Lucy Conquest Route (6)

After Felix's attack was over, I underwent a thorough examination. Once they'd confirmed there was nothing wrong with me anywhere, they told me to get some proper rest, so I settled in and made myself comfortable.

Lucy was lying in the bed next to mine.

I had to wonder whether a man and a woman were really supposed to share a hospital room, but since nobody said a word about it, I figured it was fine.

Ah. Right. This is an eroge.

That was probably the idea. I let the thought go and closed my eyes. Mental exhaustion rolled over me in a wave, and my vision went dark almost at once. I spent the rest of the day in sweet, unbroken rest.

"Do you have any idea how long I had to sit there talking to those old geezers? I thought I was going to die of boredom."

And then it was morning, and I was talking with Lim Sol, who had shown up first thing.

"You've worked hard. Thank you, though."

"It's annoying. I don't even have time for magic research."

Lim Sol grumbled that I'd dumped a bunch of tedious work on her.

"Also, they've decided to write this incident up as you and Lucy catching a Demon together. A kidnapping inside the academy is too serious a scandal, so it looks like they want to bury it as the two of you uncovering a Demon in hiding."

"...This place really is something else."

Last time they'd swept a classroom accident under the rug for me too. Now they were burying this. What kind of academy was this?

Back then the accident had at least brought me closer to Lim Sol, so I could live with it — but covering up something this big on top of that? Wasn't this game taking the "realistic institutional cover-up" thing a little too far? For fuck's sake.

"...I'm sorry about last time. But I put in a word this time, and they said they're going to give you some kind of reward. They'll send the details later. If they try to wipe their mouths and walk away from this one too, I'll blow the whole thing open, so don't worry."

"Professor Lim Sol... no, Lim Sol Noona...!"

Lim Sol Noona! Was I allowed to start calling her Noona from today...?!

"Hah. Don't get carried away. I'm only doing this because I feel bad too, so you don't have to thank me."

Watching someone who normally acted like she didn't care about anything but magic smile in that awkward, embarrassed way — the gap was ridiculously charming.

"When I get discharged, I'll come find you with some good magic research. I promise."

Her face was so pretty I almost said, Then could I maybe collect an advance right now...? Fortunately, I held it in.

"Mm. Oh, right — that magic circle implementation method you showed me? I've been researching it a lot. There's still plenty that needs work, but..."

Lim Sol launched excitedly into magic talk, then headed out.

She really is cute.

The way someone who usually played it so deadpan got all fired up the second magic entered the conversation — she was exactly the type that was fun to tease.

"Now what."

Lucy beside me still hadn't come around. They'd said there was nothing wrong with her physically, but they'd run a full workup just in case she'd been infected with demonic energy. The results were due this afternoon. I'd gotten the same tests, which meant I was stuck here until then whether I liked it or not.

I was just thinking I might as well browse Everyday when a flood of system windows filled my vision.

"What the hell."

These were the same alerts that had shown up the first time I had any physical contact with Rumi. This time we'd gone all the way, and the windows were pouring out like a jackpot.

It said the heroine status window had been upgraded, so I tested it on Lucy, still asleep in the next bed.

"Oh?"

Two completely new features. What they were for stamped itself into my head automatically.

Current Status told you what a heroine was doing right now. Sometimes it would spit out her inner thoughts; sometimes, like this, it would just tell you she was asleep.

Erogenous zones were exactly what they sounded like.

"Not bad."

Not bad. That was about the extent of it.

There was still the Special Quest to look at, so I pulled that up next.

Special Quest.

"...Huh?"

A quest I had not seen coming in the slightest.

The God of Bets was the one who had dragged me into this world in the first place. A chance to sit down with someone like that... I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠couldn't let that slip away.

But a ten-day time limit?

That was brutal. Felix's attack had been on Wednesday. Today was Thursday, which meant I had until next weekend...?

