Chapter 22

"...What?"

Clyde answered with an expression that seemed to ask what was so obvious.

"That you find it fun to stay in the library. You wouldn’t follow me here even if I died, right?"

If Theresa followed Clyde everywhere he appeared, it would make it difficult for the player to manage affection levels.

So, a few places were set to appear randomly, and one of those places was the library.

"Ah... Yeah. I’m a senior now. I thought I’d focus on my studies this year..."

I said it, but it sounded like a ridiculous excuse.

Clyde must have felt the same way, as he laughed in disbelief.

"You?"

I understand that it’s hard to believe, but does he have to be so openly disdainful...?

Clyde walked around the table that separated us and approached me.

His steps were playful, which didn’t match his neat and elegant appearance.

He stood in front of me, leaned over the table with one hand, and bent his waist.

His fierce physique, in stark contrast to his beautiful face, made it seem like he could swallow me whole.

I didn’t want to be nervous, but he was quite intimidating.

After all, Clyde was a character with a proper appearance but a less-than-proper personality.

'A spoiled third-generation tycoon character who is at odds with Theresa.'

He was the typical male protagonist in a school setting, a common trope.

"If you’re going to make such a ridiculous excuse, why don’t you just keep your mouth shut? I get nauseous when I hear nonsense."

'But this guy is really harsh, isn’t he?'

But as a pitiful host who had to endure the karma Theresa had accumulated, I meekly apologized.

"Then... Sorry..."

Clyde looked at me as if I were an irredeemable piece of trash.

If his eyes were knives, I would have been stabbed to death hundreds of times.

He offered a suggestion as if it were a favor.

"If you really feel sorry, drop out. I’ll accept your apology then."

'The Divine Game' had a dropout function, but it essentially meant game over.

The same went for the dropout route.

It was just a game over, as you couldn’t maintain school life anymore and had to leave on your own.

'What happens if I get a game over here? Do I die?'

My question was quickly answered.

Ding!

[Throne 'Explanationist' has donated 1,000 coins.]

[In a school setting, doesn’t dropping out or getting expelled mean game over? If so, it’s absolutely not an option. It leads to real death and a penalty.]

That’s what I thought, and it turned out to be true.

"That might be a bit difficult... Instead, I’ll try to hang around you less."

It was impossible not to hang around him at all, so this was a compromise.

Clyde burst into a fierce laugh.

His eyes were so menacing that I swallowed hard.

"Someone who says they’ll hang around me less applies for the dormitory?"

His harsh questioning left me speechless.

No matter what I said, it would just be an excuse.

Clyde mocked me with a contemptuous tone.

"I’ve never seen someone as unrestrained, stupid, and selfish as you, living a life of greed."

He had Theresa pegged perfectly.

As a developer, I felt a bit guilty and remained awkwardly silent, and Clyde sighed.

He looked thoroughly exasperated.

He asked me with a completely baffled expression.

"Why do you think I’m so great?"

I froze at this very perplexing question.

Ding!

[Throne 'RottenFan' has donated 1,000 coins.]

[Here, the right answer according to the genre is to say you don’t like him anymore. But that’s too obvious and boring.]

I agree.

But I couldn’t help but answer that way.

'This unrequited love must be officially ended for Theresa to survive.'

Theresa’s number one cause of death was her love for Clyde.

So, I had to tell Clyde that I no longer loved him, but honestly, I felt affection for him.

The protagonist is a character with an incredibly dense workload, unlike any other character.

The repeated revisions of character design, settings, narrative, and abilities made 'Clyde Willow' someone I found hard not to love.

Actually, I felt this way about all the characters.

I observed everything in this world—the people, the buildings, the objects—closely.

I felt an instinctive affection and intimacy.

Even the people of the Squaire family, who were so repulsive, made me feel a sense of guilt.

Could I really hide these feelings?

'Let’s just be straightforward.'

It was better to play consistently with my own choices, rather than act suspiciously and end up on an incomprehensible route.

Just like with Oswald.

"Finding you attractive is so natural to me that it’s hard to explain otherwise."

What’s the best way to describe this feeling?

After a bit of thought, I chose the word that I thought best expressed this emotion.

"I love you as if it’s my destiny."

Then, a constant stream of notifications rang in my ear.

I didn’t look at any of them.

I couldn’t tear my eyes away from Clyde, who was staring at me with a frozen expression.

