Rachel's Training and the Heroine Event
After that heroine event, I sparred with Rachel every single day. And I won every time.
“Grr!!” Rachel would shout whenever she lost. But the moment I praised her, her mood would flip and she’d giggle with that silly “hehe” laugh of hers. Every fight brought me rewards—rises in my Intelligence stat and improved proficiency with whip-sword skills. Rachel, in turn, gained a small amount of proficiency in her Descent of the War God skill with each bout. The growth rate, however, was brutally slow.
Over three days I made solid progress, but Rachel’s skill proficiency had only climbed from two percent to five. I thought about it long and hard until I reached one clear conclusion.
She doesn’t have a proper teacher.
Just look at her personality. She’s obviously a problem child—mentally immature, acting more like a cat than a person. No one had ever guided her properly, so she’d ended up like this. She had reached her current level through raw transcendent power and battle instinct alone, but if things continued this way she would stagnate here, never awakening the talent sleeping inside her.
I tested her with a few more spars, then calmly pointed out several flaws and offered concrete improvements.
“Look, Rachel. Charging in blindly every time you attack is a problem.”
“Why?”
“Because you keep losing.”
“.....I hate losing!”
Rachel puffed her cheeks, visibly frustrated.
“Exactly. So you need to change how you fight. Instead of just rushing in, you have to use strategy.”
“Strategy?”
“Yes. Ask yourself: what’s the opponent’s weakness? What’s my strength? How can I highlight my strength while exposing their weakness? You have to think about these things. You can’t just throw yourself at them.”
“But I’ve won everything by doing that until now.”
That was probably true. With her overwhelming physical stats, reflexes, and combat sense, simply charging in had been enough. But considering the scale of the events waiting in the future, that approach would no longer cut it.
“True. But you’re losing to me now. Doesn’t that mean you need to change your style? Don’t you want to beat me?”
Though reluctant, Rachel nodded in acknowledgment.
“Yeah.”
“Then you have to think. Think about the opponent’s weakness. Think about your own strength.”
“Think.”
From that day forward, Rachel began pondering my words with intense focus. Starting the next day, her fighting style slowly transformed. She stopped charging in recklessly and gave up spamming mindless attacks. Instead she kept distance, observed me, and genuinely tried to find weaknesses to exploit.
She still lost, of course. But she no longer grew frustrated by defeat.
“The whip-sword is flexible and floppy. It moves however it wants. So what should I do?”
With her not-so-sharp mind working overtime, she desperately racked her brain. And every time she did—
Descent of the War God — 9% until next acquisition
—the skill would rise by a small but meaningful amount. As time passed, Rachel herself began to look like she was genuinely enjoying the process.
“I lost again! Next time I’ll fight a different way!”
It seemed she had come to see our bouts as a fun game. I enjoyed them too. The rewards were decent.
Before long, going to the training hall after class to trade blows with Rachel became our daily routine, and rumors began to spread.
“Did you hear? That guy with the whip-sword and the young lady from the Catel family are fighting in the training room every day.”
“They say it’s insanely intense.”
“And they talk together afterward… Isn’t the Marquis Catel’s daughter supposed to be weird? I’ve never seen her follow anyone around like that before.”
I occasionally caught snippets of gossip about us. This development was quite different from the original story I remembered, but I was prepared to accept it. Truthfully, the plot I knew had already gone completely off the rails the moment the final boss event began during the prologue.
Let’s raise Rachel. She’d make an excellent ally.
A new difficulty required a new meta. Since I had only ever done solo runs, nurturing allies didn’t seem like a bad idea now that things had come to this. With that thought in mind, I continued sparring with her every day.
The next major event is the class president election. Both Rachel and I need to raise our specs even higher if we want the event rewards.
The entrance event was over, which meant the class president election wasn’t far away. Since it was a large-scale event, the Evil Dragon Cult had almost certainly tampered with it. With unknown variables waiting, I planned to keep training steadily and raise our strength as much as possible.
“Asbel. That’s cold. You visited me once and then completely forgot? Did you forget you promised to take me on a date?”
One weekend, just as I was heading to the training hall to spar with Rachel again, a beautiful brown-skinned woman blocked my path.
“Ah… Lady Cassandra?”
“Just call me Cassie. You’re allowed. Are you free today? Will you go on a date with me?”
I didn’t have time. I needed to train. But this big-breasted, brown-skinned, succubus-like young lady clearly had no intention of letting me go. Besides, House Zaiban was a prestigious family renowned for magic and alchemy. Getting on their bad side from the start would be troublesome. And I had made a promise.
“It was a promise, so… all right. I’ll make time.”
“Oh dear. Why does that sound so businesslike?”
“Pardon?”
“You’re the first man who’s ever spoken to me so stiffly. Do you hate the idea of dating me?”
“......”
What was I supposed to say? I wished I had internet access. Searching Karnadan Cassandra Date Guide would have given me the perfect response. Honestly, this was annoying. I needed to get to the training hall, spar with Rachel, and raise skill proficiency. I didn’t have time for dates. Still, I couldn’t just turn her down bluntly.
