Volume 8.5 Chapter 1

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Playing a Gal Game with Your Little Sister Is to Collect Data

“Now, let’s start immediately!”said Himuro Mai, arrogantly tapping herself on the chest.

I, Nagami Yuu, was already a bit fedup, and I gave her a “So I’m the one doing it, huh?” inresponse. At school, she’s normally the ‘Ice Queen’, a coolbeauty who nobody dares to approach. Whenever she’s with me,though, she’s always this energetic. It’s actually quitetroublesome. Our rather unfortunate relationship of being classmatesis also supported by yet another reason. Both her and I areprofessional light novel authors. And she’s a very enthusiastic fanof my novel.

“Of course! Weren’t you the one whosaid you wanted to collect data on how it feels to play a game withsomebody else? I’m doing you a favor here, so no complaining.”

“You just tagged along withoutasking, so don’t act like you’re helping!”

“W-What about it?! It’s you who’scollecting data for your next volume of your super-popular series, soof course I can’t let this chance slip away!”

Or so she says, but her cheeks were afaint red, and she was writing something in the cursed notebookentitled ‘Nagami Yuu research notes’… That’s a bit tooenthusiastic, if you ask me.

“Mai’s right, desu!”

A blonde-haired glamorous beauty spokeup from next to us.

“I am Sensei’s number one partnerafter all, desu! I’d be more than happy to help you collect data!But, instead of this all-ages game, could I maybe recommend this R18one over here?”

Seeing that she was about to pick up avery dangerous item, I quickly stopped her. These looks, well-endowedchest, and rather tall stature belonged to the illustrator of mylight novel, Ahegao Double Peace-sensei. She’s also a professionalillustrator at an eroge company, and is of English nationality; afull-fledged foreigner. She loves anything perverted, and even herfull name is way too dangerous to pronounce in public. According toher: “It’s a wonderful Japanese word combining both erotica andpleasure with despair, desu!” or something. Just like Mai, she’salso a fan of my novel on top of being the illustrator of it, butshe’s a bothersome individual on an entirely different level thanMai.

“Hey! Don’t just lightly say’number one’ and whatnot! Yuu is giving his number ones and firsttimes all to me, after all!”

“Your desire to monopolize is asstrong as ever, I see, desu. But I won’t let go of my seat asSensei’s partner!”

While the two of them waged a rathermysterious war of words, I let out a sigh. From an outsider’sperspective, this might look like two beauties were fighting for me,but it really isn’t all that glamorous or anything… Especiallybecause—

“……Onii-chan.”

When I turned around after hearing thatvoice, I found my little sister, Nagami Suzuka, staring at me. Shehad looks and gestures that make even me, her older brother, thinkthat she looks cute. But her expression was painted in displeasure.

…Yeah, I know what you want to tellme…

“…I’ll prepare some tea, so couldyou help me, Onii-chan?”

“Y-Yeah…”

Feeling intense pressure being emittedfrom her small stature, I nodded honestly. You might think that I’mpathetic for acting like that towards my middle school third-yearlittle sister, but this is the power balance in our relationship. Iwas dragged away by Suzuka, and we left the other two alone andheaded to the kitchen.

“…What exactly is this about?”

Suzuka glared at me, lookingdisgruntled from the bottom of her heart.

“I mean, I didn’t expect DoublePeace-sensei to just come here and bring a gal game with her…”

“That’s one thing, but Onii-chanwas the one who brought them home, right?”

“You know that Mai isn’t going tostep down that easily, right? And I just happened to meet DoublePeace-sensei on my way home by chance…”

“…Haaah, it’s my fault. I shouldjust have anticipated that they would try everything to cling toOnii-chan, as usual.” Suzuka said as she put one hand to herforehead. “Why does it always end up like this…? Just when Ithought that Onii-chan and I could be alone together… Why are therealways beautiful girls around him…?”

“Ummm, Suzuka-san?”

I can’t hear you if you whisper likethat…

“…Onii-chan, are you aware of ourgoal for today?”

“O-Of course? You want to collectdata on a scene where the siblings play a game together, right?”

“Right now, though, you’re justogling Himuro-san and Double Peace-san all the time. Aren’t you alucky one, being surrounded by beauties all the time?”

“This is all for your sake… Also,they’re not interested in me as a person, so I can’t exactly behappy about that…”

“Hmph… Onii-chan, you are mystand-in, right? Pull yourself together a bit more.”

She said what she always does.

…That’s right, I’m her stand-in.The super-popular light novel author isn’t me, but her. This verydiligent little sister of mine, who basically knows nothing aboutotaku culture, managed to sell 300.000 copies with her debut novel.She’s a monster as a newbie to the scene: Towano Chikai. A lothappened, and I ended up becoming her stand-in, though I’m nothingmore than a fake. That’s why I know that they’re not fawning overme, but rather the title that I have.

But no matter how often I tell Suzukathis, she just averts her face with a pout. Why?

“…I’m trying my best here to makesure that they don’t find out, you know?”

I myself haven’t made it further thanapplying for light novel contests. I’m just an aspiring light novelauthor. I’m working this hard right now for her sake, so cut mesome slack, okay?

