Chapter 405 - Partner (2/2)

Nishihara Kaori. Among all the girls in class, she had a very close relationship with him, and could be rather scheming. If he had been a man who was kind to everyone, he predicted that Nishihara would have launched an offensive early on. It would be entirely possible to have some sort of relationship with her.

Both Ishinaka Mei and Shangguan Feifei were rather practical. They valued material goods and did not pay much attention to him at first. However, when the game The Brave Road of A Hero In An Alternate World achieved more than 10 million downloads and his personal income surpassed 50 million, the attitudes of these two had changed a lot, and they became extremely enthusiastic about him.

This led to inevitable cracks in the four girls’ clique, where they had formed deep sisterly bonds. Small conflicts and fights would break out frequently. The agreed to treat each other like real sisters, but in the end, they mutually hurt and alienated one another, and gave each other the cold shoulder treatment.

Naturally, Li Dong was the source of all this evil.

For him, this was, naturally, something that he had been looking for all his life but could never get. This was the treatment of the free and single male lead character in a “harem” story.

But… when one had really experiences this so-called romance, one feels that it is not so happy and pleasant as one had imagined.

On the contrary, it can often feel like a headache and a cause of irritation.

The five love letters that were stuffed into his shoe cubby per day, on average, were enough of a headache.

Falling in love with someone was painful, but it was also an ordeal to bear the weight of too much love… Unless one were to be total scum, one probably never fantasizes about how one could “handle a lot of women.”

In truth, Li Dong supported monogamy. He believed that this was the most basic premise of love. If there was one more person, it would immediately destroy the sacred aspect of the relationship, and the affair would be no different from those in the animal world.

More importantly, the game world could make one feel good, but it could not actually fill one’s stomach or provide one with any actual nourishment. One day, he would leave the game and return to reality. If that happened, he would find that he had memories of a pipe dream and nothing else. That would just be too tragic.

Besides, Li Dong also wanted to be a winner in real life. He wanted to have real happiness that had substance.

So, there were some things that should be clearly ended.

…

After making up his mind, he ranked the girls according to how favorably they regarded him and how entangled they were with feelings for each other.

After school, Li Dong pulled Satoshi to a deserted corner behind the teaching blocks. The two of them had a face to face talk.

Li Dong looked at Satoshi’s petite head, which was lowered in shyness. Still, she was a girl with a very strong heart and mind. He felt pity, tenderness, and regret.

So he asked simply, without beating around the bush.

“Satoshi, you like me, right?”

“Ah…”

This shocked Denen Satoshi, and her cheeks grew red. But as she noticed Li Dong’s serious eyes, she nodded and said, “Mm. How did you know, Ryu?”

“A few days ago, you were bullied and humiliated by a few girls. You were threatened to stay away from me, but you didn’t say anything. Your resistance was your silence… I knew it at that moment.”

Of course, Li Dong had driven those girls away and helped Satoshi escape from her troubles.

“Then, can—can I like you, Ryu?” Satoshi asked, her head still lowered. However, her words were firm.

“Of course. Being liked is a really good thing, and I’m very happy,” Li Dong said with a smile.

“That… then we…”

Satoshi’s head lowered even further. Her cheeks turned red and plump. She fiddled with her hands restlessly. “Can… can we be…” She simply could not get the remaining words out, even though she had gathered all her courage.

After all, the gap between them was too great.

“Satoshi, I understand your feelings, but…” Li Dong said. “We’re not well-matched as a couple. I am really sorry.”

“Ah…”

Satoshi’s face paled, all the strength seemed to have been from her body, and she could not stop the tears that fell. Even her consciousness became somewhat transparent and fuzzy.

“But… we can be partners, partners who will always be together.” Li Dong suddenly said.

What?

Denen Satoshi was taken aback. Half of the sadness in her heart seemed to have been lifted. She was totally perplexed. A partner? Together forever?

Was there any substantial difference between that and being a couple?

“Satoshi, there is something that I’ve suddenly and very recently remembered. Actually, I… am kind of the god of this world.”