I’m not sure if this expression was appropriate, but it looked like someone who had been stabbed by someone they trusted.

"…Love me as if it’s your destiny?"

I nodded, and I saw the tension in Clyde’s jawline.

His expression, which seemed to be barely holding back something, made me feel uneasy.

'Theresa always says she loves him, so why is he reacting so seriously?'

Of course, everything Theresa said and did was something Clyde found most terrifying.

Clyde despises love.

No one knew this better than I did in this world.

"You... "

I saw a chilling madness in his eyes and raised my hand.

"But I won’t love you anymore!"

"..."

Ding!

[Throne 'ProCoach' has donated 1,000 coins.]

[What are you announcing?;]

I felt belated shame at the throne’s comment.

'I got carried away without realizing it...'

I couldn’t help it because of the sinister aura in Clyde’s eyes.

'Clyde is half-human, half-demon.'

Anyway, Clyde’s eyes seemed more normal than before, so I cautiously continued.

"That doesn’t mean I’ll hate you."

I lowered my raised hand and offered a handshake.

Clyde’s eyes, which resembled water, followed the trajectory of my hand.

"Let’s just ignore each other and get along. Clyde."

There was no response.

He glared at me fiercely, then left the library with a look of disdain.

"Making things so awkward..."

I awkwardly retracted my empty hand.

"Still, did it go well?"

Is it okay to be this tired on the first day of school?

Rumble.

"...I’m still hungry in the middle of all this."

I should go to the cafeteria and get a sandwich to go.

I trudged out of the library.

* * *

Clyde fled the library as if running away.

He had no destination in mind.

He just needed a place where no one could see him.

Fortunately, the school was empty at this late hour.

If anyone was around, they would be in a club room, cafe, or cafeteria, not near the library.

So, it was fortunate.

"Ugh...!"

Clyde hastily covered his eyes with his palm as he ran.

At the same time, he felt a sinister heat, as if it would stick to his hands if he touched his eyes.

Thud!

He fled into an empty powder room, almost completely blocking his vision.

Clyde lowered his hand from his eyes and leaned on the vanity, looking at the mirror.

He saw red eyes.

A peculiar red that was so intense it could make one’s mind go blank, blooming like a flower, completely dyeing his cold, pale eyes.

Humans cannot have red eyes.

They were a mark of corruption, the fate of one who harbors demonic energy.

Clyde was half-human, half-demon.

The world called such beings trash.

A being that should never exist, the most corrupt and cursed of all.

He closed his eyes in pain.

But inside, a terrifying pleasure was rising.

-It was such a pure emotion, the first time.

The demon’s greedy black tongue, which occupied half of his body, swept through his organs.

-Every time the hollow Theresa Squaire said she loved me, I felt like I would vomit. She emitted a repulsive aura that I couldn’t bear to consume.

The brief taste of sublime love was so sweet and ecstatic.

Clyde felt as if all his beliefs had been betrayed.

'How could this be?'

It was impossible for Theresa Squaire.

So, no matter how much she talked about love, he could ignore and endure it.

Her love was like a stench.

-But today, it felt different, as if her soul had changed. Why? If it were that soul, I would follow it to find its dream and die...

"Shut up. Stop it."

-Why? You are a demon born from a succubus. Ah... Don’t tell me you still think you’re human?

"Shut up!"

-Humans will never accept the half of your blood that flows through you.

Damn. Damn. Damn.

"Damn!"

Clang!

He slammed his fist into the mirror as if to shatter it, and sharp shards flew, tearing his skin.

Blood dripped, but the heat in his head was so intense that he didn’t feel the pain.

"Haa... Haa..."

He glared at his own eyes with bloodshot eyes.

When he extended his arm to the side, a ripple appeared in the air, and his hand disappeared.

He pulled back his arm as if retrieving something, and a white fan with a glass orb appeared in his hand.

It was taken from a subspace.

Clyde gripped the glass orb as if to crush it.

-Oh, are you running away from yourself again?

Hehe.

The glass orb began to purify the demonic energy that had taken over Clyde with a holy aura.

This was a holy relic he had been born with in his hand.

The red aura that filled his cold, pale eyes gradually faded, and the voices that tormented him retreated, licking their wounds.

-You can’t keep running away forever.

Clyde glared at the demon with hatred.

"Go away."

In the shattered mirror, he saw himself glaring at himself.