I Can't Die Anymore!
Thud!
"Aaaack?!"
The taekwondo low kick I had rushed to earn my first dan for in the military, all for that promised reward leave, slams straight into the convenience store clerk's shin.
A heavy, dull impact that confirmed the kick had landed perfectly, followed by a scream torn from the kind of shin pain that could split the earth in two even if you only lightly bumped into a desk leg.
The problem was...
'Why the hell am I the one screaming instead of her?!'
It was definitely me swinging the low kick, yet the one bawling like a newborn baby wasn't the clerk—it was me!
"Hehehe... What are you doing, honey~♡ Were you in such a hurry that you tried to knock me down and climb on top?"
I couldn't even hunch my shoulders with the way she had me pinned, whimpering pathetically, while the clerk stared at me with an expression of pure pity, like I'd been bitten by a mosquito.
"How could a man overpower a woman with brute strength~ I'm just as desperate as you are, but not here. No♡ And a man trying to climb on top of a woman so vulgarly~ My man clearly needs some education♡ Ufu~ Ufufufufu~♡"
"Uaaaaack! Let go! Let me go! Somebody help! This crazy woman... mmmph?!"
"Calling your own woman crazy? That mouth of yours needs educating too♡"
Drag. Drag.
I was being hauled away.
The delusional bitch had clamped one hand over my mouth to silence my cries for help. With monstrous strength, she seized my body and dragged me toward the warehouse, a place hidden from outside view.
Crash!
She had dragged a grown man like nothing more than a light piece of luggage, finally tossing me onto the supplies stacked inside the warehouse. Then she climbed on top of my collapsed form, panting hard, her face flushed red as she looked down at me.
"P-please don't do this. There seems to be some kind of misunderstanding between us. The reason I smiled at you wasn't what you think at all!"
Overwhelmed by a gap in raw power that my common sense simply couldn't process, I found myself explaining desperately in the most submissive tone imaginable.
"Misunderstanding? What kind of misunderstanding~♡ Isn't it common sense not to smile so carelessly at a woman you don't even love?"
"I didn't even know that was supposed to be common sense! I won't do it again, so if you could just let me go right now..."
"Shut up! Do you really think saying 'I didn't know' now makes everything okay? If people could just claim ignorance and promise not to do it again, why would we even need laws or police?!"
"Then call the police... kugh?!"
"You seduced me, didn't you? You smiled at me first, right?!"
Both hands closed around my throat.
She had clearly lost all reason in her excitement.
The hands of a woman who had deluded herself and then despaired on her own terms now crushed my neck with terrifying force.
"You smiled you smiled you smiled you smiled you smiled you smiled you smiled you smiled!!!!"
"Guh... k-kk! I'm... I'm going to... d-die..."
"That's right! Rather than let another woman take you, I'd rather finish you with my own hands...!"
"Kek? Kek! Kek?!"
I flailed desperately, thrashing my arms and legs in a frantic bid for freedom. But in this world where men's and women's physical abilities were completely reversed, the strength of a woman who had lost her mind to excitement was utterly overwhelming. The body that had struggled so violently at first grew weaker... and weaker...
Slump...
It no longer moved at all.
Player Kim Seulgi's death confirmed. Bad Ending perk <Hint for the Next Round> granted.
The scenery around me warped once again as my viewpoint shifted.
Back in that familiar starting room, I stared at the diary with an even more exhausted expression than after my first death.
"It hasn't even been a full day and I've already died twice...! Uup?! Ueeeeegh!"
Was it because I'd been strangled to death?
Or perhaps...
'The trauma is starting to accumulate...'
Without caring about the vomit staining the floor, I stared fixedly at the diary, my face drained of all color.
When you die, the bad ending perk leaves a hint on the final page of the diary, your memories are erased, and everything restarts.
Whether I was stabbed by an awl or strangled by the insane convenience store clerk, I would lose everything and begin again with a clear mind. But...
'Can that even be called a clear mind at this point...?'
Even now, though I hadn't felt the direct pain of death, I had witnessed my own demise twice through those bad ending scenes called memories. Whether direct or indirect, it was clearly piling up mental damage.
"I can't die anymore...!"
'I can't die anymore...!'
The 'me' inside the memory and the current 'me' shouted it at the same time.
I... I...
I won't die...!
---------------
"Aah~ You said there was only one can left? I think there might be more in the warehouse... Would you like to come look for them with me...♡"
When I blinked once, the clerk stood there with those same gloomy eyes from the memory—the ones that had mercilessly strangled me to death.
'Focus, Kim Seulgi!'
I already knew exactly what this madwoman would do after the wrong choice.
I am YourHeroineIsAwesome, the player known as the strategy king in the dating sim community.
I had conquered countless seemingly impregnable dating sims until now. Even though this world had become nearly indistinguishable from reality, nothing had fundamentally changed.
