NTR Is a Crime
NTR is a crime. NTR is a crime. That had been my lifelong creed.
Stealing someone’s lover after they had poured their entire heart, love, and devotion into them—and rendering all those precious memories and time meaningless—was more than enough to be called a crime in itself.
“Hey, you. Do I really look that pathetic to you?”
That was why the only reaction I could show to the woman standing before me after her confession was a cold gaze mixed with hatred and contempt, along with words bristling with thorns.
The person who had confessed her feelings to me was none other than the geumtaeyang villainess—the very archetype known for stealing other people’s lovers.
“Ha… So you think anyone with a nice pair of tits can just walk all over a guy? Is that it?”
Once I realized that, a surge of irritation made me snap at the woman in front of me.
I thought the worst thing that could happen in my life was the transmigration into this godforsaken romance fantasy novel eight years ago. And yet here was another pile of dogshit waiting for me.
“Uh… um…?”
The geumtaeyang who had just confessed to me looked utterly flustered. She clearly hadn’t expected me to react so aggressively. She must have thought her pretty face would be enough. The fact that I wasn’t falling for it probably left her head spinning.
She must have had plenty of experience, because her confession had been sweet, almost like she was proclaiming the most beautiful love in the world.
“I don’t even want to look at you. Get lost. What kind of freak even tries this shit?”
She truly lived up to her role as the villainess who stole even the romance fantasy protagonist’s lovers. Her appearance was disturbingly seductive. Any other guy might have caved even if he already had a girlfriend. No—most of them definitely would have.
At their young age as academy students, the various temptations coming at them would be hard to resist.
But I wasn’t the type to tolerate someone who stole taken men anywhere near me.
“W-wait…!”
Even after I said that, the damn geumtaeyang was still clinging on. I coldly swatted her hand away and warned her again so she wouldn’t try to involve herself with me.
“Don’t put those disgusting hands on me.”
After brushing her off, I placed a hand on my forehead to cool the heat rising inside me. At the same time, I whipped my head around to glare behind me. The geumtaeyang who had been sneaking after me let out a small shriek and scurried away in a panic.
This crazy bitch. I told her to leave and she still tried to follow me.
“Just try following me. I won’t be this nice next time.”
I spat the words at her as she hesitated at a distance. She must have finally realized how much genuine disgust was in my voice, because she vanished from my sight.
“That’s better.”
I climbed the stairs all the way up and stepped onto the academy rooftop. Only then did my chest finally feel a little lighter. The wide-open view and refreshing breeze were among the few things I actually liked in this cursed romance fantasy world I’d been thrown into.
“What a fucking mess.”
A piece of trash who stole other people’s lovers acting like she was some pure-hearted maiden of true love—it was revolting. The moment I heard her confession, I’d seriously considered slapping her across the face.
Maybe I should’ve given her a taste of gender equality with my fist…
I pondered it for a moment but eventually shook the unpleasant thought from my head. After the way I’d torn into her, she probably wouldn’t dare approach me again. If anything, the fact that the villainess wouldn’t be sticking to me might actually be a good thing.
“…Sigh.”
Still, once negative emotions were spent, there was no taking them back. I stared out at the distant horizon, leaning against the wall as I slowly cooled my head.
Hearing words of love from the very species I hated most had been far more unpleasant than I’d expected.
“This is seriously pissing me off…”
The fact that I couldn’t figure out where things had gone wrong only made it worse. At the very least, in the original work, that geumtaeyang had never confessed to a complete stranger.
What could have changed her mind? There were probably several reasons, but the biggest one was obviously…
The fact that I entered this damn novel.
The romance fantasy novel The Reverse Harem Is Somewhat Strange.
I had read it, and without any warning, I’d been hit with the classic transmigration.
It wasn’t something I could have resisted—it was pure force majeure.
There wasn’t even a clear cause.
I hadn’t sent the author an angry email, nor had I left any particularly meaningful comments. Sure, watching the protagonist’s boyfriend—who had seemed to be building up a pure love route—get stolen by the geumtaeyang had dealt me quite a blow. But that was the only impression I’d left on the story.
I’d gritted my teeth and endured that NTR drift without even leaving a single comment. In other words, I had cleanly enjoyed the web novel exactly as it was.
I really hadn’t done a single thing wrong to the author.
“…Forget it.”
I almost cursed the author out loud but swallowed the words again. I had already cursed the writer who had dragged me here thousands of times. Those meaningless curses were no different from praying to a god that didn’t exist.
Just as that twisted feeling started creeping back in and I was wondering whether I should head back inside—
Thud! Thud!
The sound of footsteps climbing up to the rooftop reached me. Light, bouncy steps accompanied by a refreshing lime-like energy that seemed to spread even from a distance.
