Chapter 84: Love Is War [1]

A force pulled at Roy, and the LOVE.exe environment zoomed past him in a flash. When he came to, he was sitting in a bustling classroom.

Students chatted in groups. Class hadn’t begun yet.

“Woah…” Roy spoke, but the sound that came out of his mouth wasn’t his voice.

Looking down at his stubby fingers and shorter arms, a horrific thought crept into his mind, and he scrambled to the window to see his reflection.

Right before him was a chubby-faced, bespectacled boy with a bowl haircut in the school uniform. He had that typical nerd vibe, which Roy associated with being a loser.

“System!” he screamed in horror. “Why didn’t you put me in someone with a better physique?!”

[…]

Roy was about to yell again, but he noticed the classroom had gone a bit silent and looked around. The others were staring at him as though he was weird, screaming at his reflection out of nowhere.

“A-Ahem!” Roy harrumphed and calmly sat back down.

A pink-themed system notification popped up before him.

[−5 Reputation.]

’What? That’s unfair.’ Roy bit his fat lip.

“Dammit.”

Roy looked down at his wrist again, where a simple number was displayed. He had ignored it initially due to the shock from being in a less-than-optimal state of being.

’My remaining error points…’ Right there on his wrist, below his palm, and like a tattoo, was the number ’15.’

Roy wondered if it was going to be too obvious this way, but it vanished with a mere thought and reappeared again on command.

He nodded.

[Host, would you like to view your status?]

System messages like this that weren’t native to the LOVE.exe environment were simply words in his mind, not prompting any panels.

’I can do that?’

“Yes, I would like to,” Roy answered hushedly.

+

[Status]

Name: Haruto Takahashi (Roy Mclloyd)

Age: 15

Current Level: 7

Stat Points: 7.0

Skills: Link (Active), 2x Multiplier (Passive)

Current Overall Stats: Appeal = 1.0, Morale = 1.0, Social = 1.0, IQ = 1.0, Luck = 1.0 >> Total = 5.0

Current Overall Rating: “Incel piece of shit.”

Miscellaneous: —

~

Health: ♡♡♡

Stamina: 100%

Love Points: 0

+

“Piss off, stupid love system. Insulting me so brazenly when I know how you shamelessly lick Pierre’s boot. Dammit. So I’m that loner guy that was Pierre’s friend in his nerd run of this stage.”

’This is Level 10, but it says I’m at 7. I guess my personal level is what’s utilized here. My skills are here too. Sweet. However, my stat attributes are different…’ Roy lampooned.

At that moment, he spotted a familiar figure entering the classroom. Of course, it was the delinquent Pierre.

’Yeah, I was watching him walk down to school before… this.’ Roy remembered.

He ignored Pierre for now and focused on the pink-themed panel before him.

He quickly spotted a problem.

“Why do I only have seven stat points?”

’Hmm. It isn’t counting the stat points I earned from Pierre’s system, only the ones that came naturally from me levelling up.’ Roy surmised.

This was quite the issue. His system’s major strength lay in the fact that he could receive stat points from means other than leveling up, but here that fact was obsolete.

’What can I do with only seven stat points? Dammit. Which stat should I even focus on?’ He wondered.

Roy rubbed his round chin slightly and crossed his arms.

“I need to focus on the fact that I’m here to help Pierre complete the main quest… Wait. Can I complete the main quest myself?”

[No. No one but the host of the EXE can complete quests.]

“Thought so. I bet this applies to side and hidden quests.”

[Yes.]

Roy scratched his chin.

“Can you explain each stat to me?”

[Yes. Appeal determines your overall handsomeness and fitness, improving your stamina and athleticism. Morale regulates your level of courage in social and emotional situations, and also, the higher your morale, the fewer Love Points needed to perform a skill.

Social determines how much innate charisma your presence, humor, and casual expressions exude. IQ improves the logical side of your brain, aiding in thinking rationally, and puts up a mental defense against mind-based attacks.

Luck determines one’s capability of conversational correctness and beneficial social encounters.]

After asking for further clarification on that last bit, Roy learned conversational correctness meant coincidentally saying the right things that would make another individual like or hate one more. This was heavily dependent on what the host wanted. For example, if Roy wanted to anger someone, the higher the luck, the better he would be at saying something that would make them charge at him in rage.

