Chapter 3 (1/2)

Although It’s Great that 【Heroine B】 Appeared

Translator: Skythewood

Editor: Deus ex-Machina, Ruzenor

After ending the conversation with Rika-sama and exited from the 【One Person Club】, the rain had completely stopped. The weather had suddenly turned sunny. However, Rika-sama was worried about my uniform being drenched, and stopped me from going. And of course, I didn’t have a problem with her suggestion. I won’t catch a cold from just this. After all, I was a top student in terms of health.

First was going home, then taking a bath immediately after that. I then moved to the clean living room.

Picking up the phone, I tapped on the icon for 【There are no heroines in my youth】 and started the game. The countdown screen was displayed. The waiting time was exceptionally long this time.

By my calculation, it would take until tomorrow morning. About 5am…? I need to get up early then. Could I get up in time? No no no, I had to get up, the time until the next game might be even longer.

Because nothing would happen for today—— Next would be the third day, Wednesday. What would happen next? What should I do tomorrow? More importantly, will my promise to have lunch with Rika-sama pa.s.s by peacefully? Would I do anything r.e.t.a.r.ded? I just can’t wait.

But before the future comes, I had things I needed to do.

That was to read the instruction manual for 【There are no heroines in my youth】. After installing Pandora, I could access the instruction manual by pressing the b.u.t.ton on the top right corner of the screen. By the way, things like saving and loading wasn’t there.

This game was a one way trip.

I need to talk to Pandora too—— Oh right, regarding the problem about loans. The loan system and the forced reparation if I lose the game still wasn’t clear. I had to get to the bottom of this.

Speaking of which, I had already borrowed 800,000 Sols, and I was wondering what was being used as a collateral for this loan? In the beginning, I didn’t pay much attention to it as it didn’t involve money. But to be honest, a heroine was more important than money.

However, I had a feeling that this game app wasn’t simple at all.

If I start from the source—— It would be the advertising email.

I opened my email app, and opened that mail from my inbox.

I read that mail once again. It ended after 【Next, please tap on the below URL】... Wait, there’s more? I was shocked. The scroll bar could be dragged down further. After a few lines of blank, there was a footnote in small fonts…!

【Note—— In the event that an error code appears during the game, it is possible to continue to proceed with the game. But in accordance with our company policy, we will advise ending the game… Our company will not be responsible for any losses and injuries that results from continuing the game.】

T-This… means that everything would be my own responsibility! Any problem that happens would be your own doing!

［P-Pandora!］

During times of trouble, we should rely on the a.s.sistance of the excellent AI. As she was installed in my phone, I just need to call out for her.

【Yes, Itsuki. Is there any problem?】

［An error code occured before the game launched, but I still started the game!］

I omitted all the details and stated briefly.

【I understand.】

［Erm, I have an ominous feeling that something terrible like losses or injuries would happen...］

【Yes. The chance of that is 100%.】

［One, one hundred percent? Not ninety nine percent? No matter what, a hundred percent is...］

【No, it is 100%. That is what the appearance of the error code means. That’s why we recommend terminating the game.】

［… That’s true.］

I couldn’t refute that.

【But making it through the game wasn’t impossible. It’s just that the game… will occasionally not match up with reality… Please be prepared for that mentally, Itsuki.】

［Not match… Not match… Not］

【Things will definitely work out.】

Because she had an optimistic disposition, she said encouraging words.

［… I understand.］

［Hey, Itsuki.］

I was talking to Pandora—— but from the perspective of a bystander, it probably felt like I was speaking with a phone seriously, which made Grandpa ask me worriedly. I turned back, and saw Grandpa actually stopped the 【h.e.l.l Scream 4】 he liked so much, as he pondered how to phrase his question. He seemed to have decided on a fast ball.

［A-Are you alright? You are talking to the AI voice function on your phone...］

［This is a special version! The type that could differentiate the content of a speech. Watch this. Pandora, a greeting please!］

【Nice to meet you Grandfather, I am Pandora.】

［——Woahh!］

Grandpa’s eyes lit up.

［It feels great to be called Grandfather by a girl! Although one of the players in 【h.e.l.l Scream 4】 on my friendlist is a girl that feels like a granddaughter too, we will meet one day… It will be great if 【h.e.l.l Scream 4】 has voice chat function…］

［A girl like a granddaughter?］

［Hmm? It’s a girl attending the same high school as you, though? She said she is in Honami High School. We were chatting just now, and I replied that it’s Honami High School here too, and it will be great if we can meet!］

Grandpa showed me a thumbs up as if he was expressing the ‘Good job’ he had done! I walked towards Grandpa and bent his thumb hard.

［That hurts! My grandson is abusing the elderly!］

［Tell me the details.］

Grandpa blew at his thumb exaggeratingly.

