31. Will You Keep Waiting?
31. Will You Keep Waiting?
"Hmm....."
1:47 PM
Outside the Academy, at the central fountain in the big city district
I sat on a bench, drinking coffee I'd bought nearby, blankly gazing up at the fountain.
"A date, huh."
Two people of the opposite sex who were seeing each other doing something together
As far as I knew, that was the definition of a date.
An act between two people who were seeing each other, sharing love, who were mutually in love as 'lovers.'
In that sense, could Mars and I really be called 'lovers'?
'That's... not really?'
It was a bit arrogant, but if I had to define it, I could put it this way.
A relationship where Mars one-sidedly liked me.
What people commonly called unrequited love. It wasn't that I had zero interest either.
"Well... she's pretty for one."
She was one of the official heroines of the story, so there was no way she wouldn't be pretty.
On top of that, her chest was big, and her lean muscles were insanely hot.
Her personality wasn't exactly the most feminine, but that didn't mean she had no feminine side at all.
When she was embarrassed about something, or when she received a gift
Sometimes, when she made that feminine, female expression, I'd feel my heart unconsciously flutter.
...It hurt my pride a bit, but
Still, you had to admit what you had to admit, right?
"And her body is kinda... mmm, ahem ahem."
The sensation in my hand that suddenly came to mind.
Back on the island, I'd touched her a fair bit while doing this and that, and the feel was truly excellent.
Unlike Ur, she was more on the firm side, I should say.
If Ur was infinitely soft soft-serve ice cream, then Mars was more like chewy pork rind full of elasticity—was it okay to use that kind of analogy?
'Well, pork rind is delicious.'
The point was, she was delicious.
Calling a person delicious was a bit ironic, but anyway, there was no disagreement on the deliciousness.
Looking at Mars this way, surprisingly, there seemed to be no reason to refuse.
But if I still had to push her away, it was probably because of Protagonist—but... I didn't want to hand her over to Protagonist.
No.
In the first place, Mars wasn't even mine, but regardless.
"I kinda. Don't like it."
If I didn't like it, I didn't like it.
What was there to say about it?
I chewed on the straw of my finished coffee, waiting for the time to pass.
1:52....
1:56...
1:58....
And then....
"It's 2 o'clock, though."
She wasn't coming.
I blankly stared at my watch.
3 minutes...
5 minutes...
7 minutes....
...And like that, even after about 10 minutes had passed
"...She's not coming?"
Really?
Was she running late getting ready?
Just in case, I thought about calling or texting, but decided to wait for now.
After all, there could be some circumstance she couldn't talk about.
I sat quietly on the bench, blankly watching the fountain, waiting for Mars to come.
Whoooosh
"Huuuuhm....."
The fountain soared high, brightly soaking its surroundings.
The waves were so healing to my heart that I felt like I might lose track of time without realizing it.
Like that, endlessly watching the fountain, watching people, waiting, waiting, waiting — at the end of it all
"What time is it?"
Probably about 20 minutes had passed, I thought.
I opened my phone to check the time.
[2:12 PM]
"Two minutes passed? Are you kidding me?"
I'd said I felt like I was losing my sense of time, but why did it have to slow down instead of speeding up?
I put my phone back in my pocket and blankly lifted my head.
'She's damn late...'
It was only a little over ten minutes, but still.
...Ah, could it be that?
A reason that might make my hand fly up on its own if it was real, but
"Is she... coming out late on purpose?"
There's totally that thing, you know.
Arriving late to the appointment on purpose, creating a sense of relief that she'd finally shown up, making the other person mistake that relief for relief at seeing her — a high-level psychological tactic.
Actually, even before that, in terms of human relationships, that kind of bullshit should never happen, but it was hard to say it never did.
'If it really is on purpose...'
I might just slap both your cheeks.
I picked up my phone and checked the time.
[2:21 PM]
".....Haah."
Just, let's wait 10 more minutes.
...
..
.
"................"
5 more minutes.
...
..
.
"............"
3 minutes, no, 1 minute.
...
..
.
[3:00 PM]
".................................."
Mars did not appear.
A hot sensation blanketed my head.
I wasn't angry now. No, actually, technically I'd gotten angry a while ago.
I'd gotten angry about 30 minutes ago.
Got angry, cooled down, and now I was just waiting to see who would win this.
"Good thing there's a cafe at least."
An iced Americano, venti size.
Filling my stomach with water, I tried calling Mars again.
".....Hmm."
She still didn't pick up.
