Neverness to Everness includes a full romance-style relationship layer built on top of its companion roster. It is called the Bond Affinity System, and it lets the protagonist Zero grow closer to playable characters through gifts, shared activities, dates, and a Home Time feature inside purchased apartments. The system is soft romance rather than explicit dating, but it covers most of the beats players expect: affection levels, hand-holding, hugs, flirty dialogue choices, and curated date spots around Hethereau.
Quick answer: Yes. NTE has a romance-style Bond Affinity System with ten affection tiers per character, unlocked through gifts and bond quests, with rewards including up to 80 Annulith per character, exclusive home interactions, and date spots like the Ferris wheel and cinema.
How the Bond Affinity System works in NTE
Every launch character has a ten-level Bond track. You raise the level by giving gifts, completing bond quests, and spending time with the character through driving, walking, and home interactions. Gifts are bought from shops and vending machines across Hethereau, with a daily cap of 10 gifts per character to prevent one-day maxing.
Aurelia is the exception. She is a free login-event character whose bond track is capped at level 2, so she does not unlock the deeper relationship features that the rest of the roster does.
What unlocks at each Bond level
| Bond level | What you unlock |
|---|---|
| Level 2 | Invite the character for a car ride with unique passenger animations and voiced reactions |
| Level 4 | Familiar status, which lets you invite the character to your apartment for Home Time |
| Level 6 | Close Friend status, unlocking hugs, bond items, and special voice interactions |
| Level 10 | Full bond reward track completed, including up to 80 Annulith total per character |
Bond rewards along the way include Annulith (the premium pull currency), Beetle Coins, Elite Hunter Guides, and Dreamless Seed, plus character-specific cosmetic and decor items tied to individual bond quests.
Romance activities you can do with companions
- Walk around Hethereau together, with the option to hold hands.
- Drive them around in your vehicle and watch their unique passenger reactions.
- Take them to date spots such as the Ferris wheel, cinema, flower fields, or rooftops for meteor showers, and capture commemorative photos.
- Invite them home once you reach Bond level 4 for Home Time interactions.
- Use flirtier dialogue branches in conversations to ask about their feelings.
Side stories also gate behind bond progress. Climbing the affinity tiers reveals deeper character writing that is otherwise locked, which is the main narrative payoff of the system.
Home Time and the apartment requirement
Home Time is the closest thing NTE has to a live-in romance setup. Inviting a companion to your apartment requires Bond level 4 with that character and an apartment of your own. Once invited, characters appear in exclusive casual home outfits and idle around the space.
Inside the apartment you can trigger interactive actions like holding hands, ear care, and hide-and-seek, plus character-specific bond moments tied to Close Friend status at level 6.
How to unlock your first apartment:
Step 1: Reach City Tycoon Rank 5. Rank progress comes from completing Tycoon tutorials, including the Coffee Curator quest, plus general city activities.
Step 2: Start the main quest "Taste of Home," which becomes available at Tycoon Rank 5 and points you toward the property system.
Step 3: Visit the Leon Estate Office and purchase the Wiener Apartment for 200,000 Fons. Buying it permanently unlocks property ownership, gives you a Sky Blue Sofa as a starter furniture reward, and enables Home Time invitations.
Each property has a roommate cap. The Wiener Apartment allows one guest at a time, while the largest option, Fengan Villa (Tycoon Rank 13, 8,000,000 Fons), allows up to five Espers living with you simultaneously.
| Property | Tycoon rank | Cost (Fons) | Max invitations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wiener Apartments | 5 | 200,000 | 1 |
| Eden Apartments | 7 | 1,000,000 | 2 |
| Skyview Halls | 9 | 1,400,000 | 2 |
| Golden Capital | 11 | 2,000,000 | 3 |
| Fengan Villa | 13 | 8,000,000 | 5 |
Who you can romance in NTE
Every launch playable character is eligible for the full Bond Affinity track, with Aurelia as the only capped exception. That includes Mint, Nanally, Adler, Daffodil, Hathor, Jiuyuan, Baicang, Fadia, Edgar, Skia, Haniel, Chiz, and Sakiri. Hotori joins the system when her limited banner "Misty Tipsy Style" runs from 13 May to 3 June 2026 in Version 1.0.
Characters favor specific gift types, and matching their preferences increases affinity gains. Each character also has a dedicated bond quest line that unlocks outfits, home decor, and personalized interaction rewards alongside the standard Annulith payouts.
How to know your romance progress is registering
Bond level changes are tracked on the character's Bond menu, which shows the current tier, the next reward, and progress toward Familiar (level 4) and Close Friend (level 6). Annulith and item rewards land in your inbox as you cross each tier. New interaction options, such as the "Invite Home" or "Hold Hands" prompts, only appear after the corresponding tier is reached, which is the clearest in-game signal that romance progression is working as intended.
If a gift is not raising affinity as expected, check whether you have already used the daily 10-gift cap on that character, since further gifts that day will not contribute to the meter.