"This world has a problem."
Shirase Haruto sprawled across a table in the soccer club's activity room, staring gravely at the windows reflecting dazzling golden sunlight.
"You're doing it again…"
A girl sitting not far behind him sighed helplessly, closing the latest fashion magazine she'd been holding, her expression visibly impatient.
She had a cute face and an excellent figure; silky, waterfall-like long hair cascading down to her waist. White thigh-high stockings outlined elegant, straight legs, matched with a green school uniform skirt, granting her an air of uncommon gracefulness. Her petite black shoes rested lightly on the floor, as if simply lifting and lowering her feet would create a clear, rhythmic tap-tap sound.
Her name was Nakano Nino.
"I'm serious," Shirase turned around, expression solemn.
Nakano Nino scoffed softly, laughing, "This is already the third time today you've said something similar, and every time it's about trivial nonsense. Shirase, did you purposely call me here because you think I have nothing better to do than waste time with you?"
"As if you have anything else to do once you get home?" Shirase retorted.
"Of course I do. You've already disrupted my precious rest time," Nino declared boldly. "I'm gracious enough to squeeze you into my very busy schedule. Shouldn't you feel honored?"
"Instead of slacking off the moment you get home, how about doing something meaningful?"
"Like what?"
"Like... going on a date with me." Shirase finally revealed his true intentions.
Nakano Nino's cheeks flushed lightly, but her gaze remained fiercely defiant. "Please remember, right now I'm still in the 'absolutely hating you' phase."
"Is it because of the towel incident the other day?"
"Yes, exactly that."
"But I already apologized."
"You think something like that can be settled by apologizing alone?"
Nakano Nino glared at him fiercely.
This time, the girl didn't linger. Picking up her magazine, she stood up, turned, and began walking away with those slender, beautiful legs.
But just as she reached the doorway, she paused abruptly.
Turning back, her cute face wore an awkward expression, hesitant, even somewhat shy: "Hey, if Kana-nee gets home late again today, you can come to my place for dinner. Since I'm good at cooking anyway, it's not much trouble to have an extra person."
Shirase immediately broke into a grin. "Got it."
Nakano Nino quickly snapped her head away, purposely letting out a huff. Her fair earlobes gradually flushed bright red, growing slightly hot.
Watching the girl leave, Shirase quietly cursed, "Damn stupid system!"
That's right, he was a transmigrator, and he had a system.
As a transmigrator—and one who'd only arrived a month ago at that—he constantly felt screwed over by his own system.
Initially, the system had told him he could travel to his favorite anime world and meet anime heroines he knew incredibly well, so he'd accepted without hesitation.
His system was straightforward, named the "Hosting System."
As the name implied, he could delegate tasks like training or studying to the system, thus improving himself effortlessly.
The Hosting System had two modes.
One was [Fixed Hosting], used exclusively for repetitive activities, and allowed him to freely exit the hosted state whenever he wanted.
For instance, he could use Fixed Hosting to run laps, as running was simply circling the track.
But Fixed Hosting couldn't be used for tasks involving multiple complicated steps, like cooking or solving math problems.
While in Fixed Hosting mode, his body carried out the task, leaving his mind free to daydream or rest—or even supervise the system.
The other mode was [Free Hosting]. This mode could not be exited at will. He could only escape after the pre-set time had fully elapsed.
This mode sounded amazing on the surface.
According to the system, during Free Hosting mode, the system could independently judge situations and act according to his innermost wishes.
And Shirase had believed it.
After all, he'd only seen systems like this in novels from his previous life, and the system had even arranged a perfect new identity for him: a countryside kid who'd worked hard to get admitted into a high school in Tokyo.
The system had thoughtfully set up every detail for him.
For example, his parents were deceased but had been close friends—practically soulmates—with the Nakano quintuplets' father.
For example, he was now living with Kojima Kana-san, whom his parents had once cared for.
That would be the "Kana-nee" Nino mentioned earlier.
