Chapter 240

* Race: High Elf

* Status: Student

* Affiliation: Holy Lepheria Academy

* Title: Princess of the Forgotten Forest

* Unique Trait: Divine Archer

A status window?

That’s what I thought at first, but I quickly realized it wasn’t a simple status window.

It looked different from the players’ status windows.

My eyes immediately spotted the anomaly.

* Rank: Legendary Heroine

“Rank?”

I narrowed my eyes.

Ranks were usually used to classify items.

But I knew.

They were also used to categorize characters.

In Paradox Saga, the game I used to play, randomly generated clone soldiers were classified as Common characters, while famous historical figures were classified as Legendary characters.

Yes, this was definitely a similar classification.

Except it was Legendary Heroine, not Legendary Character.

In other words, it meant she was a heroine of extremely rare and valuable rank.

“I knew it.”

My hunch was right.

Hiresia was indeed a special heroine.

And.

* Difficulty: Transcendent

I chuckled when I saw the words written below.

“No wonder it’s like this.”

Hiresia, the heroine notorious for being impossible to capture.

Her infamy was well-deserved.

With a difficulty level like this, it was no wonder she was so hard to win over.

In that sense, it was a miracle that I had become her lover.

It wouldn’t have been possible without my knowledge from countless trial and error, Max’s money, and a stroke of luck.

I continued reading, lost in thought.

“Oh, what’s this?”

My eyes widened.

Because I had found it.

Something that could answer my nagging question.

* Clear Condition: Achieve the minimum required conditions.

But my expression remained puzzled after reading the words.

“What? I still haven’t met the conditions? What more do I need to do?”

I frowned.

Hiresia’s feelings today had been clear enough to be considered “Adoration.”

And yet, it wasn’t enough?

Did I have to marry her and have children with her or something?

Even in dating sims, that was an ending, not a clear condition.

As I stared at the relationship window in frustration, something caught my eye.

A blinking sentence.

Could this also be clickable?

I immediately clicked on it.

And then.

A new window popped up, filled with tiny text.

What was this?

I started reading.

* You are a student at the same academy as Hiresia. (Achieved)

* Hiresia knows your name. (Achieved)

* Hiresia knows your face. (Achieved)

* You know Hiresia’s hidden side. (Achieved)

* You have threatened Hiresia. (Achieved)

“Wh-What is this?”

My eyes widened in disbelief.

It was like a capture target checklist from a dating sim, not an RPG.

…Had the genre of this game changed without me knowing?

Was this a harem game now?

And…

“Threatening her was also a condition…?”

This was ridiculous.

No wonder it was so hard to capture her.

The unconventional approach I had taken after countless trial and error had actually opened the path.

I chuckled and continued reading.

* You have angered Hiresia. (Achieved)

* You have appeased Hiresia’s anger. (Achieved)

* You have made Hiresia happy. (Achieved)

* You have made Hiresia laugh. (Achieved)

* You have shared a meal of meat hunted by Hiresia. (Achieved)

* You have bought meat for Hiresia. (Achieved)

“…This is ridiculous.”

I muttered in disbelief.

But thinking about it, it wasn’t that hard to understand.

Each event listed here had contributed to our growing closer.

Angering her, making up with her, making her happy, making her laugh, sharing her favorite food, buying her food… It was all part of building a relationship.

And then there was this.

* You have force-fed Hiresia vegetables and fruits. (Not Achieved)

“As expected, there are unachieved conditions.”

It was only natural.

It would be impossible to fulfill all the conditions.

But the content of this one was…

Was this even possible?

Force-feeding her vegetables and fruits, which she hated so much?

It seemed like it would only make her dislike me even more.

It would be like torture for the meat-loving high elf senior.

“…I’ll pass on this one.”

The clear condition I had seen earlier had said to achieve the minimum required conditions.

It meant that I didn’t need to fulfill all the conditions.

It would be better to just ignore this strange one.

I continued reading.

* * *

“This is quite entertaining.”

I read through the list, feeling like I was reading a secret strategy guide.

Well, it was a capture target strategy guide, so it wasn’t entirely wrong.

Anyway, I noticed something as I read.

* Choose Hiresia at the Founding Festival Ball. (Not Achieved)

* Receive help from Hiresia in a life-or-death situation. (Achieved)

* Unable to View (Not Achieved)

This part.

Not all conditions were viewable.

Well, if I could see all the conditions, it would be like taking a test with the answer sheet.

There was no way such a cheat would be allowed in this game.

The reason so many of Hiresia’s conditions were unlocked was probably because of my close relationship with her.

That was my guess.

And I would soon be able to confirm it.

Because I had checked the relationship window of another heroine.

A heroine I had barely interacted with.

* Race: Human

* Status: Student

* Affiliation: Holy Lepheria Academy

* Title: The Discordant Siblings

* Unique Trait: Nature Affinity

* Rank: Unique Heroine

* Difficulty: Hard

* Clear Condition: Achieve the minimum required conditions.

The younger sister of the second-year princess faction twins.

She was one of the main characters, as she was a significant classmate of the protagonist, but it was difficult for me, a student from a different year, to build a proper relationship with her.

So I had given up and ignored her.

“Hmm, she’s at least Rare rank.”

She wasn’t “Legendary,” but “Unique” was still a significant descriptor.

Her “Hard” difficulty level also supported that.

A rank befitting her importance.

Anyway, that wasn’t what I was interested in.

I clicked on the blinking clear condition.

And as with Hiresia, a list of detailed conditions appeared.

* You are a student at the same academy as Emily. (Achieved)

* Emily knows your name. (Achieved)

* Emily knows your face. (Achieved)

* Unable to View (Not Achieved)

* Unable to View (Not Achieved)

* Unable to View (Not Achieved)

* Unable to View (Not Achieved)

A feast of “Unable to View” from the start.