“If that’s the case, won’t being able to defend against Pierre’s skills with IQ come in handy? But Morale sounds like a good idea, too. However, if I’m to help Pierre from the shadows, increasing my sociability is the way to go. Luck too. Hmm…”

Roy couldn’t decide, and the teacher entered the class.

The students all stood up to greet.

’The only bad choice is Appeal,’ Roy noted and requested to see the objective of the main quest.

+

[Main Story #10 — Love Is War]

Objectives:

1. Make (Yoshida Aiko) fall in love with (Pierre).

2. Prevent her untimely death by any means possible.

+

’If I want to find what’s killing Yoshida Aiko, I’ll need to be smart, first and foremost.’

Roy finally decided and increased his IQ from 1.0 to 8.0. He didn’t believe he had the resources to invest in two different stats.

There were no obvious changes Roy could outright feel, probably because this was just a simulation.

There was a math pop quiz during one of the classes, and the right answers were shone with a bright light, either on the test paper if there were options, or in his mind if there was to be a written answer.

“Heh. Sweet,” Roy commented, holding his grade sheet. He had an A+, something that was quite foreign in his entire academic journey so far.

“Very good, Kurosaki Choji and Yoshida Aiko. They had perfect scores. Keep up the good work.”

The male teacher praised them and left the classroom.

“Perfect scores on a pop quiz? Amazing.”

“Aiko-chan’s not surprising. But Haruto-san? I didn’t know he was so smart.”

“What did you score?”

“Oh, me? Ah, haha. C+.”

“…”

’Wow. I’ve never been the centre of attention like this…’ Roy felt joy well up inside. The only other time he was a centre of attention, it was for stupid things, like when he held on to Pierre, and everyone thought he was fighting for Jane.

Although this was just a simulation, everything so far had been quite realistic, making it easy to suspend disbelief.

As the students conversed among themselves, there was a voice that was louder than the others.

“Haruto-san is a nerd. What do you expect?”

A certain group of delinquents and those who sought to impress laughed at the ridicule.

Roy’s eyes narrowed.

Pierre cackled at his joke and spoke when he noticed Roy staring at him for too long.

“What? Is something the matter, four-eyes?”

“Quiet.” Yoshida Aiko spoke sternly, making Pierre click his tongue.

“Tch.”

Pink-haired, cheerful but stern, with wide eyes, and a reserved gait.

She walked over to Roy’s side and smiled.

“You must have worked hard, Haruto-san. That’s amazing.”

Before Roy’s eyes, the dialogue appeared. But unlike that of Pierre’s time didn’t stop. Instead, he was given a three-second countdown to respond.

[A: T-T-T-T-Thank you.]

[B: Y-You don’t have to talk to a piece of shit like me.]

[C: *Nod*.]

Roy kept a simple smile and shook his head.’This stupid system is trying hard to piss me off. Too bad I have already seen Mount Tai. Such things don’t affect me anymore.’

Of course, he chose the least diabolical among the three options, Option C.

However, his selection went up to Option A right as the countdown ended, and involuntarily, he voiced, “T-T-T-T-Thank you.”

’Fuuuuuuuck!!!’

Pierre and his group burst out laughing.

“T-T-T-Thank you. Four-eyes is afraid of girls. Ahahaha~”

Most of the class joined in on the laughter. Roy could feel Pierre’s reputation increase.

And adding salt to the wound, a pink virtual panel displayed a quick notification.

[−15 Reputation.]

He could just see the LOVE.exe wear a big mocking smile.

’System! What the hell is this? My decision was overridden!’

[Host, you are not the host of LOVE.exe. His characteristics take precedence, so the entire story revolves around him and him alone. Creating chances for him to be the delinquent he seeks to be takes priority, in contrast to giving you, a mere extra, true autonomy.]

Roy clicked his tongue.

“Tsk. This whole thing sucks.”

He was practically being told that being a pawn for Pierre to ridicule was more important than having free will.

[Your stats determine your role in the simulation.]

“…Oh, I see.” This was all because he chose IQ over Appeal or Social.

Shortly after, the recess period arrived, and Roy took the chance to tail certain individuals.

“Number one suspect, Suzuki Kyouno.”

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