“…I know. I know that Onii-chanisn’t to blame here. But it’s because you’re acting solovestruck…”

“…Hey, if you’re not feeling it,should we just cancel it today? There’s no use to it if we can’tcollect any data, right?”

“No, I can’t allow myself to stophere. This is way too vexing.”

“But Double Peace-sensei even wantsto play a gal game now…”

“That reminds me. I just looked itup, but a gal game is about capturing girls, right? That reallysounds like a perfect game for Onii-chan.”

“What do youmean by that?!”

“It means that it’s a game whereyou can let out all your desires.”

Suzuka’s eyes were pure-white as shelooked at me. Why do I have to act like a representative of all menso suddenly…?

“A-Anyway, since that’s how it is,I feel like we should try again some other day.”

“…It’s true that I can’t allowOnii-chan to chase after some other girl, even if it’s inside agame. But this is also a chance to find out about Onii-chan’stastes…”

“What was that about my tastes?”

“N-Nothing! My deadline is close, soI have to do this now or it’ll never get done. I won’t allow thetwo of them to interrupt my precious time with Onii—No! I won’tallow them to bother us during our data gathering!”

…I don’t really understand whyshe’s suddenly so red, but it means that we’re not stopping this,huh? Hence, as Suzuka’s stand-in, all I can do now is help her.Specifically, by playing this gal game…

The two of us returned to the livingroom with the tea, and I was immediately forced to sit down in frontof the TV. This really is punishment, being surrounded by beautieslike this and forced to play gal games…

“Come on, hurry up and start already.This won’t be very useful research if it’s like this.”

“You’re way too honest with yourdesires!”

“R-Researching you has priority overeverything else!”

“Don’t make it worse than whatyou’re trying to fix! I get it already! I’ll do it, so sit backdown!”

I quickly shot Mai down and mentallyprepared myself as I booted up the game.

“You don’t need to watch theopening, right? Let’s just skip this…”

I wanted to get this over as quickly aspossible, so I’ll take the shortest route.

“…First is the character name.Well, the default name should be fine.”

“Hold on a second,” Mai suddenlystopped me. “What are you talking about? You’re going to put inyour own name.”

“Huh?! Why would I?!”

“It’s to make this playthrough asrealistic as possible, desu!”

“I don’t get it! Why do we need itto be more realistic?!”

“We’ll have you become thecharacter and find out about your taste in women.”

“Right. I’d love to use thisopportunity to find out about Sensei’s fetishes.”

What are you talking about…? Suzuka,help me…

“Good idea. Let’s do that.”

“Why are you agreeing with them?!”

I tried to protest, but Suzuka shot medown. “Please hurry up,” she said, and a feeling of despairassaulted me.

Again, what did I do to deserve thispunishment…?

“…Nagami… Yuu… Look, this isfine, right?!”

…Damn it, I have no choice but toclear it as quickly as possible!

Thus, the game started.

“…Ummm, what is this now? Theprotagonist is an average boy who just started attending a highschool, and he’s trying to get a girlfriend.”

Doesn’t really match up with my owndesires. After all, all I care about is writing an interesting lightnovel.

“Oh, someone’s coming.”

On the screen, the smiling face of agirl appeared, her hair braided together into twintails.

“It seems like this is the protagonist’s little sister.”

Oh right, this scene is still happening at home. She’s calling the protagonist ‘Onii-chan’ as well, so she’s a little sister character.

“…………A little sister.”

“Hm? Did you say something, Suzuka?”

“No, it was nothing.”

…Huh? Was it just my imagination?

In the meantime, the game movedforward, and the different heroines that you could try to conquerappeared.

“Hmm. There’s five heroines intotal. A childhood friend, a classmate, a member of thetrack-and-field club, a Senpai from the arts club, and the studentcouncil president. Apparently, this game even has an extra characterto boot,” Mai commented as she looked at the manual.

“Well, it’s pretty orthodox Iguess.”

Five distorted icons for each of theheroines appeared on the screen. Apparently, by choosing here, Iwould take a step forward on their route.

“So, which heroine do you want tobite first with your poisonous fangs, desu?”

“Stop with that already! You’re making me sound like some sort of playboy!”

“Ah, excuse me. Which one do you want to rape first, desu?”

“You’re not making it any better!”

“…Onii-chan, are you thinking aboutsuch obscene things…?”

“Hold on! Why am I the bad guy now?!”

“Now now, we all know that Yuu’s anero devil. That aside—”

“Don’t just rub it in and move onlike that!”

“Who cares? Right now, it’s aboutwhich heroine you want to conquer first, right?”

…Ugh, she’s right. I’ve justgotta take a deep breath and calm down. Trying to fight against themdoesn’t work, anyway… not even in my own house, haha…

“So which heroine are you going topick?”

“Ahhhh… I guess the childhoodfriend for now? She has this main heroine feeling to her.”

Just when I was about to click on theicon of the childhood friend, Mai suddenly grabbed my arm.

“Wait, I don’t think that’s agood idea.”

“What are you on about now?”

