25. Didn't You Already Have a Girlfriend?
25. Didn't You Already Have a Girlfriend?
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The rough plan was as follows.
1. First, let's survive.
2. Instill the thought that she still has comrades.
3. Survive somehow.
4.???
5. PROFIT!
Whatever the process might be, as long as we didn't end up with the NTR Abyss Berserker ending, it was fine.
Therefore, I applied every buff I could to increase the probability of escaping.
What? Fight and win?
Come on, a person ought to be able to distinguish between dreams and reality.
No matter how much stronger Mars became, the opponent was who she was.
With my in-game knowledge, all the early-game heroines had probably gathered by now.
So, in that situation, was I supposed to try to win while also cutting down the Protagonist?
At the very least, it was impossible unless Mars reached her Advent skill tree.
And right now, it was just before the tutorial ended; there was no way her Bond Rank had been built up that high.
'In that case, as expected'
So I made my judgment.
'Let's run away'
First, I just had to survive until the end.
As long as I survived, I could send Mars to Class A.
With that mindset, I even used [Encore Kiss] on Mars, looking for an opening to escape—
"Dieeeeeeeeeeee!!!"
"....What the hell is that."
That thing's weird.
Scary.
Why the hell was Mars using her Advent skill at the tutorial stage?
Moreover, looking at the crimson tattoos blooming all over her body, she seemed to have even fully brought her 'Berserk' state under control.
I knew for a fact that those tattoos only appeared when her Bond Rank hit around 8 or 9.
Kugugugukwaaaarararrrrrrr!!!
"Insane."
Mars had truly awakened to the level of a human catastrophe.
Just as I was mentally sending her silent applause for her complete transformation, someone approached me.
"So it was you."
"....You're—"
The Protagonist.
Ter.
To be precise——the Apostle of Zeus, Jupiter.
"I knew something was off. She was never that sociable by nature."
"Uh....Hold on a sec?"
The Protagonist of NTR Academy, and
A Regressor who had already rewound time once.
The 2nd-playthrough Protagonist.
"It was you, wasn't it? You bastard who laid hands on that bitch."
"............"
The Protagonist drew his sword at me.
Eyes without a trace of wavering. Eyes that had firmly concluded I was the culprit.
Well, looking at it on the surface, it could certainly feel that way——but wait, wasn't I the victim in the first place?
'I didn't even touch her on purpose.'
She came to me first, whimpering like some rain-soaked puppy.
If she had been whimpering, "Master, let's do that," I obviously would have refused. But all I did was stop her from drifting into becoming an NTR Abyss Berserker, and here he was going this hard.
For now, I raised both hands in surrender to prove my innocence.
"Um...I'm not sure what you're talking about, but it's not what you're thinking."
"It's you, right? You're the bastard who raised the NTR Rank."
".........."
No, in the first place, maybe talk to me after you've raised her Bond Rank a bit.
I felt a little pissed at the Protagonist's false accusation.
'In the first place, this is an event that wouldn't even trigger if Mars's Bond Rank was at least 1...!'
What's more, if that didn't work, you could still skip this event just by having even a single point of contact with her.
If even that didn't work, you could skip the event entirely simply by lowering Minerva's affection.
Every single one of these happened because of your carelessness, so why were you raising your voice pinning the blame on me?
The more I thought about it, the angrier I got. I turned to the Protagonist and spoke.
"Are you Mars's boyfriend? You already have a girlfriend, don't you! A guy who already has a girlfriend, what kind of NTR bullshit are you spouting!"
"....Fine. It's not something trash like you could ever understand anyway."
Whatever,
just answer my questions.
"[I, the Apostle of Zeus——Jupiter, ask you.]"
"Ah, fuck."
Behind the Protagonist's back,
yellow lightning flickered, and a single golden scale revealed itself.
"[The moment you speak falsehood, the god's lightning will punish you.]"
".............."
As far as I remembered,
that scale was a skill you could only obtain around the mid-story point.
The Protagonist, it was more accurate to view him not as an ordinary Regressor, but as a [Strong New Game] player.
'Of all things, did it have to be that?'
[Strong New Game]
One of the special perks available in multi-playthrough games.
When you clear a game's ending and restart from the beginning, you can restart the game inheriting all your achievements, items, everything.
And since NTR Academy also had a [Strong New Game] option...
...If I screwed up, wasn't I about to get sliced here?
"[You laid hands on Mars.]"
".........Yes."
For now, I answered.
The scale did not tip.
"[You deliberately approached Mars.]"
"I didn't."
"[......?]"
The scale did not tip.
Because it was true that I hadn't approached her because I wanted to.
In every case, it was Mars who had approached me.
"[What...nonsense.....]"
The Protagonist looked flustered, his mind blanking for a moment.
Soon, as if trying to regain his senses, he shook his head vigorously and asked me one final question.
"[You——can stop time!]"
"..............."
Fuck.
This was kind of bad.
'Of all the countless questions he could have asked, why did it have to be that one....huh, I guess it could happen.'
In the case of hypnosis, I cut it off before it could even start.
The Training App doesn't appear until the 3rd year.
So naturally, the only remaining option was the 'Time Stop Rapist——Timeless.'
I clasped my hands together and closed my eyes.
Was I,
just going to die like this?
'....No.'
Absolutely not.
In the first place, I knew the process of how to obtain that 'skill,' the 'Golden Scales.'
And precisely because of that——I also knew the weakness of these 'Scales.'
"Ter. Let me ask you one thing."
I spoke toward the Protagonist.
"If you could 'stop time,' what do you think you'd do?"
"[....I asked you first.]"
"No, honestly, think about it, dude. Seriously."
You can stop time?