［The details, you mean how we get to know each other? Well, you know how much of a fan I am of the 【Final Dead】 series.］

【Final Dead】 was set on earth and mars, an online FPS with the wide range of maps and weapons as its selling point.

［I started getting close with a kid called Break on the Stage Clear leaderboard. You should know about Break too. Since she was a teenage girl, I faked the details a little, and used Itsuki’s ident.i.ty to chat with her, fight together and duel with each other. You also played with Break on that account before, right?］

［Eh, it’s that person?］

In 【Final Dead】, I will login with the name January (Itsuki means January). It’s mainly used by Grandpa, but I will login and play occasionally too. That Break who was always online? Who will exterminate the enemy mercilessly to clear the stage?

［No, that has to be a guy…］

The tone might sound girlish, but this was the cla.s.sic example of a guy building a persona of a girl.

［No, she is a girl! First year in Honami High School, your junior!］

But Grandpa didn’t back down.

［What’s your basis for saying she is a girl?］

The ones engrossed in FPS were mostly guys, so I couldn’t bear much hope in this.

［Based on my 73 years of life experience.］

［… Well, girl or not aside, it might be possible that Break is my junior in school.］

［That’s great, you have a friend of the opposite s.e.x that love games.］

Both Grandpa and I refused to back down on Break’s gender.

［You must meet her in real life and invite her home. I will cheer for you! Well then, Grandpa need to get back to 【h.e.l.l Scream 4】... Don’t talk to me from now on, you got that? Absolutely don’t. This is a difficult stage, understand?］

［Got it.］

Tragedies could happen if one got distract in the midst of FPS. If someone talked to you during an important part, and you get distracted… All your hard work will be for nought. I then rolled around on the tatami mat minding my own business, while Grandpa became completely immersed into the TV screen. He focused on killing the enemy groups that appeared in concert with the music.

I followed my Grandpa’s lead, and started studying 【There are no heroines in my youth】.

First of all—— the instruction manual. I focused on reading, and questioned Pandora periodically.

I then confirmed that this game app was linked to reality, a system that predict encounters with the heroines.

Under most circ.u.mstance, by going life normally, anyone will encounter a member of the opposite s.e.x you would get to know deeply, known as the ‘fated partner’. However, there were those with only shallow relations.h.i.+ps, or wouldn’t meet such a person. And I belonged to the latter. Fortunately, the chance of such people getting into relations.h.i.+p wasn’t 0. It would range from 0.1% to 1%... probably. However, just this much probably was as good as nothing, and couldn’t be changed by the person alone.

And sc.r.a.ping up this paltry percentage, and turning into a visual game format, was what the app 【There are no heroines in my youth】 does.

This was amazing! j.a.pan’s aging population problem could be solved by installing this onto every j.a.panese’s phone right? I asked Pandora.

【Everyone…? If we do that, the calculation will become very complicated. And… Itsuki’s compet.i.tors will increase too.】

She gave a bitter reply.

［Ehh?］

【a.s.suming there is a girl 【Heroine X】. And the chance of Itsuki getting together with her was 1%.】

［… Yes.］

I didn’t question or protest that. I just wish she could increase the percentage a little more.

【Next, let’s use the ace of Honami High School, Tsugawa Sakuya as an example opposite of Itsuki.】

［…Yes］

Tsugawa huh. A name that appeared in the choice branch before. A handsome guy who excels in sports, but hates the library.

【His chance of becoming a couple with 【Heroine X】 is 70%】

［He actually has a 7 in 10 chance?］

What the, this was a difference between heaven and h.e.l.l! That was the gulf between us!

【?Actually?】

［What else would I say?］

【If it is Itsuki, I thought you will say ‘only’.】

［The topic is different from that time on the roof! Not just that, even the mentality is different from then!］

【Is that the reason? I have much to learn… So with 【Heroine X】 as the example, there might be a chance of people competing for the same target. Itsuki might be able to raise your chances from 1% to 60% through the predictions. But Tsugawa Sakuya can use the same means to increase his chances from 70% to 99%.】

If that was so, wouldn’t that be a lost cause?

【And so, people with low probability of finding a lover would use this app most efficiently. They will bring out the most from this app.】

That means it would get me onto the starting line, right? Although I wasn’t at the starting line yet… And had even fallen into debt.

［I want to ask you about the loan.］

【Have you read the instruction manual yet?】

［I did… But I still can’t figure it out.］

The collateral for the loan. It was something taken from me. The instruction manual said 【Exchanging the future possibility of the customer into a currency known as Sols, which is reflected in the possible loan amount. The expenditure will be virtual during the loan period, and will only become actual when forced reparation is executed.】

【I see… Explaining it in terms Itsuki can understand… Your  【luck】 will disappear, something like that?】

［My real luck?］

【Itsuki don’t have much fate with Heroines, but everyone else does. Isn’t that great?】

For some reason, I didn’t feel that was a compliment.