If this were an ordinary date appointment, I'd have gotten up and left by now.
No matter what circumstances came up, no matter what happened, over an hour was just too much.
But—the one reason I kept holding on and staying seated
'Did an NTR event trigger or something?'
Because this world was the NTR Academy world.
It was only around then that I finally remembered the [Date Event].
[Date Event]
Actually, it wasn't anything special.
It was an event where the heroine arrived later than the promised time.
Every 10 minutes she was late, the game asked via a choice prompt.
Will you wait, or will you leave?
If you chose 'wait,' your stamina and fatigue kept dropping, and eventually your number of actions for the day decreased.
In contrast, if you left, you wouldn't go through the stamina drain event and could pursue other heroines and progress other routes.
Since they wouldn't become your lover unless you confessed anyway.
There was no need to wait for a heroine who wasn't going to show up just for some moderate affection farming — that was the efficiency-focused player's stance.
'The problem is, this game smashes efficiency-focused players' heads in.'
If you left the date spot, the heroine who showed up later would trigger an NTR event with some extra villain.
And on top of that, if you tried to flirt with another heroine, that situation would be witnessed by the original heroine, accelerating the NTR event by 2 more ranks.
One wrong move and a heroine who'd barely managed a kiss just yesterday could end up spreading her lower half for some other guy.
That was why the Date Event was always one where you had to diligently save and load — but I hadn't realized that until now.
Still, better late than never to catch on, I supposed.
"Urp.... I'm full."
I'd drunk so much coffee that my stomach was bloated with it.
I really wished she'd hurry up a bit.
"Oh? Chrono?"
"...That voice... is that you, Yuno?"
Turning my head at the suddenly familiar voice, I saw Yuno approaching me.
"What brings you here? Ah, right, you said you were having a date with Mars, didn't you?"
"I told you it's not a date. Anyway, you're... on a date with your boyfriend, I see?"
Over yonder, Protagonist was walking toward me step by step.
But for some reason, there was one more person attached to his side...
"It's been a while."
"Hi Kroro!"
"...Even Merk?"
Was this guy seriously in his right mind?
So dumbfounded, I stared at Protagonist, and Protagonist shrugged his shoulders as if asking what the problem was.
"What. Is there a problem?"
"A problem... well, I mean......"
I slowly turned my head toward Yuno.
You, are you okay with that? The Apostle of Hera forgives cheating?
'No, well, it's possible but.'
As I'd said before, the bond rank had to be 10 (Max) for her to tolerate it.
But this was still the early tutorial phase. No matter how much Yuno was the main heroine and a heroine whose NTR rank didn't go up easily — still, openly flaunting infidelity right in front of her?
At least during the dungeon run before, there had been some justification for it, but this time there was nothing like that, and outwardly it looked like a date.
And Merk was even linking arms with him, for fuck's sake.
'What the hell is this situation.'
This was just betrayal, wasn't it?
Had my eyes gone strange?
I was about to ask Yuno what she thought of this situation
"I'm, okay with it."
"............"
"Really. Yeah. I'm just so, so happy to be out with Ter after so long!"
"...Is that so."
Barely safe, I guessed.
Anyway, that guy better scrub his palms raw during this date.
Otherwise it looked perfect for the NTR rank to go up.
"What. Jealous?"
"...Ugh."
I should've kept my mouth shut.
I waved my hand dismissively.
Not even worth saying anything more, that one.
"Hmph. And you can't even manage your own girlfriend properly."
".........."
"A woman you can't hold in your own hands anyway — why don't you just hand her over to me now?"
"..............."
Did that bastard even know?
The fact that Yuno's eyes right next to him were half-wilting, and Merk, who was linking arms with him, was looking at him scornfully as if watching someone put on a pathetic show.
I too was so dumbfounded I closed my mouth, and Protagonist, as if he'd seen something amusing, turned his head away.
Fine.
Just fuck off.
And don't come crying to me later when you get NTR'd.
"Umm... but Kroro, how long have you been waiting here? I passed by here more than 30 minutes ago, and your posture is exactly the same now as it was then."
"I've been waiting for over an hour. I don't really know when she's coming."
"Really? I didn't think Mars was like that, but she's a seriously mean one..."
Ah.
This was that thing.
"In that case, hey Kroro, want to go hang out with me instead? Yuno's here too, and Ter's here, so we could go as a double date kind of thing!"
".....Well, look at that."
A heroine capture event.
Just, with Merk on the side.
As I'd said before, Merk was the Apostle of the Liar, the Apostle of the God of Thieves. If I just accepted this as a good thing, I'd never manage a true capture.
