.
Kaoru remained silent, waiting for him to continue.
"If I want to stop Lala from meeting Rito… then first I need to remember exactly how everything happened in the original story."
Kaito slightly lifted the sheet of paper, revealing several hastily written notes.
—
Lala runs away from Planet Deviluke
Spaceship crashes on Earth
She invades Rito's house
Rito enters the bathroom
Sees Lala naked
Accident + misunderstanding
Peaceful life destroyed
—
{ …That last part sounds more like personal trauma than a summary. }
"Because it is personal trauma," Kaito replied immediately.
He placed the pencil on the desk and crossed his arms while thinking.
"If I remember correctly… Rito was taking a bath when Lala first appeared."
{ Then just stop him from entering the bathroom. }
"You say that like it's easy."
{ Isn't it? }
Kaito stared blankly into space with an exhausted expression.
"Do you even understand the power level of the main heroine from To Love-Ru?"
{ No. }
"She literally carries alien technology capable of blowing random things up by accident."
{ Ah. }
"Don't 'ah' me! That's important!"
Kaito returned to writing on the paper.
Main problem:• Prevent the bathroom encounter
Possible solutions:• Lock Rito outside the bathroom• Make him leave the house• Destroy the bathroom?• Fake a fire?• Kidnap Rito?
{ The last option sounds illegal. }
"Technically, I'd be saving his love life."
{ Technically, you'd be committing a crime. }
"Details."
Kaoru fell silent for a few moments.
{ …Do you actually want to stop this encounter? }
The question made Kaito pause for a moment.
He rested the pencil against the desk and sighed.
"To be honest… not really."
{ Then why are you trying so hard? }
"Because a certain system that shall remain unnamed keeps saying I'll get punished if I fail."
{ Understandable. }
"Still pretending you're innocent, huh…" Kaito muttered.
"Besides…" Kaito looked up toward the ceiling.
"If I fail my very first mission, that's going to feel incredibly humiliating."
{ So now it's a matter of pride? }
"Exactly."
Kaito grabbed the pencil once more and began sketching something that vaguely resembled an extremely terrible map.
"Alright… Rito's house."
He drew a crooked square.
"Bathroom here…"
Another square.
"Entrance here…"
One more crooked line.
{ That looks like something a child would draw. }
"Art is subjective."
{ Not in this case. }
Kaito completely ignored her comment.
"If I arrive early enough… maybe I can stop Rito from going upstairs to the bathroom."
{ And what if Lala just blows up the wall or appears out of nowhere? }
"…Damn it."
Kaito slumped into his chair.
"I forgot logic practically doesn't exist in romantic comedies."
{ That's how worlds like this work. }
Kaito sighed and looked once more at the paper covered in notes.
Then he narrowed his eyes.
"…Wait."
{ What is it? }
"The mission objective says to prevent Lala from meeting Rito in the bathroom."
{ Yes? }
A small smile slowly formed on Kaito's face.
"That means… the problem isn't Lala arriving."
{ … }
"It's specifically the encounter happening inside the bathroom."
Kaoru stayed silent for a few seconds.
{ …Kaito. }
"What?"
{ I think you just had your first intelligent idea of the day. }
"'Of the day' was unnecessary," Kaito complained.
...
At that very moment, while Kaito was still making his preparations—
Far beyond Earth, in the vast emptiness of space, a small spaceship raced through the darkness at incredible speed.
Its shape was unusual—rounded and compact, covered in advanced-looking technology that glowed softly in shades of pink and blue. Small electrical sparks occasionally burst from the rear engine, as if some parts were already operating far beyond their intended limits.
Inside the cockpit—
A mysterious girl was sprawled lazily across the pilot's seat, spinning from side to side while pressing random buttons on the control panel without the slightest concern.
"Ooh! So this button does that!"
PIIIII—!!
A red warning light suddenly began flashing frantically across the dashboard.
[ WARNING. WARNING. TRAJECTORY UNSTABLE. ]
"Hm?"
The girl tilted her head innocently.
"That's weird… I think it broke."
Then, without hesitation—
She pressed another button.
The next instant, the entire spaceship shook violently.
WHOOOOSH—!!
"KYAAAAAHHH?!"
The small ship shot forward even faster than before, leaving behind a brilliant trail of light as it tore through space uncontrollably.
And not far ahead—
A small blue planet slowly came into view.
Earth.
Completely unaware of the chaos that was about to unfold—
The spaceship continued flying directly toward it.