#405
Favorite Character
Screech, thud.
The sliding door closed.
For the first time in a while, Aris’s eyes fell on the familiar sight of her hometown house.
Not too big, not too small, a rural room with tatami mats.
Aris plopped down on the futon.
“Ugh…”
A short groan escaped Aris’s lips.
Her body shivered slightly.
Aris reached out her pale hand and touched her own lips.
The memory of the passionate kiss from their secret base lingered—still vivid was the sticky intimacy of their tongues swirling together.
While trying to cool her still-flushed body, Aris mumbled,
“…Kim Deok-Sung… that scoundrel… ugh…”
It wasn’t enough.
She wanted more.
It would be a lie to say she didn’t look forward to her first experience with him.
Choosing the festival day on purpose, and bringing him to the secret base that she hadn’t told anyone, not even her family, was all part of the plan.
That first experience with him was more blissful, hot, and intense than she ever imagined.
She wanted just a little more.
To spend the night in his arms.
She had even thought such scoundrel thoughts carelessly.
But since it was getting late, she had no choice but to suppress her desires.
Kim Deok-Sung.
Until he reignited her desires with that flirtatious, almost-kissing posture under the tree.
“…I, I had my secret weapon ready… ugh…”
Aris trembled with pleasure.
Inside her slightly opened bag was the secret weapon to seduce him.
Scandalous, yet something that men loved the most—a bunny girl costume.
With a flushed face, Aris stopped comforting herself and stood up.
“…Just a little try-on…”
Swish.
She pulled out the bunny girl outfit from her bag.
She hadn’t had the chance to wear it today, but for the future, it seemed necessary to try it on now.
Rationalizing to herself, Aris changed into the bunny girl costume and stood in front of the full-length mirror in the corner of the room.
The top exposed her ample cleavage, the alluring thigh-high mesh stockings left nothing to the imagination, and the bunny ears on her head completed the look.
She looked like the very embodiment of the word ‘scoundrel,’ and Aris’s face turned even redder.
“Ah, I can’t believe this is…”
It felt too scandalous.
Just as Aris was about to voice those thoughts—
Screech.
The sliding door opened.
Startled.
Aris froze in place.
Of all times, why now, while she was dressed as a scandalous bunny girl, would someone walk in?
It was neither the right time nor the right situation for someone to walk in while I was dressed in a scandalous bunny girl outfit.
Aris, sweating coldly and blushing, quickly turned her head away.
“W-who on earth······.”
And there he was.
*
After giving it some thought about my mother-in-law’s formal permission, I decided to stand up.
Since I had been given the permission, was there really any reason to refuse?
No.
So, I was going for it.
No need to overthink.
Thinking like that, I got up and carefully opened the sliding door.
The dark hallway greeted me, shrouded in darkness.
The rest of the family must have been sleeping, as an overwhelming silence enveloped the house.
I tiptoed down the hallway on my heels and arrived in front of Aris’s room, cautiously opening the sliding door.
Creak…
What I saw as I opened the door was none other than Aris, dressed in a revealing, shiny black bunny girl outfit, with bunny ears on her head.
“W-who on earth······.”
Aris’s body trembled when our eyes met.
She covered her exposed cleavage with her long, white arms.
“Y-you, Kim Deok-Sung?! D-don’t get the wrong idea! T-this is······.”
Her face burning red, Aris collapsed into a seat.
Without saying a word, I closed the door and approached the bunny girl Aris who was seated.
Not getting excited after seeing that?
That was impossible.
“Kim Deok-Sung, you’re not seriously thinking of doing it now, are you? Ah, no, right? This is home. Everyone else is sleeping······.”
Aris muttered, her face crimson as she cast her gaze downwards.
“What does that have to do with it, Senpai?”
With a thrust, I whispered into her ear while tearing her fishnet stockings.
“It’s wrong for you to seduce me while wearing such a scandalous outfit.”
“S-seduce? When did I······? Huh······. Ahh······♥”
I lunged at bunny girl Aris.
“Ugh······. Hah······. Hah······♡”
Aris bit her lip, desperately trying to suppress her moans.
Seeing that only excited me more, I continued to indulge in her on the bedding.
“Ugh······. Hah······. S-stop······. J-just stop······. Kim Deok-Sung······. S-stop······. Ugh!”
Though she wept and hugged me, I kept holding onto her.
That night.
I ravished her non-stop until just before dawn.
In the end, I returned to my room early in the morning after finishing my adventure.
*
After wrapping things up in my hometown.
The next day.
While being seen off by Aris’s family, I loaded a box full of Wakayama tangerines that I had received into the trunk as we headed back to Tokyo together.
A short yet long one-night, two-day trip.
The time spent alone with Aris was wonderful.
“······It’s almost time to part ways.”
Walking through Tokyo’s bustling streets, Aris said to me like that.
“I’m sad.”
At her words, I licked my lips slightly.
“I feel the same way.”
As Aris replied, she took my hand.
“······Mr. Kim Deok-Sung.”
Aris called my name.
“Why do you ask?”
“······Am I still your favorite character, Mr. Kim Deok-Sung?”
“Is that so?”
She said this while avoiding my gaze, her face flushed red.
My favorite character.
Before my reincarnation, Aris was definitely my favorite character.
Just looking at her character design, she was a beautiful girl with silver hair and ample assets, a standout both in appearance and with a backstory similar to mine; she was my favorite in the original work.
I wasn’t alone in that.
The Student Council President, Silver Queen Saionji Aris, had never ranked below 3rd place in heroine popularity polls, making her a top-tier character.
