“I’m telling you, I used to be the Priestess’s bodyguard. I quit because it didn’t suit me, and seriously, we were nothing!”
“Yeah. That’s right.”
“……”
Yerina glares at me without saying a word.
If I make even the slightest mistake, I could freeze right here.
Not a metaphor, but literally freeze solid.
Thinking that way makes my head throb.
“I’m really nothing special. It seems the Priestess wants me back because she values my skills.”
“Is that so? Then let’s read the letter, shall we? ‘I messed up, Yoo Jin. I’ll do better. I’ll be a good girl. I can’t survive without you. Hmm. No need to read more.'”
Now my head feels like it’s splitting.
“Honestly, tell me what the relationship is. If you do, I’ll let it slide.”
That’s a lie.
I know Yerina’s dialogue too well.
If I say anything, I’m screwed.
“If you keep this up, I can’t help but suspect you’re a spy for the enemy. Cooperate, Yoo Jin, or I will have to arrest you.”
I know she doesn’t suspect me at all.
Just by looking at her ears, it’s clear she trusts me.
The problem is, Yerina’s ‘trust’ is quite different from others.
She needs to doubt someone to believe in them.
And once she doubts, it lasts indefinitely—maybe even forever.
“Yerina, can I take a quick bathroom break? It’s urgent.”
“I don’t care if you have to do your business right here; answer me immediately.”
This means the harem route is effectively dead.
I shut my eyes tightly, confirming that there is no hope left.
Then I drop the smoke bomb that I had at my waist.
Boom!
“Yoo Jin!”
The small mana bomb detonates, dispersing smoke everywhere.
At the same time, a chill sweeps in, and everything begins to freeze.
Yerina starts to rampage.
Gah?!
The once smooth icy floor turns into a sharp, jagged surface, freezing my legs.
My feet are stuck.
I have no choice but to take off the boots Yerina gifted me and escape barefoot.
“Why are you running away?!”
A chilling voice slices through the smoke.
Why am I running?
Isn’t this girl completely insane?
The smoke lasts quite a while. I must escape during this time.
No matter how much Yerina uses her mana to dissipate the smoke, the smoke bombs I’ve set off keep the cover going.
In this confusion, I make a break for the Ice Cave.
Of course, Palana is completely isolated from the outside world.
Yerina will track me down in no time after escaping the smoke.
But I have a plan.
I had prepared an escape strategy for moments like this.
“Shit….”
It’s cold.
I’m hungry.
I think I’m going to die.
Dragging my boat through the snow, it feels like my entire body is about to fall apart at any moment.
Doesn’t seem like she’s following me.
I successfully escape from Palana.
Yerina is probably obsessively searching the land routes for me.
She might think I’m trying to escape through the mountain trails and waiting by the transcontinental train platform.
But I chose to escape by sea instead.
Taking a route where boats almost never come unless it’s a monthly transport or an external ship.
From the first day I arrived, I asked the artisan to make a boat for me.
They looked at me like I was a crazy person.
The boat I had secretly completed without Yerina knowing is filled with warm gear, drinking water, food, and all of my belongings.
And today, I put on a front of escaping by land and immediately launched the boat.
Typically, no one would think a small boat, not an icebreaker, would set sail across the North Sea.
I’m going to exploit that blind spot.
This boat is designed to glide smoothly over ice like a sled.
When it hits ice, I drag it along, and when it reaches water, I put it back in the water, repeating this to head south.
“What kind of painful struggle is this….”
I regret not packing shoes.
I didn’t think I’d be fleeing barefoot, so I didn’t prepare boots separately.
I hastily wrapped bandages around my feet, but they still feel like they’re going to be chopped off at any moment.
Staring at the endless expanse of ice makes me sigh heavily.
Ah. My mouth is freezing shut.
I should stop sighing.
After nearly two weeks of sailing, I reached some beach in the Northern Continent.
Just descending a little made the weather feel so warm.
Even though it’s still sub-zero, it feels like summer’s here, beating down hard.
It seems like Yerina’s touch has reached here too, with wanted posters of my face plastered everywhere.
So, I quickly got a ticket for the transcontinental train and came down to the Southern Continent.