“The childhood friend attribute istotally out right now. Spoiler alert, but she totally feels like asub heroine.”

“Now that you mention it…”

I found myself agreeing with the prolight novel author side of Mai.

“…But that still doesn’t meanthat I shouldn’t pick her, right?”

“T-Those characters are common inevery script! How about you try for something special?”

Why are you so desperate?

“Well, if you’re so adamant aboutit… I guess I’ll take the track-and-field heroine then—”

“That’s also no good. They mightlook like they’re all clean and proper, but aren’t that easy tocatch in the end.”

“That’s nothing more thanprejudice! Whatever, this arts club Senpai should be fine—”

“The mysterious characters often havedark personalities, which can make the writing pretty heavy.”

“That’s just your subjectiveopinion speaking right there!”

“I-It’s all objective here! Also,the student council president might seem like the perfect type, butif she follows the typical pattern, she’s going to be all weak ifit’s just the two of you, so she’s a no-go as well!”

“This sounds like false accusationsto me! How would you know that?!”

“That being said, the only characterleft is the classmate! O-Only through the process of eliminationthough, and it’s certainly not because I’m your classmate, sodon’t get the wrong idea, okay?!”

“…………”

What is this empty feeling inside ofme? Seeing her desperate, flushed cheeks in front of me certainly iscute. That’s the school’s top beauty for you. But… no, maybebecause of that? It’s making me feel restless.

“Mai, that’s a bit unfair, don’tyou think, desu?”

“O-Of course not. This is just myopinion, nothing more!”

“Hmmm, Mai is truly a tsundere, desu.Just like the little sister-san!”

“I-I’ve told you countless timesthat I’m not a tsundere or whatever it’s called…”

Double Peace-sensei and Suzuka wereexchanging a dubious conversation, and I lost all the energy to tryand reply. In the end, I gave up and selected the classmate, just asMai had wished for… I can already feel that this is going to end upvery tiresome.

“Ummm… Apparently, the protagonistis trying to greet her right now.”

“That’s going to be an importantflag, I’d assume. It really is touching.”

“Why are you in such a good mood?”

“……”

Suzuka, on the other hand, seemedimmensely displeased. I knew without having to turn around that shewas glaring at me.

“………Oh, there are somechoices.”

Three choices appeared on the screenwhen the protagonist was about to call out to the heroine.

Good morning. It’s a pleasantday, isn’t it? This might be a bit sudden, butcan you tell me your phone number, email, and address right now? Can I just skip this and hug you?

“…W-What are these choices?!There’s nothing here to choose aside from (1)—”

“Obviously (2).”

“Gotta be (3), desu.”

I barely stopped myself from droppingthe controller out of shock.

“Why?!”

“Eh? Number (2) is normal, right?”

Mai tilted her head in confusion as ifI was the one that was saying something weird.

“Sensei, you have to take (3) here,desu. Rather, there wasn’t any need for any choices. You shouldhave just grabbed her and assaulted her in the gym storage room.”

“This isn’t some weird eroge,right?! Also, even if it was an eroge, such a crazy developmentwouldn’t happen either?!”

“I think that the time has come forgal games to fundamentally change and start being like that, desu.”

“But certainly not that kind ofchange!”

“When I do them, I immediately add asex scene with the heroine right at the beginning though, desu?”

“Well yes, Sensei makes fiendishrape-types of games, after all…”

Giving up on replying completely now, Iconcentrated on the game. I moved the cursor over (1) and—

“…Mai. Why are you stopping me…?”

“Just choose (2) already.”

“Why!? There’s no way that somerandom classmate asking you for the rights to invade their privacywould create a love flag!”

“How naive. Don’t you know?Heroines in gal games already have a flag raised before the gamestarts. To be frank, they’re existences that are made to beconquered!”

“Who cares about that?!”

“Anyway, you can just go straight forher. In the end, she’s still interested in the protagonist, nomatter what.”

“I-I wonder about that…”

Since Mai was so confident, I gave inand chose (2)—

“Look!”

“…Wha—! Seriously?!”

The heroine is actually playing along,gleefully telling the protagonist everything?!

“Hehe, just as I told you.”

“I-I can’t believe it… To thinkthat there’s character who’s the perfect representation of Mai…”

“So Onii-chan is the type to askthese questions to a woman he’s never met before…”

“This is a game! I wouldn’t do thatin real life!”

For someone like me, an otaku boy whohas never had a girlfriend in his life, I can’t even muster up thecourage to talk to a girl normally…!

Well, aside from Mai.

“…Yuu? Were you thinking somethingrude just then?”

“O-Of course not?! Forget that! Lookat the two of them! They’re getting all friendly all of a sudden!”

The protagonist and heroine weregleefully talking with each other. They already planned a date on thenext holiday, so this seemed to be a rather quick route.

It was the morning of the date. Whilethe protagonist was doing preparations, the little sister called outto him.

“ Onii-chan? You’re going on adate? That girl seems a bit weird, so be careful, okay?”

“So this girl is worried aboutOnii-chan. The perfect example of a little sister. I can’t agreemore.”

For some reason, Suzuka was nodding toherself as she agreed with the onscreen little sister.