And that confirmed my suspicions.

The condition list was gradually unlocked as you increased your affection level and became closer to the heroine.

So this wasn’t a complete answer sheet.

It was more like a review, something you could only access after making progress.

It wouldn’t be of much help.

“Ah, well, it was entertaining…”

I sat up and lost in thought.

It wasn’t completely useless.

At least I now knew why Hiresia’s affection level hadn’t reached “Adoration” yet.

Because I hadn’t met the minimum required conditions.

Knowing the cause was a significant gain.

The problem was…

“…What the hell are those ‘Unable to View’ conditions?”

I couldn’t even attempt to fulfill them if I didn’t know what they were.

It was frustrating.

Those hidden conditions were probably the key to clearing my relationship with Hiresia.

“It can’t be helped.”

I would try the ones that were revealed first.

If it worked, great. If not, it was still better than doing nothing.

I decided to start with the “force-feed vegetables and fruits” condition.

I had initially dismissed it, but it was the only one I could attempt right now.

…It felt ominous, but surely she wouldn’t slap me with a fruit.

Anyway, with my mind made up, I was finally about to go out for some fresh air.

But then I remembered something important.

The evil organization executive and Named Boss.

Riviera was on the relationship list.

Was my cautious guess actually true?

Was she a capturable heroine, despite being the boss?

I hurriedly opened the list again and checked Riviera’s window.

* Race: Human

* Status: Student, Red Rain Executive

* Affiliation: Holy Lepheria Academy, Red Rain

* Title: Sickly Pretty Genius Mage, Blood Witch

* Unique Trait: Blood Witch

As expected of someone with a double identity, she was making it very clear.

By the way, I almost burst out laughing when I saw “Sickly Pretty Genius Mage” in her title list.

…What was with the temperature difference between that and “Blood Witch”?

Anyway, that wasn’t important.

My eyes quickly scanned the text.

And then.

“Oh?”

My eyes widened, sparkling with excitement.

* Rank: Legendary Heroine

* Difficulty: Transcendent

“Yes! This is it! This is it!”

I couldn’t help but pump my fist.

The terrifying boss I was destined to clash with.

What could be better than avoiding that confrontation?

And what if I could go beyond that and even turn her into an ally?

It would be an unimaginable gain.

She would become a minus for the enemy, and a plus for me.

And it would be a huge minus and a huge plus.

The Blood Witch was that kind of existence.

A triumphant smile spread across my face.

Knock, knock.

It was then.

I suddenly heard a knock.

No, wait.

It wasn’t a knock.

It wasn’t coming from the door.

Was it the window?

That was strange.

…This was the 9th floor.

It was too high for anyone to knock on the window.

I must have misheard.

Yes, that was it.

I was probably just tired and my senses were heightened after using up so much energy…

Knock, knock.

“Eek?!”

I flinched, my eyes wide with surprise.

What? It wasn’t a hallucination?

That couldn’t be right.

This was the 9th floor…

Gulp.

I swallowed nervously.

I bit my lip and slowly turned my head.

And then.

“…”

My jaw dropped, my expression frozen in disbelief.

Knock, knock.

“…”

Knock, knock.

“…”

…No, no.

Thinking about it again, it wasn’t that strange.

‘She’ could do this.

Any bizarre act was believable if it was ‘her’ doing it.

I shook my head and opened the window.

She landed gracefully on the patient bed, like a cat.

It was a fitting visit for the Blood Witch… or rather, the Sickly Pretty Genius Mage.

“…Why are you using the window when there’s a door?”

“Doors are boring.”

“…”

What was boring about doors…?

I really wanted to dissect her brain.

“Coffee.”

…Was this her personal cafe?

How could someone like her even exist?

Sigh.

I obediently poured her a cup of coffee.

I had to treat her well.

She was a crucial variable for clearing the game.

But even aside from that,

She was my friend, so it was only natural to do this much for her.

Sip.

Riviera sipped her coffee with a satisfied expression.

To appear right after I had looked at her relationship window.

“I was waiting for your fiancée to leave.”

Riviera said bluntly.

“Huh?”

“I was going to fly in through the window, but your fiancée scolded me for flying in the hospital.”

“…”

I could picture the scene perfectly.

Regina wouldn’t let something like that slide.

She was persistent.

Why didn’t she just use the door? Why wait all this time and then use the window?

“When are you getting discharged?”

“Hmm, in a few days?”

“It’s boring without you.”

Was I that entertaining?

I was honored.

“Here.”

Riviera suddenly handed me something.

It was… a notebook?

I blinked in surprise, taken aback by the unexpected gift.

“What’s this?”

“Lecture notes. You missed a lot of classes.”

“…”

Wow…

She had this side to her…?

W-Was this real?

Was this a dream?

Did Riviera actually have such a girly side?

I almost teared up, I was so touched.

“Th-Thank you…”

I stammered, flustered.

“I-I’ll write it down and return it to you…”

“It’s okay. I can write it down somewhere else.”

Riviera stood up.

“Ah, no. You’re leaving already?”

“You look tired.”

“…”

Oh, heavens.

Was she always this considerate?

are there maybe twins?

…How could I not be moved by this?

“I-I’m okay.”

“You need to get better soon. So it can be fun again.”

“Y-Yeah.”

“Don’t die.”

Her voice had a different weight to it this time.

“Huh?”

Before I could react, Riviera had already flown away, disappearing from sight.

“…”

I stood there for a while, staring at the open window.

And then.

“…She’s a good kid.”

I muttered, closing the window.