Ch.333Snow Country (2)

There’s something calm about winter… The atmosphere at school was usually like that too. Everyone was quietly waiting for the vacation to begin.

“Actually, the end of the semester is nice for relaxing quietly…”

Back in my school days, I loved this time the most. I’d spend time reading web novels, manga, or secretly writing stories in some corner.

“Christmas!! My country doesn’t get snow in my region! I want to experience a white Christmas with my boyfriend this time.”

Tina said with a nostalgic tone while wearing her school uniform.

“Ah… that might be difficult.”

Eri said with a bitter smile.

“The Emoshita area… doesn’t get much snow.”

Umi said with a gloomy expression.

Right. It’s a characteristic of the Emoshita region, or rather, an island nation like Japan. Just being a bit south exposes you to the hot, humid air currents from the Pacific. Such regions didn’t get snow at all. Emoshita was exactly in that position.

Everyone’s expression turned gloomy at those words.

“H-hey, there’s no need to be that depressed, is there? Snow is just inconvenient when it falls and doesn’t help with anything anyway.”

That’s what I said.

Right. When it snows, you have to shovel it, and when it melts halfway, it just gets slushy. It’s not helpful at all. The beautiful scenery of falling snow only lasts for a moment.

“Well, that’s true. Riding a motorcycle in snow is absolute garbage.”

Taiga formed a delinquent-like consensus.

“Right? That’s my Taiga!! The former delinquent!”

I immediately praised Taiga.

“This bastard… look at him pretending to compliment me while actually insulting me.”

Taiga immediately tried to put me in a headlock to punish me.

Swoosh-!

I instantly twisted my head to avoid Taiga’s headlock.

“Too slow.”

This line! I’ve always wanted to say it.

“Argh!! He’s gotten too strong lately, I can’t even hit him properly!!”

Taiga shouted in frustration.

“Anyway!”

I cleared my throat and brought the conversation back on track.

“Snow doesn’t mean anything. You’re just disappointed because you keep attaching meaning to it!”

That’s what I said.

“Aish!! Shota!! You really have no sensitivity!”

At that moment, Umi shouted loudly.

“We just got our first boyfriends this year!”

Umi said.

“That’s right. My first and last man, that’s Shota.”

Kana said. It was a touching statement… but hearing it made me feel strangely pressured. These girls… I really need to make them happy.

“It’s our first Christmas with a boyfriend!! Of course we’d want it to be a white Christmas!!”

Umi shouted.

“Snow… huh. You’ll see plenty of it soon enough to get sick of it.”

That’s what I said.

“Where? Are you taking us to Sapporo?”

Eri’s eyes lit up. This girl, always trying to make people spend money at every opportunity.

“Let’s just settle for Tina’s country.”

That’s what I said. Even just for the trip itself, overseas travel was quite expensive for high school students. Going all the way to Sapporo from here would completely drain our finances. Seriously.

Since it’s the first overseas trip with my girlfriends… I’d prefer a normal country. Really. I want to have a romantic trip with my girlfriends… I believe in you! Tina!! Tina’s homeland!!

“No, not that. This month’s dungeon has a snowy field concept.”

That’s what I said.

“Snowy field…”

Everyone’s eyes lit up.

“Yeah. It’s a snow-covered mountain. We just need to get to the top and defeat the enemy.”

I briefly explained the dungeon strategy. It was one of the few orthodox dungeons in the later part. I’ve really lost touch with the basics lately. People turning into underwear, racing competitions… Finally, a dungeon where we can actually slash things with swords.

“Ah. That’s nice. Let’s take our time with that one. We can make snowmen too.”

Kana said.

Now everyone seemed completely relaxed. Having conquered dungeons so easily before, no one was tense about facing them anymore.

“Yeah. Let’s have fun there.”

I casually agreed. Besides, dungeons are free. That was the best part.

Can’t be helped, but they send only a small army each month in a fair fight, and provide free attractions… Aren’t these Pink Beard folks actually pretty nice? I secretly thought.

“So? When are we going to tackle the dungeon?”

Eri suddenly asked. It was surprising for Eri, a non-combatant, to ask about that.

Sensing my puzzled look, Eri fidgeted and mumbled.

“Well… I’ll prepare late-night snacks for everyone when you come back. Like an after-party.”

Eri made a statement full of sincerity.

Plus… every time she fidgeted, her chocolate-colored large breasts bounced elastically, which made me very happy. What is this? Her chest is swaying with a steady rhythm, hypnotizing me!!

“Eri! I love you!”

I immediately hugged Eri.

“Mmm… Shota. Me too.”

Eri giggled and leaned into my embrace.

“Let’s do it… the day after tomorrow.”

That’s what I said.

“Huh? I thought Shota would be like ‘Let’s do it today! Today! Kieeeeek!’ and make plans right away.”

Tina said.