“ I’m worried about Onii-chan,okay?! I’m worried that you might be deceived by some bad woman!”

“What an honest girl. If only I couldsay that, as well…”

Suzuka continued her muttering, but Iwas too busy with my own thoughts to continue reading.

…I wish that my little sister wouldworry about me like that as well. All I get is constant criticism allthe time.

“…Onii-chan? You’re listening,right? Just like the little sister is saying, you have to cancel thatdate.”

“But… There aren’t any choices…”

As a player, you can’t overcome god’s(the developer’s) path that they’ve paved for you.

“Hold on, Suzuka–san. Why does hehave to cancel the date?”

“T-That’s… A person who describesevery single bit of personal information during your first meeting isdefinitely really weird.”

Yeah, I agree. But Mai just said”That’s a bit different.” She puffed out her chest proudly. Ireally wonder where she’s getting that weird confidence from?

“It’s only natural for you to wantto know everything about the person you like. That’s why theheroine’s reaction is perfectly normal.”

“I-Is that so…?”

“Don’t just make things up!”

Mai was overflowing with confidence, soSuzuka was a bit overwhelmed. My little sister is as pure as it gets,so give her any weird ideas!

“Also, since this is a game, theheroines are designed to act like they’re lovestruck as quickly aspossible.”

“Why are you metagaming again?!”

When they used weird reasoning that wasdifficult to deny, Suzuka, who had absolutely no knowledge in thatfield, could only stay quiet. In the meantime, the protagonist in thegame just said “Don’t worry” to the little sister, and left forhis date.

“O-Onii-chan?! What is this about!Why are you just ignoring the advice of your little sister?!”

“This guy is doing it on his own!”

I didn’t want to go, either! But if Idon’t have any options, I can’t do anything about it!

Suzuka continued to glare at me, but Icouldn’t help it. Anyway, the protagonist went to meet up with theheroine, and they headed out to Akihabara for their date. At firstglance, that’s what it looked like, but…

“Coming to Akiba is great and all,but why is the heroine buying a hidden camera…?”

“It’s probably a present. Thatshows that she has great affection for you!”

“Only someone like you would be happyabout a present like that!”

Also, I don’t want any affection fromher if it she gives me that kind of present!

“Ah, I know. I also prepared apresent like that! Here.”

Saying this, Mai handed me what lookedlike a pendant.

“…What’s this?”

“A pendant with high-quality soundrecording mechanisms! If I know what you’re doing all the time, Ican even move forward with my research—”

“Yeet!”

Not showing any hesitation, I kobe’dthe pendant straight into the garbage can.

“Ahh?! What are you doing! I justbought that yesterday in Akiba!”

“Don’t worry. Trash day istomorrow, so I’ll be sure to send it off to the incinerator.”

“D-Don’t do that! It’s just torecord some things, and I even told you about it ahead of time!”

“You’ve really turned into afull-fledged stalker!”

Mai got teary eyes and she cried as shesaid “Don’t call me a stalker!”, but I ignored her this time.It’s only a waste of effort to try and put up with her, after all.In the game, the shopping trip ended, then…

“ Hey, do you want to come to myhouse after this?”

“H-He’s getting invited to herhouse already?!”

“Heh, this heroine is keen on winningearly. Of course we’re going!”

“O-Onii-chan, have you forgotten theadvice of your little sister?!”

From how the playthrough was lookingvictorious so far, it would make sense that I would go, but what isthis weird premonition that I have?! Thankfully, choices appearedthis time, so I would just have to pick the safest one—

Of course I’m going Of course I want to push you downright here

“Do your job and think of some goodchoices!!!”

“Sensei, you have to chose (2) herefor sure, desu…”

“I’ll take (1)!”

I quickly denied any sort of protest onDouble Peace-sensei’s part. Still, I really wished I could’vemade another choice!

“An ero event in front of hundreds ofpeople is a very important event though, desu…”

“Don’t forget that this is anall-ages version of the game!”

“So Onii-chan really is a predator.He’s agreeing with this so quickly…”

“I didn’t have any other choiceshere, okay?!”

This game is definitely really weird!

Anyway, the protagonist was led insidethe heroine’s room, and now they were drinking some tea.

“Inviting a boy in her room when shelives alone. This girl is serious!”

“That’s great, but why exactly didshe lock the door when they entered…?”

They were having a normal conversationfor a while, but the atmosphere started to change. It wasn’t arosy, fluffy atmosphere like before a sex scene. Rather, it was anoppressing, devilish mood.

“ You see, I want to knoweverything about you. How many breads have you eaten in yourlife ,how many mosquitos you’ve killed so far, everything. Fufu.”

“S-Scary?! Her eyes are scary! Andthe BGM changed?!”

“She wants to know everything aboutthe person she likes… I feel that.”

“This isn’t the time to be showingempathy!”

Even the protagonist had realized thatsomething was off, and he took his distance from the heroine. Andchoices! The second I saw ‘(1) Run away’ flash up, I didn’teven bother reading the other ones. I immediately selected that. But…

“W-What?! His body won’t move?!”

