I Became a Time-stopping Narrow-eyed Character

Chapter 8

"This is troublesome."

He touched the dagger inside his sleeve and pondered. Things had deviated significantly from the original plan.

Episode 1, 'The Promised Day,' changes in specific circumstances depending on the game's randomness, but Kenichi usually awakens in the school classroom.

Upon awakening, he encounters a monster and engages in battle. The key point is that one of the main heroines helps divide the attacking monsters.

'Hotaru must have gone home early to prepare for stargazing with Kenichi, and the blonde brat said she was having tea with her lackeys?'

That leaves the Ancient Weapon, Sawamura Sento.

In fact, she had the highest participation rate in Episode 1 within the game.

An exemplary student and class president, Sawamura Sento.

She also served as a library committee member, so she spent the most time at school.

Today is the day the Lunar Eclipse phenomenon reaches its peak.

Sento, whose senses were heightened by the moon, was supposed to be naturally drawn to Kenichi, who had awakened his bloodline, but it seemed I interpreted things to suit my convenience.

"The priority has shifted to me."

I drew aggro.

In a very unfavorable direction.

Reflecting anew, I approached Sento ahead with a sly smile plastered like a mask.

"This is truly troublesome."

At present, I am being forced to make a choice.

Should I leave Sawamura Sento, who is pressing me for an answer, and run to Kenichi, or trust in the protagonist's potential and have a conversation before leaving?

'But if Sento, who can adequately divide the monsters, stays here.......'

Kenichi, who has just awakened, won't last long.

In very rare cases, he can resolve things on his own, but that's only when the monster's compatibility is exceptionally favorable, and even then, the odds of a bad ending soon are high.

For the protagonist to die on the first day of awakening, it would cast misfortune over the progression of 'Apocalypse Love Comedy,' and even the incompetent Demon Sword would be utterly ruined.

Yes, the super-strong and cool Demon Sword gets destroyed!

"Hmm, this is truly troublesome."

"What's so troublesome?"

"Mine is far superior, but things that belong to others always seem more desirable simply because they're not ours."

"......?"

Sento tilted her head with a puzzled expression, as if she didn't understand my words.

"Is that some kind of dirty joke?"

I smiled kindly and corrected her judgment like a gentleman.

"No, it's a serious concern."

Essentially, it's a choice between the protagonist and the main heroine.

If this were a conversation with an ordinary heroine, running to the protagonist wouldn't be a big problem, but Sawamura Sento is no ordinary heroine.

Depending on the branching paths, she could awaken as an episode boss, a darkened heroine.

Whether it's her superior physical abilities or her time-stopping power, she has a variety of means at her disposal. If she sets her mind to it, evading the Sento in front of me would be very easy.

But if I do, she'll almost certainly awaken in a bad direction and torment me.

'If it's a card I have to discard anyway.'

It's better to deal with it here and now.

Having failed by greedily trying to have everything, it was now right to give up on one.

Here and now-

'Kill the heroine.'

Gripping the dagger inside my sleeve, I made my decision.

As I continued to walk forward, I soon found myself within arm's reach of Sento.

Standing right in front of her, I looked down at Sawamura Sento and met her crimson eyes.

As our eyes locked, as if sensing something, Sento spoke with a pitiful expression.

"So, are you ready with your answer?"

At the same time, her magical energy surged.

Like her crimson eyes that seemed ready to erupt at any moment, her aura began to rise.

The red eye in the sky aided her.

Soon, the entire street was engulfed in Sento's magical energy.

Haha, the people casually walking around, oblivious to the situation, flowed like waves.

Sawamura Sento burned her bright red pupils as she stared intently at me.

"You'd better answer carefully."

Of course, the young lady in front of me had no idea either.

If I wanted to, I could kill her in the blink of an eye, yet here I was, drawing aggro.

If left alone, she would become a hidden boss that would cause countless casualties.

Thinking it was better to deal with her first, I suddenly noticed a hint of hesitation.

"......Are you going to fight?"

Sawamura Sento's senses were sharp.

Just by briefly locking eyes, she could read her opponent's emotions and thoughts.

There was no way she wouldn't know the resolve I now harbored, especially with the full moon's power amplifying her.

The street had grown dark before I knew it.

Sento's crimson eyes, as bright as the moon in the sky, trembled violently.

