Chapter 371 372: The Value of the Official Queen!

"Going back and running into our past selves would be a hassle — why don't we just get a big room at a hotel and stay there for a while?" Hitori Gotoh said, sounding like she was already thoroughly familiar with booking a room.

Ryo seemed to think of something, a sly grin spreading across her face. "Fine by me. Since we can use the personal terminal's cognitive interference system anyway, watching our past selves sounds pretty fun."

Nijika radiated an air of limp, salted-fish laziness. "Just decide already — all I want to do is lie down."

Already nestled in her lover's arms, Kita Ikuyo agreed wholeheartedly. "Same here. I want to lie in Jhin's arms."

In the end, they went with Hitori's suggestion and headed off together to book a hotel room.

Before they could even start moving, Nymph called.

"Hey, Nymph, what's up?"

"Master, I'm detecting four unregistered personal terminal signals near you. Could it be that you've run into future versions of them?" She didn't name names, but she knew perfectly well that personal terminals were only ever granted to Master's harem.

"Yeah. Want to study the future personal terminals a bit, see if there's anything we can optimize?"

"No need. I'm confident I can do better than my future self!"

"I trust you. I might be back a little late." "Mm."

He hung up and found the future wives staring intently at him, utterly baffled. "Is talking to Nymph on the phone really that weird? Why are you all staring at me like that?"

Hitori Gotoh spoke with a wistful sigh. "So that's the tone Nymph used to talk to you in, huh? Feels kind of cold and distant."

"What's wrong with that?"

"If I had to put it into words, when future-her talks to you, it's like she's constantly stuffing candy into someone's mouth — sickeningly sweet."

"Maybe... I'll have her imitate it when I get home later." Jhin was honestly curious to hear Nymph talk to him in that saccharine, tooth-achingly sweet tone.

"Something like that can't really be done on purpose, can it?"

"With Nymph, you never know." "True enough."

"Oh, right — turn on your cognitive interference so we don't run into anyone we know on the way." "Okay," all four of them said in unison.

Jhin led the future wives to a nearby luxury hotel and, under the front desk clerk's look of admiration, booked a deluxe room with a king-sized bed.

The reason for that look of admiration was simple: from where the clerk stood, Jhin walked in surrounded by four "wives," and one of them — a blue-haired one — paid for the room.

Could this be the deluxe edition of "I don't want to work hard for a living"?!

Under the clerk's envious gaze, the group took their room key and headed upstairs.

The moment they walked in, Nijika made a beeline for the sofa, all but gluing herself to it. Kita and Hitori flanked Jhin on either side and sat down on the other sofa, while Ryo raided the fridge for the complimentary drinks and started chugging one down.

Feeling the sweet scent drifting from both sides of him, Jhin let out a slow breath. "You're not planning to execute me right here on the spot, are you?"

"Wishful thinking!" Hitori shot him a sidelong glance, then let out a lovestruck giggle and rubbed her cheek against his face. "Hehehe~"

Kita took a few deep breaths of him before standing up. "Let's do it the old way — rock-paper-scissors!"

"Ooh~ It's been a while since we did this." Nijika, who'd been playing dead on the sofa a moment ago, sprang back to life, rolling up her sleeves with obvious enthusiasm. "I'm not losing this time!"

"Heh heh, I, the Rock-Paper-Scissors King, will crush you all!"

Even Hitori, who'd been thoroughly absorbed in ogling Jhin, peeled herself off him to join the game.

"Huh? What are you all doing?"

The future wives declared in unison, "Deciding the order, of course!"

As it turned out, they were also planning to use the cognitive interference to go take a look at their past selves. Even knowing they were just one possible future among many, the experience still seemed worthwhile — not everyone got a chance like this. And, conveniently, this would also decide the order in which they'd each get some alone time with Jhin.

Hitori Gotoh thrust her fist into the air and strode up to Jhin like a champion, then tried to pull his very soul into the cleavage of her chest — deeper, she claimed, than the Mariana Trench.

She had clearly won the right to be alone with him first.

Ryo bit down on her handkerchief, resentful. "Bocchi-chan barely ever wins at rock-paper-scissors — is it seriously because Jhin's presence gives her some kind of luck buff?"

Nijika patted her best friend on the shoulder, her tone dripping with envy. "Can't be helped. That's just the weight a first girlfriend carries. I'll keep lying down over here — remember to poke me when it's my turn."

"Don't worry, I'll enjoy your share of the fun for you too." "Get lost!"

Kita sat off to the side like a dejected little puppy, staring pitifully at the two of them wrapped around each other, as if silently pleading, Can't I join in too?

"Well... Bocchi-chan and I will head home first. Contact me on the personal terminal if anything comes up." "Go on, go on." "Jhin, bring me back some snacks!" "Ugh... I want to go too."

After comforting Kita, Jhin and Hitori Gotoh left the hotel. Even here in the future, the faint fragrance clinging to her still carried the same hint of cola-sweetness.

Grown-up Hitori loved staring at him with a silly grin and could casually slip into intimate gestures without a shred of self-consciousness, utterly unbothered by passersby's stares. That warmth of hers nearly overwhelmed him — this was, after all, the first time he'd ever been run over by a truck of affection quite this heavy.

Back at the rented apartment, Nymph already had tea brewed and waiting. As the designer of the personal terminal system, she saw through the cognitive interference at a single glance. "Hello, one of the possible future versions of Hitori Gotoh."

"Hello, Nymph."

"I'm back, Nymph." Jhin stroked the little angel's silky blue hair while pulling one item after another out of his storage space. "These are all materials I collected from Another World. See if any of them are useful."

Nymph's gaze swept over the sizable pile of materials, and she quickly sorted and finished cataloguing them, tucking them away into storage space to send to the lab later. "There are twenty-seven substitutable mineral types here. The personal terminal should be able to manufacture roughly ten units from them."

"Got it. I'll give you your reward later — I'll be spending the next few days with Bocchi-chan and the others."

"Understood. I'll have a plan drawn up before then."

In the past, hearing the little angel talk about drawing up a plan might have made Jhin's back ache with dread. Now, all he wanted to do was shout, "Bring it on!"

These days, I'm terrifyingly strong!

Leaving the rented apartment, Hitori suggested they go take a look at Shuka High School and see what present-day her was up to.

"Sure. Let me send a message first."

Jhin took out his phone and sent a group text to the girls: "I'm back!" Then he headed straight for Shuka High School with his future wife.

Back at the Problem Child Countermeasures Club, Hitori Gotoh and Kita Ikuyo — the present-day versions — were practicing guitar when they saw the text, joy lighting up their eyes.

"He's finally back."

"Bocchi-chan, are we really going to say that to his face?" "Yes." "...Okay."

____

🔥 HELP UNLOCK THE NEXT EXTRA RELEASE!

Early Access: Can't stand the cliffhangers?

🔥 New history: DanMachi: Inheriting the Legacy of Alternate Versions — posted on The_Mikudayo