But now?
I could feel Aris’s gaze directed at me.
Memories of her body warmth, her skin, her racing heart, and her eyes from last night flooded my mind.
“······No.”
At my denial, Aris’s silver eyes flickered.
Her expression hardened into a blank face.
She awkwardly smiled, trying to maintain composure despite her trembling features.
“Well, still… Bonaparte is more…”
“But Senpai Aris is a person, not just a character.”
I interrupted her.
Of course, these days people use terms like “favorite character” and “biased love” to refer to real-life celebrities like idols and actors, but the meaning of the term she mentioned likely wasn’t leaning toward that.
And I had already known this fact since the first year.
This world isn’t fiction; it’s reality, and everyone living in this world is not a character but a real person.
“So she can’t be my favorite character, because the Aris Senpai in front of me isn’t just a character.”
“Th-that’s…”
Aris’s face flushed at my words.
“Well, it’s true that you used to be my favorite character, but I don’t think that way now. I like the real Aris Senpai.”
Why did I have to say something so embarrassing?
I felt my face heat up slightly.
“Th-that’s cheating! Kim Deok-Sung…! When you say it all of a sudden…”
Flustered, Aris mumbled in a dialect, lowering her head.
She peeked at me with glances and said, “…I… I like you too…”
Aris’s blushing face looked especially tempting today.
I grabbed her wrist.
“It’s not happening, Aris Senpai.”
“K-Kim Deok-Sung?!”
“Let’s extend this for just a little bit longer, okay?”
“W-Wait a second…”
Ignoring Aris Senpai’s protests, I led her into the nearby love hotel and embraced her again.
“K-Kim Deok-Sung. W-Wait a moment… Huh…!”
That day.
I kept holding Aris.
No matter how much I embraced her, I never got tired, and her expressions were always endearing.
In the end, it wasn’t until the next day that I was able to part ways with Aris.
*
After Saori completed the equation.
The development of the two-way gate progressed smoothly, as if a singularity had occurred.
The expansion of the UN into a Human Alliance was also moving rapidly.
Seoul, South Korea, was designated as the city for the new headquarters of the Human Alliance.
Naturally, my role as the Messiah was the official focal point of this damn Human Alliance.
Was I really going to end up sitting on some strange throne, ruling humanity forever?
I hope not.
Anyway, the founding ceremony of the Human Alliance was held grandly at Gwanghwamun Plaza in Seoul, South Korea.
It was grandly held at Gwanghwamun Plaza.
At Gwanghwamun Plaza, where the flag of the Human Alliance resembling Earth fluttered alongside the Taegukgi.
Here, with a crowd of about a million, as estimated by the police, I delivered a speech in my capacity as the Messiah.
“Now, humanity will put an end to conflict and discord and unite as one alliance to step into a new world.”
No sooner had I finished speaking than thunderous applause erupted.
The President of South Korea, the President of the United States, the Prime Minister of Japan, the French Emperor and Prime Minister, the King and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, the Chancellor of Germany, the Secretary-General of the Soviet Union, the President of China, and the President of Taiwan.
Leaders and dignitaries from all over the world, along with citizens drawn by lottery, listened to my speech, shedding tears and cheering.
“Hail, Messiah Kim Deok-Sung!”
“Hail, Human Alliance!”
“Ugh, it’s such an honor to witness this historic moment of the Human Alliance being established with Kim Deok-Sung!”
Seriously, what’s with the pride in naming it the Human Alliance, such an ominous title?
I was getting chills.
That day, the UN General Assembly and the Security Council unanimously passed the expansion reform plan for the UN Human Alliance.
It was the moment the Human Alliance was officially launched.
And after some time flowed again.
“Deok-Sung-chan! Deok-Sung-chan!”
Saori came running at me with her red hair flying.
“I finally made it! The two-way gate!”
She said, bouncing in her loose gown.
“Now it’s completely safe for you to cross over! The stability test is complete!”
“Yeah, good job.”
As I patted Saori’s head while she gave a thumbs up, I headed to the underground facility of the Otherworld Research Institute, where the two-way gate was installed.
A massive underground chamber surrounded by iron walls made of alloy.
In the center was the two-way gate.
A massive wave of light emitted from an unidentified machine was forming a blue oval-shaped gate.
Vroom.
The Philosopher’s Stone inside me reacted.
I instinctively realized.
What was in front of me was a real two-way gate.
Thanks to research by scholars worldwide, the countermeasures and methods for when we crossed to Earth-1 were all fully established.
The first to cross to Earth-1 would be me and Wilhelmina.
Next, a delegation from the Human Alliance was scheduled to cross.
I already knew this in my head.
But my feet wouldn’t move.
My hands trembled.
It didn’t feel real.
Can we really go back now?
What about my mother? How much time has passed in that world? No matter how much I minimized the calculations for the time-space distortion, if too much time has passed…
At that moment, as I was thinking about this.
Swoosh.
Someone’s touch reached my hand.
Wilhelmina Heisenberg, with long ivory-colored hair and golden eyes, was there.
She looked at me with her golden gaze and said.
“…Let’s go, Kim Deok-Sung.”
Somehow, I felt a sense of calm.
Yeah.
This was the long-desired two-way gate.
For everyone’s happiness, no, to find the last piece of my happiness.
No matter what future awaited, I needed to cross this gate.
“Okay.”
I took Wilhelmina’s hand and, with the farewell of the remaining sixteen heroines.
At last, I crossed into another world.