With this setup, he naturally became acquainted with the Nakano sisters and even earned special care from their father, Nakano Maruo.
The identity the system had created for him seemed genuinely close with the Nakano family. At one point, Nakano-san had even hinted: If possible, I'd very much like you to become my son-in-law.
With Nakano-san's subtle encouragement, combined with Shirase's decent looks—and Nino's well-known preference for attractive faces—their acquaintance developed unusually smoothly.
And yes, he was undeniably smitten with Nakano Nino.
After all, who could resist a girl who appeared bossy on the surface, yet was actually as gentle and sweet as a little kitten, brimming with femininity?
The reason he cursed the system was entirely due to the bizarre experience he'd had using [Free Hosting] mode.
He'd been using [Fixed Hosting] for vocabulary memorization and physical exercise all along, but on the second day of school, he'd spontaneously decided to try out [Free Hosting] mode.
Because Free Hosting couldn't be exited freely, Shirase cautiously set a time limit of "just twenty minutes."
In those twenty minutes, he fully experienced just how ridiculous [Free Hosting] was.
At first, it went something like this:
[System detected the host currently has nothing to do. System now considering next action…]
[Decision made: Host will engage in an act of heroism!]
Initially, Shirase had wondered what kind of heroism opportunity could possibly appear within the school, but the system immediately seized control of his body, precisely locating students bullying others.
And then…
[System detected target is unrepentant and morally corrupt; proceeding with physical persuasion.]
Right before several stunned bullies and their victim, Shirase watched helplessly as his own body executed a brutally precise high roundhouse kick.
That sneering, provocative student instantly went flying.
Shirase could swear he'd never have been able to perform such a perfect high roundhouse kick.
Afterwards, the system controlled him to beat down all the bullies, earning gratitude from the bullied student.
For the remaining fifteen minutes, the system seemed to activate some "righteousness radar" or "villain detector," reprimanding or physically disciplining any student deemed morally corrupt.
Some were convinced with words, others by fists.
Eventually, the system even forced his body into a fight outside the school gates—because several delinquents had been smoking and arguing with the gatekeeper.
On just the second day of school, he became utterly famous.
New students eagerly trying to acknowledge him as their aniki, a judo club captain tearfully begging him to join, and senior girls persistently inviting him to play poker…
All sorts of nonsense had fallen squarely onto his shoulders.
His peaceful school life had been completely shattered.
Most ridiculous of all, the freshmen he'd rejected had secretly given him a nickname behind his back:
"The Strongest Tiger of Aoyama High!"
The nickname sounded embarrassingly chuunibyou-like.
Even the familiar Nakano quintuplets eagerly teased him about it whenever they met.
As for Kojima Kana, with whom he currently shared a roof, she relentlessly mocked him every single day about his new nickname, "Tiger."
But what else could Shirase possibly do about being screwed over by the system?
Of course, forgive it.
After all, once that chaotic [Free Hosting] session ended, the system confessed it had been the mode's first-ever usage, rewarding him with a Newbie Welcome Gift.
[Triple-Experience Card × 2 hours]
No matter what he did under any hosting mode, the efficiency would triple.
Moreover, the system had suggested that every future use of [Free Hosting] would allow him to rate it five stars.
Giving good ratings would grant him bonus gifts and cashback.
This whole scheme sounded just like something from an online shopping platform.
Faced with these generous rewards, how could Shirase bear a grudge?
He chose forgiveness.
"Looks like another day with no new recruits."
Shirase glanced around the empty clubroom, shook his head, and stood up to leave.
He'd chosen the soccer club partly because he'd enjoyed soccer casually in his previous life. On the other hand, Hayama Hayato, the class's ultimate nice guy, had earnestly asked him to join on behalf of the soccer captain, who needed members.
Putting on his Bluetooth earbuds and setting his music app to shuffle, Shirase activated [Fixed Hosting] and began jogging around the track.
Running would always be the simplest training method.
With his future wife being this beautiful, Shirase thought, How could I possibly afford to neglect having a strong, healthy body?