The protagonist’s body twitched, andhe collapsed on the floor, the heroine slowly approaching him. Theprotagonist quickly realized that he was getting sleepy.

“ Why are you running? Do you hateme? No way… If you don’t want me, then I don’t care anymore…”

While saying these kinds of riskythings, the heroine pulled a knife out from somewhere. While standingon top of the protagonist—

Stab—!

That sound played, the screen turnedred, and shortly after, the words ‘DEAD END’ appeared.

“…I-I died.”

When I looked to my side, even Mai wasunable to process what had just happened, and she just blankly staredat the screen. Shortly after, though, she noticed that I was lookingat her, and…

“N-No! I would never do somethinglike that!” she screamed at me with teary eyes.

…Well, you know…

Without saying anything, I slowlybacked away from Mai, which resulted in her screaming out “I toldyou you’re wrong!”, but let’s just ignore her. Yeah.

“If you had listened to me, thiswouldn’t have happened…”

Suzuka grumbled to herself, and I couldonly agree. When I returned to the main menu, I went to check thescene gallery, only to find that all the CGs for the classmateheroine’s route were complete.

“T-That’s the true end?! Is itreally fine to have that in a gal game…?!”

“Now now, Sensei, let’s just pick adifferent heroine now, desu.”

“Eh? W-We’re going to continue?!”

“Of course we are, desu. This is forSensei to collect data, right? Finishing one route is far fromenough, I say!”

“This game gives me really bad vibes,though!”

While saying that, I looked over atSuzuka. Though her face was still agitated, she gave a quiet nod.

Y-You want to continue? Well, sinceit’s the true author saying so, as the stand-in, I don’t have anyother option but to keep playing.

“…So, which heroine should wepursue now?”

After returning to the screen where Icould choose the heroine, I asked everyone else about it with aserious expression on my face. This game is weird. If possible, I’dreally like to go for a safe heroine…

“Sensei, I’d like you to try andconquer this heroine next, desu!”

She pointed to the Senpai of the artsclub.

“Why is that?”

“I feel a certain level ofcommonality emanating from her, desu!”

“………”

So basically, I should probably beprepared to go through something similar, or even worse than whatI’ve already gone through. That being said, denying her gleeful andexpectant smile was too tough for me, so I picked the Senpai heroine.

“…Umm, apparently, this Senpai isconsidered as a genius artist.”

“Sounds nice, desu! Those kinds ofpure characters are great for catharsis!”

“Can you hold back your eroge pointof view for five minutes?!”

We progressed through the game, and theprotagonist ended up bumping into the Senpai in the hallway. That’sstereotypical… even a bit plain, to be honest.

“Eh? We get choices here?”

“Ohh! Apparently, the protagonistaccidentally speaks his thoughts out loud, desu.”

What a beautiful person… What a cute person… What an erotic person…

“…………Umm.”

“Number (3) please, desu.”

“Well, I figured as much…”

“Eh? Is there anything else to pickhere besides (3)?”

“So let me ask, why does it have tobe (3) then?! This is their first meeting, so doesn’t this make theprotagonist look like some perverted bastard?!”

“Sensei just doesn’t understand,desu! That genius beautiful Senpai is already used to being calledbeautiful and cute! That’s why you need to shower her with somedifferent kind of praise!”

“So being called erotic would beconsidered you, Sensei… Normally, that’d just be sexualharassment…”

“Of course, I wouldn’t be happy ifjust anybody told me that. But I would be delighted if it was Sensei,desu!”

“…Onii-chan.”

“Don’tglare at me! I’ve never once said anything like that!”

“Trust me! Pick number 3, desu!”

After some hesitation, I picked choice(3). After I did, the Senpai said “This is the first timesomebody has ever said that to me.” Her cheeks were flushed forsome reason.

“Why would that raise heraffection?!”

“Fu fu fu, with this, you’ll surelyunderstand that being called erotic and sexy are words of praise,desu.”

“…So you talk to women that way,Onii-chan…?”

“It’s not my fault! This game is atfault here!”

“Please refrain from doing that inbroad daylight. I don’t want a family member to be accused of beinga sex offender.”

“Listen to people when they try toexplain things!”

Still, what’s going on with thisheroine? It’s no wonder that Double Peace-sensei felt some weirdlevel of connection with her…

I was starting to feel worn out, butthe game continued moving forward. Apparently, as a result of theprevious encounter, the protagonist was growing even closer to theSenpai. During their time together, it became apparent that theSenpai had something that was plaguing her, though the player wasn’tgiven exact details. The main character and the Senpai decided to goon a date on a holiday. This route really is moving along prettyquickly.

“Jeez, Onii-chan gets friendly soquickly with women. Learn to be a bit more careful, will you?”

“…Umm, Suzuka-san? I feel likeyou’re seeing the protagonist of this game as a depiction ofmyself, so could you maybe not…?”

“I personally think that this fitsOnii-chan pretty well.”

What do you mean by that?! I’d loveto live a life where I could raise flags this quickly!

Anyway, the location of the date turnedout to be an eroge shop in Akiba for some reason.

“ O-Onii-chan? I-I just heardsomething about eroge. You can’t go to any perverted places,okay?!”

