When Erina Nakiri said that, it meant she had finally come to terms with things. Since she couldn't go back to the past, all she could do was live each day of the future well. Others might be strangers now, but her children were still her children. From this moment on, Erina was ready to fully embrace the responsibilities and duties of a mother! No! Not just these responsibilities and duties! She would also ensure her children lived the happiest lives!
Renz, however, fell into a long silence. Did he want to go back ten years? Since arriving in this world, Renz's attitude had always been one of just getting by. It was laughable, really, because there was nothing in his past worth lingering on, so even in this future, Renz's attitude was to just get by—fulfilling only his necessary duties and letting other things happen as they may. Perhaps it was because he had so few friends.
Between ten years ago and ten years later, Renz didn't feel a strong sense of a different era. 2016 and 2026, while having some novelties, weren't so drastically different as to completely transform the world, which meant Renz felt no real disconnect. He wasn't sure if the trouble came from that game disc called [Life Simulator], but if it truly was the effect of this cursed [Life Simulator], Renz would have to bear the main responsibility.
The clear conditions for passing the first level of [Life Simulator], Renz vaguely remembered, were to make his wife happy, raise his children to be important people, and finally, gain some fame in an industry. All these conditions, in a game, were just data, but in real life, they became incredibly difficult to achieve. Especially the part about making someone happy; in real life, it's really hard to measure what makes someone happy.
This was a game, yet it wasn't quite a game. There was no data; everything relied purely on feeling.
"Erina, how can I make you happy?" Renz entered a serious mode. He planned to fulfill the three conditions in the [Life Simulator] to see if he could return to ten years ago. From now on, he would have one life and clear the game in a single run. Renz had to admit that he was a total blunt man, lacking the high emotional intelligence of others who could easily understand what a girl needed.
Since he admitted he didn't have this ability, and yet he wanted to make her happy, then what a blunt man should do was not awkwardly judge and guess whether she liked him or how to make her like him, but to directly and simply ask for her needs in the most straightforward way—and then fulfill them.
"Huh? What's wrong with you suddenly saying something about making me happy?" Erina was completely flustered when she heard this.
"Because I want to make you happy," Renz blurted out. His mind was currently fixated on the qualifying conditions in the [Life Simulator]. If Erina could tell him what would make her happy, Renz would do it—even if it meant using the most blunt, brute-force methods. He wouldn't just do it; he'd crush it!
"Even if you confess like this, I won't easily agree," Erina almost felt herself melting. "We've only... only known each other for two days."
"Even if we are destined to be husband and wife in the future, shouldn't we get to know each other more deeply?"
As she spoke, Erina's mind shifted away. He just proposed to me on the spot! This, this, this... this is the first time anyone has confessed to me like this. Although it was just one sentence, his decisive and unwavering resolve left Erina's heart in a tangled mess.
Standing opposite Erina, Renz finally realized a problem: the standard of happiness was subjective; trying to make someone feel happy in a short amount of time was too fantastical. In this regard, he had been too reckless.
"My apologies," Renz slightly lowered his head, beginning to ponder his new problem. If he couldn't make Erina happy for now, it wouldn't be too late to fulfill the other conditions first.
With Renz's head slightly bowed, Erina thought her rejection had been too quick and had saddened him.
"I didn't mean to refuse," Erina stammered, getting more flustered. "I mean, we need more time, to get to know each other better. I don't dislike you... maybe I might accept you, after all, you're the person my future self chose."
"I still trust my judgment very much."
Oh no, oh no. What am I even saying? Erina felt like dying.
Renz remained silent. The scene fell completely quiet. This was just too awkward!
Renz sat on the floor, then lay down, draped in the down jacket from the closet. "Get some rest soon; it's getting late." Because he didn't quite understand why Erina suddenly said a bunch of things he couldn't comprehend, Renz decided to avoid the topic and lie down. What chosen person...? What does that even mean? Uh... wait a minute...
Did Erina think he was confessing? Renz's hair stood on end. Did my words just now sound like a confession?
It sort of did.
Then... what was Erina talking about? She could accept?! Renz felt a sudden rush of information, flooding his blunt mind and successfully crashing it. In that moment, Renz didn't know what to do.
Seeing Renz lying silently on the floor, Erina also quietly went to bed. The soft mattress made Erina's body very relaxed.
Time was indeed getting late. The empty bed held only Erina.
"Turn off the light," Renz prompted.
"Okay," Erina turned off the light. The room plunged into darkness.
The floor was so hard. Renz didn't know why he felt this way; he should have been used to sleeping on the floor after a month in the basement.
Maybe it's been too long since I slept on the floor? That sounded truly pathetic.
One minute. Three minutes. Ten minutes. Renz, with tightly closed eyes, wasn't asleep. Erina, on the bed, wasn't asleep either. Their conversation before bed kept replaying in Erina's mind like an old movie.
"Renz, are you asleep?" Erina asked, as if compelled by a ghost.
"No, I'm not asleep. The floor's a bit hard," Renz rolled over, his bones aching. "Erina, how about you sleep on the floor, and I sleep on the bed?"
"No!" Erina was about to show concern for Renz, but then he said something so inconsiderate that it made her pout and get angry. She shouldn't have cared about this guy!
The two stopped talking. Renz lay on the floor for another ten minutes. Still not asleep.
"Then, Erina, can you test me?" Renz initiated the conversation.
"What test?" Erina hadn't fallen asleep either; she had been thinking about things.
"Test if I'm qualified to be a decent man," Renz said expressionlessly. "For example, test my character tonight by sleeping on the bed."
"If I don't even dare to touch you, then it proves I have the qualification to be a human being."
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Will Erina accept Renz's audacious "test" of his character, and if she does, what surprising turn will this peculiar challenge take in their already unconventional relationship?
---Support with power stones