I Reincarnated as the Overpowered Male Lead in an Erotic Game and Had Already Slept with One of the Heroines~ - Chapter 7 - Picking Up Girls Is Part of the Eroge World

Chapter 7 – Picking Up Girls Is Part of the Eroge World

——A few days later

I was returning home after eating out.

I currently live alone. Neither my past self nor the original Ougo Kaito’s memories had any culinary skills to speak of, so my options for meals are limited to eating out or buying pre-made food from the convenience store.

“Life’s tough…”

The know-how of earning money has been perfectly imprinted on me, so even in my reincarnation, it’s not a problem. I have more money than I can spend, so it’s not a problem, but I don’t have any particular use for it.

Well, that’s fine, but… The house is a bit big, so it’s difficult to maintain.

In my previous life, I had some allergies, so after living alone, I cleaned about three times a week, but since I lived in an apartment, it wasn’t difficult at all.

However, this house is different.

The previous Ougo Kaito employed a housekeeper, but I’ve always been uncomfortable with strangers coming and going from my home, so I dismissed the help.

That’s why cleaning is a bit… No, it’s very difficult.

I’ve become a neat freak due to my allergies, so not cleaning is not an option for me.

While I was walking along thinking about this, I noticed a familiar girl surrounded by three people who looked like university students.

“Is that…Kaoru?”

At this time of night, why is she… Come to think of it, Kaoru goes to cram school, doesn’t she?

She always had top grades in the game, which meant she worked hard at her studies.

“No, this isn’t the time to just stand here thinking about it.”

Kaoru’s the type who might freeze up and get dragged along by pushy guys.

There’s no way I’m going to leave her like this.

With that thought, I made my way over to intervene.

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“Come on, let’s go! We’ll make sure you have a great time.”

“Yeah, we may look like this, but we’re gentlemen.”

“Come on, don’t be shy.”

“N-no, I…”

As I got closer, their voices became clear. Without hesitation, I stepped in, pulling Kaoru toward me.

“Kaoru? You need to firmly say no to people like this.”

“K-Kaito-kun?”

I looked at Kaoru’s face and her eyes were red and moist.

She was probably scared of the pick-up guys. She couldn’t say no because she was probably afraid they’d do something terrible to her if she refused…

I shifted my gaze to the three guys. They weren’t anyone I recognized.

Not that it matters. Most of the side characters don’t even have distinct faces in the original game, after all.

Whether these guys are part of the “game” or not doesn’t matter to me in the slightest.

Now that I’ve been reincarnated into the world of an eroge, this world is the real world for me and I have no intention of making a choice that I will regret.

Once I’d decided to win Kaoru over, it’s only natural that I’d protect her.

And since I’m not functioning as the protagonist, it goes without saying that things wouldn’t go according to the game’s plot.

…Well, I just happened to be passing by this time… But I’m really glad.

“So you’re her boyfriend?”

“Well, yes, you could say that.”

Ougo Kaito is quite strong and has memories of fighting, so I’m sure I could do it, but I don’t like fighting. I’d prefer to settle this as peacefully as possible.

Of course, I won’t show any mercy if push comes to shove…

As I was thinking that, one of the men started whispering to the other two.

I could hear bits of it in a low voice, but I think they mentioned my name.

“I-I see… S-since she has a boyfriend, let’s just go…”

“I-I suppose so.”

The guys who had been acting so strong up until now left with a frightened look on their faces for some reason.

Well, I, or rather Ougo Kaito, am pretty well known around here, so maybe I’ve met that guy before… Though it doesn’t really matter.

“Kaito-kun…”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah…”

Kaoru wasn’t crying, but she looked a bit downcast.

“Like I said before, you should have said no properly. If I hadn’t come by, you probably would’ve gone along with them, wouldn’t you?”

“I-I’m sorry… I was scared that they would do something to me if I refused…”

I knew it… If she had gone with them, things might have gotten even worse.

“You do understand what might’ve happened in the worst-case scenario, right?”

“Y-yeah…”

She seems really depressed so I don’t think it’s good to say too much…

“Well, let’s go home. I’ll take you home.”

“Thanks…”

——After that, we started walking.

“So this happened on your way back from cram school, huh?”

“Yeah… I knew in my heart I had to say no too but I couldn’t find the courage…”

“Well, that’s not something you can fix overnight. It’s something you’ll have to work on gradually. …I want to tell you to take it slow, but honestly, I’m worried.”

“Y-yes, I’m sorry.”

“There’s no need to apologize so stop apologizing. But I guess you should stop going out alone late at night. At least, until you can say no properly.”

“But I have cram school…”

“Hmm, can’t you get your parents to pick you up?”

Now that I think about it, I don’t remember seeing anything about Kaoru’s family in the game.

Well, there were plenty of routes I didn’t take, so who knows?

“Both Mom and Dad come home from work late at night, so that might be difficult… But you’re right. After something like today, I’m scared. I’ll try asking them.”

“That’s a good idea. Oh! Let’s exchange contact info. That way, you can get in touch with me if anything happens.”

I said, taking out my smartphone and opening LINE.

Kaoru looked at me, then opened her phone and exchanged contact info with me.

“Okay! That’s good. Then, if you’re in trouble or have something you want to talk about, don’t worry and just contact me right away, okay?”

“Y-yes! Thank you.”

“Yeah.”

“Kaito-kun! This is my house, so I’ll be fine from here.”

Kaoru said, pointing to a house.

“I see. See you tomorrow then.”

“Yeah! See you tomorrow. Thank you for helping me.”

“Don’t worry about it. As long as you’re safe, that’s all that matters to me.”

“Y-yes…”

When I said that with a smile, Kaoru blushed and looked down a little.

That’s it, even your embarrassed face is really cute.

For a moment, I wondered if I could push things a bit further, but given that she’d been scared from being hit on earlier, I figured it was better to let her rest early today.

With that thought in mind, I decided to head home.

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T/N: Kaoru is so cute~

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I Was Reincarnated as a Stepping-Stone Character in an Eroge, and by Breaking the Heroines’ NTR Flags in Place of the Protagonist, They Ended Up Falling for Me