“Exactly! Really, Onii-chan is just…!Of all the places, why a shop with all these indecent games!”

“Even I’m surprised! An eroge shopof all places for a date is just ridiculous!”

The little sister character turned awayand pouted. “You’re not an adult yet, so you can’t go to anygrown-up places, okay?”

“That’s a little sister for you…Without her, Onii-chan would be completely helpless…”

“Yeah, it feels like I’m beinghealed…”

In the midst of all these crazycharacters, the existence of this little sister was my only beacon ofhope.

“So listen to your little sister’swords! Cancel the date right now.”

“That can’t do, Imouto-san.”

Before I could answer, DoublePeace-sensei got the jump on me.

“An adolescent boy has certaininterests in perverted things, you know, desu.”

“B-But Onii-chan is a sleeping wolf,so if he went to any obscene places, he might just…”

…Hey, I know you’re worried aboutme, but why do you have to paint me in such a negative light all thetime? Also, Suzuka, I feel like you’re seeing the protagonist inthe game and me as the exact same person. Would you mind explainingthat?

“It’s just going to an eroge storetogether. Didn’t you yourself go there with Sensei before, desu?”

“T-That’s…”

Suzuka swallowed her words. After all,Double Peace-sensei was completely right. Also, that was just tocollect data for Suzuka’s novel, so don’t get the wrong idea.

“Ah, I see how it is. Imouto-san is atsundere, so even if it’s in a game, you wouldn’t want Sensei tobe lovey-dovey with someone. That would make you feel jealous. Right,desu?”

“”Wha—?!””

Suzuka’s voice and mine overlapped.

“O-Of coursh not! There’s no waythat I would harbor any feelingsh for Onii-shan…!”

Suzuka started adamantly denying it.

…Makes sense to me. You wouldn’twant any weird misunderstandings to get out if it’s me we’retalking about.

“Double Peace-sensei, please don’tmake jokes like that. At least not with Suzuka.”

She hates me, after all…

“Reality isn’t a light novel or aneroge, so there’s no way that Suzuka would harbor any feelings likethat, right?” I continued.

“…Y-Yes, that’s correct.”

For some reason, though, Suzuka insteadstarted glaring at me with a super disgruntled expression on herface. Why? Did I say something wrong?

In the meantime, the protagonist andthe Senpai had arrived at the eroge shop. While looking around, theSenpai muttered an astonished “This feels like a differentworld…”

“Eroge really are like a door toanother world. Eroge are the universe, desu!” the eroge makerhappily commented.

The only saving grace was that thescene went by rather quickly and without any problems. I might havegotten PTSD if I was stabbed again. The game progressed to thefollowing day. The Senpai was sitting in front of a blank canvas, aconflicted expression on her face.

“She’s probably unsure what sheshould draw right now. But the protagonist should already know theanswer to that, desu!”

Almost as if it was in response to herwords, three choices appeared.

I think you should just drawsomething perverted. Let’s draw something perverted. Draw something perverted!

“What are these choices?!?!?”

“This is the illusion of choice,desu!”

Hell if I care! I’ll just pick (1)and get this over with!

When I did, the Senpai said “That’sright!”, and her eyes looked like she realized something important.

“It seems that the heroine safelymanaged to find her own way, desu! Yes, the noble path of perverteddrawings!”

“Whatever…”

I don’t really care anymore…

“Onii-chan… That person is startingto draw something on the canvas,” Suzuka stated, and I saw that theSenpai heroine had indeed started to draw.

“Hold on, is she actually going todraw them?!”

The drawing was finished in no time,and the heroine turned over the canvas to show the finished productto the protagonist.

Hey hey! Are you telling me that theyadded eroge CG in an all-ages version?!

Just in case, I went to cover Suzuka’seyes with my hands, but…

“…Huh? The screen suddenly wentblack?”

W-Was it the wrong choice? No, the textbox is still shown?

“Hm? The scenario is probably movingforward, desu?”

Just as Double Peace-sensei stated, thedialogue between the protagonist and the heroine was still continuingin said text box.

“W-What’s going on…? Don’t tellme…”

A certain possibility rose up in myhead. To turn an eroge into an all-ages version, you would have tocut the R18 parts. So maybe, the scene is playing in the background,but you need the R18 patch to actually see it…?

“Ohh! It seems like a sex scene iscoming up, desu!”

“…No, hold on?! This is an all-agesversion, right?! And the screen is still black…!”

That being said, the text wasindicating that the scene was moving forward. If that really happens,there’s no way I could have Suzuka look at that, even if it’sjust the text!

…And then, while I was panicking, ithappened.

‘ You can continue this scene inthe R18 version.’

“Huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh?!”

Those words suddenly appeared on thescreen, leaving me confused. I mean, this is even worse than Iexpected!

“I see. That’s how they planned it,desu. Sensei, let’s start up the R18 version.”

“Of course not!”

Once again, a scream escaped my lips.

“Why, desu?! I can’t just let itend there!”

“That doesn’t mean that we canstart playing the R18 version in front of my little sister, of allpeople!”

