Episode 2 - The Tutorial Heroine (1)
It was Friday, and with the weekend just around the corner, Naoya decided to get a head start. That's why he'd skipped school today, spending the entire day holed up in his room, immersed in dating sims. Hinako had left the apartment earlier, giving him the perfect opportunity to focus without interruptions.
"If I'm going to navigate this game properly, I need to stay on the intended route—if it's even a game anymore. The best way to start is with the easiest route."
By the "easiest route," he meant the heroine with the simplest path. In every dating sim, there was always a heroine like this, often called the Tutorial Heroine. Her route was typically the most straightforward, with minimal dialogue and a fast track to completion. Many players overlooked the Tutorial Heroine, finding her character bland and unremarkable. However, for those who wanted to jump straight to a sex scene, she was usually the quickest choice.
The issue was that, now that this was reality, Naoya had no idea where to find her—or even if she existed in this world at all.
"Usually, the Tutorial Heroine appears right at the start of the game," Naoya said, his brow furrowing. "But the first person I encountered was Hinako-nee. From everything that's happened so far, I realize now that Hinako-nee definitely isn't the Tutorial Heroine."
So, who could it be? Naoya's mind raced, and he suddenly remembered something crucial. In the previous game, there were two women with Love Meters floating above their heads. The first one was Hinako, but the second was Yumi. He quickly ruled out Yumi, though. Typically, Big Sis Heroines like Yumi were known for having the most difficult routes. They required the player to overcome numerous obstacles, such as convincing society to accept their relationship, gaining approval from their guardians, and even getting married against societal norms. It required a lot of effort and navigating through complex scenarios. That's why it couldn't be Yumi.
"Not that I'm planning on pursuing Nee-chan, of course," Naoya muttered to himself. He was at a dead end now, with no clear path forward. If there had been a definite Tutorial Heroine, he would have jumped straight into her route without hesitation. But now, it looked like he needed to find her first before he could even start. "But where the fuck do I even begin looking?"
In a typical dating sim setting, Naoya would expect to find the Tutorial Heroine on campus. But in Love Odyssey, the Tutorial Heroine wasn't anywhere near the university. She appeared right before the game started. She was the protagonist's childhood friend, and her route kicked off one day when the Protagonist visited her home just before class. Upon entering her room, the Protagonist would find the Tutorial Heroine masturbating while moaning his name. This scene marked the beginning of her route, leading smoothly to a sex scene by the end. Out of all the heroines, she was the easiest to route because it was nearly impossible to mess up, and there were no BAD ENDS to worry about.
However, unlike the protagonist in Love Odyssey, Naoya had no childhood friend to rely on. While Hinako had been a part of his life since childhood, she clearly wasn't the Tutorial Heroine.
"This is going to be a fucking nightmare," he muttered to himself, frustration evident in his voice. "To keep Hinako-nee from ending up in a bad situation, I have to stick strictly to the story's path. If I mess up, I can always reload from a save point and try again, but I'd rather avoid the painful experience of losing Hinako-nee once more."
Naoya was clueless about why he had become the protagonist of Love Odyssey, but with the looming threat of losing someone precious to him, he couldn't afford to screw up.
"In that case, aiming for the harem ending seems like the safest play, especially since..."
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✽Main Quests✽
✱Finish at least 10 heroines
Reward:
﹡10000 Gold Coins
Penalty:
﹡Death
﹡All characters designated as heroines or sub-heroines will die
Deadline:
355 days
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"...this game really does have some fucking high stakes," Naoya muttered, his eyes scanning the quest details with a mix of dread and determination.
That's right. In Love Odyssey, there was a main quest that required him to complete the routes of at least 10 heroines. In other words, he needed to finish the routes of 10 heroines and achieve the harem ending, which was considered the GOOD ENDING in the game. The deadline for this quest was set to within a year of in-game time. Each day in the game spanned around one real hour, giving him a total of 365 hours to meet the deadline.
This rule applied only within the game. In reality, a day was just a full, real day.
If Naoya failed to complete the main quest within that time frame, it would be game over—no BAD END, no GOOD END, just plain old game over. In the game, there was no penalty as severe as death. But now, there was a real threat of death, not only for him but also for those originally designated as heroines and sub-heroines.
And considering the deadline was now only 355 days, even after he reset the game, it meant that no matter how many times he hit the restart button, the deadline wouldn't magically go back to 365 days.
"This game is seriously fucked up," he muttered, clenching his jaw. Anger and frustration bubbled beneath his skin, making his hands tremble. "I don't know who the hell is playing god and tossing me into this shitstorm, putting the lives of so many innocent people on the line. I don't even get why I'm stuck with this. But fine. I'm going to play along with your twisted game." He took a deep breath, determination hardening his gaze. "First thing's first—I need to track down the Tutorial Heroine."
But without any clues about her identity, he couldn't possibly know who the Tutorial Heroine was. There was even a chance that she might not exist at all. But with the deadline ticking away, he had no choice but to act.
So, with a steely resolve, he decided to start searching for the Tutorial Heroine.