Ugh... I Told You to Hold It In!! (3)

I can't choose. I really, seriously can't choose.

I've come down with a full-blown case of decision paralysis. How is this even a thing.

Someone has to be the weak link. That's how you're supposed to be able to pick.

Even in games there are broken characters, right? Why do they exist? So you can just use them.

How easy is that. Don't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠think. Use this. Done. See? Beautiful.

No need to cook up some weird build, either.

"I can't choose. For real."

Why can I only pick one person!! I resent this world.

If they're popular, let me select all of them!! Do we have to gatekeep even in a game? This was genuinely absurd.

"Aaaargh!! Seriously."

No matter how hard I think, I can't pick one.

In times like this, the chat is my answer. Yes. Bestow upon me your absolute knowledge.

Which girl would you have chosen? Hand over that insight. Come on, tell me!!

"As a disciple, I humbly beseech my master. Master, who do you pick?"

"I can't pick all three. The world is forcing me to pick one."

If I could pick them all, I would have. I'd have made them all mine. But I can't, okay?

That's why I'm agonizing over this!!

This is… genuinely shocking. I thought these people were great… I'm disappointed. Truly disappointed.

How could they say that?

I am so disappointed in you, chat.

No, do you think I don't know I can do that? That's not the issue right now.

This is a deeper, more difficult problem than that.

"Ugh. I'm really disappointed. You guys… you're telling me to do every route? That's like… non-virgin… so what's the guy version called? Oh right. Non-virgin. You guys are seriously disappointing me."

I already chose a girl and now you want me to regress and choose another one? That's an automatic fail under Pure Body Theory.

You have to choose from the start.

What kind of nonsense is that. Do these people not even know what Pure Body Theory is? The second you regress and pick again, you're out of Pure Body status.

That really gets under my skin. No, it actually got under my skin. This is not okay.

You don't know what Pure Body Theory is? It's one of my absolute favorite theories.

Explaining it properly would take at least a hundred hours. I'd have to run Professor Seon's six-month lecture series, okay? That's the level we're talking about.

To put it simply.

For someone like me who's never even dated, Pure Body Theory is pure romance.

Uh… a virgin meeting a virgin is the most ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠beautiful thing there is.

From the perspective of someone with barely any friends, let alone a love life, it was the most beautiful theory in the world.

I supported this theory with my whole chest.

It's not realistic? Then I'll just live alone. Yeah. I'll live alone. There.

My will was that ironclad.

"A game? Just a game? It might be a game to you people. But to me it's serious. Really… is that who you are?"

It's not a bit. I'm being serious. I seethed, huffing as I tried to swallow my anger.

"Is this really who you people are? Seriously… I'm disappointed. Truly disappointed."

People this lacking in insight… I really swallowed the full Red Pill today.

"Then… you guys. Uh. Uh!!"

I was so thoroughly disappointed that the words got stuck in my throat.

I croaked them out.

"I am now going to be disappointed. I, from this moment on, am going to be very disappointed in my viewers."

I now fully understand my viewers' heroine-picking power levels.

In this department, I am the best. No room for debate anymore.

I had to take several deep breaths before I could get my head back on straight.

Right. Now is the time to choose.

Which girl would make me happiest? No matter how hard I think, I still can't pick.

Hmm… in times like this, the Put-Yourself-In-Their-Shoes Substitution Method.

Okay, so Haruka… Motteok… Minami… Raming… Class President… Pyeong-nim… I still can't choose!!

Aaaargh!! Now I can choose even less.

It got harder. Their pros and cons are so clear that it's even harder!!

The Put-Yourself-In-Their-Shoes Substitution Method failed, so I dragged out the Delusion Notebook.

It's a method of organizing my thoughts in Notepad, and I almost never use it.

Why? Because once I start, the time sink is so extreme I burn a minimum of three to four hours.

I know. The second I open the Delusion Notebook… I sink so deep into the delusion that the stream becomes secondary.

But what am I supposed to do if I can't choose!!

