Chapter 191: The Cuckold Warrior—Your Fate is Sealed!

Admiration?

Or was it something deeper—like, love?

Sitting alone in the science prep room, Futaba Rio stood up.

Then sat back down.

The white lab coat she was wearing crumpled slightly.

Her thin eyebrows furrowed together tightly.

She tried to think it through, alone.

As a science girl, she always had a unique ability to analyze herself objectively.

But—

"I can't figure it out."

Futaba Rio's autumn-leaf-colored eyes lifted slightly.

She really couldn't figure it out.

Whether it was her messy emotions,

Or the real reason she wanted to be noticed.

Futaba let out a soft sigh.

She didn't blame Minami for saying things that left her so confused.

Because objectively speaking, he wasn't wrong.

Teenage admiration and love were, as he said, easily confused.

But if she couldn't figure it out on her own…

Then—

Would it be better to talk to someone else?

Hesitating, she pulled out her phone.

Her first instinct was to message Azusagawa Sakuta—one of the only people she could call a friend.

But after thinking about it—

That lazy bastard had been obsessed with some upperclassman lately.

And considering his usual half-assed attitude…

"Ugh… he's unreliable."

Futaba frowned.

Her pale fingers scrolled through her pathetically short contact list,

Trying to find someone her age she could actually talk to.

But no matter how much she scrolled…

Her contact list wasn't going to magically get longer.

In the end, her gaze locked onto a single name.

"This person… can I rely on them?"

Futaba stared at her screen.

A neatly typed name appeared in her contacts—

Yamada Ryo.

"This person… can I trust them?"

She hesitated.

Her connection to Yamada Ryo was purely by chance.

Because of their wealthy families, their parents had arranged for them to meet twice.

Honestly, they weren't even friends.

But…

"She should be fine, right?"

There wasn't really anyone else she could ask.

And Yamada Ryo…

How should she put it?

She had a calm and distant aura, giving off the impression of someone reliable.

She didn't talk much, but when she did, her words were sharp and to the point.

There was an air of elegance and wisdom about her.

Thinking this, Futaba stopped hesitating, pressed her screen, and dialed.

"Hello? Yamada?"

"It's Futaba Rio."

"Yeah, I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Okay, I'll treat you to a meal. You pick the place and send me the address."

"We'll talk in person."

A simple exchange, and Futaba hung up.

She took off her lab coat, neatly folded it, and locked up the science room before heading out.

As she walked through the school halls,

Several students recognized her,

But not one greeted her.

Living at Shuka High, Futaba Rio felt like a ghost…

A completely invisible person.

Not wanted, not needed

...

"Fuck."

Meanwhile, on the other side of campus, Minami had just sat down when he realized something.

A hint of regret flashed across his face.

He had definitely made a mistake.

He'd gotten too caught up in lecturing her,

And forgot to ask the one thing he actually wanted to know.

Which was—

"The whole 'Adolescence Syndrome' thing…"

Minami tapped his fingers against the table.

Adolescence Syndrome.

That was what he had completely forgotten to ask Futaba Rio about.

In the world of "Bunny Girl Senpai", Adolescence Syndrome was a bizarre phenomenon that only affected teenagers.

Its manifestations varied—

For example, one person could split into two separate selves due to an identity crisis.

Another could keep repeating the same day over and over because of guilt over a mistake.

It sounded like pure fantasy.

But in the anime, these incidents actually happened.

"I mean, I don't really think something that unscientific exists in this world, but…"

Minami muttered to himself, glancing at the floating simulator screen beside him.

But then again—

Even the simulator itself wasn't exactly scientific either.

If it existed, then was Adolescence Syndrome really that far-fetched?

This was important information.

Because if it did exist, then girls like Hitori Gotoh and the others—

Who were at the peak of their emotional teenage years—

Could very well trigger it.

So no matter what, he needed to find out if it was real.

That was the real reason he agreed to meet Futaba Rio in the first place.

So—

"Should I go back and ask her?"

Minami checked his phone.

It had been about ten minutes since he left the science room.

Considering how anti-social Futaba was,

She should still be there, right?

Then there was no need to hesitate.

One of Minami's strongest traits was his decisiveness.

He immediately stood up and headed back to the science room.

But—

"Huh? It's locked?"

Standing outside the locked door, Minami raised an eyebrow.

This didn't make sense.

According to the anime, Futaba Rio was the ultimate lab rat—

She almost never left this room.

So why was she suddenly gone today?

"What a coincidence."

Asking a nearby female classmate, he learned that Futaba had just left campus.

Minami clicked his tongue, shaking his head in mild annoyance.

And to make things worse—

Even when he texted her on LINE, she wasn't responding.

It was as if she wasn't even looking at her phone.

For the first time in his life, Minami felt frustrated by how hard it was to contact someone in the modern era.

After searching the school, asking other students, and still finding nothing,

Minami eventually returned to his seat in class.

"Damn it, the 'Adolescence Syndrome' thing is actually important…"

"Fine. If that's how it is—"

Minami was not the type to procrastinate.

Since he couldn't ask her directly,

He decided to put Futaba Rio back into the simulator list.

A single simulation should give him all the answers he needed.

Besides—

Even if he asked Futaba in person,

There was a high chance she wouldn't even know about Adolescence Syndrome yet.

The "Bunny Girl Senpai" story might not have even started in this world.

A simulation would be faster and more efficient.

He pressed her name.

And immediately, he saw her current status.

[Simulation Target: Futaba Rio]

Status: Confused, Lost, Desires to be Saved.

