I’ve Been Reincarnated as the Strongest Villain in an NTR Eroge, so I’m Going to Break the Heroines’ Doom Flags on Behalf of the Main Character! - Chapter 39 - The Uncontrollable Impulse

Chapter 39 – The Uncontrollable Impulse

We continued the photo session under the scorching sun, but Nanami was clearly not feeling well.

“It’s so hot…”

Although we were drinking plenty of water, it seemed that Nanami couldn’t bear the heat. She was swaying, looking like she was about to collapse at any moment.

“Hey… Are you okay?”

“I’m…okay…”

I checked to be sure, but it seemed like continuing was going to be difficult. Deciding that it was best to call it a day, we headed to a paid rest area with Nanami.

“I’m sorry, both of you… Thank you…”

“Don’t worry about it. The worst thing would be for Nanami to collapse.”

Sitting in a chair, Nanami was drinking a sports drink little by little while being looked after by Shiori. Even though the air conditioning was on in the rest area, Nanami’s face was still flushed. She seemed to be in a pretty close-to-fainting state.

“Hey, Kinoshita. Shouldn’t we call it a day?”

“……”

Nanami looked sad at my suggestion. She was probably the most disappointed with the result. She might say “No” and refuse to back down, but even so, with Shiori present, she should help persuade Nanami. I decided to be firm…

“…Yeah, let’s do that.”

“Eh… Is that really okay?”

As I was thinking of what to say next, Nanami smiled and agreed with my suggestion. Shiori, who was fanning herself, also stopped moving.

Seeing us like that, Nanami chuckled, and with a happy look on her face, told me the reason.

“Today was so much fun. A lot of people praised the costumes I made and Ibuse-kun and the others. It felt like a dream. Of course, there’s a bit of regret, but more than that, I felt really fulfilled. And…”

Nanami looked me in the eye and gave me a slightly mischievous smile.

“You’ll go again with me next time…and again after that, right?”

“…A man’s word is his bond.”

“Fufu… thanks.”

As I was having this somewhat embarrassing exchange with Nanami, Shiori, who seemed a bit flustered for some reason, interrupted our conversation.

“N-Nanami! Me too! I’ll go out with you as much as you want! So… you know!”

“Really?! Thank you, Shiori-chan!”

Contrary to Shiori’s flustered state, Nanami happily shook Shiori’s hand up and down. For a moment, I thought Shiori was glaring at me, but I decided to pretend I didn’t notice.

As we were enjoying our youth, a man came into the rest area room, and as soon as he saw us, he approached us.

“Sorry to interrupt your conversation… Are you cosplaying as Celia from ‘Hangan’?”

The man called out to Shiori. The moment she saw the man’s face, Shiori’s face switched to work mode. I’ve seen his face many times, so I know. This is the cosplayer man.

“Yes… That’s right.”

“I knew it! I was looking for it because it was a hot topic on social media, and the quality is really amazing! I’ve been a big fan of this work for a long time… I never thought I’d see something like this…”

The man spoke to Shiori in an excited manner. His eyes were looking down further than Shiori’s eyes, and he didn’t look at me at all. I couldn’t believe he had managed to deceive so many people.

“Not only Celia… Are you Operator-chan? It’s amazing…it’s made with so much detail…”

“Thank you.”

Nanami looked a little bitter at the man’s compliment, but expressed her gratitude. Then the man finally turned his attention to me and got to the point.

“Your Wolf cosplay is also really well done… and is that hawk motif inspired by Celia? It has originality and is fantastic. By the way, do you have any plans after this? If you’re interested, perhaps we can have an online meetup…”

“”……””

Persistent with his meetup requests… But! That’s not important right now! I needed to say something to this guy!

“U-um…”

Nanami seemed to feel the same way, and was about to talk to the man. But I got up from my seat before Nanami could and confronted the man.

“This hawk motif isn’t original, you know.”

“……Eh?”

The man looked surprised at being confronted by a big man out of nowhere. But I didn’t care about that at all and just calmly vented my frustration.

“This is an incredibly emotional costume that appears in the novel version of Hand Gauntlet: Beasts of the Battlefield, a spin-off work that was released after the original story ended and depicts what happens after the main story. Didn’t you know? Even though you’re a longtime fan? If you really are, you might want to check it out, it’s a very well-crafted story. I’m sure you’ll like it if you’re a true fan.”

“Ah, well…”

“…But, leaving that aside… Can I ask you one question?”

“…W-what is it?”

“…Operator’s real name. Do you know?”

The man, who had been bracing himself for a difficult question, looked confident and started answering with a face that said, “That’s an easy question…”

“Yeah, I know. It’s ‘Yomi’, right? Actually, the name was hinted at from the beginning… The impact of the foreshadowing at that time was amazing——”

“No, that’s an afterthought. The fanbook says the author added the character as a main character because it became popular. The author recently denied all the fan theories on social media. You didn’t even read the fanbook?”

“…Well, it’s from a long time ago… so…”

I could tell what kind of person he was. From researching his social media, I had realized that most of his cosplay was from minor works. And now, this look of confusion… he’s clearly…

“You’re just a newbie, aren’t you?”

“…No… I do know about it…”

I don’t want to say that newbies are bad. But this guy himself said he’s a big fan. And yet he only knows this little. He probably thinks it’s okay to be casual about minor works. Frankly, he’s underestimating the fans.

“…Instead of talking about meetups and surrounding women, you should go home right now and catch up on your studies.”

I’m getting attention from everyone around, but that’s nothing to me. If anything, if we’re getting this much attention, they’ll spread the word about this on their own.

Thinking that, I spoke in an even more threatening voice and glared at the man with murderous eyes.

“…Don’t ever come near my woman again.”

“Gaghh…!!!”

The man looked frustrated and left the rest area room.

The people around me looked at me like they saw something amazing, but I didn’t care and sat back down in my chair.

“Seriously… You’re starting to be like Nanami.”

“……Maybe so.”

Shiori had a slightly exasperated yet amused smile. It’s not that I’m starting to become like Nanami, I’ve always been like her, but… Well, let’s just leave it at that.

“Ibuse-kun…!”

Suddenly Nanami grabbed my hand and broke into a big smile.

“Thank you… You said everything I wanted to say… You were so cool! I feel so refreshed! Seriously… I’m glad I’m friends with Ibuse-kun!”

“Ah, well… you’re welcome…”

Honestly, I was regretting that my actions had been quite selfish and pushy, but… seeing Nanami’s smile like this was worth it.

“…Let’s get out of here for now, you two. You’ve had enough of a break, right?”

“”Ah, yes…””

Having attracted too much attention, we felt uncomfortable and left the room. We then changed into our casual clothes and decided to go hunting for another one of our goals, doujinshi.