Not with anger or hostility, but with fear.

I wasn't the only one forced to make a choice; she was in the same position.

She dared to risk her life to uncover the truth.

It was like a child playing with a bomb, flaunting bravado while knowing they might get caught in the explosion.

"......."

I slowly scanned her figure again.

Despite her unusually mature appearance for a girl her age, her face was still youthful, and she couldn't hide the trembling in her pupils and hands.

She tried to conceal her fragile heart with thorns, but unfortunately, it had been exposed.

Before being a hidden boss who might soon betray me, an Ancient Weapon, or any such title, she was a seventeen-year-old girl.

I realized that only now.

"Indeed, a series of mistakes."

Nodding slowly and reproaching myself, I made another decision.

Since I'd already been greedy, I might as well see it through to the end.

Staring intently into Sawamura Sento's bright red eyes, I finally spoke.

"Alright, I'll tell you. The truth!"

"......What?"

At those words, the waves of emotion reflected in Sento's eyes grew even stronger.

Was it because she hadn't expected me to answer at all?

Or had she already foreseen the ridiculous demand I was about to make?

"But I'm a bit shy! While I gather my thoughts, could you please close your eyes for just a moment?"

Smiling, I raised three fingers.

"Three seconds is all I need."

***

Boom!

Boom—!

Dodging the iron club that relentlessly smashed the classroom floor, Kenichi was utterly dazed.

'What is this? A dream?'

A sudden red oni? It didn't feel real.

Surely this couldn't be a hidden camera prank from a TV show.

The scale was too large......and far too cruel to be a prank on a mere student.

Boom—!

......Besides, if he got hit by that iron club, he'd die for sure, so how could this be a prank?

Yes, this had to be a dream.

Kenichi, wanting to believe, felt a shard of the classroom floor graze his cheek.

The faint stinging pain and the sensation of blood trickling down his face sent chills down his spine.

"......It's not a dream!"

Kenichi screamed in terror, throwing himself away with all his might.

Boom—! As he continued to dodge the iron club falling like a thunderbolt, the red oni tilted its head.

—Uuung?

Something kept missing its mark.

The intelligence of a yokai that had yet to eat any humans was extremely low, but it at least understood that if this kept dragging on, it wouldn't get to eat a human.

The oni, after some thought, shouted.

—Uwooooooo!!!!!

A fierce wind blew around the oni, and even though Kenichi wasn't physically affected by it, he was suddenly overwhelmed with unease.

'......What's with that guy? Why did it suddenly scream?'

That thought was fleeting, as Kenichi suddenly heard a sound coming from afar.

Boom! Boom! Something......no, somethings, seemed to be charging fiercely.......

Boom!

Boom!

Boom—!

—Uwooooooo!

"......."

Seeing the beings that soon arrived at the classroom, Kenichi was left speechless.

Whether this was a dream or not, he was trying to somehow avoid the oni and get out of the classroom.

But it seemed impossible.

As if things weren't difficult enough already, three more oni appeared and blocked the classroom door.

"......Damn it."

Even Kenichi, who usually used polite and refined language, uttered harsh words in such a horrific situation.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The closer the oni approached, the harder Kenichi's heart pounded.

Jingle, jingle, the cross hanging around his neck.

Shone brightly as it shook violently.

***

"Three seconds is all I need."

Sawamura Sento suddenly thought.

That man has a good sense of things.

Then he must know what she was prepared to do and what she was worried about.

Yet, what kind of idea would lead someone to ask their enemy to close their eyes?

"......Will that be enough?"

But Sawamura Sento decided to trust her opponent in what might be her last moment as a human.

At the very least, she believed it wouldn't be the worst choice.

As the man with slit eyes standing before her quietly nodded, Sento closed her eyes.

To ensure the man before her couldn't find fault with her, she meticulously counted the time.

Taking a deep breath, Sento spoke.

"One."

At that moment, the man with slit eyes, Ichimaru Shiki, drew a dagger from his sleeve.

—Time slowed.

The movement of her lips, as if about to say "two," slowed, and not just that, but everything and everyone around them turned into slow motion.

A world slow enough.

But Shiki didn't stop there.

To reach the school in an instant, he needed more time.

Reaching out his hand into the air, he murmured.

"Open."

In a pitch-black world, his hair now white, he called for his sword.

And then,

—Time stopped.