Anyway, a double date invitation right when I was exhausted from waiting.
'As expected of the God of Thieves' apostle.'
Her actions were truly insidious.
As I stared at her, too dumbfounded, Protagonist, who was beside her, hurriedly came over and stopped Merk.
"I think suddenly doing a double date is a bit much."
"You don't like it? Then I'll just stay next to Kroro by myself!"
".....As I thought, you're the problem."
Fuck.
Why are you glaring at me again?
I pushed away Merk, who was trying to stick to my side, and refused.
"I'm waiting to hang out with Mars. How betrayed would she feel if I suddenly went off to hang out with other people?"
"Uuuung.... but still, I don't think Mars is coming?"
"No. She will come."
"On what basis?"
"Because I believe it."
"..........."
If you waited until the very end no matter what, the event ended and the heroine came to find you.
The reward was 1 Bond Rank increase. About an NTR event avoidance.
In an NTR game, this was pretty generous.
I put the coffee straw back in my mouth and gnawed on it, and Merk, looking at me disappointedly, stepped back.
"Huuung.... don't come crying to me later if you regret it?"
"I won't regret it, so go on your way."
"Tch.... no fun."
Only then did Merk return to Protagonist's side.
"Chrono...."
"Hm?"
Just as Merk and Protagonist were facing each other talking, Yuno quietly approached me and asked.
"Are you, going to keep waiting?"
"I have to."
The time I'd already spent waiting was too precious to leave now.
Plus I had to avoid the NTR event too.
"She might not come."
"If she doesn't come, well... then she doesn't come."
Though that probably wouldn't happen.
"Chrono... you, Chrono, I mean...."
"...Yeah?"
Suddenly, a strangely trembling voice.
A trembling, moistening voice — I lifted my head
"Aren't you... angry...?"
".....Um."
A face right on the verge of tears.
A face turned away from Protagonist, invisible to him.
A frustrated, sorrowful, thirst-filled expression.
I answered Yuno.
"She must have circumstances."
".......Circumstances."
Yuno bit her lip tightly.
"If she really didn't come because she hates me, then that's my karma. And if something came up for Mars and she couldn't come, then there's nothing to be done about it."
"....Chrono, you're seriously kind, aren't you?"
"Call me a pushover."
".........As I thought."
Mars too.
Chrono, you too.
And.... probably, me too.
"Fools, fools... everyone's fools, fools, fools."
"That's harsh."
Calling someone who'd waited so long a fool like that.
Still, seeing Yuno's expression improve a little, I gestured with my chin toward Protagonist.
"You'll get in trouble if you chat with another guy while leaving your boyfriend, you know?"
"It's fine. My boyfriend's like that, so why can't his girlfriend do the same."
"......Uh..."
That statement.
That was a bit of a dangerous statement.
Having unintentionally heard 'that statement,' I hurriedly said to Yuno.
"I'm, pure love faction, okay?"
"Huh?"
"Harems and all that, not interested?"
"....Pfft.... Ahaha! Okay! Have fun with Mars!"
Yuno smiled brightly and turned back toward Protagonist.
Watching Yuno's retreating figure, I quietly muttered.
"...That line, is probably."
Not an NTR where someone does it to her.
But an NTR where she goes to someone else, to a villain, of her own accord — that's what I remembered.
The former case was unavoidable, but the latter case, how should I put it...
"Don't worry about me, worry about yourself, Protagonist....."
You reap what you sow, I should say.
I had no idea what the hell that guy had learned from regressing.
'Weell... honestly.'
I wondered if it was really something I needed to worry about.
Anyway, he'd manage on his own, I was sure.
I continued waiting for Mars, passing the time in my own way.
"Hey......"
"Hm?"
Around 4 PM.
Someone trudging toward me from across the way.
"You... youuuu...!"
"Oh, you came?"
Mars had come.
It was hard just to see her face.
'Anyway... she kinda, cleans up well?'
She'd let down her usual ponytail-like hair.
Uncharacteristically dressed in girlfriend-look clothes.
And faint but definitely noticeable, she'd put on makeup.
Sure enough, the difference between putting in effort and not was huge, I inwardly applauded.
"Hey... you can do it when you try, huh? You're a bit pretty today?"
"..............."
"....Huh?"
With her head deeply bowed, trudging.
She came toward me, and when she was right in front of my face
"You... yooou...!"
"...What?"
Mars said.
"You— fucking idiottttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt!!"