My Otherworldly Tentacle Boyfriend

[Preorder: "After Dumping the Nonhumans, I Got Caught in a Love Triangle" (reverse harem)]

When a group of alien special forces escape from prison, the United Government announces a massive bounty of five million star coins for each fugitive.

On a rainy night, Ping Ying runs into a monster's "attack" on her way home from work.

In a dark alley, the alien creature that had disemboweled someone quickly takes human form. It looks at her with empty eye sockets and countless eyes covering the tentacles spread throughout the alley. Its tentacles and mouthpart-bearing forelimbs are poised to strike.

Ping Ying: Oh, five million.

Burdened with all sorts of troubles, she considers the alarm function on her brain-computer for a moment, then chooses to take it home instead of reporting it.

"If you keep standing here, you'll be discovered in three minutes."

She smiles as she switches off her brain-computer and points to the building a short distance behind her. "Instead of hiding from place to place, why not come with me?"

*

As a child, Ping Ying had always wanted a dog.

At first, her parents wouldn't let her have one. Later, when she was on her own, she couldn't even support herself. By the time she could, most dogs on the market had short lifespans due to the city's pollution. She didn't want to lose anything again, so she never got one.

Until she met that alien.

She brought him home, gave him a name, and raised him like a very big-eating dog.

He's stupid, foolish, mean, stubborn, and convinced of his own cleverness. He loves causing trouble and never learns his lesson. He's ridiculously jealous, to the point that if she says he isn't good-looking, he'll fly into a rage, howl, and twist his face into all sorts of weird expressions. Whenever he sees her getting close to someone else, he gets jealous and competitive. When he lashes out, he never thinks of the consequences, and when he's in trouble, all he can do is act pitiful.

Stupid to the point of embarrassment. A complete nuisance. I could list his flaws all day and all night.

But he's her dog.

So five million, ten million, a hundred million, none of that matters.

No one is allowed to take him away.

Reading guide:

★ [Romance-focused]! Not a powerful heroine! A light reverse-harem setup, but one-on-one. The heroine is chaotic neutral. The relationship leans toward [taming each other]. Short to medium length.

◎ Set in a fictional future. Some details are inspired by certain movies, but don't compare it to reality. The worldbuilding definitely has some plot holes. Everything serves the story.

Preorder: "Don't Pick Up Modified Humans on a Whim"

I came home from a party at three in the morning and found a modified human collapsed outside my door. I took him in.

Half his face was destroyed, with wires and chips exposed, but the other half was beautiful. I charged him up and restarted him.

When he woke up, he said he had amnesia. He only remembered that he'd come from the future to protect an important person who would change the world. He couldn't remember who his target was, only the final syllable of their name.

That syllable was the same as the last character of my name.

I figured I was the person he was looking for, so I took him in.

We squeezed into my tiny rental. The bed was too small for him, and although he didn't need much sleep, he would learn to lie beside my bed like a human, like a little dog.

I thought he was a gift from heaven.

I fell in love with him, and we started dating.

But later, as his memories gradually returned, the way he looked at me began to change.

...So it turned out I wasn't the person he was supposed to protect. It was someone else.

I just happened to have him for a little while. In truth, we had nothing to do with each other.

He abandoned me just like that.

I hate him.

Theme: Learn to love.