“Okay, I understand, desu! I’lltake care of it myself then!” said Double Peace-sensei. She tookout a small sketchbook and started flipping through the pages.

“Hold on, you’re not going to drawsomething right here, are you?!”

“Of course I am, desu! I’m anerotic painter, you know?! If I’m dissatisfied, I’ll do itmyself!”

“I don’t care about that! Justdon’t start drawing R18 stuff in a place like this!”

I slammed shut the sketchbook in herhands to her from going berserk. I can’t have Suzuka seeing thisstuff!

“Hmph, then what should I do about myexcessive libido, desu…?!”

At times like this, I just have tochange the topic.

“Nevermind that! What’s wrong withthis game?! Look, the route for the Senpai is also 100% complete! Asif it could end with that?!”

“No no no, the R18 version and theall-ages version were released at the same time, and the evaluationonline was amazing, you know. The reviews said stuff like ‘Aclassic booby trap’ and ‘A timeless shit-game, desu!”

“What’s going on with gamesnowadays?!”

As far as things stood, this gameseemed to be even worse than I had anticipated. I should haveprepared myself for something of this level, seeing as it was DoublePeace-sensei who had brought it with her…

“So, Sensei. Which character are yougoing to conquer next, desu?”

Mai suddenly suddenly asked mesomething after spending a long time quietly scribbling into hernotebook.

“W-We’re not done yet?!”

“Of course not. We’re going toconquer every character so that I can research your taste in girlseven more. That’s the main goal for today.”

“Conquer every character my ass! Thegoal is to collect data for my next volume!”

Since my head was seriously starting tohurt, I looked over at Suzuka with a “Can I stop now?” gaze.

“We haven’t finished everythingyet, so we have to carry it on to completion. Otherwise, the datamight be incomplete, Onii-chan.”

…Shit, you damned perfectionist! Thatbeing said, I have to continue if she really wants me to.

“…I get it already. I’ll play itto the very end.”

“Please do. And also… You haven’tplayed the little sister’s route yet…”

“…You said something?”

“N-No, I just commented that doingsomething half-baked isn’t good, yes.”

The others also agreed with Suzuka.It’s vexing, but it’s my job as a stand-in, so I can’t help it.

“All that’s left is the childhoodfriend, the track-and field club member, and the student councilpresident, huh…”

At this point, I can only see thedifferent heroines as landmines. I still have to get through this, soI might as well go through it as fast as I can.

In the end, they all weregood-for-nothings. The childhood friend turned out to be an alien,and the protagonist got wrapped up in some intergalactic war orwhatever. The track-and-field club member suddenly got really intomilitary training and caused another world war. The student councilpresident turned out to be a leader of an organization that ruled theunderworld, and she brought everything to ruin.

“It’s finally done…!”

Completely exhausted, both physicallyand mentally, I put down the controller.

“So, which heroine did you like themost?”

“Are you seriously asking me that…?”

The storyline of each route wasimpossible to follow, and I can’t exactly judge a character basedon cuteness…

“Senseiii, you have to give a properanswer when someone asks you a question, desu.”

“I mean, I didn’t really feel anyconnection with any of them…”

“Listen here, you have to have acertain level of decisiveness as a light novel author.”

…Ugh, that makes it even moredifficult to answer… And I’m not even a light novel author,either…

“…Hm?”

Feeling something tugging on myclothes, I turned around to find Suzuka looking up at me.

“…There’s still one characterleft, right?”

“…Huh? One left…?”

“L-Look, the protagonist’s littlesister… I-I don’t really care about it, but it’s bad to justleave her alone like that…” Suzuka said, fidgeting.

“Ah, Imouto-san. This game doesn’thave a little sister route, though, desu.”

Double Peace-sensei dashed her hopesand dreams, just like that.

“Eh? B-But didn’t you say thatthere was a hidden character? Isn’t that the little sister?”

“Notquite, desu. There’s this beautiful ghost that’s bound to onelocation at the school. It was announced before the release, desu!”

“Can you really call that a hiddencharacter?!”

Also, what a strange combination…

“Thus, there’s no way to conquerthe little sister!”

“Eh? Eh? Why is that…?”

Suzuka turned her questioning gaze tome.

“…Basically, she’s like asub-character. To put it simply, a minor role.”

“A-A minor role…?! The littlesister is a…?!”

…Why is that so much of a shock foryou? You should feel relieved that you’re not being forced to watchme play through it. It would be hard for you, right?

“…Wait, hold on…?”

I thought back to the little sister inthe game. In the midst of all those crazy, over-the-top heroines, shewas the only rational character. She was calm and collected, and justseemed genuinely worried about her older brother.

“………”

When I looked over at Suzuka, I sawthat she was sulking a bit. It seems like she enjoyed the littlesister character the most, as well.

…Alright.

“She wasn’t a heroine, but I thinkthat the little sister was the cutest.”

“Eh?!”

When she heard my words, Suzukaimmediately lifted her head. Why is she so red… and her eyes aregetting watery?

“Huh.”

“Huh, desu.”

“What’s with that dry reaction, youtwo…?”

“I mean, we expected something likethat.”

