The Pain of an Inferior: A Blistering Love Comedy That Begins After a Broken Heart - Chapter 55

“How does it feel to kill someone?”

“That’s a nasty question.”

Haruka was a little out of breath when he dragged the two dead bodies to the yard of a house a little distance away and dumped them.

Now he sat at the edge of the garden, drinking the water Sakurako has prepared for him, and resting his body and mind.

“A lot of things are going through my mind… but if I have to summarize, then I’m just feeling sad.”

If it weren’t for [Red Rom], the two who died and Haruka and the others would still be able to live their lives as before.

Now that they’ve been caught up in it, they can’t go back to normal.

It will probably take decades to forget the feeling of using a blunt instrument to bash a living human being to death.

“You seem to be okay with it, Sakurako-san.”

“I’ve killed many people, human and otherwise, Ha ha ha.”

She said something outrageous with a deliberate laugh in her voice.

“Haruka…”

“Yes?”

Sakurako, who suddenly called out his name, hugged Haruka from the front as if covering him.

He was a little taken aback by the suddenness of the situation, but returned the hug to the girl in front of him, seeking human skin.

“Here’s your reward for committing murder.”

“Isn’t it ridiculous to only reward a murder with a hug?”

“If you kill three more people, I’ll kiss you.”

“No, I don’t want a kiss…”

“Ha??! What the hell!”

They ended up so close to each other that the tips of their noses are almost touching.

Both Sakurako and Haruka’s faces were reddening, but they couldn’t see each other clearly by the moonlight and the street lamps.

“Like Shirogane-san, Sakurako-san’s sense of distance isn’t quite right, is it?”

This is the first time for them to talk to each other properly, but they seemed to be very friendly, and their attitude only confused Haruka.

“It’s the suspension bridge effect, isn’t it?”

“Are you hiding something?”

“Fufu..”

They stared at each other for a while with their hands behind each other’s backs and their bodies close to each other.

Sakurako’s fair face is faintly visible in the city lights. She is Sumireko’s younger sister, so they look very much alike, which reminded Haruka of the incident that happened before.

“Do you have a girlfriend right now?”

Sakurako asked in a damp voice, looking at Haruka with moist eyes.

“I have three.”

“Eh? Ha?”

Her stoic demeanor collapsed at Haruka’s unexpected answer. She screamed in confusion.

“There are three of them.”

“Eh…?”

Sakurako opened her mouth and stopped right in front of Haruka.

“Y-y-you! You were so single-minded! You even turned down my confession!”

“I don’t remember refusing you… Maybe you met my doppelganger?”

Sakura talked about episodes that Haruka doesn’t know about as if she really experienced them. Haruka had always let it slide without dwelling on it deeply, but now he began to be concerned about it.

“The same person can change depending on the environment… But to this extent…”

“It’s as if you know me differently.”

Sakurako turned her head slightly away from Haruka and looked as if she was thinking.

“Well… I met you in my dream.”

“Huh?”

“You and Yunika were in love.”

“Why Yunika..”

Haruka wondered why Yunika’s name came up instead of Miyako, Ria, and Yuzurika.

“I was happy to see that you haven’t changed much compared to the Haruka in my dream… but I guess you’ve become a womanizer now…”

“Is it possible to dream about someone you’ve never met?

“Yes, it’s possible. It happens.”

Sakurako came close to him again and hugged him as if clinging to Haruka.

Haruka hugged her until she felt comfortable, and patted her back gently as if he was soothing her in a steady rhythm.

There was a study that showed that it’s easier to get to know each other if poeple hug each other for a long time, even if they have never met each other before.

The shyness and nervousness will soon become familiar and disappear.

People will feel only a sense of security.

As they hugged each other, sleepiness came gradually.

“Let’s head off to bed. Sakurako-san.”

“Right…”

They slept on the tatami mats on the first floor, not on the second floor where everyone else was sleeping, with a cushion under them and a blanket on top of it.

Sakurako’s cold fingertips touched the back of Haruka’s hand.

Haruka took her hand with his, and they fell asleep with their hands loosely tied together.

