I Reincarnated as a Mob Character in a Romcom Manga—After I Kept Comforting the Third “Fanservice” Heroine When She Got Dumped and Cried, I Feel Like She’s Started Directing Some Seriously Heavy Feelings at Me - Chapter 08: The Fanservice Heroine Who’s Only Good for Fap Material

Chapter 08: The Fanservice Heroine Who’s Only Good for Fap Material

Right as lunch break started the next day, I was once again jogging lightly toward that familiar spot behind the school building.

The weather was great again today—clear skies, with sunlight that felt just right as early summer crept closer.

Back in my previous life, I’d never had the chance—or the spare energy—to enjoy things like the changing seasons or scenery. So even this totally ordinary view behind the school felt special to me.

Man… being healthy really is amazing—

Just as I was getting misty-eyed over that thought, I heard footsteps and turned around.

“Oh, Chloe. Thanks again for today—wait, huh!?”

“…Morning, Jeromiya. Good day to you.”

Chloe walked toward me as she said that, staring at me with an incredibly sunken expression and dull, clouded eyes.

One look was enough to make me want to yelp.

Her face was deathly pale, like she might collapse onto all fours and throw up at any second.

And that wasn’t all—

Behind her, an ominous, cursed-looking aura was practically pouring out like a halo of misfortune, to the point where it felt like the background itself was wavering.

Compared to yesterday—right after she’d been dumped—she somehow looked even more drained, her expression and presence darker than before.

Seeing that, my face went pale as I hurriedly asked her what was wrong.

“G-Good day!? There’s no way you look ‘good’ right now! What happened!? Are you feeling sick!?”

“No, no, it’s not that. Not that. I’m just… really depressed. Or maybe crushed. Something like that…”

As she said that, Chloe sat down a few steps below me on the stairs.

She let out a long, heavy sigh that dragged on for several seconds, then weakly shook her head.

“…Hey, Jeromiya. Do I really have that little appeal as a woman?”

“Huh? N-No, that’s not true at all. I mean, if you’re a gravure queen, your appeal is off the charts, right…?”

“But don’t you think that’s appeal as a female, not as a woman?”

“I—I’m not really sure I get the difference.”

“So basically… from a guy’s point of view, am I only good as fap material, but not girlfriend or wife material?”

“O-Only fap material—!? What the hell happened!? Seriously, what did something like that to you!?”

Seeing just how badly shaken Chloe was, I pressed her for answers.

She let out another gloomy sigh and started rummaging through her bento bag.

“…This morning, on the way to school, I ran into Yaohara. After what happened yesterday, right? I figured I’d just ignore him and move on. But then I saw Hitotsuba-san standing right next to him.”

I sucked in a sharp breath.

Hitotsuba—Miyuki Hitotsuba.

The main heroine of this romcom story, Schrödinger’s Love. A beautiful girl.

I hadn’t actually met her yet, but I knew her well enough—glossy black hair, a slender, graceful figure, refined manners, top-tier grades, great at sports, and from a prestigious family descended from old nobility, with a father who was a sitting politician.

Overwhelming looks, pedigree, and talent—and yet she was also famous for her icy personality, never smiling at anyone, and for a razor-sharp tongue that could shred a person’s dignity the moment she bared her fangs. A classic tsundere beauty.

“You know Hitotsuba-san’s personality, right? She’s normally sharp-tongued and cold to pretty much everyone. You get that?”

“Y-Yeah… I know her very well.”

“Right? And yet, her usual poison wasn’t there. Not even a single snide comment. Instead, she was just quietly walking next to Yaohara, head lowered. Just… being there. By his side.”

“Ah—yeah… I think I’m starting to get it. That vibe where you don’t even need to talk anymore, right?”

“Exactly. Thanks for catching on so fast. …And then, while I was silently watching from behind—”

“Yeah?”

“Just tap. Yaohara’s finger brushed against Hitotsuba-san’s hand—the one holding her school bag.”

At that moment, the dark aura radiating from Chloe grew even thicker.

“Seriously, it was just a little tap. Just tap, barely even touching. And then—right at that moment—both Yaohara and Hitotsuba-san turned bright red.”

Oof…

That was the thought that crossed my mind, and at the same time, it looked like something pitch-black—like thick sludge—was dripping from Chloe’s clouded blue eyes.

“‘S-Sorry—n-no, I mean, I’m sorry too,’ and stuff like that. They both started apologizing while stuttering, even though neither of them did anything wrong. Faces red as tomatoes, looking down, looking away, scratching their heads…”

“Oooooo…”

The aura coming off Chloe began to sound like the moaning of a restless ghost.

“I mean, seriously—has Yaohara ever made that kind of face for me? Not even once. Do you know how many times I let him touch my boobs? How many times I pressed them against him? Ninety-five centimeters, H-cup—FRIDAY even called them ‘national-treasure-class ultra boobs,’ you know? They’re at least ten times bigger than Hitotsuba-san’s. At least. And yet—and yet—how does a girl who’s not even a tenth of me manage to draw out that kind of reaction from him with just a tiny touch?”

“C-Chloe…”

“And that’s when it hit me. The difference between a woman who gets chosen… and one who doesn’t. Basically, I’m only good as jerk-off material for gross guys, but never someone they’d want to make their wife. In other words—I’m mistress material. A side piece.”

“H-Hey, hold on! ‘Jerk-off material’!? Don’t talk about yourself like that—!”

“If this were some other era, I’d probably be kept by some greasy, half-yakuza lumber boss with a shiny bald head, given a room in a luxury condo, never worrying about money—just sitting there all day waiting for the old guy to show up. When I thought about that, I seriously started feeling like my entire worth was maybe a hundred grams at best…”

“O-Okay, that’s enough, that’s enough. I know this sounds cliché, but don’t spiral like that…! And what’s with that random lumber guy anyway!?”

Damn it… of all times for this dilemma to show up.

I cursed my awful timing.

In romcoms, there’s a problem that always follows the third heroine—and especially the fanservice heroine.

The so-called “fanservice heroine dilemma.”

The biggest reason fanservice heroines never win is simple: their value as a female is way too obvious. If the protagonist gives in, it looks like he lost to lust.

Once readers start thinking, “So the MC only cared about her body after all,” it’s basically over.

That’s why the more the fanservice heroine pushes and appeals, the harder it becomes for the protagonist to lean toward her.

Push too much, and it backfires.

That contradiction—that’s the fanservice heroine dilemma.

Even knowing how terrifying that dilemma was, how it kept affecting things like a butterfly effect long after individual heroine routes were already decided, I still forced myself to speak up and encourage her.

“Anyway, I get why you’re feeling so down now! But you’re you, and you do have real charm! So cheer up already!”

“…Like what kind of charm, exactly?”

Hit with that question in an incredibly low voice, sharp enough to cut, I could practically feel the neurons in my brain sparking.

Calm down. Calm down, me.

If you comfort someone like that, this question was obviously coming next.

I’d read the original so many times I practically had the lines memorized.

That meant finding Chloe Mitsushima’s charm outside of her fanservice appeal should be easy—!

For a few seconds, I frantically dug through my memories of the original story—

And then—ah.

One particular scene surfaced.

“…For example, the way you’re good with kids.”