“It’s not like that.”
“You took too long to answer. That hurts my pride a little, you know?”
She claimed it hurt her pride, yet her face said she found me utterly adorable.
“See you this evening. At the main gate.”
“Understood.”
What choice did I have? A promise was a promise.
I went to Rachel and told her I couldn’t spar that day.
“Why? Is fighting me not fun anymore?”
“No, it’s not that…”
While I hesitated, I remembered the status window I had seen before. When it announced that Rachel had entered an obsession state, it had also said she wouldn’t get angry even if I built a harem. I had worried she might explode with rage if I met other women, but maybe it was safe to be honest.
“I’m going on a date with Lady Cassandra.”
“What’s a date?”
That question caught me off guard.
“It’s when a man and a woman meet, talk about all kinds of things, have fun, grow closer… that sort of thing.”
“Why are you going on a date with Cassandra?”
“Last time, when we were saving your mother, one of the magic reagents we needed was supplied by her family. So…”
Rachel’s eyes widened.
“You’re repaying a favor!”
“Uh… yeah, something like that.”
“Father said favors and grudges must always be repaid. Go on. You have to repay it.”
Surprisingly, she gave her permission without any fuss. I was a little shocked.
With the spar canceled, I had no choice but to head out that evening for my date with Cassandra.
“I don’t have any clothes women would like.”
Since I had zero interest in heroine strategies, I didn’t own any nice outfits for meeting girls. With no other options, I showered, put on my neatly pressed uniform, and headed for the academy’s main gate.
I waited there for Cassandra. The Iron Lion’s Greatsword was too big and heavy to bring, so I had only taken Blood Thread’s Poison Fang.
I should have gone on dates before… Is showing up dressed like this correct?
While I anxiously checked my clothes, someone suddenly tapped my shoulder.
“Lady Cassandra? You’re h—”
I turned and froze.
She wore the same uniform as me, but this wasn’t the plain face I usually saw. With subtle, elegant makeup and a light touch of perfume, she smiled at me brightly.
Ah. For a game-obsessed solo player like me, this sight was far too stimulating.
“You look handsome, Asbel.”
“Ah, um… Th-thank you, Lady Cassandra.”
“Just call me Cassie.”
She smiled sweetly and took my hand as if it were the most natural thing in the world. A girl’s hand. It was softer than I expected.
“Shall we go?”
“Uh… yes.”
“Why are you so nervous? You’re acting like you’ve never met a girl before. Are you trying to look cute on purpose?”
I felt my face heat up as I answered.
“It really is my first time. So it’s natural to be nervous. Please understand if I seem a little awkward.”
Cassandra suddenly stopped walking. She stared straight at me, slowly licking her lips with the tip of her tongue.
“Really?”
“Yes. It really is.”
“A boy who looks like you has never been with a woman before?”
“It really is the first time.”
Asbel had grown up as the family outcast, showered with contempt and disdain. His self-esteem had been shattered, leaving him no time or opportunity to meet women. So both in the story and from my perspective as the one who possessed him, this truly was the first time.
“Hmm. So I’m your first, am I?”
Cassandra smiled. Her gaze felt like a wild beast staring at prey, sending chills down my spine.
“Would you believe this is my first date too?”
“Really?”
She looked like a succubus. Everything about Cassandra screamed that she had dated countless men, yet she claimed this was her first time?
“Since it’s both our first dates, let’s do our best and have fun. All right?”
I could only nod blankly at her words.
We spent the day together. Surprisingly, it wasn’t anything special. We ate, visited an accessory shop where I bought her a piece of jewelry, and she gave me a watch in return. We bought snacks, sat on a bench, and talked about everything and nothing.
The conversation flowed so smoothly I wondered if talking to girls had always been this easy. When I spoke, she laughed. When she shared stories, I listened. The mood was excellent.
The reason was obvious.
I saw it on the community once. The reason talking to girls is hard is usually because you’re not good-looking enough.
Right now I was Asbel—the character the community called the ultimate sex machine of Karnadan, a max-level pretty boy who had never left 0-tier in any dating or romance tier list.
Cassandra's favorability has increased.
Current: 32%
Watching Cassandra smile happily just from looking at my face, the old saying that life really is all about looks came to mind again.
Well… it doesn’t feel bad.
The date was more enjoyable than expected. Cassandra was beautiful, energetic, and perfectly in tune with me. Our outing proceeded more peacefully and ordinarily than I had imagined.
“Cassie. You… who the hell is that guy next to you?!”
Just as we were thinking about having one more snack before parting ways, a man with a face flushed red like an octopus approached, trembling, his hand resting on the hilt of the sword at his waist.
“Who is that bastard?!”
The roaring man. And the first system window I had ever seen appeared before my eyes.
The obsessive man who approached Cassandra 12 times and was rejected 12 times—Pankel, eldest son of Count Pankel—is exploding with rage toward you!
If you defeat him as stylishly as possible, her favorability will rise dramatically!
A heroine event. An event I thought I would never encounter in my life.