Choi Siu and Gam Deokbae were high school classmates who had been living together in a two-room apartment near their school.
Their cohabitation began out of necessity—Deokbae, who wasn’t well off financially, needed a place to stay, and Siu, who needed a reliable hometown friend, happened to be the perfect match.
Normally, living together leads to petty fights over the smallest things,
but surprisingly, their personalities clicked well, and instead of drifting apart, they had grown even closer—so close that they now confided in each other.
"But now I have to steal my best friend's girl... that’s what this is about, huh."
He felt a pang of guilt toward Siu.
But what choice did he have? He needed to rack up points.
With a heavy heart, he had no choice but to proceed with the netori.
"I’ll make it up to you in Royal Road Adventure, so don’t hold it against me too much."
Feigning wiping away nonexistent tears,
Deokbae began formulating a plan to steal Siu’s girl.
****
Choi Siu was the kind of guy who never ran out of women around him.
With his handsome face and friendly personality, there was no way he wouldn’t be popular.
But the crazy thing was... the bastard didn’t even realize how popular he was.
He kept whining about how he’d never really experienced something real, saying he wanted to try dating like everyone else.
"Fucking deceiver..."
Wait—he actually had a girl he was seeing? If the system hadn’t given me a tip, I never would’ve known.
Every time he got drunk, all he did was bitch about how he had no girlfriend, no flings. Turns out that was all a smokescreen.
And on top of that... he invited a girl over while I wasn’t home.
This sneaky bastard. Even making sure to check if I was out for the night.
What was he planning to do with her?
For once, Siu actually took action. I gave him a silent round of applause.
Meanwhile, Gam Deokbae—this round’s Heroine Netori protagonist—wasn’t exactly unpopular either.
How popular, you ask?
[Lee Yaeun: What’s wrong?? Did something bad happen? ㅠ_ㅠ...]
[Park Hayan: What?! You promised we’d go together! Ugh, then I’m not going either.]
[Shin Jia: Wanna just grab a drink with me? Honestly, I didn’t feel like going anyway.]
All of that just from saying I couldn’t make it to the MT.
At this rate, I should just ditch the netori thing and enjoy the campus life I always dreamed of...
Damn shame about those points, though.
Looking through their profile pictures, they all seemed pretty decent-looking, too...
"Haa..."
But if I wasted time here, I’d just be falling behind.
I needed 50,000 points. No time to screw around.
***
-Beep beep beep beep beep!
-Click!
"Wow, you actually brought her home at this hour? Damn, respect."
It was already 8 PM, and the sun had long since set.
So he brought a girl over at this time of night? His intentions were crystal clear.
"Hey, where the hell have you been— huh? Who’s this?"
I acted completely oblivious, stepping out in nothing but my boxers to greet them, pretending to be startled when I saw his girl.
"Ah, h-hello? I’m Siu’s friend, Nahee, and... kyaaa!"
She had been greeting me politely, but the moment she realized I wasn’t wearing pants, she turned red and let out a scream.
Hmm... not bad, Siu. This heroine was definitely attractive.
Her soft brown hair flowed down past her shoulders, and her light makeup complemented her fresh, innocent face.
She had that youthful charm that only a newbie college girl could have.
On top of that, her outfit was practically screaming, I’m trying to seduce a clueless guy. Cute.
Well, not that it would matter soon—she was about to be stolen.
The only downside? Her chest was a bit lacking. Not completely flat, but...
Maybe I’d just gotten too used to Hyun-ah. Compared to her, Nahee looked a little underwhelming in that department.
Probably wouldn’t be able to pull off a paizuri with those...
Just another reason to hurry up and get my points.
"Hey! Why the hell are you still home?"
"Why else? I live here."
"Dude, just—put some clothes on, now!"
As I casually scanned Nahee up and down, Siu quickly grabbed me and dragged me into the room.
Looked like he had something to say.
But he was too flustered to string words together properly,
so I got tired of waiting and spoke first.
"Forget that. Who’s she? Your girlfriend?"
"...She’s not my girlfriend. Just a friend."
"Ahh... so not yet, huh?"
"I said she’s just a friend! Now put some goddamn pants on!"
"Why?"
