The Pain of an Inferior: A Blistering Love Comedy That Begins After a Broken Heart - Chapter 98

Chapter 98 – Dear Maidens 1

“Good afternoon, senpai. It’s been a while since we’ve seen each other in real life.”

“Since training camp, right? Yuuku.”

It was now after school. Yuuku came to visit the drama club at A-10 Academy and exchanged greetings with Sayaka.

Haruka intended to invite her as a guest in VR just like usual, but Yuuku decided to visit in real life instead.

“Training camp was fun, wasn’t it?”

“Yuuku was the only one who is in a different level. You were very popular with everyone.”

“That’s because I’m solely focusing on theater.”

“It’s the same for me though!”

Having already met each other once in real life, the two quickly established a friendly relationship.

Haruka watched the two frolicking. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Ruriko entering the room.

“Heya, it’s been a while, Yuuku.”

“Good afternoon, Ruriko-senpai. Thank you for letting me join in your club’s group activities.”

“Likewise. I appreciate you for joining us today, even though you’re pretty busy.”

“I’m not so busy these days, so please don’t mind me.”

Yuuku was a very busy girl, but it’s not like she has no time to spare.

She only participated in club activities at her school whenever her club has to practice for large competitions, so there were no problems there.

In the first place, Yuuku was a prodigy in theater. She only needed to read a script once in order to master it.

“By the way, what happened to the other members here? There were more, weren’t there?”

Yuuku asked casually, the atmosphere in the club instantly became tense.

“This child here caused a commotion, and the others got scared.”

Ruriko patted her hand on Haruka’s head and shook it.

“It was a misunderstanding. If it were true, I would have been expelled.”

“Your head feels prickly.”

“That’s because I’m using a hairdressing product.”

Sayaka and Yuuku stared at Haruka and Ruriko’s exchange with a subtle expression on their faces.

“Haruka, did you do something again?”

“Again?!”

Yuuku mentioning Haruka’s elementary school days brought back unpleasant memories to him which recently he hadn’t been able to recall much.

“What did he do?”

“Various things.”

“Yuuku came all the way here, so let’s set aside my trivial past and do a play!”

Yuuku tried being vague, but to prevent the seniors from pursuing the matter further, Haruka quickly changed the topic.

“That’s right. Let’s dive in, shall we?”

“Okay.”

They entered the VR room which was a short walk across the drama club room.

The advanced VR machines inside had limited functions, but it has an excellent accelerated time rate of 20.

Although these machines can’t be synced with the normal ones which had a basic accelerated time rate of 4, it was a very reliable ally for club activities such as painting, literature, manga, and sports.

Haruka often used the advanced VR machines to study when he skipped classes.

Even if Haruka studied for 20 hours straight, only one hour had passed in the real world, so the time efficiency was very high.

Until recently, Haruka could only access the VR machines in the general study room. But now that he was a member of the drama club, he had access to the dedicated machines assigned to the club.

The four of them each entered an individual small private room, locked the door, and leaned back on their chairs to activate the VR machine.

A rather unpleasant sound stimulated their ears and brain, and they instantly lose their consciousness.

?

“Well then, now that Yuuku is here, let’s do a short play.”

“What’s a short play?”

Ruriko’s unfamilliar term made Haruka tilt his head.

“A short play is when we only act out the most exciting scenes of the play.” (Ruriko)

“It’s a difficult to do, since you have to switch gears fast.” (Sayaka)

“Haruka, it’s the same thing we did a few times during our practice sessions.” (Yuuku)

“Aa, I see. So that was called a short play.”

“We don’t usually do it that often. But this time is special since we have an ace from another school joining us.”

Ruriko started up the drama club app, she set the number of participants and categories. Lastly she made the app choose a random script to play.

The chosen script was a coming of age romantic comedy, Ruriko’s expression hardened slightly.

“This is the one chosen. Let’s read it together right away.”

The script was shared with all the members in the room, each of them quickly reading through the short script.

After deciding on the roles, the four of them formed a circle and recited the script together casually.

“Hmm.. It’s nice.”

“Obi, your role is pretty interesting.”

“Well, I can feel sympathy for the character.”

Haruka’s role was that of a boy who forcibly approached the girl he loved and got rejected.

Haruka remembered the past when Miyako didn’t gave him the time of day. With that as reference he was confident that he can do a realistic performance.

“Fufu… Haruka. You have to be more serious than usual, okay?”

“Got it. I’ll play my role perfectly.”

“That’s what it takes to be a real actor. But only do it when it’s me, okay? Not to the seniors, otherwise you’ll scare them.”

Sayaka looked doubtful at their exchange, she read the script again and drilled the short lines into her head.

Soon after, the drama club entered the rehearsal stage.

?

[Why…. Why can’t it be me?! Even though I love you so much… Why?!]

Ruriko’s face contorted as she leaned forward to get close to Haruka.

[Aa, I see … Did that girl always felt like this?]

[What are you talking about?]

[I’m saying that this is what she must’ve felt like when she was pursued by someone she didn’t love.]

While Ruriko’s face was flushed, tear stained, and hot, Haruka shuts her down with a cold expression.

[Thank you. Because of you, I think I can understand that girl’s feelings a little bit.]

[… No way.]

Haruka left the stage and the scene ended.

Ruriko also stepped outside and was replaced by Yuuku.

Yuuku sat on a chair, conjured a suitable book, and immersed herself in reading.

Haruka regulated his breathing and came back on the stage.

[Yo?] (Haruka)

[I’m tired of seeing your face. Can you please bring that person here instead?] (Yuuku)

[I’ve lost count on how many times I’ve asked you this, but will you go out with me?]

[I’m not interested in you.]

Cold words that reminded Haruka of his past.

Haruka got annoyed and quickly pressed Yuuku.

[You should look at my face instead of a book sometimes.]

Haruka grabbed Yuuku’s shoulders and moved her, forcing her to make eye contact with him.

[What? Will you let me go?]

Yuuku’s lips were expressionless, indicating her rejection. Suddenly Haruka forcefully took her lips.

Haruka took a few seconds to savor Yuuku’s soft lips.

“CUT! CUT! CUTTT!”

Ruriko’s scream echoed across the stage.