"Huh?"

This was the first time Minami had ever seen "Desires to be Saved" as a status.

Desires to be Saved?

Who needed saving?

Futaba Rio?

Why?

Wasn't she just stressed about socializing?

Why did this suddenly sound so much more serious?

As someone who had barely paid attention to the anime,

Minami had no idea what he had just stepped into.

"Forget it."

Without enough information to analyze, Minami's understanding of Futaba Rio remained limited to the anime version of her.

But this wasn't anime—this was reality.

In reality, people experience joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness. Their emotions fluctuate unpredictably, unlike scripted characters.

Some differences between an animated persona and a real person were to be expected.

With that in mind, Minami decided to stop overanalyzing.

Everything he needed to know would be revealed in the simulation.

"Now then… how many Affection Points do I have left?"

He glanced at the counter.

Due to his recent direct simulation, his points were running low.

Even though they had replenished slightly, they had only climbed back up to 560.

Still, that was enough for one simulation.

Would you like to begin a simulation?

Yes / No

—Yes!

Current Affection Points: 260

[Simulation Start.]

[A sudden request from Futaba Rio, combined with an unexpected discussion about relationships, left you completely baffled after a busy day at the Cultural Festival.]

[From your perspective, this science girl clearly has a crush on someone already, yet she still had the nerve to come talk to you? This was nothing less than a direct challenge to your title as 'Minami, the Incubus'!]

[You silently vowed to make this big-breasted science woman fully understand the power of your irresistible charm.]

[Cuck Warrior! This role is yours to claim!]

"..."

Minami stared at the screen.

"Uh-huh."

Then, he fell silent for a good few seconds.

Sometimes, he really had to wonder—was this damn simulator screwing with him on purpose?

...Forget it.

It was a cursed simulator anyway.

Minami sighed, giving himself a mental pep talk before continuing to read.

[The next day, you took the initiative to head to the science prep room. Likewise, with your keen observational skills, you quickly discerned her current confusion regarding emotional matters.]

[You understood deeply that a girl's hazy feelings during high school were nothing more than an illusion—flowers in the mirror, the moon in the water.]

[With just a little verbal guidance, this blank canvas before you could easily be dyed with the colors of your rich experience.]

[Under your firm tone and forceful verbal manipulation, Rio, weak and powerless, completely naive in matters of love, was gradually forced into retreat—slowly becoming a slave to your words.]

"..." Minami.

You'd better really be talking about negotiations or something!?

Experienced? Forceful? Weak and powerless? A slave to words?

Minami realized that this simulator lady sure knew how to craft a sentence.

At the very least, if it were up to him, he would never have come up with this many shameless lines.

And what the hell was 'verbal manipulation' supposed to mean?

Minami couldn't help but shake his head.

Everything he had said before had been nothing but his own genuine thoughts.

In every possible sense, this simulator was seriously out of whack.

[Under the influence of your words, though nearly imperceptible, her heart did indeed waver slightly.]

[Because, just as you said, high school romance and admiration were often indistinguishable.]

[And compared to others, her mental state was clearly more unstable, more fragile.]

[Now, with a trace of hesitation surfacing in her heart, in this situation, you should—]

[1. Seize the opportunity! No woman can resist the charm of Minami, the incubi king! The cuckold warrior! Your victory is certain!]

[2. Hmph! Not interested in me? Take the initiative! Pursue her boldly, and once she's yours—dump her! Let her experience the agony of regret, the despair of a love lost!]

[3. You don't care whether Futaba Rio mistook admiration for love—you care more about what caused her unstable mental state in the first place. Observe quietly, figure out the reason, that's what you should really do.]

[4. Direct Simulation.]

"Oi? What the hell are these scumbag options?"

Before the simulator could even finish displaying them, Minami couldn't hold back anymore. He reached out and poked at the simulator's interface.

This simulator lady was seriously acting weird today, wasn't she?

The first option straight-up called for becoming a cuckold warrior—what the hell?

That being said, Minami had to admit, the simulator wasn't wrong. High school girls probably wouldn't be able to resist the sheer impact of his 9-point appearance stat, further enhanced by the [Shinjo Akane's Perfect, Enchanting Smile], which boosted it to a full 10 points.

If he wanted to go for a fast break...

Then, without a doubt, the first option wasn't entirely wrong. It was just... the wording was atrocious.

Minami decided to keep it as an option for now and moved his gaze to the second choice.

If the issue with the first option was its phrasing, then the second option was straight-up suicidal.

Agony of regret? Pursue her over only to abandon her?

What kind of overbearing CEO novel nonsense was this?

This was a death flag through and through.

Minami shook his head and immediately ruled it out.

That left option three.

At first glance, the third option seemed like the most reasonable.

After meeting Futaba Rio today, Minami had already noticed it—beneath her composed and delicate features lay an extremely fragile psyche, an anxious heart.

At this point, the most rational course of action was to take a step back, observe her state, and respond accordingly to her emotional condition.

That was, undoubtedly, the correct choice.

"But... it's this shady-ass simulator giving me the options."

Minami stared at the pale blue screen.

Truth be told, this wasn't the first time he had chosen the "safe" option.

And while it had been right before, there were also times when it wasn't.

Playing it safe didn't always mean making the right choice. Sometimes, taking the aggressive route wasn't necessarily wrong either.

If even the first option turned out to be a mistake...

Then there was no point considering the others at all.

So...

Staring at the first and third options, Minami fell into deep thought.

What should he choose?