“Good night…”

“Good night… Haruka…”

The next morning, Tsuyuri’s grumpy face berated them for being “unhealthy”.

?

The field got smaller with time.

By the time thirty-six hours had passed, the area within which they could move was already about half of their initial range.

Finally, single-shot rifles and other weapons began to appear, and it was easy to imagine that the battle that was about to take place would be a fierce one.

All Haruka and the others got from their search was an Ace of Diamonds, a rifle, a handgun, and a few mods.

They had obtained three mods: a mod to point out the direction of cards more than fifty meters away, a mod to show who is holding which card, and a mod to disable mods within eighty meters.

Since the deactivating mod also deactivate allies, they decided to gather all the mods to one person.

Haruka was chosen for the reason that he is a man.

Twelve players remain, including Haruka and the others.

Perhaps because there were two groups of five players, there was no major movement on the second day.

From the movement mod updated every fifteen minutes, it seemed that the team was increasing their strength by focusing on exploration.

“We should at least have enough weapons to arm each of us, otherwise they will kill us all.”

Suzu said, Haruka and Sakurako agreed with her.

Even Madoka and Tsuyuri, who are not battle-oriented, would have a hard time surviving if they did not fight with weapons.

Watching the movements of the two groups that seemed to be moving into the final phase of the battle, and the other large group that was steadily increasing its strength, Haruka and the others frantically scavenged for supplies.

By 8:00 A.M on the third day, they found one automatic rifle, one shotgun, one short machine gun, two hand grenades, and four fuse-type bombs. They got a lot of explosives.

After six hours, the field narrows to a radius of about three kilometers. A short run is all it takes to get within striking distance.

“Let’s siege the place.”

At the strategy meeting, which was led by Haruka and Sakurako, it was Tsuyuri who interrupted.

“If we wait, to some extent… Even Madoka and I can fight. Besides, we can use the explosives we found.”

“Then I wonder if we’ll be holed up at the school.”

“We’ll plant explosives along a specific route and kill them… It’s the only way.”

“We still have time… We’ll just have to find weapons until then.”

While the three were talking, Haruka was thinking to himself.

Not being able to keep up with the conversation, Madoka, who was out of the loop, spoke to him.

“Obi-kun, You look like you’re having a hard time…. Is there something wrong?

“Nn, no… Nothing…”

Haruka was thinking about what to do, keeping in mind that the school was not suitable for a siege. The school is made up of several buildings, but even if they are trapped in one building, they can shoot from another building. Depending on their weapons, they could attack them unilaterally.

“I wonder… I don’t know if I can survive…”

“It’s hard for me to say irresponsibly that you can survive.”

Haruka met Madoka’s eyes, who looked up at him with a serious expression and moist eyes.

“Don’t look at me like that… I’ll do everything I can… Okay?”

He pat her on the back and encourages her. Madoka smiled awkwardly and nodded.

Haruka opened the map while casually talking with Madoka. The moment he noticed the changes in the map, his face became tense. Madoka, who was standing beside him, instantly becomes anxious.

Turning his face to the three of them, Haruka opened his mouth.

“The enemy team is approaching us.”

The words echoed around the room, and everyone looked at Haruka and kept their mouths shut.

“…. They’re already on the move.”

If the other group were walking on foot, it would take them less than an hour to reach Haruka’s group.

“Let’s run away once to the factory area just outside the range.”

No one argued with Haruka’s words.

The four of them hurriedly packed their belongings and ran out of the house.

“What are we going to do after we run away?”

“We’ll think about it after we escape.”

“Fufu…. we’re disorganized aren’t we.”

As Haruka ran, he looked at the map.

There was no doubt that the enemy was getting closer.

On the contrary, a couple of them were approaching them.

Perhaps one war could decide everything.

“We will survive no matter what.”

Haruka muttered to himself.

“Of course.”

Sakurako affirmed strongly with a fearless smile on her face.

Author Notes:

I’m really sorry for the long delay in the development of this not-so-love-comedy arc.

The final battle will be in the next episode (whether it will be over in one chapter or not is unknown).