I ran through next week's schedule in my head. Magical Analysis. Mage specialization class. Theory. And... dungeon practical training.

If this followed the original, the dungeon would go berserk during that next session because of a terrorist attack.

"If I go after Baek A-young then, I still need one more."

No matter how I turned it over, the only option was Rumi.

Elise, Nam Da-eun, and Mun Su-rin weren't heroines you could conquer through sheer effort. Each of them was carrying a major incident, and you had to resolve those incidents to bring them over.

I could knock Mun Su-rin down if I really set my mind to it, of course — but making her dependent on me while I handled the stalker incident would be far more efficient.

Rumi was the pure-love route in the game. You looked after a girl with no friends, enjoyed academy life alongside Lucy, and things developed naturally from there...

No choice. I wasn't in a position to do a pure-love route right now.

One way or another, I had to take Rumi over the weekend...

Knock, knock, knock.

"Yes, come in."

The knock cut my thoughts short.

"Excuse meee..."

Speak of the devil. The door opened, and Rumi stepped in.

"Hoyeon! Lu-Lucy! Are you okay? I-I heard you were attacked by a D-Demon!"

Rumi slipped inside with her shoulders hunched, took one look at my face and at Lucy lying there, and came closer with her lips trembling. Seeing her twin still unconscious, her big round eyes were a heartbeat away from welling over.

"Calm down. They ran the tests. Nothing's wrong. Lucy will wake up soon."

"Th-thank goodness. Haaah."

Rumi pressed a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hand to her chest and let out a long breath of relief.

"Th-they said you and Lucy took down the Demon together... you two really are amazing!"

"Thanks."

"But Felix being a Demon... d-did you already know, Hoyeon...?"

"No way. I've just got good instincts. Something about him set off a gut-level aversion. I didn't know he was a Demon, though."

"Ahh..."

After that, Rumi talked with me for about an hour.

"Lucy doesn't look like she's waking up anytime soon..."

"It's fine. The second she comes around, you'll be the first person I contact."

"Hehe... thank you. Ah! I've been keeping a patient talking for way too long. I'll get going, so please rest up."

"I'm not really a patient, but... yeah. See you at the academy."

"Yeees."

Rumi ducked her head in a deep bow, glanced at Lucy one more time, and left the room.

Haaah. Talking that long had worn me out.

A chime sounded from my phone. A message.

Just looking at the wreck of a text, I could feel how badly she'd panicked. I couldn't help smiling.

BANG!

Mun Su-rin came bursting through the hospital room door.

"Hoyeon! Are you okay?!"

Noona. If you were going to get here one minute after sending the text, why send a text at all.

She must have sprinted the whole way. That pretty face of hers was dripping with sweat.

"Noona. I'm fine."

"R-really? You didn't take any internal injuries? You're not badly hurt?"

"No. The exam came back clean. I'm only still here for a demonic contamination test, just in case. But you know how it is. Demonic contamination almost never takes."

"Ah... ah. Thank goodness."

She sniffled. Mun Su-rin's eyes had gone a little red. She'd been really worried.

She cared this much? I was actually touched.

What's with Mun Su-rin? Her affection goes up all on its own even if I don't do a thing.

I hadn't even worked on her and she was already at 48. True to form for the easiest heroine.

It felt like her event was drawing closer and closer. Pressure was piling onto her from every direction, and she seemed to be treating me as a place to run to... which suited me just fine.

She spends her days getting ground down by a stalker, paparazzi, and a mountain of work — and the only time she gets to feel happy is when she's talking to me...

If I let that version of Mun Su-rin hold on and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hold on until she was right on the verge of breaking, and then I saved her... that would do nicely.

"Haaah. Thank goodness. But..."

Mun Su-rin's eyes drifted to Lucy in the next bed.

"Ahem. I-is it not a little uncomfortable? A guy and a girl sharing a hospital room."

"It's fine. We're just lying here all day anyway. It'd be lonely by myself."

