I Became a Time-stopping Narrow-eyed Character

Chapter 1

Do you know that?

In comics, it's common sense that when a character draws a sword, a special ability is activated.

Of course, what I'm playing right now isn't a comic but a visual novel game titled [Apocalypse Love Comedy], and the protagonist is the only character with a special ability, but that didn't matter.

A demon sword that can cut through anything.

A game where an obviously special protagonist builds a harem of beautiful girls and saves the world—doesn't that sound appealing?

Yeah, if it were a game overflowing with romantic scenes and witty humor like the title suggests, it would have been.

If it had plenty of fan-service scenes, like a typical visual novel, and the gameplay was easy, it would have been a masterpiece.......

[ ...So, this is the end. ]

The protagonist of the visual novel, who seemed so cheerful at the start of the game, was now gazing up at the darkened sky with a face full of despair.

A dragon and a giant that herald the apocalypse were emerging from the dark clouds.

Even just one of them would guarantee a bad ending, but the skies above Tokyo, the setting of the visual novel, were already teeming with all sorts of monsters.

I commanded the protagonist to defeat the monsters, but he wouldn't budge.

The demon sword that could cut through anything was lying on the ground, split in half, and the female characters who were his companions had either betrayed him or were already dead.

[ If there's a next life....... ]

Muttering with hollow eyes, the protagonist closed his eyes.

A massive shadow enveloped his entire body, and a thunderous voice followed immediately after.

Boom─!

The giant's foot crushed the city.

[ Bad Ending! ]

It was the 132nd bad ending.

I hadn't experienced a single happy ending, not even a fan-service scene or a couple-forming event.

At this point, I couldn't tell if I was playing a beautiful girl conquest game or one of the world's toughest raid games.

"......Who the hell recommended this shitty game? Damn, why did I even buy this?"

I had been deceived by the pretty female character on the cover and the impressive monster designs.

A simulation where you date a super beautiful woman and defeat grotesque monsters.

Isn't that killing two birds with one stone?

......Of course, the fact that none of it went as I imagined was a huge problem.

Well, I wasn't particularly lonely.

After all, I could find plenty of fellow 'Apocalypse Love Comedy' comrades online.

[ Damn, who recommended this? ]

I barely got past Chapter 1, but I can't make it through Chapter 2...

Someone said before that there are fifteen episodes.

Do I seriously have to clear all fifteen episodes just to see a single fan-service scene for each main character?

For real?

Who recommended this trash game;;

Anonymous1 – Yep, you're the one who spent 25,900 won on this trash game, right? This was your choice, wasn't it?

ㄴDamn it.

Anonymous2 – Still, Eris is the main girl, right?

ㄴNope~ It's Hotaru~ She's the main girl~

Anonymous3 – Just think of it as a Souls-like game rather than a visual novel. Surprisingly, the designs are good lol...

ㄴNo, I came here to play a beautiful girl game... This is just all about the designs.

ㄴAnonymous1 – Yep, you're the one who spent 25,900 won on this trash game, right? This was your choice, wasn't it?

ㄴDamn it, stop it.

"Hmm, it's always chaos."

Normally, when you visit a visual novel community, it's filled with comments about which female character is the prettiest or most attractive.

But in the 'Apocalypse Love Comedy' community, it was nothing but whining from players who hit bad endings and detailed playthroughs from those genuinely trying to beat the game.

Nicknamed the Whiners and the Sages.

How on earth do you progress to the next chapter?

How much effort do you have to put in to see a love scene with your favorite character?

I was part of those serious discussions among the Sages.

It wasn't that I had a particular character whose fan-service scene I wanted to see; it was more like stubborn determination.

For someone who started this game with a romanticized idea of demon swordsmen, this was a huge challenge.

'I will conquer this damn trash game no matter what.'

It had already been a month since the game's release, and no one in the world had cleared it. I was starting to doubt if it was even possible, but since no other games caught my interest lately, I just kept playing.

[ Bad Ending! ]

"Ah, damn it."

I collected my 133rd bad ending.

This time, I died from the apocalyptic dragon's hellfire.

And so, my playtime gradually accumulated.

