I avoided Aoi-san’s gaze, glancing at Arashi.

He was clutching his sides, shaking as he pursed his trembling lips.

His eyes had become slits.

He met my gaze and crouched over, making my heart steady itself.

Dude…just laugh out at this point before you suffocate from holding back.

I sighed, raising my arm to rub my eyebrows as I shook my head.

‘You can laugh if you want, y’know’

He straightened up, his Adam’s apple rolling as he abruptly stabilized.

I raised an eyebrow as his lips twitched and he burst out laughing.

His voice echoed off the cave walls making the air seem to ease.

Good job ~

I took a deep breath, looking up and flinching as I looked back at the man falling over himself.

-1? Isn’t that…too quick?

I glanced at Aoi-san’s and furrowed my brows.

Still 4…at this rate I’ll probably have a higher favorability than the female lead soon…

Aren’t you going into the wrong genre? You’ll fail at this point, y’know~

I bit my lip as I saw Arashi…smiling at me.

My stomach twisted as I forced back a smile.

No, right…?

And failure means…

Death, yeah I know.

I turned away and stretched my arms, heading for the cave entrance.

I should at least try to get outta here for a bit.

I was nearly there when I felt a sharp pain as something hit the back of my head.

Thunk.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

My vision blurred. My head jerked forward, knees buckling.

A wave of nausea hit me as I stumbled, raising my hand to clutch the back of my head.

There was a throbbing pain as my hand became damp with a warm liquid trickling down my fingers.

The world spun as I fell to the ground, my cheek grazing against the rough surface.

I choked out. ‘W-why?’

Aoi-san stepped forward. ‘Oops, I meant to stop you but it seems I hit too hard.’

Arashi sighed.

‘Aoi-san…again?’

She pouted.

‘W~hat? It was just a mistake. It was dangerous out there alone. He’ll come back to life anyway!’

Arashi pointed out.

‘He’d come back even if he got into any danger. And you could’ve just used your words…’

Aoi-san raised her arm and rubbed the back of her head.

‘Oh right. My bad.’

Arashi shook his head.

What the fuck, you barbaric woman!

Life Threatening Injury!

I glared at her, as my eyes darted to Arashi.

He pursed his lips and slightly bowed his head at me.

My mouth gaped as I tried to say something but my throat felt constricted. The world started to spin.

Warning! Warning!

We were bonding! And then you casually kill me?!

Danger!

‘I suppose we’ll wait a bit till he resurrects…’

Arashi said while crouching down in front of me.

‘Eh? Do we have to? He’ll just be dead weight we don’t need anyway’, countered Aoi-san pouting her lips.

What the fuck woman! You’re the one who killed me! Take some responsibility!’

Arashi glanced at her.

‘You’re the one who killed him. Take responsibility.’

He can’t read minds too right?

No…RIP.

My chest felt lighter. My body went limp, a chill spreading as everything darkened

Fatal Condition!

‘We must protect him now…’ he said.

Aoi-san offered.

‘We don’t need to though…he can just come back after all.’

‘What if he comes back to a dismembered body? Also is dying painless? We’ve done this and already gotten involved so we must do this.’ He retorted.

‘Fine.’ she said, annoyed.

Heal-

Excuse m-

YOU HAVE DIED.

Everything went black…again.

Pain pierced through my skull as my eyes shot open. I was back in that strange darkness, the words floating above me.

FAILURE

…Dude, twice in one day already. Like, for real?

F-

Mm?

I mean uh, that was unpleasant.

Mhm?

Why did I click that damn link?

An idiot~

You're really annoying

And you have a screw loose.

You-ugh

Sigh…You will be brought back to life. No death is permanent since your soul still lives on etc etc you know the gist already.

Yea and so? That makes this better? What, do I have to keep dying till I actually die because that dude has buttons for eyes?

Well...if it was that easy why would we bring you aboard?

What do you-

Anyway…you have to help him be more expressive. To feel more.

Feel? Hey be honest…what genre is this?

Figure it out~

If you do, you live. If not…you die~

Oh, come on, again with that?!

Mhmm ~

Tip: Try talking to the protagonists. If you get an idea of their motives, you can probably figure it out.

Agai-

Not my fault you died before getting any useful info~

What?! Why don’t you say that aga-

Good luck! Bye ~

To be continued...

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