“Oh, damn it, God.”
Even I, who usually don’t blindly follow religion, couldn’t help but call upon the Lord in the face of this incredible ordeal.
Yoon Dong-gun might have seemed like just an ordinary alpha male(?), but the power he possessed was truly formidable. It wasn’t for simple reasons like being good at fighting or having a lot of money at home.
In terms of power, of course, there was no one who could rival the villain Lee Ji-woon, and even in terms of wealth, Lee Ji-woon was probably richer.
But fundamentally, Yoon Dong-gun was the protagonist of this visual novel. No matter how ordinary, or even lacking, a character might be, the moment they are labeled as the protagonist, people tend to flip out.
Even if he had an abnormal physical appearance of 130cm and 130kg, wouldn’t the heroines find all sorts of reasons to like the protagonist? If he were impotent, there would be platonic love; if he were blind, there would be heroines aplenty to become his eyes—that’s the power of being the protagonist.
Moreover, all plot developments and stories naturally revolve around the protagonist, and in the process, he’s bound to suck up all the honey he can. One of those honeys would be the chance to corner this golden sun, who belongs to the upper class.
'What did I do wrong?'
Even after a hundred times thinking over, there’s nothing come to my mind. Compared to Lee Ji-woon's actions in the story, I may have been better, and I definitely haven't done anything wrong. Because no matter who possessed this body, it would be difficult to shake a worse reputation than this guy.
Why on earth did he take the time to come find me? Although I tried to act nonchalant, I could feel the weight bearing down on me, like something was about to be shoved up my rear end.
“What’s up?. Do you have something to say?”
I responded bluntly and coldly, but already my heart was pounding, as if blood was gushing through my left atrium and right ventricle in succession.
Every single word spoken was tied to the fate of my anus. I was almost tempted to actively utilize the "Shall we make it a draw...?" card.
But at this point, it was an ambiguous situation where I didn’t even know if bowing down was the right answer. Because I wouldn’t know the impact that action would have on me until the very last moment.
So, I wanted to live like an invisible person. Whether it’s the butterfly effect or the moth effect, some action must be taken to get a result, but I was thinking of postponing the result itself without doing any such thing.
Of course, now that our protagonist has directly appeared before me, my foolproof strategy was bound to go up in smoke. From now on, it’s all about improvisation, if we were to compare it to hip-hop, it’s like entering a freestyle rap battle.
“Eminem, lend me your strength!”
“Well, I thought you might have changed, but your prickly attitude remains.”
“Well, there's a saying that the changes comes right before death.”
“I hope that saying isn’t true. Hearing about the death of someone around me isn’t exactly a pleasant situation.”
Ugh, Damn it. Amidst the subtle cringing that hidden between his every words, I had to focus all my attention on controlling my trembling hands and feet.
If not for Golden Sun’s exceptional physical skills, I’d be as twisted as a character from a Japanese manga right now.
Indeed, the protagonist is always the protagonist? Each word he uttered is as flamboyant as one would expect from a fictional character. I’m convinced the creator watched too much anime and manga.
“Let’s keep it simple. We’re not exactly on friendly terms, are we?”
“Heh, true. Once upon a time, we walked together in the same place, but sadly, we’ve ended up on different paths.”
Damn it, Yoon Dong-gun was even more formidable than I had thought. This guy clearly intended to dispatch me right here with his cringe. Was he always like this? While there were occasional cringe-worthy lines in the original work, I don’t recall encountering someone who bent the fabric of space and time like this.
“Could it be…? Is he intentionally delivering only the worst lines imaginable?”
That thought struck me late. In dating sim games, the protagonist gets to choose dialogue options before speaking.
Depending on the choice, the ending can diverge, or the story may take different paths. However, there are also choices designed just for the gamer’s amusement, and some are like mines that obviously shouldn’t be chosen.
The words Yoon Dong-gun is currently spouting seem very similar to what would come out when such choices are selected. It’s like a collection of ‘second-year middle school syndrome’ dialogues. A pattern that frequently appears from creators who feel compelled to fill four choices.
Should I be relieved or worried? or should I think the opposite? But one thing’s for sure: Yoon Dong-gun’s intense cringe is threatening my very existence right now.
Just get to the point, please. Can’t you see you’re warping space and time? It’s like facing a puzzle more complex than quantum mechanics.
“At first, I tried to ignore you as I always have. But the way you showed up on the first day of school… it definitely gave me a different feeling than before…”
“Just get to the point.”
“I’d like you to get along well with Park Ha-eun.”
“…What?”
After being bombarded by Lee Ye-ji, I wondered if something had happened to my ears. I had to seriously consider whether I was hearing things, as the protagonist said something that should never have come out of his mouth.
“What on earth…”
“Don’t you see? Park Ha-eun wants us to go back to how we used to be.”
“I know that, but what I’m curious about is why you, who always stopped Park Ha-eun…”
“Are you curious about my sudden change?”
