To Nianzi's surprise, a new romanceable character had appeared. She was momentarily stunned.
Why were they all either a two-and-a-half-year-old toddler or a four-and-a-half-year-old child? What was up with this game's target demographic? Was she some kind of boy magnet or something?
And soon, she discovered another problem that gave her a headache.
The new romanceable character appeared in Morioh, Sendai City—far from her usual residence in Tokyo. If she hadn’t coincidentally brought Shunan here to see the snow, she would never have encountered this new character.
The unlock probability was as low as winning the lottery…
Did she have to travel all over the country just to randomly stumble upon new characters? If so, this game was way too difficult. Just finding all the romanceable targets would be a challenge—who knew where they were hiding?
Regardless, Nianzi silently prayed to Baal, hoping the next romanceable character would be older. No more two-year-olds—twenty years older would be just fine…
Though internally exasperated, since a new romanceable character had finally appeared, she decided to at least unlock the route first.
That way, if the two-and-a-half-year-old route failed, she’d have the four-and-a-half-year-old as a backup.
Without hesitation, she chose to help.
“Let me try.”
She set Shunan down and told him not to wander off. The boy nodded obediently. Under Shunan’s watchful gaze, Nianzi walked to the back of the car stuck in the snow and gave it a push.
[Strength check failed…]
No matter how hard she tried, the car didn’t budge an inch.
Not surprising, Nianzi thought.
Her strength stat was only 13—technically 12—so under normal circumstances, pushing the car was impossible.
In this game’s system, odd-numbered stats provided no bonuses; only even-numbered stats (like 14) had an effect. She had no idea why her initial stats were like this. The only normal stat was her charm, which was unusually high for a starting attribute—though, for a romance otome game, charm was crucial, so it wasn’t entirely misplaced.
…Was this really a romance otome game? She had her doubts.
But Nianzi quickly came up with a new idea. Just as the woman struggling to start the car turned to say something, Nianzi focused, clasped her hands together, and a nearly transparent ghostly hand floated out from her pocket.
That’s right—she used her innate skill: Mage Hand!
The Mage Hand inherited all her stats, so in this situation, it effectively doubled her strength!
Suddenly, she understood why the game had these stat settings. She’d been too narrow-minded before—no skill was useless. It all depended on how you used it!
As the Mage Hand appeared, Shunan suddenly looked surprised, but Nianzi didn’t notice. She concentrated fully on manipulating the spectral hand, guiding it to the back of the car before pushing upward in unison with her own strength.
The car lifted slightly—and was freed from the snow.
Success!
The woman who had asked for help immediately hit the gas, pulling the car out of the icy rut.
“Yes! It worked!!”
Overjoyed, she gripped the steering wheel and cheered before rolling down the window to call out to Nianzi. “It’s freezing out there—get in! I’ll give you a ride!”
“Sure, thanks.”
Nianzi didn’t hesitate. Helping out had been for this exact purpose, after all.
This was a rare new romanceable character. Though, since she lived in Tokyo for school, she’d probably end up neglecting him anyway. And realistically, the only contact info she could get would be his mother’s… Wait, why was she seriously considering romancing toddlers and children?!
Putting that aside, Nianzi quickly picked up Shunan and climbed into the back seat, rubbing his chilled cheeks to warm them up.
Mainly to prevent him from catching a fever too—that would be a hassle.
Shunan’s gaze remained fixed on her, but Nianzi ignored the faint Affection Up notification and instead studied Higashikata Josuke, who lay weakly in the seat from his fever.
He looked only slightly older than Shunan, barely managing to keep his eyes open as he watched Nianzi, his face flushed and burning from the fever.
Was it just her imagination, or did Josuke (No. 4 in the romanceable characters list) and Shunan (No. 5) look almost identical? Like a copy-paste of Shunan, just two years older.
Maybe she was just bad with faces. Or maybe the game reused character models—that wasn’t uncommon. Best not to dwell on it.
“You were a huge help. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you. I’m Higashikata Tomoko, and this is my son Josuke. Thank you.”
While Nianzi studied Josuke, Tomoko kept her eyes on the road as she drove toward the hospital, introducing herself.
[System Notification: The woman expresses her gratitude. Your response is…]
A: “No need to thank me. Anyone would’ve done the same.”
B: “Must be tough taking your son to the hospital alone in this snow. Where’s your husband?”
C: “Words aren’t enough. How about something tangible?”
…And here we go again. Every dialogue choice included at least one shamelessly rude option.
A and B were both polite on the surface, but B was undeniably tactless. The fact that Tomoko was taking her son to the hospital alone in this weather already spoke volumes—whether she had a husband or not, this choice would likely lower her affection. As for C, it would probably net some cash as thanks.
But now that Nianzi had decided to become a master pickpocket, she wasn’t as desperate for money. Even if NPCs had legendary gear, she’d rather they offered it as a gift than demand it outright. After careful consideration, she chose A.
