"No!... Don't leave yet!... At least stay for one more day!"

"Jeff-senpai..."

"We need to go back today, Vee."

"Shut it, you idiot!"

With Veena's 18th birthday coming to an end, Jeff and Veena now had to return to Capital City for their Monday classes at their university.

Everyone—Jeff's parents and brothers, Jess's mother, along with Mira and Mina—gathered in front of the house to say goodbye to Jeff, Veena, and their friends.

They were almost ready to leave, as soon as Jess let go of Veena.

"It's only the second week of your college, right? Skipping a day or two won't hurt Vee's studies!" Jess pleaded, embracing Veena to keep Jeff from taking her.

"If you want to go back, then leave on your own!" she added, now retorting to Jeff.

Jess indeed had a point, and that was exactly what Jeff had planned: to let Veena skip two days of class for two reasons.

First, to figure out Veena's most desired gift and complete Quest 24 before its deadline at the end of the day.

Second, because Nubia had prepared a second birthday celebration for Veena, scheduled for tomorrow upon her return.

Still, seeing how much Jess and Veena wanted to spend more time with each other, it would be quite mean of him to separate them. Therefore, a simple compromise would solve everything.

"Then would you like to come with us instead, Jess?"

Surely skipping classes for two days wouldn't hurt Jess's studies either, and it was about time for her to meet Nubia.

Jeff and Jess exchanged looks and silently agreed.

Fine! I will go with you two.

Or at least that was what Jess wanted and intended to do.

"You aren't planning to leave, right?" Jessica said, glaring daggers at her daughter as she grabbed the back of her head and slowly pulled her away from Veena.

"You're not forgetting that you have a scheduled photoshoot tomorrow, right, Jess?" Mina added, reminding her as her assistant manager.

"And don't forget you're still in trouble for breaking that guy's face with a bottle of wine," Mira said, reminding Jess of the possible charge of serious physical injury that Veena's stepfather could file against her.

Regardless, Jess knew she could easily get away with it since it was an act of self-defense—and with everything Veena's stepfather had done. Not to mention, the PoruMerc fashion company had many good lawyers.

She was far more concerned about wanting to spend time with Veena and, even though she didn't say it, more intimacy with Jeff. After all, what they had over the weekend wouldn't be enough for her to last through the week ahead.

"We'll be back again next weekend..." Jeff said as he embraced Jess, partly to stop her from hugging Veena the moment she escaped her mother's clutch, and partly to whisper that he felt the same way.

"...So let us endure until we see each other again."

Hearing those words, Jess hugged him tightly, as if charging herself with enough energy to last until the next weekend, before letting Jeff go.

"Idiot, moron, pervert..."

---

Jeff and Veena, together with Kris, Marc, their girlfriends, and Veena's other friends, were able to leave early in the morning and took the train route back to Capital City.

Compared to when they were heading back home, their ride on the train now was much more comfortable since they weren't carrying any shopping bags or souvenirs.

All of Veena's gifts for her 18th birthday were to be shipped tomorrow from their home in Central City to their apartment in Capital City.

The only things Veena carried with her were one shopping bag containing her birthday gown, her sling bag, and the PoruMerc fashion magazine with Jess's modeling photo on the cover—complete with her autograph.

It was the same magazine Veena bought along with the life-size poster as an offering for Jess.

Jess actually didn't want to take them, embarrassed to even look at them—exactly Jeff's intention when he suggested Veena buy them.

So as an excuse, Jess signed both the magazine and the poster and gave them back to Veena, who happily received them.

Even now, Veena was excitedly staring at the cover, flipping through the pages to look at more photos of her scary senpai, delighted at the thought that Jess was also her girlfriend.

"Have you thought of what else you wanted as a gift?" Jeff asked, getting her attention back to him.

He put his right arm around Veena's shoulder to make her sit closer and lean toward him—while also telling every guy in the train who was ogling Veena that she was his girlfriend.

