Meishu High School, Third Year.
On the podium, a balding middle-aged teacher continued droning on about the textbook, completely indifferent to the students below.
The students, for their part, all sat quietly reading along. With the all-important university entrance exams approaching, no one dared slack off.
Except for Tsukikawa Shuu, who sat staring blankly out the window, lost in thought.
Back row, by the window—"the birthplace of kings."
Yet Tsukikawa Shuu felt nothing like a protagonist.
He was a transmigrator from China, reborn into this chaotic amalgamation of anime worlds.
A rising star named Mai Sakurajima had recently made headlines, Hitori Gotou, a former band member, was his classmate, and even a Service Club existed in the school.
Naturally, the storylines and character settings in this world differed in many ways from their original counterparts.
But what made Tsukikawa Shuu truly frustrated was the fact that—after living in this world for eighteen years—he had yet to awaken any kind of cheat ability. No special talents either.
A totally average family, average aptitude—the only thing remarkable was his ridiculously handsome face, which earned him love letters daily.
[Inner World Activation Time: 18:00]
A notification from the system appeared before him, and Tsukikawa let out a helpless sigh.
No cheat skills, and yet the system tasks had already arrived ahead of schedule.
The so-called "Inner World" was a dimension parallel to this one.
No laws, no restrictions. Teeming with monsters and unknown dangers—but also great opportunities.
Yet it was a brutal world of survival of the fittest—ordinary people had no place there.
And if one were to die inside that world, they would also die in reality, often under mysterious circumstances.
Only just now had a system panel appeared before him.
[You are now 18. "Marriage System" has been activated.]
What kind of R-18 system was this?
Just the name of the system gave Tsukikawa a sinking feeling.
After reading through the system's explanation in full, he finally understood the mechanics:
As long as he formed a "Fate Contract" with a female—in the Inner World—and potentially bore children, he could receive rewards from the system.
As he read, Tsukikawa fell silent.
Sure, this was an anime crossover world, but the pressure here was no less than in his previous life. Living in Japan—one of the Big Three Asian exam hells—what else could you even ask for?
"Let children enjoy their own blessings; if I have none, I'll enjoy mine."
"Why waste time dating when I could be gaming?"
Given the harsh social realities, Tsukikawa had preferred to lie flat and be a proud advocate of population control.
But now that he had fully read the system description, he realized it wasn't so simple.
"Marriage" here wasn't based on legal status—it was defined by the system. Only those who formed a "Fate Contract" would be recognized as spouses.
In a way, this bond far surpassed the legal definitions of marriage in the real world.
"Finding someone willing to form a Fate Contract in the Inner World… might actually be easier than in real life."
Comparing this world to his past one, and to modern Japan, Tsukikawa nodded, satisfied with his logic.
No exorbitant bride price. No scams. No need to buy a house or a car. And the kids wouldn't just be money pits.
Sure, resources in the Inner World might serve as substitutes for a dowry—but at least this gave people trapped in Japan's rigid class system a chance to reshuffle the deck.
With the countdown ticking toward zero, Tsukikawa prepared himself for his first entry into the Inner World.
When he opened his eyes again, he found himself standing in an empty, decrepit classroom.
He looked around. He was alone.
[Please find a candidate to form a Fate Contract with as soon as possible.][Your Level: 1][Current Contract Slot: 1]
Where was he supposed to find a "fated partner"?
Tsukikawa thought for a moment.
With a face like his, finding someone willing to sign a marriage contract wouldn't be hard. The tricky part was the system's evaluation.
A random match would likely only yield some throwaway rewards.
Lost in thought, he stepped out of the classroom.
As he turned a corner in the hallway, he spotted a group of students gathered in conversation.
But one person stood apart from them, curled up like a slug in the shadows of a dark corner.
"What do I do, what do I do, what do I do?!"
A girl in a pink tracksuit trembled like a leaf.
She was clearly struggling to handle this environment, her deep-seated social anxiety in full effect.
Staring at the system prompt in front of her, she looked completely lost.
From the system's explanation, she'd grasped the basics of this world.
"There are tons of dangers in the Inner World… With my stamina and health, I'll probably die the moment I enter… Ugh, maybe I should form a team with someone?"
Then, like a bobblehead, Hitori Gotou vigorously shook her head.
"No no no no no! They're probably all looking for athletic types! All I can do is play guitar!"
She looked down at her plain clothes, antisocial demeanor, lack of smarts, and lack of any real talents.
She was a walking liability.
"If only Kita were here… With her bubbly personality and amazing social skills, she'd be accepted into a party in no time."
By comparison, all she had was decent guitar-playing. That was it.
Just imagining herself mustering the courage to approach someone—only to be gently turned down—was enough to mentally wreck her.
[Current Mission: Survive 3 Days in the Inner World][You will return to the real world after 3 days]
She glanced outside at the dilapidated streets, overrun with weeds.
"No big deal… It's just three days without food. I'll just find a corner and hide."
Curling into a ball, Hitori whispered to herself, "Yep! I can totally survive three days!"
She clenched her fists.
To an extreme introvert, even running into a classmate on the street meant ducking and taking a long detour.
They'd pay any price to avoid interaction, avoiding people at all costs.
But just as Hitori was about to go find a cardboard box to crawl into, a voice suddenly called out to her.
"Gotou-san, would you like to team up with me?"
The boy scratched his cheek awkwardly, smiling warmly.
"Eh?"
Hitori looked up in surprise—clearly shocked that someone actually recognized her.