Breaking Up with the Heroine (2)
The Romance Hero Academy is a female-oriented game.
The main objective is to build connections with countless men and enjoy sweet-and-sour romance.
Sons of wealthy families, bloodlines from top clans, talented idols… and the list goes on.
Once you start living at the academy, handsome and capable guys naturally begin to flock toward you.
Like bees intoxicated by the scent of flowers.
But listen.
What if the one man you secretly adore suddenly had a mysterious rival guy glued to your side?
Would you accept him receiving special treatment just because he’s been with you longer, while happily playing the loving couple?
No way.
That kind of guy with no talent, no abilities, and a poor background definitely won’t let me monopolize the attention of the girl I love.
Why?
Simple reason: this world is the reverse harem game.
Haha, hoho. Unlike ordinary isekai stories that sing of love, the Romance Hero Academy is a dark, sticky, obsessive, jealous reverse harem romance.
That’s exactly what the core of Romance Hero Academy is.
The male protagonists all have extremely high self-esteem individually.
They won’t openly show jealousy, but as the story progresses their dissatisfaction and obsession will only pile up.
If I fail to manage their intimacy and favor levels, they’ll start treating me as Jin Soyeon’s only boyfriend—me—as an “enemy” or “obstacle”.
Of course, since they act somewhat heroic, they won’t harass me outright.
But the real problem is the NPCs who will suck up to the male protagonists for their affection.
They’ll deliberately torment me in order to gain the male protagonists’ favor.
Malicious rumors, isolation, exclusion, bullying, slander.
They’ll do all of it in secret, in the most disgusting ways.
Honestly, thinking about it makes the academy life ahead feel so daunting.
After all, I was made the sacrificial character.
Treatment here is off the charts.
But there’s one and only one way to solve all of this.
A very simple way.
What’s there to think about?
Since the root of the harassment is that I’m dating Jin Soyeon, the solution is to break up with her.
So I declared the breakup to Jin Soyeon.
Then silence fell between us.
A strange sense of emptiness filled the small room.
“Aigoo~”
“What’s with this strange silence? Jinhyuk, I was just teasing a little earlier, you know~”
But that lasted only a moment.
“I was just joking a bit, so~”
Jin Soyeon muttered to herself as if speaking to me, then lifted the corner of her mouth slightly, her expression still gloomy.
And with her usual mischievous glint, she began acting like the tragic heroine who had just been rejected.
“Sob… Too harsh.”
She looked exactly like a playful cat or a mischievous little girl.
“Did you get another girl? Like, a real one?”
Her voice trembled with mixed tears.
She even pretended to sob loudly.
“I kind of suspected this would happen, but I never expected it to be this dramatic.”
This was a natural reaction since we’d been close for so long.
We’d exchanged so many playful pranks—April Fools’ jokes, surprise leaks, the whole nine yards.
“Well… yeah.”
“Huh?”
“Actually, I found someone I like a lot.”
I nodded casually, figuring it was just more teasing to lighten the mood.
“Someone way prettier and nicer than you.”
She giggled, acting like the abandoned heroine while faking tears.
“You said something like that at the entrance ceremony, but you actually fell in love at first sight?”
“Maybe.”
“Nooo~ Don’t lie to me, okay? You were only hinting at it to me, weren’t you?”
Jin Soyeon smiled secretly, then poked my side with her finger, giggling.
She didn’t look like a girl who’d just been dumped at all.
Of course she didn’t—we weren’t a normal couple.
“Anyway, let’s stop the joking and get serious.”
“Eee~”
“Soyeon-ah.”
“Okay, okay. What do you want to say, Jinhyuk-ssi?”
She looked at me with unusually serious eyes, then shrugged as if finally understanding.
“What I said earlier.”
“Ah, you mean the breakup thing?”
Jin Soyeon’s eyes blinked in surprise.
“I entered Union Academy, but I think I should drop out soon.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
I stared at her.
“I see.”
Jin Soyeon nodded slowly.
“……Ah~ Still, what should I do.”
She let out a long sigh.
A faint smile appeared on her usually gloomy face.
Just like always, she playfully patted my shoulder.
“I was wondering what you’d say, but…”
“I wanted to tell you too. That I want to break up.”
“Lucky you~ Dumping such a pretty girl.”
We talked about the breakup as if it was no big deal.
At first glance it might seem odd, but Jin Soyeon and I weren’t truly dating.
We were just “fake lovers.”
“Fake lovers, huh. That’s actually a setting that could appear in the game.”
Love comedies, pure romance manga, romance fantasy—those “white-horse prince” settings that show up everywhere.
But it had become a little too rare in subculture genres.
“Once we graduate the academy, our school life will end. We should at least try real dating before that.”
“Wow? You only just entered and you’re already thinking about dating?”
The reason Jin Soyeon and I started the fake relationship was simple.
When she was little, she’d received countless love confessions from guys.
She once said to me, “Guys are annoying. Just pretend to date me for a while,” and I’d agreed.
As the heroine, she’d already suffered a lot with her appearance and background.
She’d experienced jealousy from many guys, so I couldn’t refuse.
Now things were different.
We had to end this fake relationship.