You can move without anyone noticing?
If so, what would a hot-blooded young man actually do?
"Wouldn't you obviously stop time and fuck like crazy?"
"[I said answer only what I ask.]"
"In the first place, if time stop was really possible, why wouldn't I just stop time right here and run away, you idiot."
"[Chrono. This is your final warning.]"
Answer the question.
I——smiled brightly, and answered toward the Protagonist.
"I'll tell you sincerely. I have never, not even once, tried to do anything to a woman by stopping time."
"[.............]"
"Well, I can't even stop time in the first place."
"[....Truth, he says?]"
Yeah.
No, you dumbass.
I outwardly smiled as I looked at the Protagonist.
'I figured it out when I saw your Scales were still intact.'
The Golden Scales. Precisely, the 'Scales of Truth' was an item meant to be used later against the 2nd-year boss, the 'Hypnotist——Kochiomi Ro.'
It was a sacred object used to discern whether he was truly a hypnotist or not, and simultaneously, it was where this item's loophole appeared.
'If this were just some typical righteous fantasy, maybe not.'
You hold the Scales of Truth against the villain and force them to speak a lie.
A truly righteous development, isn't it? But since this game's genre was NTR, the genre also flowed in an NTR-friendly way.
[Answer. You are the Hypnotist——Kochiomi Ro, right?]
[Fine. I shall answer. I am Kiros. A cadet of this academy.]
[....Truth, he says?]
[Besides, I'm not a hypnotist in the first place.]
When asked, 'Are you A?',
the answer, 'I am not B.'
An answer that merely seemed exactly the same, but was clearly different at its core.
Because this was not a lie, the Scales answered "truth." And the subsequent statement, 'I am not a hypnotist,' could not be distinguished because the effect of the 'Scales of Truth' had already worn off.
Put another way, it was a lie.
[This...is absurd....!]
Because of this, the case plunged deeper into the labyrinth.
After you realize this later on, everyone's already been NTR'd to hell and back.
So, to still have the 'Scales of Truth' intact after experiencing an NTR that was so heartbreaking you couldn't watch without tears?
"So, is the misunderstanding cleared up?"
"....No way. This is, absolutely absurd!!"
You bastard. You haven't seen 'that event' yet.
Well, of course. You, the Protagonist, had merely started your 2nd playthrough.
You had absolutely no idea about this game's 'strategies.'
The tide of control had reversed.
This time, it was my turn to ask the Protagonist.
"But, in the first place, do you even have any kind of relationship with Mars? No, I could understand if you had some sort of connection, but what's with acting all furious like your girlfriend got stolen?"
"Mars! That woman was destined to be my girl!"
"Didn't you already have a girlfriend?"
Oh, boy, oh, boy.
Could it be you were gonna cheat?
This guy's a total piece of shit, huh?
"Ugh....Aaaaargh! Shut up! You're the problem, Chrono. If only you...if only you weren't here, Mars would——!!"
"She would have been bullied at the academy, and she'd still be abandoned right now."
The Protagonist snapped, blowing up in anger.
But did that bastard really know?
"No one took Mars's side. No one listened to Mars's voice. So I took her side instead, and I listened instead. So let's say it was possible she was showing favor to me."
But what the hell kind of bastard were you?
"Are you even close to Mars? No, you're not. In fact, you came looking for her to subjugate and beat the shit out of her, teaming up with Minerva over there, isn't that right?"
"And did you ever do anything together with Mars? Even during the Dungeon Experience, you went with Minerva's side, didn't you?"
"And what, did you ever even bother to see her face normally? Even your own girlfriend, you were half-neglecting and leaving her alone."
"And yet....what? I stole Mars away?"
I sneered openly at the Protagonist and asked.
"Are you seriously being for real right now?"
"This....this son of a bitchhhhhh!!!"
Paaang!
A yellow flash rushed toward my eyes.
I instantly drew my dagger.
In close combat, a dagger was more convenient for defense than a pistol.
Clang! Clashash, claaang!
"You too...yeah. You're the same kind of bastard. A piece of trash trying to steal from me! A monster of the Abyss trying to dye this world in chaos, the archenemy of Gaia!"
"Oh, fuck off! A bastard who already has a girlfriend, why the hell are you still so fixated on someone else's girl!"
"That bitch, that girl was destined to become my woman!"
"Destiny my ass!"
2x speed, no, 3x speed.
As I accelerated my speed to parry the Protagonist's blade, my remaining time began to drain away without a moment's rest.
We'd barely exchanged a few blows, but already over 30 seconds had flown away.
Sure enough, was it because the Protagonist was the Protagonist with the title of Regressor?
His strength was certainly at a level you'd never imagine from an early-game Protagonist——
"——Like I'd lose to a piece of trash who leaves his own girlfriend and eyes other women!!"
But still, he was only on his 2nd playthrough.
Even if it was a game, did he think he could handle me, who had crossed dozens of playthroughs, who had crossed a literal hellscape of carnage?
"Diiiiieeeeeee!!!"
"..........Huh?"
Pajijijijijik!!!
A massive yellow lightning bolt gathered in the Protagonist's hand.
"Astraphe!!!"
"Fuck."
That was the Protagonist's exclusive Awakening Skill.
"Pierce and kill my enemy!"
The Protagonist had said, supposedly, that I could handle it.
Right. So, what was I supposed to say seeing this again?
"Well, I'm screwed."
I was just done for.
My vision burned bright yellow.
Unable to do anything, I was knocked out cold, just like that.
As a side note—
"Ter......"
Yuno was watching all of this.
"This......!"
Of course—
"You motherfucking son of a bitchhhhhhhhh!!!!"
—Mars was included, too.