Chapter One: The Great Dating Battle

“Onii-chan!”

As Su Mo drifted in and out of consciousness, a gentle, sweet voice seemed to whisper in his ear. The tone was soft and syrupy, and a bewitching fragrance teased his nose, making his spirits rise involuntarily.

Rubbing his bleary eyes, he let out a subconscious moan. When the blinding light pierced his eyelids, he saw a girl in a junior high uniform standing before him. Her long hair was braided into two pigtails, each tied with a white ribbon, swaying lightly as she moved. Her large, chestnut-like eyes were fixed intently on him.

Seeing her, Su Mo was momentarily stunned, his face clouded with confusion.

Who wouldn’t be bewildered upon waking to find an unfamiliar, beautiful girl calling them “big brother”? In fact, the fact that he remained so calm, without screaming or making a scene, was already remarkable.

This was a completely unfamiliar environment!

Just a moment ago, he had stepped out of the supermarket, and in the next, he found himself here. Could it be that he had transmigrated?

As if in response to his thoughts, an electronic, mechanical voice echoed in his mind.

[Main God System binding in progress!]

[From today onward, you will travel endlessly through various anime worlds, experiencing one dazzling life after another, embarking on a legendary journey of heroism. Just three minutes, and you’ll love it here as much as I do.]

[Current world: “Date A Live”]

[Task One: Raise a Spirit’s affection to one hundred percent—so go on a date!]

[Task Two: Obtain a Spirit Crystal!]

[Task Three: Acquire a Reverse Spirit Crystal!]

[No penalty for failing a task. Complete all three to leave this world. Good luck, Host!]

A game-like interface appeared before his eyes, but Su Mo was still at a loss.

Did he really transmigrate?

And with a cheat system?

Perhaps anyone else in this situation would be thrilled, ready to embark on a life of overwhelming power and build a harem along the way. But Su Mo was nothing like those orphaned protagonists from web novels. His parents were alive and well—so why had he transmigrated?

The thought of his parents possibly waiting for him to return home made his heart clench with pain.

Who would want to transmigrate? I just want to go home.

Yet, no matter how loudly Su Mo raged within, the synthesized electronic voice did not return.

As Su Mo sat there, his eyes blank and heart heavy, the girl who had been standing on his bed and gazing down at him seemed to lose patience after her repeated calls went unanswered. She unleashed her ultimate weapon—raising her foot and stomping down hard on his stomach.

“Onii-chan, get up, or we’ll be late for school!” she said again, pressing down even harder with her foot.

The sharp pain brought Su Mo back to his senses. His frail body was forced to endure a weight it should never have to bear at this age. He looked at the girl again, and this time, new information flashed through his mind.

This was information directly transmitted by the system, details about his current identity.

According to the system’s arrangement, he had transmigrated to Japan and become the adopted son of the Itsuka family, now named Itsuka Su Mo. That was all; the information was so sparse it was almost laughable, not even a brief introduction.

All Su Mo knew was that he was now called Itsuka Su Mo, and the beautiful girl before him, with her elegant twin-tails and her air of otherworldly charm, looked as though she’d stepped straight out of a galgame. She was so dazzling that his gaze could not tear away—once again proving the saying: “There are no ugly girls in two dimensions, no beautiful women in three.” In this moment, he was truly awestruck.

According to the system, this beautiful girl was his little sister—Itsuka Kotori!

“Wait, isn’t that the heroine from Date A Live?” Suddenly, Su Mo remembered. He was no stranger to Date A Live; after all, he’d been a typical otaku, obsessed with various aspects of otaku culture, especially Japanese anime.

He’d just finished catching up on the third season!

Looking at Kotori Itsuka, Su Mo felt a surreal sense of absurdity. He had actually become Kotori’s brother. While the feeling was quite nice, he’d also received three tasks from the Main God, one of which was to raise a Spirit’s affection to max. Why not start with Kotori? After all, she had already become a Spirit, and since he was just an adopted brother, there was no blood relation.

As the saying goes, “The water near the pavilion gets the moon first”—it should be easy to raise his sister’s affection level.

But then, Su Mo recalled a certain trait of Kotori’s—brother complex!

In Date A Live, Kotori had gone berserk five years ago when she first became a Spirit and had given her first kiss to her brother, Shido Itsuka. In her heart, Shido was absolutely the most important person in the world. Trying to compete with the protagonist for her affection was even less likely than winning the lottery.

Moreover, Su Mo wasn’t the type to snatch someone else’s love or act out of desperation.

Too bad Shido had already gotten there first; Su Mo had no intention of becoming the kind of person who would steal someone else’s little sister.

Slowly climbing out of bed, Su Mo looked at Kotori. Such a lovely girl—though she belonged to someone else, she was certainly pleasing to the eye. He couldn’t help but smile. “Alright, I’m getting up!”

“Honestly, you make me wake you every morning. Being a brother is such a pain!” Kotori puffed her cheeks in mock annoyance. Seeing that Su Mo wasn’t going to crawl back under the covers, she hopped off the bed and thoughtfully handed him a junior high uniform.

Taking the clothes, Su Mo dressed quickly in front of her without any embarrassment. Then he followed Kotori out of the room.

As he passed the doorway, he glanced at the mirror hanging on the wall. Although his identity had changed, his appearance remained the same: a tender, youthful high school boy—not particularly handsome, but certainly pleasant enough.

After arriving in this world, Su Mo discovered he was now fluent in Japanese. So much for the myth that everyone speaks Chinese—here, even in another world, Japanese was still required.

Sighing, he followed Kotori into the Itsuka family’s living room.

Because his adoptive parents were away on business, Su Mo realized they wouldn’t be returning for several months. That meant only he, Kotori, and the original protagonist, Shido Itsuka, were left in the house.

All Su Mo wanted was to be an ordinary person. He just wanted to go home.

With that thought, he entered the living room.

But there, by the stove, was a woman with long blue hair, wearing an apron and busily preparing breakfast. Seeing her, Su Mo was stunned once again. Who was she?

According to Date A Live’s plot, the Itsuka household only had Shido and Kotori. Even with him as an exception, who was this woman?

Just as Su Mo was lost in thought, the woman turned around, her face bright with a gentle smile.

“Su Mo, breakfast is ready!”