Veena leaned her head back, looking up at her beloved senpai before answering.

"Would you really give me anything I want, Jeff-senpai?" she said, her face blushing red from both excitement and embarrassment at the thought of her most desired gift.

"All you have to do is tell me what it is."

That should be obvious, you freaking idiot lucky bastard! every guy silently thought as they ogled Veena and eavesdropped on the conversation.

Of course, Jeff already had an idea of what Veena wanted most, and he was willing and happy to give it. At the same time, he was excited and aroused just thinking about it, which was why his bag was on his lap—to hide the massive erection he couldn't hold back.

Still, he wanted Veena to say it herself, to give her permission and consent.

"Then I will tell you once we arrive at our apartment," Veena said, covering her face with the magazine to hide how excited and aroused she was.

---

[RETURNER FANTASY SYSTEM]

[Quest 24 – 18th Birthday Gift]

[Reward – Intimate Body]

[Objective – Give Veena her most desired gift]

[Countdown – 13 hours]

---

An hour before noon, Jeff and Veena finally arrived at their apartment.

They could have arrived much earlier, but all the girls in their group decided to go on another window-shopping spree upon arriving in Capital City, since they all decided to skip their classes for the day.

Veena wanted to have fun too, so Jeff enjoyed another date with her. After all, he was confident it would be an easy and satisfying task completing Quest 24 later.

Or so he thought.

"We're already here, so wake up, Vee," Jeff said as he opened the door to his apartment while carrying Veena on his back.

"You can bite me all you want... Jess-senpai..." Veena murmured—or rather, talked in her sleep.

Veena had fallen asleep as soon as she finished her meal, right in her seat at the restaurant where they all had lunch.

As childish as she was, Jeff had expected it, since Veena didn't sleep last night—partly because of the anxiety caused by her stepfather's commotion, but mostly because Jess stayed with her, talking about many things but mostly about Jeff.

Not that he could complain—Jeff himself didn't get any sleep from how tense he was. His only concern was...

"You won't be sleeping for the whole day, right?"

---

Jeff laid Veena on the bed, then took a shower and changed into his usual shirt and shorts...

"Or not..." Jeff murmured, deciding not to wear his shorts and staying in just his trunks, since he no longer needed to be self-conscious now that Veena was of legal age.

Still, Veena remained asleep.

Sitting on the bed beside her, his back resting on the headboard as he waited for her to wake up, Jeff decided to read the update on Veena's Archive through the holographic screen of the Returner Fantasy System.

To sum it up—as Jeff had assumed—Veena would indeed be assaulted by her stepfather and stepbrothers, kept trapped for an entire week until her mother returned. That was Veena's fate, or rather, what had actually happened to her in Jeff's original timeline before his regression.

Learning the truth—including the part involving Dexter and the FGH organization—Jeff could only blame and curse himself. If he hadn't paid so little attention to Veena, if he had only gone with her to the welcome party at her college, then Veena wouldn't have had to experience such a cruel fate in that original timeline.

In the end, it was all his fault for being so idiotic and pathetic.

"Why are you crying, Jeff-senpai?" Veena said, waking up from the sound of his quiet sobs. She raised her hand to wipe his tears.

"I'm sorry, Vee..."

Confused and unsure how to console him, Veena could only think of how Jeff always comforted her.

She sat up, kneeled in front of him, and embraced him—patting his head and caressing his back as she said:

"You don't have to cry anymore, Jeff-senpai."

---

It took some time for Jeff to calm down from his regret and guilt—much longer than Jess would need to recover from her emotional outbursts.

His pathetic display had indeed killed the mood for their planned intimacy, but Jeff still had to continue if he wanted to complete Quest 24. Besides, Veena's excited and aroused expression told him she still wanted to do it today.

"Have you thought of what else you wanted for your gift, Vee?"

"Can we do it... Jeff-senpai...?"

Just as he expected—or so Jeff thought.

"Like how it is... in your made-up story..."

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