“I don’t go ‘kieeeeek’ these days?!”

I’m not that over-tensioned!!

“By the way, why are you postponing it? Won’t Shota just one-shot everything anyway? I’m… a healer but I don’t have any reason to heal. At most I just cast buffs occasionally.”

Umi wore a distant expression. Yeah. Since no one ever gets hurt, healers tend to just stand around doing nothing.

“Umi. She’s basically just a war correspondent. A spectator.”

Taiga snickered.

“Who’s a war correspondent?!”

Umi immediately lunged at Taiga.

“I have things to do.”

I said firmly.

That’s right. It was about the community events. Actually, all community events close at the end of December. From mid-December, it’s essentially the final chapter, so most community achievement conditions get closed off.

I had three community events left. Sasitsu… he was just too focused on his romance with Frill to pay attention to community events. Ah… Sasitsu!! I told you to push through all the community events first!!

‘The Player’s Classmate’

‘A Student from Another Class Trying to Change Themselves’

‘The City Boy Who Hates the Countryside’

These were the three. I had already completed all the other non-school encounters like the old man at the fishing spot and the student at the cram school. All three of these were students at our school. Obviously, targeting them one by one would take too much time.

‘Besides… they’re all guys.’

I didn’t even want to talk to guys. I wasn’t always like this, but it had gotten worse lately. Being surrounded by such beautiful girlfriends had raised my dopamine threshold significantly. The happiness of having pleasant conversations and intimate moments with beautiful girls made interactions with same-sex friends unexciting.

The exceptions were wearing Sasitsu who had turned into underwear and touching the bald thumbs-up man. Those could compete in terms of dopamine levels. Seriously.

Anyway, unlike in the game, completing community events didn’t necessarily require meeting them a specific number of times. I just needed to solve their problems. The fishing spot from before was such a case.

So, I came up with a clever plan: gather all three together and solve their problems at once.

First, Sasitsu’s friend was a stereotypical male high school student. His goal was to get a girlfriend, his grades were average, his athletic ability was average, and his appearance was average. His future aspiration was just to graduate, go to college, have fun, graduate again, and become an ordinary office worker. In a way, he was bizarrely average in every possible aspect.

The condition for triggering his event had been met. Around October, he had been pestering Sasitsu to set up a group date with Kishi High School students.

My plan was to step in and accept his proposal, then bring in “The Student Trying to Change Themselves” and “The City Boy Who Hates the Countryside” to the group date. And conveniently solve both their problems at the same time.

‘Honestly… it’s a bit forced…’

But I was confident. My skill “Hero’s Persuasion” was quite useful. Its value had been proven when resolving the science club incident. Even if things started out messy, they would ultimately end on a heartwarming note.

——–

As expected, Sasitsu’s classmate approached Sasitsu.

“Sasitsu… I want to date someone too.”

The classmate spoke to Sasitsu, who was playing around with Frill.

“That again?”

Sasitsu said while stroking Frill.

“You don’t understand!!! Because you have a girlfriend!! It’s Christmas soon!! I want to date someone too!!”

Sasitsu’s classmate persisted.

“So… I arranged a group date with Kishi High School students. Sasitsu, please come. Huh? Just to make up the numbers!! Huh? Everyone else either won’t come or already has girlfriends!”

The classmate pleaded with Sasitsu.

“Hey!! What are you asking someone who already has a girlfriend!!”

Frill got angry.

“Ah… sorry.”

The classmate immediately shrank back. Yeah, that’s how all guys are. They get strangely submissive around pretty girls.

“No. Not interested. It’s your dating project. Handle it yourself.”

Sasitsu said.

“Please…! I’ll be awkward alone!! I don’t think I can do well!”

The classmate cried out.

Yare yare… is it time for me to step in? For the sake of the ‘community event.’

“I’ve heard everything, boy.”

I immediately stood behind the classmate. What was his name again? Anyway.

“Shota!! Our class’s harem master!!”

His eyes lit up. Right, being a harem master gives me top credibility, doesn’t it?

“Yamaguchi. Sasitsu is right. You should handle your own affairs. Dating is war!! If you lack courage, you simply lose!!”

I said firmly.

“Um… my name is Suzuki. Not Yamaguchi.”

The classmate said timidly. Suzuki… such a common name. A character truly pursuing the extreme of ordinariness. Really.

“However!! This is your first real battle!! You need a mentor to guide you.”

That’s what I said.

“Exactly!! That’s what I’m saying!!”

Suzuki’s eyes shone.

“I’ll act as the host. To liven up the atmosphere too.”

That’s what I said.

“Ooooooh!!!!”

Suzuki immediately prostrated himself before me.

“Harem master… please!! Give me youth too…!!”

He was almost like a disciple.

“Wow… Shota. He’s gotten involved in another weird situation…”

Eri chuckled with a look of disbelief.

Anyway, this group date. I decided to take charge of it.