【Friends, success in the eyes of society, great accomplishment…By reallocating your luck in these matters into your love life, you can increase your chance of meeting a heroine. Let me emphasize this again. Itsuki, you need to confirm one heroine in the next 5 days.】

［… When you say ‘confirm’, do you mean removing the 【?】 from the game? What kind of situation is that in real life?］

【When the heroine acknowledge Tosa Itsuki as a human, and possess a certain level of good will towards you. It is only possible to fall in love from this stage on. If they detest you, or don’t know you exist, or don’t care you exist, then love will not be possible.】

Pandora told me the reasoning. That means that I was a detested, unknown or uncared-for existence to all the girls? Hahaha…! Should I laugh or cry?

［… I understand the conditions. Speaking of which, the time limit to confirm the heroine… if I can’t confirm one within five days, there will be a forced reparation of my loans right—— Specifically speaking, what will happen?］

【Itsuki haven’t read about the explanation regarding forced reparation, right? Instead of listening to my explanation, it will be better for you to read this part again.】

［That’s true...］

I s.h.i.+fted my gaze onto the phone. Normally, I should have read the instruction manual before taking the loan. I tapped on the link 【Regarding forced reparation.】.

【Read the details】 and 【Trial experience (Free Sols will be given)】 options appeared before me.

—— Free Sols? So I will get them for free if I go through the trial experience?

If there was such a special event, people wouldn’t want to read the instruction manuals. I usually wouldn’t read it either.

Anyway, let’s start from the top with 【Read the details】. Tap… No reaction.

I tapped again.

【I’m sorry, Itsuki. The connection with the main server seemed to be unstable.】

Such a situation could happen in other apps too. Unable to reach the server even though I could access the internet—— What should I do in such a situation?

Keep pressing! But the screen didn’t change as expected.

［Hahahaha! I’m beat!］

Grandpa’s laughter reverberated in the living room. I turned to watch the tv as I continued pressing. The battle on the ground had s.h.i.+fted to the sky.

【It is a temporary outage, and will be up soon… ah.”】

…… Ah?

I glanced from the corner of my eyes. My finger had slid onto the 【Trial experience】 link. And the screen changed quickly this time… It will be fine, right?

I already tapped 【Read the details】 plenty of times. Tapping there would definitely be——

【Tosa Itsuki-san’s forced reparation has been scheduled. For a better forced reparation experience, reading of the details and queries about it to your personal AI will be disabled. Experience time will be tomorrow 28th September Wednesday, 7:49am and the following one hour.】

［Erm, Pandora-chan］

【…Yes.】

［Can I cancel the trial…］

【No. Before you finish the trial, I can’t answer your queries about forced reparation.】

［Why did it turn out like this?］

【It is designed to act this way for players who chose 【Trial experience】 before referencing 【Read the details】. The rationale is that the experience for forced reparation will have a bigger impact this way.】

［More impact? Is the forced reparation… enjoyable?］

【Who knows…】

Pandora said with a troubled tone.

【I don’t think it is enjoyable, but it might be so for humans.】

This gave the terrified me a little courage. Maybe it could be… enjoyable? At least it didn’t seem to be something that brings suffering.

And so, with a hint of unease, I ended the question session with Pandora.

I looked at the countdown screen on my phone. Getting up at 5am huh… If possible, I want to play now. I suddenly thought of a question, so I said to Pandora:

［Hey Pandora. Is the amount of time between playing session in this game random?］

【This difference is dependent on the accuracy of the prediction. That’s why there will be some differences between sessions.】

［… So it’s not random?］

【Not at all.】

［Hmm.］

That seemed to be so. Wait, it will be annoying if the gaming time is always set early in the morning.

—— I will sleep earlier tonight then.

2200hrs… No, 2100hrs… No no, 2000hrs. I could get up on time then.

I walked towards the kitchen, and decided on my dish with whatever was inside the fridge. I then grab hold of the kitchen knife.

After choosing my dish, I proceeded to prepare my breakfast!

… The alarm rang. I reached out from under my covers, and knocked the top of my square alarm clock. It stopped. I pulled my hand back under the covers… At this moment, an electronic sound different from earlier disturbed my slumber. I reached out reluctantly, and groped around my pillow. I grabbed a phone-shaped item, brought it to my face and opened my eyes. I pressed the stop b.u.t.ton on the screen. Phew, great, peace at last. I closed my eyes.

【—— Wake up. It’s 28th September 4:55am. Itsuki, don’t you want to continue the game?】

A gentle and soothing voice sounded out.

［Another 10 minutes...］

Hmm. I nodded in my head, and set off for the dream world —— However, 10 minutes later, an interruption occurred for the 3rd time.