Shin, the Eternal Last-Minute Arrival

Seeing this system notification, Shin didn't know whether to laugh or cry. 

He finally understood why the Infinite Terror VR Game had an anti-addiction system that kept restricting his playtime to no more than eight hours. Turns out, this system could actually be lifted! This kind of design wasn't uncommon in many games. 

As an otaku, Zuke had played similar titles before—games that didn't unlock all features upfront but imposed restrictions first. Only after completing the tutorial mission would the game's limitations be removed, allowing players to freely explore other content. 

This "anti-addiction" system was one such restriction, and the initial mission world—Dragon Ball—was the tutorial stage meant to lift it. 

But... wasn't this tutorial mission a bit too damn hard?! 

Zuke really wanted to complain. He had already cleared the main quests of the next two mission worlds twice, yet this was his first time completing Dragon Ball. He didn't know whether this initial world was set by default or randomly assigned, but if it was the default, he really wanted to grab the game developer by the collar and ask—what kind of messed-up design philosophy is this?! 

Who in their right mind would make Dragon Ball the tutorial stage before JoJo? And with a mission objective of defeating 100% Frieza, no less? Even if the main quest had been something like "beat Master Roshi," it would've been more manageable! 

"Whatever, it's not like anyone's listening to my complaints anyway." 

Though his heart was full of grievances, Zuke ultimately kept them to himself. He had already tested the system multiple times before—it didn't seem to have any automated response mechanism, nor was there even a customer service feature. Complaining was pointless. 

"Now that the anti-addiction system is lifted, I can enter mission worlds anytime without worrying about the three-hour play limit." 

Shin glanced at the mission selection screen, deep in thought. As expected, the Dragon Ball world had now changed to "Generating Main Quest..." He had no idea how long it would take for the next main quest to appear. 

But after some consideration, he decided not to dive into another mission right away. 

For one, he had already promised "Eriri" that he'd go to the comic convention with her today, and he wasn't about to stand her up. 

Secondly, he wanted to test something in the real world—whether he could bypass the system's selection process and directly enter the Dragon Ball world using King's Army. 

Without much hesitation, Shin quickly logged out of Infinite Terror VR Game and returned to reality. 

--- 

{Transitioning to Shin}

Today, Shin had woken up rather late. 

Since he had spent over eight hours in the Dragon Ball world, by the time he opened his eyes, it was already 10 AM. His meeting time with Eriri was 10:30, leaving him only half an hour to wash up and get ready. 

But Shin wasn't the least bit worried—after all, traveling took zero time for him. Thirty minutes was more than enough to freshen up and grab a quick breakfast. 

Stepping out of his room, he spotted Gabriel in the hallway, cleaning with dark circles under her eyes. 

"Did this angel stay up all night gaming again? Do angels even need sleep?" 

After washing up and eating breakfast prepared by Tohru, Shin stopped time and flew straight to the meeting spot he'd arranged with Eriri. 

They had agreed to meet near the subway station closest to the convention center, so after landing, Shin found an inconspicuous corner before resuming time. The silent world instantly returned to its usual bustle, and no one noticed a person suddenly appearing out of thin air on the street. 

"Yo, Eriri." 

"You're late!" 

Eriri glared at Shin as he strolled over, unable to hold back her complaint. 

But even as she grumbled, she couldn't help glancing at the clock nearby—the time exactly struck 10:30. 

This left her frustrated but with no real grounds to vent. After all, Shin had arrived right on time—he wasn't technically late. 

Still, she couldn't shake the irritation. She had been so nervous, waking up early to get ready, carefully picking out her outfit, and arriving ahead of time—only for Shin to act like he couldn't care less. 

It made her a little unhappy, hence the complaint. 

"You look great, by the way. Really pretty." 

But with just that one offhand compliment from Shin, Eriri's expression immediately brightened. 

A smile tugged at her lips, even revealing a glimpse of her little fangs—adorably smug. 

Realizing she was losing control of her expression, she quickly coughed twice to compose herself before continuing: 

"...Flattery won't work! Anyway, today you have to accompany me to check how our doujinshi is selling at the convention!" 

Honestly, Eriri was way too easy to please—a single compliment had her grinning uncontrollably. 

But her words did surprise Shin: 

"Our doujinshi?" 

"You provided the material, didn't you? That makes you co-author, right?" 

At his confusion, Eriri's face turned red as she spoke somewhat awkwardly. 

Perhaps she felt this phrasing created a sense of closeness between them. 

But to Shin, it was a little funny—wouldn't that make Irisviel an author too, then? 

Of course, he could guess Eriri's intentions. Given his experience teasing her, he knew exactly what she was thinking. 

"By the way, who's helping you sell the doujinshi this time?" 

As they walked toward the convention center, Shin asked curiously. 

He remembered Eriri's parents usually handled sales for her, and her parents... 

"...My mom's helping." 

Eriri scratched her cheek sheepishly—it was kind of embarrassing to admit. 

But upon hearing this, Shin immediately recalled his last encounter with Eriri's mother, Sayuri Sawamura. 

"I see..." 

He nodded, mildly curious about what kind of expression Sayuri would have when she saw him later. 

Eriri didn't seem to know that her mother had already met Shin. Though Sayuri had taken her home from the hotel last time, Eriri assumed it was just a routine parental intervention. 

She had no idea her mother had actually been secretly tailing her and Shin—and had been caught red-handed by Shin himself.

To be continued…

Guys, I apologize for being inactive for a long time. Some poisonous bug had bitten me on my arm on multiple spots which I mistook for some allergy and things got bad. My skin literally got burnt cuz of the poison and the wounds took days to recover.