Chapter 30
Chapter 30
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 30
Chapter Title: Main Heroine Appears!
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That day, when I was set to meet Princess Kurumi.
I woke up early in the morning and had to prepare extra thoroughly today of all days.
I showered for a full hour, scrubbing away every germ that might've clung to me in my sleep, then gargled, spritzed on perfume, and slathered my entire body with every good thing I could find.
"Is this good enough?"
"Hold on! Your collar's flat. A man's lifeblood is his collar, you know."
"Mm, yeah, yeah. Right you are."
Rolling Auntie and Uncle Seok-gyu, who usually checked my outfit and condition right up to the last minute before heading to work.
Behind the couple meticulously grooming me stood Sophia, her expression darker than usual today.
"...Tch!"
"......"
Sophia and I were being dispatched to the same site today.
But while she had to stand guard outside the mansion, I was the guest heading inside to share a meal with the princess—even the original story never showed.
Even though we were at the same place, we weren't allowed to meet freely.
The mansion where Princess Kurumi resided was a space only those she'd personally permitted could enter.
'Maybe I'll see Sophia again around evening if I head in now?'
She'd even made two portions of lunch last night, saying we should at least eat together, but she seemed seriously pissed.
"Alright, have a safe trip!"
"Y-yeah..."
"If the princess seems upset, apologize right away and come straight out!"
"Sophia, do your best with guard duty today."
"Got it..."
That was when we finished all the prep and stepped outside.
A limousine waited right at the hotel's front entrance, as if it had been expecting me and Sophia.
I told myself not to be nervous, but I still swallowed hard.
"The front gate is the most crucial spot for mansion security, but..."
"I'll take that one."
"Ooh! If Sophia the hunter's on it, we're golden!"
"Then I'll head back and cover the rear entrance."
We finally arrived at Princess Kurumi's mansion in the limousine.
Peeking over the walls, the building beyond evoked images of a grand Japanese traditional mansion, like an opulent ryokan.
The moment we arrived, Sophia declared her assigned sector to the other hunters and took position right in front of the entrance I'd pass through.
...Probably the quickest spot for us to clock out together once her shift ended.
"I'll be off, then."
"...Yell if anything happens. I'll charge right in."
"No, please don't..."
Princess from the Kitsune clan—one of the world's top ten families—with her Beast Hunter constitution making her wariness toward outsiders unmatched even among them.
One wrong move here, and it'd be a china-ending for sure. That was when I started to give Sophia a curt warning.
"Hmm hmm hmm~♪ Here to become the princess's friend~♫"
A humming tune drifted from behind me.
This was private property housing one of the world's top ten families, yet...
Without a hint of tension, a girl strode boldly up to us—the ones blocking the entrance—already convinced she was the princess's friend.
Pink rolled-up hair with an adorable ribbon perched on top.
Just standing there, she made hearts pop up around her, broadcasting her cuteness to anyone who looked.
"Um, hellooo~? If you're the hunters on guard duty, could you step aside~?"
The woman before me deliberately played up a goofy tone, trying her hardest to seem as harmless and cute as possible.
Caught off guard by her appearance—earlier than in the original—I instinctively stepped back.
"Wha..."
"Huh? Hey, don't back away from me like that just 'cause you saw me~?"
"S-sorry, I..."
"...? What's up? Do you two know each other?"
"No, not at all..."
Of course, this was our first real-life meeting.
But that was in reality. I'd encountered this heroine countless times playing Hunters Blood.
And half those times, she'd end up recruited as a comrade, only to get used and discarded, leaving me jilted.
"Hmph! Now I'm mad!"
Her name was Yoo Si-hyun.
One of the main heroines in the original story, she was a so-called 'Condition Hunter' with the 'Charm' ability that made building favor easy.
"Hmm~. Anyway, you don't look like a hunter yourself. So why are you here?"
Condition Hunters.
They were support-class hunters specialized in inflicting status ailments on targets.
And among those, Yoo Si-hyun's was Charm.
