Alright, perhaps that was a bit of a hyperbole. Still, as I felt her lips overlap with mine, my eyes almost shot open in startlement. I barely managed to keep them shut.

"Mmmphhh..." A moan rang out. I didn't know if it was hers or mine. I couldn't care less; I was lost in her lips, those delicious, plump lips that I hadn't tasted in so, so long.

At some point, my hands cupped the sides of her face. She tensed a little, but relaxed a moment later as she allowed it. I was lost in bliss. Embarrassingly enough, I felt myself grow hard from the mere brushing of our lips like some horny teenager. My tongue licked her lips, teasing but never trying to enter her. Hers came to meet it, and they touched and danced with each other after a very, very long time apart. I thought I felt her shudder slightly through my hands, though maybe it was me who was shaking.

I wanted to keep kissing her forever.

Unfortunately, we had to separate eventually. By the time we did, we were both panting heavily, our hot breaths caressing the other's face.

"Alice..." I breathed out her name, but she pressed against a finger against my lips, shutting me up.

"Ryan, I... I'm so sorry. Ever since the accident, I've done nothing but wrong you. I fell into this rabbit hole, this... this dark sinkhole, where all I wanted was to push everyone away, to not let anyone stop me from wallowing in self-pity... including you.

"And I kept falling, deeper and deeper, giving myself more and more reasons to give up, until I just wanted to shrivel up and die. I tried to get you to give up on me, Ryan. I mistreated you, insulted you, and... you didn't deserve any of it."

She stopped speaking for a moment. When she continued, her voice was surer, less shaky.

"I was just waiting for you to ask to divorce me, and yet... you didn't. You stuck with me, even when I was making your life harder on purpose, even when you had– when you have your pick of women that would say yes to dating you in a heartbeat. And what you told me this morning... I might not be out of this... this slump yet, perhaps I'll never be, but I want you to know this."

She took a deep breath, and I could practically feel her hesitation, perhaps fear, over saying what she wanted to say. Then the desperate need for me to know won over, and she continued.

"I also love you, Ryan. Of course I still love you, how could I not? So... please wait for me... until I'm ready to go further than this."

Removing her finger, she gave me a little peck on the lips as a reminder. As if I needed one.

"O–of course. I'll wait for as long as you want."

"Thank you... please leave, now. And don't open your eyes," she requested, meekly, weakly pushing my chest away. My face burning, I nodded and turned around, then left.

My pants still held a sizeable tent. I just hoped she hadn't noticed it.

After going back to the kitchen, I ate my dinner mechanically—I was so distraught and excited the taste didn't even register.

My thoughts kept going back to our short conversation like a broken record, a casette in repeat.

She said she loves me. She still loves me! And she kissed me... her lips felt a bit dry, but even so it felt so good... her hands on my chest, mine on her cheeks... I can't believe that really happened, it still feels like a dream.

In a daze, I walked upstairs, reached my room, changed into my sleepwear—meaning stripping, save for my boxers—and, after a quick visit to the bathroom, let myself fall on the bed.

Then I realized what I was doing.

Wait, why am I tucking in so early? It's still like eight! And I've still got to do that exercise mission. I should go out for a run, and...

As I thought that, I noticed how sore my body truly was. The whole extent of my frenzied training consequences hit me all at once. Every single time I moved I could feel my muscles screaming at me, especially my arms and legs. I'd known I was sore all over from the excessive System-prompted exercise I'd done the night before, but tiredness and constant action, be it physical or mental, had kept my mind from dwelling on it, the pain being no more than a background annoyance while I'd focused on the more "important" things, causing me to more or less get used to it in the end.

Now that I lied down, though, and let my body relax, with my mind having nothing to focus on the sensations had come back all at once and hit me like a sledgehammer, and I felt like I couldn't even lift a finger.

Makes sense. Sit-ups are one thing, but I did... what, 350 push-ups? That's absolutely crazy. It's nuts. And how many squats did I do again? Like 400–something, almost 500? Wait, why am I trying to remember the numbers when I can summon them on command? System.

As per usual, the almost transparent screen appeared in front of me.

As I was about to select Missions, though, something caught my eye.

Oh look, I got ten points out of nowhere. The last two times it was only five. What was it this time? Oh, probably my kiss with Alice... it felt so good... Ahem, I think there was a Weekly Mission for me to kiss a woman. I didn't know it was worth ten points, though, I thought it was only five. Funny that a "Playboy System" would reward me for kissing my own wife. Though it did also give me points for jacking off to her... let's not think about that. I might be wrong, anyways. Let's see it.

Mentally selecting Missions—and thus discovering I didn't have to physically press the button—I confirmed that my conjecture was partially right, but the kissing mission was indeed only worth five points, while the other five came from another Weekly Mission which I had somehow completed without my knowledge, and which I decided not to think about for my own sanity.

 Then, something I saw as I checked out the rest of the screen made my jaw figuratively hang open in shock.

There was a new Mission I had forgotten to check, after completing the last one. Further, it seemed to be part of some kind of chain mission. But, most important of all; it was already completed.

Wait, giving me five points for kissing my wife's one thing, but ten points and a Lootbox? What the heck!? Were the people who designed the System retarded? Why didn't they add the little "with a woman you haven't before" bit, like with the last mission? Did they forget? Or maybe it was so I could kiss the same woman I went on a date with even if I kissed her on the date, before the Mission was completed? Or so that if I messed up and kissed her for less than 2 seconds I could just try again instead of having to go for another woman?

I shrugged mentally; in the end, it didn't really matter.

Eh, whatever. I'm not going to complain. Let's just get those rewards.

I mentally pressed 'CLAIM', since I was still too tired and lazy to lift my arms, and two screens appeared before me, the first of which quickly disappeared.