"Are you kidding me? Even if she's Yui Yuigahama, there's no way she'd proactively invite a complete stranger to her home!" Bai Jing roared in his mind. He felt like his system had some kind of serious illness.
"That's for the host to figure out. If the task were simple, it wouldn't be called a task—it would be a freebie. Friendly reminder: the host should pay careful attention to the wording."
Listening to the system's playful tone, too bad the system had no physical form, or Bai Jing would definitely make it understand what deliberate bombardment meant!
Actually, even without the system's reminder, he knew the key to this task lay in the word "proactively." In other words, going to her door himself would be useless—Yui Yuigahama had to be the one to invite him for the task to be complete.
"So pretty."
Yui Yuigahama looked at the white-haired girl before her who seemed like an elf, a flash of amazement in her eyes. Even as a fellow girl, she couldn't help being captivated after seeing her. For a moment, she even forgot why she'd come here.
After a while, Yui Yuigahama finally came to her senses. She said apologetically, "I'm sorry, the little dog you're holding is mine. His name is Sabre. He accidentally ran away from home just now."
"I see." Bai Jing gently petted Sabre's head, then held him up to Yui Yuigahama. "He's quite mischievous. Make sure to watch him carefully next time."
"Th-thank you."
After returning Sabre to Yui Yuigahama, Bai Jing didn't say anything more. Instead, he curled up on the bench, hugging his knees, looking like an abandoned puppy, inevitably evoking sympathy.
Yui Yuigahama, who had been about to leave, suddenly stopped when she saw this scene. After a moment's hesitation, she turned back to Bai Jing's side and asked quietly, "Um, it's so late—aren't you going home?"
"I don't want to go back today."
That simple sentence, combined with Bai Jing's melancholic expression, seemed to tell Yui Yuigahama that there was a story here.
As for what story, Bai Jing was still making it up.
But Yui Yuigahama had stopped and even proactively spoken to him, which meant his plan was half successful. He could already pop the champagne to celebrate.
"That won't do. It's already so late, and it's dangerous for a girl to be outside alone. Plus, the weather forecast said it would rain tonight. You should hurry home."
Seeing the white-haired girl remain unmoved, Yui Yuigahama sat down beside her while holding Sabre, asking gently, "Did you have a fight with your family?"
Bai Jing shook his head slightly, deliberately avoiding Yui Yuigahama's gaze, and said quietly, "It has nothing to do with my family. I just don't want to go back, that's all."
Yui Yuigahama somewhat distressedly petted Sabre's head. After a while, she seemed to make some decision, then said to the white-haired girl beside her, "My name is Yui Yuigahama. What about you?"
"Shirai... Mio." This wasn't a name Bai Jing came up with, but the system telling him this was his name now.
"Shirai, since you don't want to go home today, why don't you stay at my place?"
"Eh!?"
Hearing Yui Yuigahama's invitation, Shirai Mio's eyes widened, surprise flashing in her red pupils. "Inviting someone you've known for less than five minutes—are you serious?"
"We just learned each other's names, so we can't really be called strangers anymore. Besides, I can't just leave you here like this." Yui Yuigahama looked at Shirai Mio seriously, seemingly waiting for her response.
Shirai Mio sighed lightly, then stood up and said, "Yui Yuigahama, in this situation, shouldn't you just find a police officer to help? What if I'm a bad person?"
"B-but if I call the police, you'd be troubled, wouldn't you?"
Yui Yuigahama looked at the white-haired beautiful girl shivering in the cold wind, appearing so delicate and fragile—she couldn't possibly be connected to bad people at all. Besides, a bad person wouldn't seriously remind her to call the police like this.
Thinking this, Yui Yuigahama extended her hand toward Shirai Mio. "Let's go. It's so cold—if you stay here any longer, you'll get sick."
Looking at Yui Yuigahama's outstretched hand, Shirai Mio appeared hesitant. Before she could work up her emotions, Yui Yuigahama had already grabbed her hand and was pulling her toward the park exit.
"Wow, the host's acting is so impressive. Were you perhaps an actor before transmigrating?" the system's voice rang in Shirai Mio's ear.
"I was an actor—don't you know that?"
Before transmigrating, she had indeed been an actor, and one with quite good acting skills at that. It was just that her appearance was rather ordinary, and in that circle full of pretty boys, it was hard to make it. Recently, she'd even been considering changing careers when an accident led to her transmigration.
"This system isn't aware of matters from before the host's transmigration. This system is responsible for matters after the host transmigrates."
"Then how do you know I don't have a girlfriend?"
"The host said it yourself—you have a car and a house, but you specifically didn't mention having a girlfriend. Isn't that obvious?" The system's tone remained flat, but Shirai Mio felt like it was mocking her.
"Tch."
Ignoring the snickering system, Shirai Mio refocused her attention on Yui Yuigahama. "If you take me back like this, will your family agree? Maybe we should just forget it."
"It's fine. My mom is very easygoing. Just leave it to me." Yui Yuigahama said confidently.
Soon, Yui Yuigahama pulled Shirai Mio to her front door.
Before she could take out her key, the door opened, and a beautiful young woman with a voluptuous figure who looked like a grown-up version of Yui Yuigahama appeared before Shirai Mio.
This beautiful young woman who made one want to exclaim "Madam, I like you!" should, if nothing unexpected, be Yui Yuigahama's mother.
"Mom, let me introduce her. She's my friend, her name is Shirai Mio. Can I let her stay over for one night?"
Shirai Mio also made a brief self-introduction at the appropriate time and politely greeted her.
Yui's mother glanced at her slightly nervous daughter, then at the elf-like white-haired girl. After thinking briefly, she smiled and said, "Since she's your friend, of course that's fine."
After getting her mother's permission, Yui Yuigahama visibly relaxed, then pulled Shirai Mio into the house.
The moment Shirai Mio stepped through the door, the entire world seemed to pause, and the system's voice rang in her ear: "Task complete. Yui Yuigahama's conquest rating toward the host has increased by 5 points. Please select your reward."