"Dude, at least introduce yourself properly."
"Aha..."
Now that was classic Siu.
Instead of telling me to leave, he wanted me to meet her properly first.
As expected, he was a stand-up guy through and through.
"But I thought you were going to the MT. Why are you still here?"
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"Oh, that? Got canceled. Everyone started dropping out last minute, turned into a whole mess."
"That so..."
"Yeah, I got fed up with the drama, so I figured I’d just drink with you instead. I even bought vodka for the MT, still got it. Wanna have a drink?"
"Sounds good, but I got something to take care of first..."
"Something? What? Is it about the girl you brought?"
"Nah, it’s not what you’re thinking, so don’t get the wrong idea. We just met up to work on a presentation for next week."
"Really? Then how about the three of us have a drink after you’re done?"
"...Huh?"
So that’s how he set it up. That was his excuse for bringing her over.
Siu had been checking since the morning to see if I’d be out for the night,
and Nahee showed up in that outfit for a presentation?
They both had the same thing in mind but came prepared with excuses.
Realizing that made me chuckle.
Everything was falling right into place.
"Alright then, let me go ask her."
"Hey, wait—dude!"
Ignoring Choi Siu's call to stop, I opened the door and approached the girl he was seeing. She looked nervous, as if it was her first time visiting a guy's place, scanning the surroundings apprehensively.
"Hello? I’m Gam Deokbae, philosophy major, class of '21, Siu’s roommate and high school classmate. Nice to meet you."
"Ah... Hello? I'm Nahee, Siu's classmate from the same department. Nice to meet you."
"Come on, speak casually; we're the same age, right? You're a current student, aren't you?"
"Uh... yeah..."
I sensed she was a bit guarded around me. Maybe because of the earlier incident when she saw me in my underwear? Nevertheless, this was the intended result. Her wariness meant she was paying attention to me. The plan was proceeding smoothly.
"Listen, I was supposed to have a drink with Siu today. How about it, do you want to join us? It’s fate that we met like this."
"Um? Well..."
"Siu said he’d like that."
"Hey! When did I say that? Hee-ra, don't worry too much about him, he's just joking."
Oh, come on. If only he’d keep quiet. Siu finally came out of his room to interfere while I was chatting up his date. Yet, despite what he said, he seemed to be making room for me. I almost laughed out loud at his transparent act.
"No, it’s fine. It's Friday anyway... What do you think, Siu?"
"Huh? I mean... if you’re okay with it, then so am I."
See? What a drama. It's like they don't even see me here. I’d suggested the three of us drink, and here they are, making it into a private affair. But this progress relieved me; this was the biggest hurdle, and it looked like it was going to be a breeze from here on out.
"Great, then I'll go to my room and come back when you're done."
****
Before starting this round of 'Heroine Netori,' I placed a few items in my inventory that I had been using in reality: my smartphone, a green dagger I picked up in 'Royal Road Adventure,' and some sleeping pills that had been rolling around the corner of my house. I didn't know what kind of 'Heroine Netori' I would be undertaking, so I prepared these three versatile items.
And now, as I'm sitting here drinking with Siu and his date, what's left in my inventory are the smartphone and the green dagger.
"Ah, what? He’s asleep already after just a few drinks. Classic Siu, always a lightweight."
"Siu can't handle his liquor, huh..."
"Can you wait a moment? I'll just lay him down and come back."
"No... Siu's asleep now, so I think I'll head home too. It was fun tonight."
"Leaving already? Don’t you live alone?"
"It’s already late though..."
"Can't you stay for just one more drink? There's something related to Siu I wanted to talk about."
"...Really?"
"Yeah. So just wait a moment."
Where did the sleeping pills go, you ask? I used half of them on Siu and I'm thinking of using the rest now. Normally, using drugs is cheating and seduction should suffice, but I've been bending the rules from the start with sensory stimulation.
Besides, I feel no guilt about doing this now. It's all part of 'Heroine Netori' after all. I've been using coercion since the tutorial, so what’s the big deal now?
I laid Siu in his room and took a bottle of water from the fridge. I shielded the cup with my body so his date wouldn't see, and then slipped the sleeping pills into it.
"Have a glass of cold water before we talk. It's somewhat important."