Chapter 188. Lucy X Lumi
"So... we're both dating the one guy, Ho-yeon?"
"Y-yeah... Ah... Eek!"
In truth, Lucy was fine with anything as long as Lumi was involved. And if Ho-yeon was part of it too? She couldn't quite picture it, but it didn't sound bad at all. They'd had fun even as friends—surely as lovers, it'd be even better. Yeah. Of course.
But a nagging worry lingered in one corner of her heart. If Lumi was being sincere, then great. She'd just have to swallow a bit of embarrassment. Everything could go back to normal—or even better than before. The problem was if it wasn't sincere.
What if... she's just forcing herself to say that?
What if it wasn't genuine? What if she was kissing him just to cheer up her sad friend? Lucy knew Ho-yeon and Lumi were good people, which was exactly why she had to consider the worst-case scenario. If she found out later it was all out of pity, she might never recover.
"...Lumi. Rest up for now. I'll head home and think it over."
"Yeah... Love you, Lucy."
That smile of Lumi's. It wasn't a fake one, for sure. But... Lucy couldn't shake the image of those two kissing in front of the motel.
Could I really fit in between them?
"Love you too. Hand over that smartwatch. I'll get it fixed and bring it back."
"Okay, sure."
Lucy tidied up Lumi's room, prepared some food she could eat alone, then slipped out of the dormitory. Back in her own room, she flopped onto the bed.
What should I do?
She rolled around on the bed, agonizing, but couldn't decide. It'd be easy to just say yes, but some mix of pride and shame wrapped around her like a vice.
The biggest issue? That kiss in front of the motel kept flashing in her mind.
"The two of them in a motel..."
A guy and a girl heading to a motel. Sure, there could be reasons, but it was reasonable to assume they were hooking up. And since they'd kissed right there in front, it was even more certain.
Did it feel good...? Of course it did.
Lucy had no experience with guys, but she was plenty curious about that stuff. She was always the one listening eagerly when her friends gossiped about naughty things.
"Lumi..."
Imagining Lumi and Ho-yeon kissing, stripping each other's clothes off—it filled her chest with a strange emotion. At the same time, her body heated up. A throbbing deep in her belly made her instinctively slip her hand between her legs.
"Hnn..."
Lumi kissing Ho-yeon. And her. Lumi under Ho-yeon. And her. With their identical looks—minus the hairstyle—it was easy to project herself onto Lumi.
"Lu... Lumi... Hnng. Ho-yeon..."
Twitch—Her first time masturbating since Felix kidnapped her. She didn't do it often anyway, so her fingers fumbled awkwardly, but the clumsy stimulation against her folds sent a sharp jolt of climax through her.
"...What the hell am I doing?"
After fiddling for a while, Lucy stopped. She felt pathetic, giving in to lust when she needed to think seriously. With a sigh, she got up from the bed and glanced at Lumi's smartwatch on the desk. Then her eyes drifted to the mirror beside it, catching her reflection.
Her long blue hair cascaded down past her shoulder blades. Lucy's hair had been blue since she was little. They'd dyed it to tell the identical twins apart. After that, people could easily distinguish them.
"..."
A sudden idea flashed through Lucy's mind. People told her and Lumi apart by hair color. So... if she cut it short and dyed it black, would Ho-yeon recognize her?
He absolutely wouldn't.
It had been about two months since she met Ho-yeon. Not that time diminished her feelings—it just meant they hadn't seen each other enough. Even friends who'd known them for over ten years couldn't tell without the hair color. Ho-yeon? No chance.
Just ask him directly.
No need to agonize like an idiot. Dress up like Lumi and ask him straight. That way, she'd know if they were sincere.
*
Sunday morning. After checking on Lumi and telling her she was still mulling over Ho-yeon, Lucy stepped out of the dormitory. She headed straight to the reserved salon in the academy's shopping district.
"Miss, you're so pretty."
"Th-thank you..."
Once the haircut was done, Lucy checked her face in the salon's mirror. Her long locks lay on the floor, and the distinctive blue was now black.
...Lumi's face.
Even seeing it herself, it was hard to believe how perfectly it matched Lumi. Lucy left the salon and walked the streets. Her shoulders felt light without the hair swishing against them—awkward, but she'd get used to it.
On her way to the hospital, the academy's shopping area bustled with Victoria Academy cadets. That's when Lucy spotted her friends approaching from down the path.
Oh! Guys...