‧

‧

‧

‧

[ Bad Ending! ]

"......Hah."

I had now collected my 250th bad ending, and two months had passed since the release of 'Apocalypse Love Comedy.'

There had been some progress, but I had only cleared about half of the episodes. After hundreds of defeats against increasingly stronger enemies, I reached a conclusion.

[ Hello! I'm Kitagawa Kenichi! ]

A bright 17-year-old.

A high school boy with striking orange hair who acted as if he were the protagonist.

If this were a normal visual novel, he would have been the alpha male hero. But two months after its release, 'Apocalypse Love Comedy' was now infamous as one of the world's worst games.

This guy, who had just enrolled in a school that could only be described as a demonic realm, wasn't going to cut it.

'What? A demon sword that can cut through anything? That's so cool!'

When I first started, I was thrilled with this character, but it was impossible.

A demon sword with something like nullification attached couldn't clear this game.

I only realized that now.

"Damn, what a trash game."

Ding─!

"......?"

Just as I was about to quit the game, a notification arrived.

What is this? I disabled all my messengers to focus on the game......

Frowning, I opened the message to find an announcement from the game I had subscribed to in advance.

There was only one game for which I had notification settings enabled.

[ Hello, players. Thanks to your enthusiastic support, the development team of 'Apocalypse Love Comedy' has decided to release a DLC expansion......]

In summary, they were saying that because we were too bad at the game to clear it, they were releasing an expansion pack to make it easier.

"Those bastards?"

I had a gut feeling.

These guys deliberately made the main game difficult and then released an expansion pack to make money.

Fuming, I scrolled quickly through the patch notes for the expansion pack.

"......Oh."

They're adding a lot of new stuff?

Just by downloading the DLC expansion pack, there were new characters and events being added.

And also, weapons with special abilities!

"......Wait, a sword that cuts through space and a sword that cuts through time?"

All of this for just 15,000 won.

Nervously biting my nails, I debated but ultimately decided to happily become a sucker.

I had already wasted two months, so if I could be happy for just 15,000 won......

"......I'll gladly be a sucker!"

I immediately purchased the expansion pack, downloaded it, and launched the game.

The goal wasn't to clear the game... but to get the Time-Stopping Sword!

The Sword that Cuts Through Space is cool, but I thought controlling time was even more incredible.

Later on, when you're overpowered, you might be able to vaguely cut through space, but you can never cut through time!!!

Anyway, I memorized the details of the character listed as the owner of the Time-Stopping Sword.

There wasn't much specific information written, just details about which events you could encounter them in.

So the name of this character is......

"Ichimaru Shiki."

The moment I muttered it, my vision went dark.

***

How long had I been unconscious?

"Kyaaa!"

Suddenly, a piercing scream startled me awake.

What entered my vision wasn't my dark room or a large monitor, but an absurdly random wooded mountain.

What I saw was enormous black wolves attacking a girl in a school uniform.

'......What is this?'

An incomprehensible scene, far removed from my everyday life. It was like something straight out of a game event.

For instance, from that crappy game I'd been playing, 'Apocalypse Love Comedy'......

Just as a sense of déjà vu struck me, the girl about to be attacked by the wolves screamed once more, and before I could think, my body moved instinctively.

─Srrrng.

I drew the sword hanging at my waist.

It was also far from anything ordinary, a longsword that seemed to belong to the Sengoku era.

As the light of the full moon reflected off the blade, its ability activated.

─At that moment, everything stopped.

As proof, the girl who had been desperately screaming froze in place.

The sound of her piercing scream was no longer audible.

Thud, thud, thud—Even the wolves, who had been running toward her on all fours, stopped in mid-air.

As if struck by petrification magic, they froze in place.

No, if they had merely turned to stone, they would have fallen to the ground. This was closer to absolute stillness.

Yes, time had stopped.

Realizing this, I shouted in delight at the astonishing situation.

"Oh my, everything has stopped?"

......?

What is this?

Rubbing my mouth, which had uttered something strange on its own, I quickly realized.

It seemed that not only had I obtained the Time-Stopping Sword, but my body had also changed.

Apparently, a lot had changed.