I have to pick eventually.

"I have no choice."

I thought it over carefully.

Let's set up a hypothetical. I'm a guy. And my mom says I have to marry one of them. If I don't, no allowance.

She brought three of them over. So who do I pick.

An hour had passed since I opened the Delusion Notebook.

Chat was in chaos, and viewers were steadily draining out, but I kept deluding.

I scrawled furiously in the Delusion Notebook, too.

Sob… sob… I still hadn't grown enough. My stubbornness had completely wrecked the stream.

But what was I supposed to do. I know, okay, but my body won't cooperate. Until I choose… it just keeps torturing me.

If someone had given me good inspiration, this would have been solved in no time.

But nobody could give me good inspiration, and that's how we ended up here.

You can't say the viewers are completely free of blame here.

"Hmm…"

I kept mulling it over.

The game isn't the problem. Right now, in my head, this is about picking one of Motteok… Raming… Pyeong-nim. In other words, Haruka has become Tteok-nim, Minami is the evolved form of Raming… and Class President has mutated into the upgraded version of Pyeong-nim.

Choosing someone here can just as well be read as abandoning the other two in real life.

I'm a guy, and my mom is saying I have to marry one of the three.

If I don't? The stakes just went up. No allowance…!! And on top of that, she's threatening to give the entire inheritance to my little sibling.

Then… I can't not choose, right? I have to pick.

"Ugh…"

I clawed at my hair. It's been a long time since I was this stressed.

The last time was when I became a hunter… and then the best hunter in the world stepped into global politics… and had to fight my way through assassinations and false propaganda aimed at me.

My delusion power is top-tier. Sometimes even I am impressed.

This is one of those moments.

If I had just quickly picked one of the three before the delusion engine kicked in… it would have been fine… but it's too late. Now that the delusion story is pouring out in streams… ugh.

"Huh? Haru… Tteok-nim, hi. Texts? What texts? Discord?"

Texts? What was that about? I pulled out my phone first.

Ah…!! I was so focused I completely forgot. I'd been looking for people to go to the amusement park with. Right. That's right.

I checked my messages right away.

The first person to reply was Tteok-nim. Second was Pyeong-nim. Raming and Maru still hadn't answered.

Pyeong-nim… had declined.

Tteok-nim, on the other hand.

The second I saw that text, I couldn't help but scream.

I finally understood what eureka meant.

"Ooooh!! It's Haruka!! I chose!!"

Yes. Tteok-nim's past life form. I chose Haruka.

I clapped my hands and selected the Tteok-ruka ending.

"Tteok-ruka-nim. Congratulations. Hips are only good for having babies—huge boobs are still the best!! Come here, big-boobed Tteok-ruka!!"

Ehehe. Solving it for me like this… she really is an angel.

But why is she in my stream at four o'clock?

I thought she was supposed to be at the gym around now. I've called them enough times that I know Maru, Tteok-nim… and Pyeong-nim's routines pretty well.

"Tteok-ruka-nim… are you off-stream today? Why are you active at this hour?"

"Ah, I'll text you real quick!!"

I sent, Let's go today!! I can end stream at 6 ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and I'm right by home so I can go straight away!! Something about it felt like if we didn't go today, we never would… this was pure gut instinct.

A K-Promise falls apart the second you don't lock it down fast.

"I'm fine with it."

You want me to tell you? I can't tell you. Uh. VTuber. Uh… protect that Red Pill!!

But… ehihi. Having the viewers all curious like this is fun, isn't it? It makes me happy somehow.

Is this what they call information superiority? Hihi.

"I cannot tell you. I'm gonna focus on the game for now. Finish the Tteok-ruka ending… ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and then try some other dating sims. This is fun."

"Am I not going to see the other endings? Nope. Why would I do the other routes? I already decided on my ending."

I said it with total confidence.

That's what all the agonizing was for. If I was going to watch the other endings, why stress over it?

I could have just watched them.

You get it? Seona is always serious.