“Right, desu. Sensei loves littlesisters, so we guessed as much.”

“Eh? L-Loves little sisters…?”

I finally understood the gravemisunderstanding that they had.

“N-No?! It’s not like I chose herbecause she’s a little sister or anything?!”

“You don’t have to cover it up,desu.”

“Right. I mean, the title of yournovel literally is ‘The story about a little sister who loves herbig brother way too much to cope’, so it’s plain as day at thispoint.”

…Damn it, I can’t say anythingagainst that! But it actually isn’t my novel, okay?! F-For now, Ihave to make sure that Suzuka doesn’t get the wrong idea!

“S-Suzuka, this is—”

I turned around, and…

“Onii-chan… says the little sisteris the cutest… Ehe… Ehehehe…”

“…S-Suzuka?”

For some reason, Suzuka lookedincredibly happy as she stared at the ceiling. Even when I called outto her, there was no reaction. W-What’s going on here?!

“I mean, since this is Sensei we’retalking about, the person who’s always digging his poisonous fangsinto Imouto-san, so we should’ve expected this much, desu.”

“Huh?! What are you talkingabout?!”

“What’d you say?! Yuu! You shouldat least distinguish between things you can and can’t do! Forexample, a good thing you can do is use your fans for your ownbenefit!”

“You shut up as well! You’re nothelping!”

I fervently denied all theiraccusations. At least Suzuka isn’t listening to them! Ahhh, forcrying out loud! Why is everybody bad mouthing me all the time!

A single thought came to mind in thatmoment.

—Shit! I gotta debut as fast as I canso I can stop being her stand-in!

*

“Phew, today was a lot of trouble…”

I lay on my bed and hugged my pillow asI reflected on what had happened today. I had wanted to get closer toOnii-chan by trying out a new way to collect data, but Himuro-san andDouble Peace-san got in the way as always… It’s clear as day thatthey’re interested in Onii-chan in one way or another. Onii-chanalways says that it’s because he’s my stand-in, but that’s nottrue at all. That might have been the initial reason, but now it’sbecause of Onii-chan himself.

“I understand completely, becauseit’s the same for me. But my feelings for Onii-chan are larger thananybody else’s…”

I tightly gripped the pillow, stilllost in thought. My face grew hot, and I naturally found myselfrolling around on my bed.

Roll roll roll

“……Ehe…… Ehehehe…”

On top of that, I let out a looselaugh. But I can’t help it. I mean, Onii-chan chose the littlesister, you know? Although it was just inside a game, he said thatthe little sister was the cutest…

“…One day, I want to be as close asthat little sister with Onii-chan…”

I recalled the little sister inside thegame. She was calm and collected, honest, not too clingy, and not toocold. The perfect little sister. The complete opposite of me. I getangry often, I’m dishonest, and I’m always troubling Onii-chan.

“Haaah… Why can’t I be as cute asthat little sister…?”

It’s a question I’ve asked myselfcountless times. Even though I’m not cute at all, Onii-chan isalways so kind to me… I’m always afraid that he might startgetting tired of me one day…

“…! No! T-Think positive!”

Yes. I’ve decided. Even if I can’tfix my dishonest personality, I’ll still move forward! I’vealready become a light novel author, and I’ll definitely use it toget closer to Onii-chan! My novel is a pure love story between olderbrother and little sister. And that little sister is modeled aftermyself. If I can write an even more interesting novel, Onii-chan willpraise me, and I’m sure that Onii-chan will notice my feelings forhim!

“My feelings for Onii-chan won’tlose against anyone!”

Muttering that, I held the pillow atarm’s length and looked at it.

…T-This is important practice forwhen I get married to Onii-chan one day. I just felt like doing it.

“Onii-chan…”

I brought my face closer to Onii-chan(Pillow). Of course… It’s k-k-k-kissing practice!”

“Onii-chan, I love—”

“Hey, Suzuka? Are you sleepingalready? Can I ask you how today worked out in the—?”

Eh? W-Why is Onii-chan (the real one)in my room…? Also, did Onii-chan just see me… practicing mykisses…?!

“…Ummm…? What are you doing…?”

“A-Auuu…!”

S-So embarrassing! Embarrassing!Embarrassing! He saw me! He saw me doing such an embarrassing thing!

“W-Were you in the middle ofsomething…? S-Sorry! I don’t know why, but sorry!”

My face won’t move anymore becauseI’m so embarrassed! There is only one thing I can still say!

“D-Don’t just enter my room likethat…! Onii-chan, you’re the worst!”

“Ah, I knocked, though?! But youdidn’t respond…! S-Sorryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!”

Onii-chan hurriedly closed the door.Shortly afterwards, I heard something fall down the stairs. But whocares about that?! I’m so embarrassed I could die!

…Onii-chan, you idiot. And I’m aneven bigger idiot…!

I buried my face in my pillow, tryingto calm my overheating head. There was only one thing I could thinkof anymore.

“…Why did I do something like this,you ask…?”

Turning my face towards the place whereOnii-chan just stood, I answered my own question.

“It’s because I love Onii-chan waytoo much to cope!”