Chapter 21

Chapter 20

Was it just a joke, or did she really mean it?

Either way, it made me feel good.

They say that even a whale will dance when praised, and I felt my spirits lift at Yumir's words.

"Thank you, Yumir. This might be the first time I've heard someone say I'm handsome."

"Really? You're joking, right?"

"It's true."

In the guild, I wear a goblin mask, so only the leader knows what I look like.

Come to think of it, the leader seems to have taken a particular liking to me since we met after I dispelled my disguise.

Still, since no one has ever said I'm handsome, Yumir's words must have been just a formality.

Don't take it to heart...

"Yumir, you're really pretty too. There must be a lot of people who want to confess to you. Be careful of high school students. They'll all be eyeing you like hawks."

"Huh? I'm not in high school. I'm a freshman in college."

"...I thought you were a high school student."

"I'm an adult. I'm a fresh 20-year-old college student this year."

Yumir made a V sign with her hand and rested it under her chin, and I felt myself gaining energy from her bright, sunny demeanor.

Come to think of it.

The protagonist in the original story was also a college freshman.

"Yumir, you should still be careful with men. All men are wolves. They're beasts that will do anything to seduce women."

"What about you, teacher?"

"I am a wolf, but not in that sense. I'm a solitary, noble wolf."

An outsider who fell into this world.

A wolf that can never fit in with the sheep.

"Someone told me to be wary of people who say they're not wolves."

"Then you should be careful too. Not just me, but all men. I'm saying this as if you were my little sister."

"People who say that usually want to hear 'big brother' later and try to seduce you."

"That's not the case. I'm saying this with pure intentions."

"People with pure intentions still try to seduce others."

"Yumir, you're quite playful."

"Hehe."

Yumir winked and lifted her cola glass.

"Alright, I'll be careful of men, as you say. I'll be careful of you too."

"That's a relief. It seems you understand what I mean."

I was telling her to be careful, but fortunately, Yumir seems to have understood well.

'It would be troublesome if she fell for the protagonist and blocked my path.'

If Yumir fell for the protagonist?

She might throw herself in front of me, shouting, 'No!!' as I try to assassinate him!

-My love, Yumir! Ah, let this world be destroyed!!

This could happen.

Other heroines might also fall for the protagonist, but even non-heroine characters could become the protagonist's top choice.

This world has a light novel background, but it's a reality here.

The protagonist might suddenly open his eyes to a deep and dark world and start liking men, or he might open his eyes to mechanics and fall in love with a machine.

The endings in this world are extremely dangerous.

Not only is the meteor ending dangerous, but the process of the protagonist going 'dark' while dropping the meteor is also dangerous.

I didn't write about it in the review because it's a spoiler.

The author made a huge mistake.

When readers who said it was fine to keep shoving national pride down their throats suddenly started writing 5700-character statements in the comments, the so-called 'flame war' broke out.

In the end, the author, perhaps suffering a mental breakdown, rushed to a quick conclusion with a meteor.

I couldn't understand the author who wrote about the protagonist going insane.

I can't really understand the protagonist going insane, but the author who wrote such a plot is the craziest of all.

So, I need to be careful.

To prevent the protagonist's heroines from being 'NTR'd'.

To prevent a heroine from being kidnapped and brainwashed by a villainous goblin, having a parasite-like creature implanted in her neck, and then attacking the protagonist while declaring, 'I dedicate my body and soul to Lord Goblin'.

...It's ironic that the guild tells me to seduce women and recruit them into the guild.

So, the protagonist must be killed.

To prevent a situation where I seduce a girl and then she falls in love with a much less attractive and capable man, leading to the destruction of the Earth.

'That would be the easiest for me.'

It's faster and cleaner to just cut his head off rather than coddle and care for a guy.

That's why I'm the villain.

If I had thought about persuading and caring for him, I would have become a hero.

"Yumir, can I ask you something about relationships?"