Damn, this ‘second-year middle school syndrome’ guy keeps interrupting me. And I can’t even punch him.
I had no choice but to listen to the protagonist, who was going on and on about his own greatness.
“Because you’ve changed, Park Ha-eun’s heart is greatly shaken. With my excellent insight, I was able to discern that.”
“Huh.”
“The thought that maybe we could go back to how we were before. My poor childhood friend is immersed in this thought, spending every night wrapped up in worries. And I, another childhood friend living across the street, just happened to discover it.”
“Huh.”
“Considering the time we’ve spent together, I can’t just overlook this matter and be a person with cold blood. You’ve changed, and Park Ha-eun wants things to go back to how they were. Is there a valid reason for me to widen the gap between you two?”
Yoon Dong-gun, with his arms spread wide as if he had realized all the affairs of the world, was more immersed in the black magic of ‘second-year middle school syndrome’ than I thought. It’s like staring into an abyss? It’s frightening.
Putting aside his dialogue, Yoon Dong-gun’s words seemed half reasonable. And half crazy.
Before deciding whether his way of thinking was right or wrong, I had to make a choice. Either follow the protagonist’s words and go back to my previous relationship with Park Ha-eun, or do nothing and prevent causing a butterfly or moth effect.
After pondering with an expressionless face for about ten seconds, Yoon Dong-gun across from me started talking again with a smirk, as if he knew this would happen (which was very annoying).
“It’ll be tough at first. But if you start by just keeping pace, it won’t be too difficult. I didn’t mean to say that you should become best friends with Park Ha-eun right away.”
In other words, start by just keeping the pace and gradually develop the relationship.
That’s easier said than done. If everything went as said, why would there be fights and conflicts…
“…Huh?”
Just before my logic circuits were about to overload, a brilliant idea popped into my head.
My original strategy was ‘if there’s no progress in the relationship, nothing happens.’ But is that really the right approach?
Even a small action can have future repercussions. But that also means that ‘doing absolutely nothing’ can be included in those ‘small actions.’
In other words, being a spectator itself was not a rational escape. Instead, it might be a better choice to moderately intervene in the work and make an effort to directly change Lee Ji-woon’s fate.
Park Ha-eun and Yoon Dong-gun, the leads in the work. Maintaining a proper relationship with them and steering in a direction far from ‘anal opening.’ Could this be the optimal and best choice I can make right now?
“Heh. I knew you’d understand.”
As if reading my thoughts, Yoon Dong-gun pulled out one of his infuriating dialogue collections. A relationship that’s neither too good nor too bad. If I walk the tightrope with one foot in this, surely the destination at the end will be heaven.
‘It’s not because I feel bad about rejecting Park Ha-eun.’
…Definitely not. Well, probably not.
***
Snap-
The sound of a mechanical pencil lead breaking. The owner of the object was, with trembling hands, mercilessly snapping the innocent leads one after another.
With shimmering blonde hair and a skin tone similar to Lee Ji-woon, Lee Ye-ji has a sharp look, and her already fierce eyes seemed to look even more fierce.
“Park Ha-eun…!”
Lee Ye-ji had been having a good time with Lee Ji-woon, only to be interrupted by a certain puppy. Or perhaps it was actually a fox, given the sharpness of its intrusion.
A fox in puppy’s clothing. The damn childhood friend who had persistently followed Lee Ji-woon since middle school was now increasingly trying to invade their private territory.
For now, Lee Ji-woon was handling it well, based on his introduction to women’s studies (as Lee Ye-ji assumed), but human affairs are unpredictable. Perhaps it was Park Ha-eun’s outstanding beauty that instinctively made her feel threatened.
“Could it be… he’s completely fallen for that fox’s scheme…!!?”
“Lee Ye-ji.”
“No way! Ji-woon is mine! Behind that innocent face, she must be plotting some cunning trick like the other girls…!”
“What is she muttering about? Can someone call her?”
“Ji-woon doesn’t know much about girls, so it can’t be helped… I, I mean, he’s been popular with girls before, right…? If I, his best friend, don’t protect him well, he’ll definitely fall prey to those sly foxes… Huh?”
Muttering to herself, Lee Ye-ji was brought back to reality when the girl sitting next to her poked her arm.
It was math class. The math teacher, with a sigh and a weary look, just gazed at Lee Ye-ji.
“Lee Ye-ji. Do you even know what I was explaining?”
“…”
“You need to get out?”
“Ugh… Yes…”
Her ears turning red with the faint laughter of her classmates, she hurriedly gathered her textbooks and had no choice but to go stand in front of the lockers.
“Shit… How embarrassing…”
Today, too, Lee Ye-ji was somewhat clumsy.
Tftc!
ReplyDeleteMy man Yoon Dong-gun is a true anime protagonist 😭 even being kind to the villain