“I had no idea you actually wanted to date that much~”
Jin Soyeon giggled and flopped onto the bed.
“Men are all wolves after all~ Ahahaha~”
I watched her laughing mischievously and fiddling with her hair.
For a moment I studied her.
Nothing seemed different from her usual self.
It didn’t look like she cared much about ending the fake relationship.
“Still, is she really okay? From the outside it’s hard to tell.”
I scratched my temple quietly.
There was one thing I’d been secretly worried about.
Jin Soyeon always smiled brightly, so I could never read her true thoughts.
“Still, her reaction seems too casual. Maybe there’s no big problem.”
In the game, Jin Soyeon’s inner feelings weren’t shown much.
Even though she was a playable character.
“Thinking about her character settings… Well, it’s possible. But her reaction was so vague that I’m a little hesitant how to respond.”
I’d deliberately told her to break up.
I wondered how she’d react.
“What about you, Soyeon-ah? Don’t you want to try a proper relationship?”
“Me?”
“Yeah.”
She pointed at herself with her index finger.
“You’re okay with it too, right?”
“I’m good.”
Jin Soyeon fiddled with her penguin plushie and answered vaguely.
“Dating is too much hassle~”
“I see.”
“Of course, with this face guys won’t leave me alone. Ah, will you regret breaking up with me later? You won’t be able to catch me even if you try.”
“Even princesses have no cure for that disease.”
“Hmph. What did you say?”
Jin Soyeon pouted and glared at me resentfully.
“From the beginning, after people started saying we were dating, several guys kept confessing to me.”
“Oh, really?”
“In middle school.”
I remembered.
There had been several guys who secretly confessed.
Probably because I was the goalkeeper and they thought they could score easily.
Well, objectively, I wasn’t the right match for Jin Soyeon.
“They’d say I’m better than you, why are you dating him, I’d treat you better… Hah.”
Maybe because of all the negative experiences with guys.
Jin Soyeon didn’t seem to like them much.
Of course, her bright and cheerful personality made her friendly with everyone, but she didn’t seem interested in forming proper relationships with guys.
“You really have no interest in dating?”
“Nope.”
“Don’t tell me you’re okay with it? There might be a really good guy out there—talented, handsome, rich background like the male protagonists.”
“You’re really… Hah. Fine, just go date to your heart’s content.”
Jin Soyeon looked at me with displeasure.
But if I thought about the future, it was better for Jin Soyeon to form positive relationships with the male protagonists.
After all, they were all excellent in talent, ability, background, and wealth.
They’d make great allies to help with all sorts of things later.
“Once we start real academy life, Soyeon will probably have a hard time handling everything alone.”
This female-oriented RPG had a very high difficulty.
One wrong move and you’d get a bad ending with high probability.
If that happened, the world would be ruined.
The world without the protagonist always ended badly.
So no matter what, this was the world I had to keep living in.
I couldn’t just abandon Jin Soyeon and leave it all to her.
Of course.
I had almost no intention of fighting myself.
No matter how veteran I was at this game.
Even if I faced twisted underworld monsters, it would only get me killed.
From the start, the monsters and villains in this game were terrifying.
A mediocre NPC like me with no talent or ability would just become a piece of meat.
If it was unavoidable, I’d fight directly.
But luckily there were plenty of people ready to fight for me.
The heroine chosen as the center of this world, Jin Soyeon.
“How I guide Jin Soyeon and the male protagonists will determine the future of my life.”
Good.
Now it’s time to stop hiding.
I was going to use them.
The world’s top talent, Jin Soyeon and the male protagonists.
Ah, don’t misunderstand.
Using them as tools is completely different.
Soyeon was my beloved childhood friend.
I had no intention of treating her roughly.
On the contrary, I’d support her to the best of my ability.
With the memories of my past life, I’d gain every possible advantage.
Of course, the best way would be for me to die right in front of her.
But I couldn’t deliberately die for her awakening.
Well… depending on the situation, I could fake my death to some extent…
“You’re thinking about something else again?”
“Ah, sorry. I was a little sleepy.”
“You’re sleepy when you have a girlfriend right next to you?”
“We stopped pretending to be lovers, remember?”
“Oh, right.”
Jin Soyeon twirled her hair.
“Anyway, if you’re sleepy, go back and sleep. Tomorrow we start proper academy life.”
“Yeah… makes sense.”
I nodded.
I’d said everything I needed to say, so I could go back.
“Jinhyuk-ah.”
“Hm?”
Jin Soyeon’s voice suddenly caught my attention.
“Thank you for listening to my requests until now. It must have been a bit troublesome for you.”
“No, it’s fine. It’s between us.”
“Between us…?”
Jin Soyeon smiled in a way I couldn’t read.
“See you tomorrow, Soyeon-ah.”
“Okay, take care, former boyfriend Jinhyuk-ssi.”
“Dream big, former girlfriend Soyeon-ah.”
“Ah, that was disgusting~”
I said my usual meaningless parting words and left.
“……”
Just before closing the door.
I glanced back.
Through the narrowing gap, I saw Jin Soyeon’s face staring blankly at my back.
Her eyes looked completely different.
They were unusually dark.