It is said that Thanos could wipe out half the world with just a snap of his fingers. Well… maybe that's true.
"I'm sorry. But I can't—"
"...what?"
Anyway, let's put that aside for now. I had no idea who the hell this woman was. I ignored her even when she bowed to me at a full 90 degrees. Meanwhile, I—some poor bastard who had just been working his ass off—suddenly found myself in this strange place with no clue what was going on, looking around and questioning what the actual fuck reality even meant.
First, the place. No idea where I was, but it looked like the inside of a small docking ship. And everywhere I turned, I saw tons of Kanji characters.
"I'm sorry, Kazuya—Kazuya?"
This time, I turned my attention to the woman who seemed to be talking to me.
The way she looked at me—the way she stared—made me think there was something strange on my face.
More importantly—"What… the hell?"
She's the Rental Girlfriend? Chizuru?!
"Uh… are you okay? You're sweating a lot, you know…"
And just like that, I saw a flash of this guy's life—from birth up to this moment. I learned everything through his memories.
This guy—no, I—am Kinoshita Kazuya?! Are you fucking kidding me?! HOW?!
Then… what happened to me?
"Kazuya?"
I snapped out of it when Chizuru reached out to touch my face. I have a habit—I hate being touched there—so I politely swatted her hand away.
"I'm fine," I said, looking at her. "Okay. I get it now."
From Kazuya's memories, they had some good moments, strolling around Tokyo on a date.
But I could still remember it all—the rejection, the heartbreak. The part where she yapped on about whether she was worthy of wearing the ring Kazuya's mother gave her, and whether she was good enough to accept him while still living the lifestyle of a rental girlfriend.
And now all of that had slammed into me—RANDOMLY. Oh my god, man. WTF?!
I don't know what kind of sorcery brought me into this body—or this fucking world.
My mind was fried.
I just wanted to end this. ASAP.
"Alright, I understand," I said calmly. "I respect your decision. You can return the ring now."
She went silent as I held out my empty hand.
"W-what? Huh?"
It seemed Chizuru was still stunned with Kazuya's sudden changed.
"I said, you can return the ring."
Again, she stared at me with those wide eyes.
"Could you stop staring at me? I'm tired. Let's just call it a day."
She looked between my face and my open right hand before quietly handing over the ring box—visibly shaken.
Once I had it, I stuffed it in my jeans pocket and walked toward a nearby vending machine. I grabbed a bottle of water, took a sip.
If a dream could feel this real, then I knew it wasn't a dream.
I never dreamed of girls anyway. Usually it was me running from a T-Rex or surviving a meteor impact.
But this? I could taste the water. It felt like something only a sane person would feel.
So yeah—what the fuck is going on?
[Ding!]
[You worked yourself to death in your past life. Use this chance to find the happiness you were denied.]
[Congratulations, you've been chosen to change the protagonist's fate.]
The what?
I blinked twice as a blue screen popped up in front of me.
[You have gain a talent to adapt to any skill, the ability to learn at tremendous speed, and a chance to reach the peak of human physical capability.]
[To check your progress, say "Status."]
Right as this sudden system appeared like some unwanted pop-up ad, then someone waved a hand in front of me.
"Kazuya, are you mad?"
I finished the bottle. Slightly beside me, Chizuru had her head down, looking regretful. What audacity to ask something so obvious. But I'm not Kazuya. So it didn't bother me.
"Not really—"
I was about to continue, but decided to cool off a bit.
"A lot has happened in my life—so, not really."
"I see…"
She looked so guilty, I felt like I might get sued by the original author for breaking the tone of the series. But I didn't hold a grudge. Because Kazuya wasn't the same person.
"I'm sorry, Kazuya. I really am."
"I said I'm fine."
"But… can we still be good friends?"
Friend. What is a friend? To me, a friend is just an acquaintance. If you say it nicely, maybe a pleasant acquaintance.
But given her current bias, I figured she didn't want to destroy the status quo. Which meant I was expected to keep supporting her—either as her emotional crutch, or her personal ATM.
I smiled. "Sorry, I refuse."
Hearing this, Chizuru looked genuinely stunned by the reality check.
"W-wha...? I mean, I… I understand that."
She looked down, her hands trembling.
Meanwhile, the system started going nuts.
[Charm has leveled up!]
[Charm has leveled up!]
[Charm has leveled up!]
[Charm has leveled up!]
[Charm has leveled up!]
[Charm has leveled up!]
[Charm has leveled up!]
[Charm has leveled up!]
[Charm has leveled up!]
Look how much the system reacted to this.
Anyway.
It was getting awkward. I should head home—uh, which way is this guy's place again?