CHAPTER 39: THE AFFECTION GAMES: MAY THE BEST GIRL WIN

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📣 SYSTEM ALERT

🛠 Daily Affection Quota: Missed

⚠️ Emotional balance remains critically unstable.

🧾 New System Directive: Bond Restoration Protocol

Due to the unintended emotional spike caused by [Sora’s Sleep Proximity Event], other members now require compensatory intimacy to stabilize harem balance.

💢 Trust degradation detected.

💞 Desire thresholds rising.

🎯 Mission Issued: Equalized Affection Rounds

Objective:

Engage each bonded member in one (1) night of uninterrupted proximity to re-establish emotional sync.

Details vary by member, and may include personalized mini-objectives.

---

I stared at the glowing set of new objectives like they were written in a foreign language. The System had officially lost it.

"You’ve got to be kidding me..." I muttered.

Sora, still comfortably lounging in my oversized hoodie, tilted her head innocently. "What?" she said sweetly. "I was cold. And lonely. And his bed’s huge."

The others stood in the doorway, their expressions a mix of disbelief, silent fury, and simmering jealousy. Rin looked like she was about to launch a fireball. Akane had a hand on her blade. Elira’s smile had that dangerous royal calm—the kind that came right before someone was beheaded.

Ayame just looked impressed. "Damn, girl. You really just climbed into his bed and claimed him, huh?"

"I didn’t hear any rules," Sora said, pouting. "Besides, it’s not like we’re not all into him."

"You don’t just call dibs on a man like he’s the last cupcake," Rin snapped.

"Exactly," Elira agreed, folding her arms. "If we’re going to be stuck in this emotional hellscape together, then we need structure."

"...Structure?" I echoed, already sensing where this was going.

Ayame perked up. "Oh, like a schedule?"

"I don’t need a schedule," Akane muttered, eyes narrowing at Sora. "I just need a turn."

Sora blinked. "You guys are making this weird. I just came in because my room was locked and—"

"Not the point!" Rin said. "The point is, you got a full night with him, and now we’re all behind."

"So..." Ayame said slowly, grinning, "we take turns?"

"Turns?" I repeated, frozen.

Elira nodded solemnly. "Yes. One night each. No interruptions. No questions asked. Fair and equal."

Mei leaned against the wall, twirling a kunai between her fingers. "And if anyone peeks, I’ll know."

This had escalated at lightning speed.

"W-Wait, hang on," I said, holding up my hands. "You guys are seriously organizing cuddle appointments?!"

"It’s better than what we were about to do," Rin muttered. "I was this close to throwing hands."

"We’ll use rock-paper-scissors," Elira decided. "Best out of three. Last place gets the last night."

"Or," Sora added, "I get two nights since I already went."

All eyes turned to her. She retracted immediately. "Kidding. Mostly."

They circled up like it was a gladiator match, leaving me to silently spiral as they began chanting.

"Rock..."

"Paper..."

"Scissors—shoot!"

Within seconds, the rotation was decided. The girls scribbled it down on the back of a receipt and taped it to the bedroom door like a sacred commandment.

Night One: Ayame

Night Two: Elira

Night Three: Mei

Night Four: Akane

Night Five: Rin

Night Six: Sora

(No one is allowed to talk about what happens in anyone else’s night.)

"That’s final," Elira said, brushing past me on her way out. "We start tonight."

"I’ll bring rope," Akane muttered.

"For cuddling, right?" I asked, not sure if I wanted the answer.

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📨 NEW MISSION: [Akane]

Tonight

Title: Blade and Bond

Objective: Spend uninterrupted quality time with [Akane].

Subtask: Let her show you one thing she’s never shown anyone before.

Reward: Critical trust restoration.

Danger: If intimacy is rejected, jealousy level will spike +3.

---

As they left one by one to prepare for their "assigned nights," I collapsed onto the couch, mentally preparing for war.

Sora lingered last, grinning as she flicked my forehead.

"Five nights, five flames," she whispered. "Try not to burn out, Ren~"

She winked and strolled off like a smug cat. I buried my face in the pillow and screamed internally.

I barely had five minutes of peace before chaos struck again.

It started in the kitchen.

BANG.

I jolted upright.

Then came shouting. Then sizzling. Then someone screamed something about "my saucepan, you thief!"

I wandered in cautiously—only to be met with the battlefield that used to be my kitchen.

Rin was standing at the stove like a general at war, wielding a ladle like a scepter. "Out of my way, Ayame. You don’t even know how to caramelize properly!"

Ayame, kneeling on the counter, was furiously chopping onions like a ninja on a deadline. "I trained in a hidden monastery, you disrespectful sesame seed!"

Sora was crouched beside the fridge, hoarding strawberries and glaring at anyone who got too close.

Mei was silently assembling what looked like a bento box of threats—deadly sharp presentation, perfectly aligned food, and a little note that said "Eat well. Or else."