I figured it’d be safest to run away to a place where Yerina’s influence doesn’t reach.
In the warmth of the south, I did manage to get away from Yerina’s pursuit.
-Warrant of Arrest
-Name: Yoo Jin
-Charge: Treason
“What the hell is this.”
Turns out the Vatican is after me here.
The esteemed Priestess has charged me.
Saying I attempted to violate the Priestess and then fled.
That aside…
“What the hell is all this?”
I happened to stop by the post office and saw it.
Hundreds of letters piled up with “Yoo Jin” written in the recipient line.
All the addresses were varied.
When I sneakily opened a few letters, the contents were identical to the letters I received from Jill in Palana.
“I didn’t even realize where I was.”
Jill hadn’t actually found me.
She just bombarded every address in the country with the same letter.
Someone’s hoping I’ll receive a letter and return to Hameln.
That’s the only possibility they were counting on.
Crazy person.
-Yoo Jin. If you happen to see this message, please come to Hameln. I’ll cancel the charges if you do. I’ll make the treason charge disappear too.
“Whoa! What a surprise.”
Just stopping by the bank and seeing a note stuck in my account made me jump straight into a run.
Could it be that they touched my account too?
If I had withdrawn carelessly, soldiers from the Vatican would have barged in and taken me away in no time.
Just the thought of it gives me chills.
I have nowhere to go.
In the north, Yerina’s power is strong enough, that showing my face will get me caught and dragged back to Palana.
In the south, the church’s power is massive, meaning there’s nowhere to hide.
But there’s just one place.
I know a spot where neither force reaches.
“Wow, you’re quite the celebrity. What in the world did you do to make the church so riled up after you?”
“Good question….”
I gaze out at the strange modern cityscape outside.
As I watch the rain beating against the window, I hear a giggle from behind me.
Looks like Yulia has showered and now wears a robe while placing a tray on the table.
She seems to have brought some alcohol.
“Uh, I was so surprised.”
“Sorry for just dropping by like this.”
“No, it’s fine. You don’t have to feel too burdened staying here. Yoo Jin-san is my precious friend…”
Yulia has willingly decided to hide the unexpected me.
Even after I rudely stopped by Petenburg just to leave right away.
I am using Yulia’s goodwill.
Exploiting the fact that I’m the only one who knows her true self.
From the start, I planned to deceive all the heroines to return to reality.
Now facing Yulia, who accepted me without asking for anything in return, my guilt is growing.
“Thank you.”
“Y-Yeah. It’s way better to say thank you than apologize.”
She probably didn’t think about how I felt.
I chuckle and take the drink from Yulia’s hand.
It has a unique aroma.
Is this the drink Yulia mentioned before?
The one that isn’t popular with the public but is highly praised by experts.
“The rumors… are they true?”
“That I tried to violate the Priestess? Of course not. Jill and I had a little falling out. I quit and went on a journey, only to return and find this situation.”
Here’s today’s insider tip.
If you break up while achieving a certain conquest rate, they’ll do anything to chase you down.
Whether it’s slander or whatever.
I bet Jill has also noticed by now that Yerina is searching for me in the north.
Harem conquering is effectively off the table.
This first round has completely flopped.
Now there are only two choices left.
Should I challenge the final boss to try and meet the escape condition 2?
Or should I go back to Jill, clear it up, and start the second round?
I absolutely hate dangerous situations.
Though I know the dating sim story like the back of my hand, dungeons can throw anything at you.
It’s not strange if I somehow die to a typical dungeon gimmick before even reaching the final boss.
Yeah. Let’s go back to Jill.
I’ve already gotten nearly to the point of dating her, so if I return now, I can probably seal the deal with a kiss within three days and clear the game.
“Hee hee.”
“Why are you laughing?”
“Just… It felt like this would happen since our first meeting. The Priestess is not a normal person—no, she isn’t. She copies others’ techniques and acts so shamelessly.”
“Did you know I’d quit being a bodyguard from that time?”
“Yeah, on the day you stopped by Petenburg and left again. The Priestess barged in, demanding you be handed over… I realized then that she must have messed up your relationship.”
“Haha, thanks for having my back.”