“You’re such a kind girl. Please, let me thank you properly later.”
Nianzi sensed Tomoko’s friendliness toward her rise. Meanwhile, she noticed Josuke studying her with effort, his big, baby-blue eyes as pitiful as a fawn’s. Shunan, on the other hand, had gone quiet, sitting silently in her lap while observing Josuke—maybe he was shy around strangers.
Weren’t otome games supposed to feature a variety of distinct personalities? But since these characters were so young, she couldn’t tell the difference between Shunan and Josuke at all.
To her, they were practically the same! What was the point of a two-year age gap?
Were they overlapping in role? Please don’t tell her all the romanceable characters in this game were kids. She couldn’t help but grumble internally—until Josuke suddenly spoke up weakly.
“Big sis… that see-through hand you used to help us earlier… what was that?”
Huh? He could see the Mage Hand?
Nianzi was taken aback for a moment. She had assumed it was a completely invisible skill—something only she, as the user, could see.
"What hand? What did you see, Josuke?"
Higashikata Tomoko, who was driving, glanced back at her son. Seeing Josuke’s weak expression, she softened and said to Nianzi, "Sorry, he’s had a high fever for days now. He might be hallucinating. Don’t mind him if he says anything strange."
"It’s fine. Let’s get him treated quickly."
It seemed Tomoko hadn’t noticed anything. But just moments ago, while Nianzi was pushing the car, Tomoko had kept looking back at her. There was no way she could have seen Josuke but not noticed Nianzi’s actions, right?
So Nianzi decided to confirm. She leaned down and whispered to Shunan, who was sitting on her lap, "Can you see that?"
"I can," Shunan replied softly. "That sister earlier was amazing, like an angel."
…So, everyone could see Mage Hand after all.
A flicker of disappointment crossed Nianzi’s mind. She had originally planned to use this skill for some grand-scale theft… but it didn’t matter. She could still pull off small, unnoticed thefts or use it to attack people from a distance. No one would know it was her.
As Nianzi began plotting what she could do, Shunan remained quietly obedient. As long as she didn’t engage him, the child rarely spoke up—so much so that even someone like Nianzi, who disliked children, didn’t find him annoying. Meanwhile, the feverish Higashikata Josuke occasionally struggled to open his eyes and glance at her, seemingly too weak to do much else. Then, suddenly, Nianzi heard the notification for an increase in affection points.
"Big sister, you’re really pretty."
System Notification: Higashikata Josuke’s Affection +5.
Huh?
What? She hadn’t even done anything yet.
Nianzi blinked, then realized it might be a delayed response from helping earlier. Thankfully, her initial charm stat was high, so she replied politely, "Thanks. You’re cute too, kid."
"Still got the energy to check out girls, huh? Guess you’re feeling better," Tomoko chuckled, sounding relieved. She pressed the accelerator and sped toward the hospital like a race car driver, swiftly handling the paperwork before sending her son to the treatment room.
The doctor diagnosed it as a fever caused by a cold and prescribed medication for an IV drip. Once Josuke was settled in the hospital bed with the IV, Tomoko finally relaxed and stepped out to thank Nianzi, who was still holding Shunan.
"Thank you so much for today. I don’t know what would’ve happened to Josuke without you."
Tomoko seemed like a capable woman—though she’d been frantic earlier, she now appeared composed. Still, her eyes lingered curiously on Shunan in Nianzi’s arms.
"Forgive me for asking, but there’s something I can’t ignore…" She hesitated before finally voicing her question. "Is this your child?"
…What?
Nianzi’s heart skipped a beat, and tension coiled in her chest.
Why was she asking? Had she been found out for kidnapping?
It made sense—Nianzi looked like a high schooler, and carrying a baby around was undeniably suspicious. Just as she was scrambling for an explanation, the system chimed in with another prompt.
Higashikata Tomoko suspects the origin of the baby in your arms. How will you respond?
A. Offer no explanation and tell her to mind her own business.
B. Lie and claim the child was born when you were fourteen, citing the popular novel Fourteen-Year-Old Mother for reference. (Requires a Deception Check.)
C. Admit you found the child and take Shunan to the police station with Tomoko.
Hmm… this time, she wanted to pick A.
C was out of the question—she still had a weekend to raise affection points. Shunan himself didn’t seem to mind, and she couldn’t let others disrupt her plans. She’d take him to the police station on Sunday night, right before the café owner returned.
As for B, since this game didn’t allow save-scumming, failing the Deception Check would expose her lie. Tomoko might call the police on the spot, resulting in the loss of both potential romance targets.
Nianzi was still weighing her options when she realized this was a timed decision—not a turn-based RPG. If she didn’t answer within seconds, the game would progress automatically.
Then, Shunan in her arms suddenly spoke up softly in her stead.
"Yes, she’s my mom. Why do you ask, ma’am?"