"Mm. All right. I hope that friend of yours wakes up soon too."

"The doctor said she should come around shortly."

"That's a relief. I've got a lot of work, so I have to go. I only came to see your face for a second."

"Yes. Work hard, Su-rin Noona."

"...Yeah! I will!"

Mun Su-rin muttered something about her workload having just increased, and left the room.

What work increased?

I had no idea.

I waited until her footsteps had completely faded, then stared at the white hospital tiles and thought.

But seriously, how am I supposed to manage all this?

Getting closer to the heroines was a good thing. The problem was that it was starting to get away from me. I didn't even know how you were supposed to build a harem, and for a socially inept loser like me, it was an impossibly hard assignment.

"Haaah. I'll figure it out as I go."

I'd keep living, at least. The emotion called giving up had already vanished from my dictionary — courtesy of Clear Mind, which wouldn't even let me rest when I wanted to. I couldn't be weak-willed if I tried.

Fortunately, a rope had dropped out of the sky.

Clear the Special Quest. Meet the God of Bets. I'd get at least a hint or two out of that.

"Nnngh..."

A groan drifted over from Lucy's bed.

Was she finally waking up?

"Nnnngh..."

She was pouring sweat, her face twisted as though she were trapped in a nightmare.

Should I call the doctor?

I was still considering whether to hit the emergency call button when Lucy let out a scream and her eyes flew open.

"Aaagh!"

"What the hell kind of dream was that. Ugh..."

She still hadn't grasped where she was. She blinked and blinked, peering down at the hospital gown she was wearing.

"You okay?"

"..."

"Nothing hurts? The doctor said you were fine, but just in case."

"..."

"Lucy?"

"Wh-what happened to Felix?"

She still looked dazed, like the situation hadn't finished assembling itself in her head.

"Ah... I was going to wait until you were feeling a little better. I handled Felix. But the press is going to announce that the two of us killed him together. That all right with you?"

"W-why? I didn't do anything!"

"Well, if I said I took care of it alone, there'd be way too much attention on me. Just let it slide this once. Sorry."

From Lucy's side, this was the kind of thing that could leave a scar. She had come within a breath of being raped by Felix. Having someone dig into that, or sit her down for an interview, could be an enormous burden.

I hadn't been the one to make that call — but I definitely had a share of the blame for her ending up in that situation in the first place.

Wait. They said they were giving us a reward. Did I just screw this up?

If we got some big public commendation, interview requests would come pouring in.

Lucy, though, didn't seem to care about any of that. She bowed her head and apologized instead.

"I'm sorry. I'm really, truly sorry. From now on, if you say something, I'll believe you. No questions. And I'll find a way to pay you back for this. I swear."

"Don't. I should've been paying closer attention. If you really want to pay me back, just buy ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠me a meal sometime."

Watching a girl who spent every other day mouthing off suddenly bow her head like this felt strange. Still, if this was the push that softened Lucy's personality a little, I wasn't going to complain.

"Yeah. I'll definitely treat you."

Lucy said it with a smile — then our eyes met, and she went red and whipped her head away.

"Ah, ah! It's suddenly hot in here! Don't you think?"

It's over.

Ninety-two affection. Even in the game, that was the stage where all you had left was the confession. A little push and pull from here and it was done.

Watching things fall into place according to plan felt good.

"Yeah, I'm a bit warm too. Speaking of — nothing hurts, right? The test results came back normal."

"Yeah, I'm fi— wait."

Lucy pressed a hand to her stomach and let out a low groan.

"Something... my stomach kind of hurts... hold on. Back then I was definitely in a weird state, like I'd been put under a spell..."

She looked at me with an expression that said don't tell me.

"You... did we...?"

"No. Absolutely not. Nothing like that happened. Seriously."

"...If you say 'nothing like that,' that means you know what state I was in."

Ah, fuck. I slipped up.