"Wow! That's an interesting topic. What is it? I'm not an expert, but I'll try to give you advice!"

"This is a story about someone I know."

"When you say 'someone I know,' it's usually about yourself, right?"

"...It's really about someone I know."

I can't do this.

Instead of talking from the perspective of the protagonist whose girl is taken away, I should talk from the perspective of the one who takes the girl.

"There are two people, Man A and Woman A. They were kind of dating. Man A also has other women, B, C, D... up to F, let's say."

"Wow, he's a real player. Is this man you, by any chance?"

"If it were, it would be great, but it's not me. And there's another person, Man B."

"Is that you?!"

"...No. Man B seduced Woman A. She became disappointed with Man A, who didn't pay attention to her, and fell in love with Man B."

"Ooh...."

Yumir's eyes sparkled.

"Then Man A appears. Woman A, who loves him, asks Man B why he took her man. What should Man B say to Man A?"

"Man A is crazy? ...Oops. Sorry for the harsh words. Man A, you're a bit too much. You're scary."

Yumir showed a raw, vivid reaction.

"Meeting different women and then getting mad when one of them looks at another guy. That's just too much of a psychopath."

"Really that much?"

"Of course. Ah, but let's see."

Yumir gripped the pasta fork and smiled.

"What if Man A thinks he's better than Man B?"

"......?"

"I mean, what if Man A is an S-class superhuman, and Man B is just a normal person? Or what if Man A is a building owner and a café manager, and Man B is just a delivery rider for that café?"

Why is the comparison so specific?

"Imagine you're Man A. If a girl who was deeply into you fell in love with a much less capable and uglier guy, how would you feel?"

"Well."

Obviously.

"Isn't it natural to fall in love with someone who loves you?"

"......Wow."

Yumir covered her mouth with her hand in surprise.

"I didn't expect that answer."

"What did you expect?"

"I thought you'd ask how she could fall for such an ugly guy, or if you're worse than him."

"If that really happened to me, I might react that way..."

I shrugged lightly.

"It's not like she was my official girlfriend. Just a crush, so a little bit."

"So, you're saying that you, as Man B, have taken the girl from a slightly better man than you?"

"That's not how the story goes, but fine. It's better than being Man A, a player and a jerk. I'd rather be an ugly but loving couple."

"Hehe. You're really interesting, Teacher."

"Really?"

"From the moment I met you, I thought you were special."

Yumir lifted her glass of cola towards me.

"Like, you don't seem to belong in this world, that kind of vibe?"

What is this?

This girl.

"...Are you calling me a global loner? Student?"

"Ah, caught me."

"Do you know about Confucian etiquette and the 'Land of Eastern Etiquette'?"

"I'm Canadian."

"But we're in South Korea."

Amazing.

This world.

To make me a complete outsider.

"I have friends too. Although it's not easy to meet them, I often keep in touch."

"But it doesn't look like you have friends to eat with on Sejong Island."

"Student, do you know what 'impolite' means?"

"Hmph."

Yumir made a V sign again and reached out to me.

"Fellow loner! I'm a global loner too."

"Real loners don't call themselves loners."

"Because I have no friends and no one to eat with."

"But you can make friends in the future, right?"

"We're friends now, aren't we?"

Waving.

Yumir's hand kept moving up and down, and I reached out to shake her hand.

This is hard.

Is this what it's like to be popular?

Or is she a superhuman who has discovered that I'm an outsider in this world?

A mind reader? A psychometrist? Did she figure out my true nature from that handshake? No, I didn't feel any mana at all.

"Teacher Do. From now on—"

Yumir's head suddenly turned.

And then.

"Be careful!"

Yumir jumped up from the table and tackled me.

I fell backward with the chair—

Squish.

Something touched my face.

BOOM!!

A loud explosion echoed, and the restaurant wall was destroyed.

Aaaaahh—

The 'Rampage' alarm started ringing on Sejong Island.