“I’m not taking sides. You’re completely innocent! If there’s any guilt, it might just be that you’re somewhat of a flirt?”
That hit home.
Clinking glasses with Yulia, I gulp down the bitter drink.
“So, Yoo Jin, you don’t discriminate among races? Humans, elves, and beast-folk…?”
“Eh? Beast-folk?”
“Weren’t you trying to hit on a beast-folk girl in Palana?”
Yulia looks puzzled.
But then she quickly realizes her mistake, and her expression hardens.
Palana.
Why is that place coming up now?
I never told anyone I rode the transcontinental train to Palana.
Oh no…
Even as I hurriedly cover my mouth, it’s too late.
All the pieces have already fallen into place.
With Petenburg’s information network, finding out I purchased a transcontinental train ticket wouldn’t have been hard.
Yulia knew exactly what I was doing everywhere.
If she had all the information, predicting the future wouldn’t be difficult at all.
No, with Petenburg’s power, she could even manipulate the future however she wished.
The hangover remedy Jill took when we visited Petenburg.
I wonder who provided that?
The day before, Jill had no clue about the hangover remedy; she wouldn’t have suddenly bought it the next day.
Someone must have given it to her, saying to take it before drinking.
If Jill and I’s relationship soured, it must be the work of someone who would benefit from it.
And the mail logistics network covering the entire continent belongs to a company owned by Petenburg.
Yulia must’ve been the one who approved the distribution of the letter bombs to the whole continent.
To anticipate that I would flee from Palana because of those letters.
“It feels like this would happen since our first meeting.”
She wasn’t just talking about intuition.
Yulia truly knew.
That I would be chased out from the north and eventually flee to Petenburg.
That I had no one else to turn to and would have to seek help from her.
That makes perfect sense.
Yulia designed this entire future herself.
“I… I found out by coincidence. I swear it’s true. Please believe me.”
She’s not likely to believe me.
I had desperately wished for Yulia to remain purely good.
Perhaps the drink had an effect, but I put down the cup.
I want this to end now.
“Okay. I’ll believe you. But about what you said earlier, were you serious?”
“Y-Yes?”
“That I’m a precious friend?”
“Yeah, that’s true.”
“Do you really just want to stay friends?”
“….”
A moment of silence.
Yulia’s slightly flushed face from the alcohol becomes dazed.
Then she knocks over the bottle, crawling over the table toward me.
“You—you seduced me first! If I scream in shock, it’s on you!”
“….”
At that moment when Yulia grabs my collar and brings her face closer, time seems to freeze, and she goes still.
Like time has stopped, Yulia has frozen in place.
Slowly releasing Yulia’s grip, I stand up and see a giant system window floating outside.
[Congratulations! You have cleared the game.]
[Escape Condition 1: You must exceed a completion rate of 95% with all heroines.]
[Escape Condition 2: You must conquer the final boss, ‘Draken.’]
[Calculating results.]
[Monsters hunted: 12]
[A-rank Boss: 0]
[B-rank Boss: 0]
[C-rank Boss: 0]
[Hunting Score: 315 points]
[Heroine Completion Rates]
[Jill Diner: 80%]
[Yulia Petenburg: 100%]
[Yerina Frost: 87%]
As expected, the game cleared with Yulia’s ending.
Achieving the escape condition seems impossible.
Neither Jill nor Yerina even came close to a 95% completion rate.
I already knew that, but seeing the numbers right in front of me makes me sigh in defeat.
[Failed to meet escape conditions.]
[Teleporting back to starting point in 10 seconds.]
So this is how the first round ends, huh?
Glancing back, Yulia is still there, crawling on the table, staring blankly into empty space.
The one who ruined my first round is there, frozen in place.
Grinding my teeth, I approach Yulia and whisper in her ear.
“You foolish girl. I was going to seduce you only to return to reality. You were nothing more than a trophy for clearing the game.”
“….”
After everything, I carry out my little revenge.
Once the second round begins, she won’t remember any of this anyway.
But I think I just saw Yulia’s eyes twitch slightly.
Must be my imagination.
[Returning to the starting point.]
As my vision fades to black, my consciousness cuts out.