And the choices before me right now were...
1. They say the first strike wins. Don't hold back just because she's a woman—slam a nuclear punch right into her face.
'No way. I can't overpower her with physical strength. I already saw what happened in the memory.'
In the memory, I had kicked the clerk's shin while she was off guard. The result, as everyone knows, was me writhing in pain and getting subdued instead.
2. Run away without looking back.
'This has some potential, but... we're too close. If she catches me while I'm running, it won't stop at strangulation. It could escalate to assault or confinement!'
Right now, only the counter partition stood between us. The actual distance was barely one or two steps.
In a world of reversed physical abilities, the odds of being caught before I could even exit the store seemed far higher. Although there was a chance of success, the aftermath if I failed would clearly be even more horrific than what I'd seen in the memory. This option was on hold.
3. Use Excalibur(?)—the one that makes even tough guys shyly cross their legs like maidens—to deliver a proper lesson and declare, 'This is the difference in our levels.'
Reason: Oh... This is it.
Sexual Desire: It's this one today! Heh heh!
Survival Instinct: Bullshit, bullshit. It's important so I'm saying it twice lol
'This is seriously bullshit...'
I had already come up with three options, but nothing clear emerged.
An overwhelming difference in physical ability.
Precisely because it was the simplest condition, it was also the most difficult.
The "Chapter 2" text had vanished from my view. It seemed the system wanted to teach me exactly what the difference between men and women meant in this world...
'Wait. Then instead of thinking from a man's perspective, shouldn't I consider things from a woman's point of view?'
Every dating sim I had ever played featured a male protagonist.
Well, of course they did. They were beautiful-girl dating simulations, after all.
So naturally, I had only ever considered choices from a male perspective...
'What if I thought about it from a woman's perspective instead...?'
Assuming right now that I was in the position of a frail woman, what would my options be?
1. They say first juice wins. Don't ask questions, don't hesitate—just squeeze out the tears like a juicer.
'The method itself is stupid, but if a beauty suddenly started crying right in front of you, anyone would panic!'
Besides, was my current appearance the kind that could be dismissed as merely "handsome"?
Didn't I possess beauty so extreme that the word "handsome young man" needed multiple "ultra" modifiers in front of it?
Even without the reversed world, my looks were the kind that would make people say, "As long as it tastes good, who cares about gender? Chahaha~" In this reversed world, an unemployed bum like the convenience store clerk would fall easily.
The problem was...
'I'm not an actor. How am I supposed to cry on command...?'
Born as a man's man.
I had only cried three times in my entire life: when I was born, when my parents passed away, and when the country fell apart.
Asking a man of steel like me to suddenly produce tears was simply impossible.
'Then, in this exact situation, the most realistic and feminine choice would be...!'
"Why aren't you saying anything, honey♡ If you're feeling shy, I'll come over to you~♡"
My thoughts had taken too long.
The moment I realized it, the clerk was already lifting the partition.
Yes. There was only one option left now!
"Kyaaaaaack~!! Somebody help me! A crazy rapist is attacking meee~!!!"
Secret technique: powerful forward help-request launch!
At the same time, sprint toward the convenience store exit!
"W-what?! Shut your mouth!"
In the memory, I had also asked for help eventually, but because I had acted far too late, I was easily caught by the clerk. This time, however...
I already knew exactly how she would behave. Seeing that she still hadn't crossed over the partition, I poured everything into my sprint toward the exit.
Of course.
Crash!
"Kugh!"
"Fuck fuck fuck fuck!!! You damn stray cat! How dare you seduce me first and then try to paint me as the criminal?!"
Just as I had expected, with only one or two steps left to the exit, I ended up pinned beneath the clerk as she pounced from behind.
"G-get off! Help, help m... mmmph~!!!"
"I can't let you go like this♡ A naughty stray cat like you needs to be dragged into the warehouse and turned into my personal—"
Thud!
"What the hell is this crazy bitch even saying...!"
A heavy impact sound that made my own low kick seem like child's play, followed by...
"Guhhh... egh?!"
Thump.
The crushing weight of the insane clerk pressing down on my back vanished.
And then...
'Ah... She's beautiful...'
A woman with stunning black hair fluttering in the winter wind that poured through the wide-open door she had urgently kicked open. She looked at me as I struggled to stand, her expression filled with genuine concern.
"Um, are you okay? If you can't get up by yourself, would you like some help?"
The third capturable heroine, and...
'Found her.'
"Then... could you hold my hand?"
"If it doesn't bother you, I'd be happy to!"
Not only her beautiful appearance.
Her confident yet courteous demeanor, the gentle smile, and even the slightly rough palm she offered me.
Everything about her was...
'Main heroine...'
It was my first meeting with the very first heroine I had chosen to target...