To the relief of the Edo citizens, Kagura—the source of the 'earthquake'—started to settle down. After voicing out her woes, she took a deep breath and readied herself to replay Hidaka's route. Unfortunately, her phone had shut down abruptly.
"Stupid game! It's taking all of my phone's battery." She complained as she tried to manually restart her phone by holding the 'on' switch for a long time. But, alas, she had no luck. It seemed as if her phone's battery had truly died.
Maybe it's a sign that I should take a break?
As if on cue, her stomach grumbled, and the thought of Shinpachi's home-cooked meal popped up in her brain. After glancing at her silent phone one more time, she decided to look for Shinpachi.
"Hey, Megane!"
"What?" An annoyed Shinpachi responded in the middle of wiping the floors, switching his direction to move towards Kagura's room.
"Where did you put my phone charger again?" Kagura yelled out as soon as she opened her shoji door.
In her haste, she didn't realize that her phone screen started to load again, and at that exact moment, the phone's bright light encompassed the room.
Blinded by the light coupled with Shinpachi's current momentum, he crashed head first into Kagura's knees, making the young lady fall back and in turn, losing his glasses.
"Kagura! Think about our electricity bill and turn off that light!" He yelled while keeping his eyes closed.
No response.
When he searched the room with his eyes open, he found the light had dimmed, but the blurry figure of Kagura and his glasses were nowhere to be found.
"AAAAAAAAAH!" A confused Kagura yelled out.
One second, she was in the comfort of her room with Megane, and the next second, she was free-falling through the air. Not a cloud in sight. Only the roaring winds were accompanying her descent.
"Kami-sama, are you punishing me for skipping out on a week's worth of work to play an otome game?"
Instead of hearing a reply, a black rectangular box had appeared in front of her, and a string of letters had come together to form a question, reminiscent of her game.
「Would you like to start the game?」
「Yes」
「No」
「Maybe later」
Kagura blinked a few times, trying to comprehend the situation. She had inadvertently looked down during her thought process and witnessed the landscape below her. She could make out the outline of the trees and the roads as she came closer and closer with every passing second.
"I love pancakes, but I don't want to become one so YES!"
「Are you sure?」
「Once you enter, you won't be able to come back until you've completed the game.」
"Yes! I'm sure! Just hurry up and save me, Kami-sama!"
The text in the black box changed.
「Greetings Oujo-sama!」
「You have successfully entered Love Line.」
「Welcome to $%^ #$^.」
「Beware not to &*%^ ^&* if you want to live.」
"Entering what? Doing what? I couldn't understand your gibberish!"
「Enjoy your stay ^_^」
"Why can I only hear the unimportant parts?" Kagura kept yelling in frustration. "And what about saving me? Hello?!"
Instead of relying on the automated box god, she decided to save herself from imminent death. She unbuttoned her pink long-sleeved pajama top, slipped it off and shivered in her exposed camisole. She tied the sleeves of the top together in a sad attempt to create a parachute and held onto it for dear life.
Unfortunately, the kinematics of the real world also applied to the game world and her makeshift parachute did nothing to slow down her fall. The force of the wind was too strong and her grip loosened on the fabric, causing her top to be blown away.
No. No. No. No. No.
As a damsel in distress of an otome game, there was only one thing left for her to do. She used the last bit of her energy to call out for the capture target.
"Help me, Hidaka-kun!"
Kagura closed her eyes to brace for impact, but it never came. Instead, she felt something soft and warm underneath her chest. She sat upright to view what she landed on. Or, in this case, who she landed on. A set of familiar deep blue eyes met her own.
「Hidaka's route triggered.」
Even without being reminded by that whimsical text box, she recognized those eyes. They belonged to the young man she'd been agonizing over for the past week.
This system has a really convoluted way of getting me to meet the target. I almost died!
Even after all of that excitement, she had to admit that she was happy to finally meet the beloved puppy-like boy in her game.
"It's really you, Hidaka-kun." She spoke his name out loud by accident.
"Umm." Hidaka's face reddened. As much as he wanted to ask how this lady knew his name, there was a more urgent matter at hand. In all of his nineteen years of living, his face had never been in such close contact with a girl's chest before.
"I don't think I can last much longer." He admitted.
Sorry ojii-san, your only grandson will be leaving this world first.
With a stream of blood dripping down his nose, he fainted.
「Congrats Oujo-sama or should I say Kagura-chan? You met one of the capture targets.」
"More like I killed him? Our first meeting was supposed to be in front of the classroom with the toast in my mouth! What about my toast?" Kagura spat out as she eyed the never ending stream of blood. "Quickly, help me save Hidaka-kun."
「That's easy. Just choose one of the following options.」
「Slap him awake.」
「Get help.」
「Let him rest and recover.」
Kagura's finger lingered in front of the second option. She wanted to get help for the frail Hidaka even if the option was a trap.
"What happens if I choose the wrong option? Is there a Save Point to let me redo my choices?"
A side window popped up.
「Don't worry, Kagura-chan! Even though there is no Save Point, one life is more than enough :)」
「The game replicates real life so your choices naturally affects the Likeability Scale of the target.」
「I'm referring to the number of hearts above the head of the target.」
"You mean that blinking red heart on top of his head?"
「Yes! The 'blinking' indicates a potential heart. To put it simply, if you pick the:
– correct choice = +1 solid heart
– wrong choice = -1 or -2 solid hearts」
「If you collect 10 solid hearts, you'll capture the target and complete the game. Easy right?」
Easy my as*, if this game was easy, I would've completed Hidaka's Good End by now.
Kagura thought about the rules again and inwardly grinned. But if I don't choose an option, then I can't lose or gain a heart? Hehehe.
"Screw those choices. Now that I'm in the game, I should do what I want." Kagura concluded.
She reached out to Hidaka's arm to pull the rest of his body up, but as soon as she touched him, she felt a jolt of electricity run through her whole body.
「That's Strike One, Kagura-chan. Two more strikes and you're out!」
Kagura collapsed on the ground from the electric shock, but still had enough energy for a comeback. "Since when was this baseball?"
「Once an event is triggered and the options appear, you must choose one. Break these rules and you'll face dire consequences! 」
"Hahaha. Of course, I was just kidding earlier. The system is magnanimous." Kagura tried to save face by sitting upright and quickly selecting Option 2 from earlier.
Before she knew it, her body moved on its own. She had picked up Hidaka's body and hauled him over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
"Wh-why is my body sprinting full speed ahead? I didn't break the rules this time!"
「I forgot to mention something. Once you pick an option, you have to follow through with the actions against your will. Teehee ^_-」
"You shitty system! You didn't mention that on purpose!" She blurted out in frustration.
「Don't fret, oujo-san. Once the action is completed, you'll regain control of your body.」
「That should be everything for day one. I'm signing off. Good luck, Kagura-chan.」
"Wait! This doesn't make any sense!" She cursed with all her might.
A/N:
「Welcome to $%^ #$^.」= Welcome to Alternate Edo or Alt-Edo for short.
「Beware not to &*%^ ^&* if you want to live.」= Beware not to break the rules if you want to live.