Elira?

Elira was sipping wine in the corner, casually flipping through a cookbook. "When they all fail, I’ll simply swoop in with elegance."

Akane kicked the oven door shut with her heel. "You can’t swoop with store-bought dough, your Highness."

"This is the swoop," Elira replied with a smirk.

I stood in the doorway, blinking.

"...Should I order pizza?"

Five death glares turned to me.

"No."

"No."

"I will sauté you."

"Ren, sit down and shut up before you ruin the vibe."

"Don’t interfere with the process," Elira added, "unless you want to start another war."

I backed out slowly.

---

One hour later.

They brought everything to the table like it was some kind of royal feast-slash-ego duel.

Ayame’s spicy ramen nearly set my mouth on fire.

Rin’s sweet teriyaki chicken melted my soul.

Mei’s precision-cut sushi tasted like art and trauma.

Sora’s dessert was dangerously addictive—fluffy mochi filled with strawberries and... jealousy?

Akane served a steak with a knife still stabbed in it.

Elira?

Elira waited until I was halfway through everyone else’s food... and then dropped an entire plate of perfectly plated elven cuisine in front of me like it was the final boss level.

"This one pairs well with your exhaustion," she said smugly.

I stared at the mountain of calories. Then at the smiling chaos goblins around me.

The harem war had gone domestic.

I was full.

I was stressed.

And I had five nights ahead of me.

System Ping:

[WARNING: Emotional Pressure Build-Up Detected.]

[SUGGESTION: Accept all food. Compliment everything. Do not die.]

I smiled at them all weakly. "I love all of it. You’re all... amazing. Really. So much talent."

Ayame squinted. "Who won, though?"

"Yeah," Rin echoed, crossing her arms. "Whose dish was your favorite?"

I looked down at my plate.

Then at the daggers in their eyes.

"...System, help."

[SYSTEM RESPONSE: LOL. NOPE.]

[YOU STARTED THIS. YOU FIX IT.]

[CURRENT STATUS: SURVIVAL MODE – MANUAL ONLY]

[RECOMMENDED ACTION: Pray. Or pretend to faint.]

I stared blankly at the floating text.

"...You useless brick of emotional abandonment software."

[SYSTEM NOTE: Name-calling logged. May the harem odds be ever in your favor.]

---

"I... can’t possibly choose," I said, trying to sound diplomatic and not like a man seconds away from being poisoned with love and actual poison.

But the glares didn’t budge.

So I did what any sensible man with five ticking emotional bombs around him would do.

I started evaluating.

"Okay. Ayame—your ramen was explosive. Like, literally. I can’t feel my tongue."

She smirked. "You’re welcome."

"But maybe a little less spice next time. You almost erased my soul."

"...Oh."

"Rin—your teriyaki was sweet. Really sweet. Like... maybe tone down the sugar before I go into a coma."

Rin’s eyebrow twitched. "It’s called balance. You’re the unbalanced one."

"Mei—your sushi looked incredible. But it was so perfectly aligned I was afraid to eat it. It felt like vandalizing a masterpiece."

Mei blinked. "So... too good?"

"No, I—"

She turned away, shoulders trembling.

"Oh god."

Sora glared at me. "Well? What about mine?"

"Your mochi was amazing. But also addictive. Like... suspiciously addictive. What did you put in it?"

Sora just smiled innocently.

"...Never mind."

I turned to Elira. "And your elven dish was elegant. But it came at the end, and I was already full and emotionally damaged by then."

She tilted her head. "So... next time I go first?"

"Exactly."

For a second, there was silence. Then—

Sniffling.

I turned.

Mei was quietly crying into her sleeves. Sora immediately leaned into me, grabbing my arm and pulling it to her chest like I was her emotional support boyfriend.

"She worked really hard, you know," Sora whispered, loud enough for everyone to hear.

"I-I just wanted him to think I was special..." Mei murmured.

My heart dropped.

I wrapped my arm around her without thinking. "Hey, no, you are special. All of you are. I just suck at—"

But Sora cut me off with a wicked grin—smug, mischievous—and rested her head on my shoulder like a cat marking territory.

She stared at the others with sparkling eyes.

And smiled.

Not the sweet kind.

The victory kind.

Rin clicked her tongue.

Ayame rolled her eyes.

Elira sipped her wine harder.

Akane stared at the steak knife in her hand like she was considering whether to throw it.

The game had just entered a new phase.

And I was already losing.

---

System Ping:

[EMOTIONAL STABILITY: CRITICAL IMBALANCE DETECTED]

[MEI’S OBSESSION METER: +17%]

[SORA’S COMPETITIVE EDGE: ACTIVATED]

[ADVICE: Redistribute attention. Immediately.]

I swallowed hard as Mei nuzzled into me and Sora hummed like she’d won a prize.

"I’m gonna die," I muttered.

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