No, wait. She wasn't Lucy right now—she was Lumi. Lucy shook her head and cleared her throat. As identical twins, their voices were similar too; a little effort, and she could mimic Lumi's.
"So, like, over there... Huh? Isn't that Lumi?"
"Hey, Lumi? Where you headed?"
They spotted her first—perfect. Lucy spoke up.
"Ahem... Oh, hi."
She bowed her head demurely, just like Lumi.
"Where's Lucy? You alone?"
"Lu-Lucy's back at the dorm. I'm just... out shopping."
Lucy chatted with her friends, gradually getting the hang of it. Once she felt perfect, she cut the conversation short.
"Um, I should get going. It's getting late..."
"Ah, gotcha. See ya later~."
"Yes. Take care."
She bowed again, smiling inwardly. Friends who'd known her for years hadn't recognized her. So Ho-yeon definitely wouldn't. Her pounding heart was another issue, but she pushed it aside.
Lucy dropped off the smartwatch at an open workshop, then headed to the hospital.
*
Sunday morning. As usual, I was checking public opinion on my smartwatch when a system window popped up out of nowhere.
[The Thorny Path for a Harem]
To build a harem, you must fully understand your heroines!
Have you been relying solely on the Heroine Status Window so far?
Solving things with your own power once in a while will be a huge step toward growth!
📍 Goal: ???
🎁 Reward: Massive boost to natural healing
⚠ Restriction:Heroine Status Window sealed for 24 hours
"Huh?"
A quest out of the blue? It'd been ages since the last one, and this felt so random.
"...What kind of quest is this?"
The system wasn't wrong, per se... but springing it like this was disorienting. And the goal was a total mystery.
"These damn bastards pulling shit again..."
Knock knock.
I was about to vent my frustration at the absurdity when a knock interrupted. Not time for my checkup—must be a visitor.
"Come in."
The door opened, and the first face I saw was Lumi's. She wore her familiar cadet uniform as she entered the room. She'd looked rough from the cold yesterday, but...
"Ho-yeon..."
"Lumi? Feeling better?"
"Y-yes..."
She hunched her shoulders as she came in and sat on the chair. I tried to read her status window.
Status Window
But unlike usual, nothing appeared.
"Hmm..."
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
It really wasn't showing. What were they thinking?
"By the way, how's Lucy? She hasn't replied to me—must be hurting bad."
"Oh, uh... She's fine. Probably sleeping."
"Good to hear."
Lumi sat primly, lips fidgeting. She had something to say.
"Got something on your mind?"
"...I-I talked to Lucy about it. About us all dating together..."
"Ah, yeah."
She finally did it. Hope it went well.
"B-but... she seemed kinda negative. Like she thinks we're tricking her."
"Yeah... I get why she'd misunderstand."
I wouldn't buy it right away either. I'd thought Lumi could convince her, but apparently not.
"What now? Should I talk to her myself?"
"..."
I turned while pondering, and Lumi was staring right at me. Like she was waiting for my reaction.
"What's up?"
"What do you think, Ho-yeon...? About Lucy reacting like that."
"It's understandable. How we convince her is key."
From the position of a scum trying to claim both, I had no ground to stand on.
"St-still. She doesn't believe us, so doesn't that feel like betrayal...? Or something."
"No sense of that at all. You're acting weird today, Lumi. Cold not fully gone?"
She sounded almost like she wanted to badmouth Lucy. Normally, Lumi's visits were two-hour praise fests for her sister—this was off. An awkward, hard-to-pin unease.
"..."
Status Window
Still nothing. Then a hypothesis hit me.
Is this what the quest meant?
To test, I tossed out a probe.
"Oh yeah... Remember we're grabbing dinner tonight?"
"Y-yes. Of course I do."
"Hmm. Right."
There was no such promise, obviously. Yesterday's Lumi had been too sick for plans. Yet she claimed to remember.
Why? Because the girl in front of me wasn't Lumi.
"..."
I tensed briefly, then my mind raced. If it'd been a disguise for combat, my senses would've pinged. But no alerts.
Mana Resonance.
Same deal. Magic disguise? I'd detect it. I gritted through the pain, squeezing out mana to focus—but no signal.
That meant no magic or artifact disguise. She was her real self.
"..."
"Wh-why? What's wrong?"
"Nothing. Lumi."
And only one person in this world could pull that off.
Identical twins guaranteed by the game's lore.
For whatever reason, the one before me was Lucy.