“Jack!!”
The moment that thought crossed my mind, the rooftop door I had closed burst open. A cute girl with short black hair came running and immediately put me in a headlock.
“Aigoo! You adorable little thing…!”
As anyone could tell at a glance, this uniquely energetic girl was the protagonist of The Reverse Harem Is Somewhat Strange—Heidi Agnes.
The reason she was so delighted the moment she saw me and put me in a headlock was…
“That’s right! I knew it! I knew you wouldn’t fall for a girl like that!”
Because I had rejected the confession from that geumtaeyang who had stolen her men multiple times.
Having heard the news, she was practically vibrating with excitement as she wrapped her arms around me.
“I turned her down because she’s not my type. And… get off me.”
Regardless of her feelings, I had nothing to gain from being too close to her, so I lightly shoved her away to create some distance. About two meters. A perfectly safe distance—whether from a global pandemic or from the relationship between the protagonist and an extra.
“I came here to compliment you… You’re so mean…”
Eight years ago, I had transmigrated into the character Jack Orlannte, this girl’s childhood friend, and I had been maintaining this uncomfortable relationship ever since.
To be honest, I wanted to cut ties with her immediately and hide away in some rural corner, but I couldn’t.
“S-still… I came to praise you. You’re not going to chase me away, right?”
This protagonist had already lost one childhood friend before, so she was terrified of losing any more friends.
And if I cut ties with her and she becomes mentally fragile…
The crazy male leads who were obsessed with the protagonist would come after me and beat me to death.
Of course, the reverse was also true. If I got too close to the protagonist, they would label me an NTR scum trying to steal her and kill me anyway.
Isn’t that completely unreasonable? Yeah, it is. Extremely so.
I’m her childhood friend. Even the slightest rational thought would show that there’s no way I could NTR her when we’re not even in a romantic relationship.
But this is that kind of novel.
A reverse harem story where every kind of man flocks to the female lead. A story where those men are all disturbingly twisted lunatics, making it impossible to predict their thought processes. And then there are the insane readers who cheer even when the male leads are willing to kill for the female protagonist.
With that perfect storm of madness, I—who had transmigrated into the position of the female lead’s childhood friend—had no choice but to walk a tightrope with my life on the line every single day.
If they were going to send me here, couldn’t they have at least picked a novel with a hypnosis app instead of this one?
“What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell somewhere?”
When I remained silent with a gloomy expression, Heidi asked with a worried look.
You. Yes, you. You’re the one who’s extremely uncomfortable. I’m trying to keep my distance, but you keep clinging to me, so I’m scared the crown prince, the saint, the pirate king—every last one of them—is going to come after me.
“I’m just a bit uncomfortable today. Can you leave me alone for a while?”
“Uh… yeah! Sure!”
Did she read my mood? Our protagonist quickly scurried back toward the door as if she had done something wrong. Her personality wasn’t bad, but from my perspective, I had no choice but to keep my distance.
Back then, I used to envy the transmigrated protagonists who smoothly seduced the heroines without knowing any better…
But the scale of the background surrounding her was so enormous that just looking at Heidi now was terrifying, pretty or not.
Besides, her face isn’t even my type…
I’ve always preferred mature, older-sister types over cute faces. So if we were talking purely about looks, that geumtaeyang was—
Slap!
I hurriedly slapped my own cheek to snap out of the dangerous train of thought.
“…Have I lost my mind?”
It seemed my sanity was on the verge of collapse. The day I would find the absolute evil that symbolized NTR—the geumtaeyang—pretty had finally come.
I shook my head, brushing away the thoughts that had taken root in my mind, and prepared to leave the rooftop. Classes at the middle academy were already over, so there was no real need to go down, but staying up here too long wouldn’t look good either.
Rather than standing around feeling sorry for myself, it would be better to prepare for the [Episode] that would begin soon.
“About two weeks left, huh…”
After the short break starting today, we would leave the middle academy as adults and enter the higher academy for advanced education. At the same time, the [Episode] filled with all sorts of incidents would begin in fifteen days.
When I thought about all the effort I had poured into preparing for this day over the past eight years, even tears felt insufficient.
“Alright, enough of this pathetic moping.”
I lightly dusted myself off, stood up, and walked toward the rooftop door to leave.
Click!
I turned the handle and pulled the door open, slipping one hand into my pocket as I started to head down—
“Ha, fuck.”
The villainess was waiting for me right in front of the rooftop door.
The brazen woman who had stolen the protagonist’s men multiple times and then confessed to me, her childhood friend.
The geumtaeyang, Lucia Klein, entered my field of vision.