Activation required eye contact. Anyone who met her gaze—human or monster—would submit to her.
So I deliberately kept my eyes down.
I continued responding in that state.
"I was invited as a guest, too."
"...Huh? You...? No, I mean, the princess invited someone besides me! How intriguing!"
"Haha, is it...?"
Yoo Si-hyun beamed outwardly, thrilled.
But knowing her true face, I couldn't relax.
'Inside, she's fuming that her 'special' solo opportunity got ruined.'
Yoo Si-hyun.
She was a monopolist character, the type who wanted everything for herself.
If something good came up, she'd hog it all. If a rival showed up...
"Wow~! You're amazing~!"
She'd start as a weak extra cheering from behind, then turn cool and queenly the moment they weakened.
"You're groveling at my feet now, right?"
Of course, up to mid-game, leaving her alone let her monopolize the goodies, breezing through the story as the true solo protagonist heroine.
"Wh-what? Why isn't it dying?"
The problem? She was a heroine, not the protagonist.
Relying on external boosts over pure training, she hit her limits fast. Without someone slamming the brakes, she'd meet a pathetic end.
'Recruiting her as a comrade required donating high-grade items every set number of days, I think.'
Before maxing favorability, low-quality donations or missed days would flip her to villain, stripping your items.
Not seeing any upside to getting close now, I tried to brush past her.
"Well, I'll be going first, then."
Why had Yoo Si-hyun—who should've debuted in the 'Giant Subjugation' main quest two months from now in the original—shown up already?
Musing that, I took one step toward the mansion's front gate.
That was when.
"Hey. You."
Yoo Si-hyun grabbed me from behind, spinning me forcefully to face her.
I averted my eyes to dodge Charm, but she seized my face, forcing eye contact.
"You know, I'm suddenly a little interested in you."
"...!"
"Plain extra guy. Meeting eyes with a pretty girl like me makes you happy, right? Feels good, right? You're getting excited, right? And now you wanna answer anything I ask, don't you?"
Just a whiff filled my nostrils, sending euphoric bliss straight to my brain—like a drug.
My vision tinted pink with hearts, lips quivering to answer her.
But I'm a game vet.
"D-do... it...!"
"Hmm..."
"L-let... go... quick..."
Way to resist Charm.
I squeezed my eyes shut, resisting her to the end.
Finally, her patience snapped.
"Ugh, seriously... you fucking loser. I was gonna play nice, use you up, and toss you since you're a princess guest too, but you keep resisting?"
Her face twisted into that shit-eating sneer she always wore in the original when backstabbing.
"Lis-ten. You plain roadside pebble of an extra. Why's a worthless nobody like you trying to stand on the same level as special me?"
"S-stop...!"
"See, people like you—who aren't special but act like you are, chasing opportunities—make me wanna puke. You don't know your place~."
"Stop it...!"
"Hehe. What? Oh, the fact violence?"
"Sophia! Don't kill her!!"
"......Huh?"
I was immune to her venom after hearing it endlessly in-game.
What worried me was Sophia behind her, face flushed with rage.
Grab.
"Huh?"
She unclenched her fist at my shout, instead placing a hand on Yoo Si-hyun's shoulder.
"What? Got business with me?"
"Sophia. Don't!"
"So-phia? Wait... Sophia?"
Then she flexed one arm.
Grrrrrind.
"Gaaah?!"
Forcing Yoo Si-hyun to her knees on the ground.
"Ow! It hurts! Stop!"
Yoo Si-hyun grabbed Sophia's arm—the one pinning her—with both hands that had held me.
But the Yoo Si-hyun I knew was D-rank.
Sophia? A B-rank acknowledged not just in Korea, but America.
Crrrrunch.
"Stop! Stop it! Please!!"
No matter how she strained, Sophia didn't budge.
Just pressing down with overwhelming force, like dislocating her shoulder was nothing.
Gazing up at the chilling woman above.
"S-sorry! I was wrong!"
Yoo Si-hyun spat out an apology just before her shoulder popped, finally released.