I Became a Squinty-Eyed Character with Time Stop Ability.

Large wolves that could rightfully be called yokai, a pitiful schoolgirl, and a mountain forest.
The suddenly changed scenery before my eyes.
Time that had stopped.
White hair that subtly obstructed my vision and a higher eye level than usual.
The sense of powerlessness, the basic passive skill of a hikikomori, was gone, replaced by energy filling my entire body.
All of these things proved that my current body was not my own.
‘It seems I’ve been possessed.’
Judging by how time stopped as soon as I drew the sword at my waist, I had a vague idea.
Probably the time-stop sword I had so desperately wanted. Given that I had obtained it, I must have entered the game…
And not just any game, but ‘Apocalypse Love Comedy’, the historically terrible garbage game.
“Hmm, what should I do with this?”
It was nice to have entered the game and obtained a super powerful sword, and it was certainly exciting, but it happened so suddenly that I was just bewildered.
The strange way of speaking that came out automatically was one thing, but the bigger problem was that the game I had entered, ‘Apocalypse Love Comedy’, was one where I had never seen a happy ending.
If I couldn’t even clear it as a game, could I clear it in one go in reality?
‘…The furthest I got was Episode 7.’
It was a well-known fact that ‘Apocalypse Love Comedy’ had 15 episodes according to the game catalog, and not knowing even half of the apocalypse that awaited me was an extremely depressing thought.
“This is quite a predicament.”
If I had been possessed as the main character of the original work, ‘Kitagawa Kenichi’, who wielded the ability-nullifying demon sword, there would have been no hope at all.
Whether the expansion pack’s difficulty adjustment was applied or not, I would have inevitably faced a bad ending at least once.
But the person I had possessed was someone who muttered in a strange way, and in his hand was none other than a demon sword that controlled time.
Yes, with this… who knows what might happen.
After making a rough calculation, I faced the scene before me again.
A pack of wolves pouncing on a girl lying on the ground.
That sounds a bit lewd, so let me rephrase it as monster wolves targeting a human woman.
They were wolf yokai so large that my original hikikomori self wouldn’t have dared to face them, but now it seemed like I could somehow manage.
Thanks to the stopped time, the monster wolves were also frozen in place.
“Well, let’s solve this first.”
With leisurely movements, I approached the stiffened pack of monster wolves and raised my sword.
The blade was so transparent that it inadvertently reflected the full moon in the sky and its owner’s face.
Narrowly slit eyes like crescent moons and a grinning smile reflected in the steel.
Whoosh—!
I was worried because I was a complete novice at wielding a real sword and killing something, but it went better than expected.
It seemed my new body was accustomed to all of that.
Slash!
On the first night of being possessed in the garbage game ‘Apocalypse Love Comedy’, I massacred about thirty wolves.

Afterward, I took the unconscious girl to a police box in the city and slowly learned about “me.”
There was no convenient setting where the original owner’s memories naturally flowed into me.
After searching through the wallet in my pocket to find an ID and going to government offices for additional investigation, I finally learned information about my new body.
To summarize that information:
───
Name, Ichimaru Shiki.
Complete orphan.
Age 16.
Education, elementary school dropout.
No other social experiences observed.
───
“Hmm, I was quite the delinquent.”
My goodness, I never imagined there would be someone who dropped out of elementary school.
And to think that I would directly become that delinquent.
Of course, being a cheat character with a time-stop sword, there must be some circumstances, but according to social records, I was a historic delinquent who had dropped out of elementary school.
“This is quite troublesome.”
Although the game’s progression difficulty was notoriously high, ‘Apocalypse Love Comedy’ was still a visual novel.
No matter what anyone says, it was a beautiful girl dating simulation.
Like any other visual novel, ‘Apocalypse Love Comedy’ was set in a high school within the city.
Yes, a high school!
It was an extremely difficult area for me, who hadn’t even graduated from elementary school, to enter.
I could probably do various things without necessarily enrolling, but it would be much easier to handle matters with the main characters right beside me.
‘I guess it’s fortunate that I at least have a basic understanding of Japanese.’
The garbage game ‘Apocalypse Love Comedy’ wasn’t a domestic game but a Japanese one.
As a result, the in-game setting was Tokyo, a Japanese city, and a high school within the city.
If I couldn’t understand the language, surviving in the city would have been difficult, not just the game.
“So what I need to do right now is…”
Penniless, I sat on a park bench organizing my thoughts and finally came to a conclusion.
First,
‘I need to study.’
Japanese high schools had separate entrance exams, and as the city’s top delinquent, I first needed to graduate from elementary and middle school.
I never thought I’d be studying for an elementary school equivalency exam.
Still, since I already had basic common sense, I just needed to handle history and literature.
I should be able to grasp it quickly after looking at a few reference books.
‘Now, the second problem.’
This was perhaps the highest priority issue for me right now. After emptying out the wallet in my pocket, I gloomily watched the dust floating in the air.
“I have absolutely no money.”
Yes, I needed cash urgently.
Looking at the long term, I needed activity funds sufficient for attending high school for three years.
It seemed my survival was threatened from the moment I landed in mainland Japan.
Getting up and dusting off my seat, I looked at the bustling Tokyo city.
“Hmm, I guess I’ll look for a part-time job first.”
It was autumn and getting colder; I couldn’t sleep on the streets.

About half a year passed since then.
Those six months were very precious time spent adapting to Tokyo city, the setting of the garbage game ‘Apocalypse Love Comedy’, and the unfamiliar body named ‘Ichimaru Shiki’.
The squinted, half-open eyes, and the speech pattern that initially felt strange.
The superhuman, incredibly strong physique and the time-stop ability—I finally got used to them all.
Clang—!
“Oh, you’re still alive.”
While the ability to stop time when drawing the sword at my waist was one thing, I couldn’t experiment with combat abilities on people, so the occasional monsters in the city became excellent test subjects.
Mainly dogs and cats, and occasionally humanoid monsters—I gauged my abilities by confronting them.
Hmm, so this is my level.
Evaluating with a very cool-headed feeling.
It’s a good thing, I suppose, as it would reduce incidents like the previous girl being attacked.
“One Giant Cheeseburger please!”
“Hahaha, one Giant Cheeseburger coming right up.”
Not only that, but I also bought reference books with the money earned from part-time jobs and studied for equivalency exams.
Although I was a hikikomori, I was also highly educated, so elementary school studies were quick.
Middle school took a bit more time, but…
It was truly fortunate that Japanese was loaded into my brain from the beginning.
If not, I wouldn’t have made it in time.
Yes, it would have been absolutely impossible to pass into this damn school.
The monster hell, Karakura High School.
A relatively high-level academic high school in Tokyo city and the main setting of ‘Apocalypse Love Comedy’.
After a bleak winter, I finally reached the school where pink cherry blossom trees at the front gate were blooming.
[※Congratulations※ Karakura High School Admission]
When I slightly raised my head, there was a placard that seemed to welcome me as a new student.
“Finally, a new beginning!”
Six months after possession.
After completing an adaptation period that was short yet long, I finally reached the main game.
If it were a normal academic high school, I would just need to study hard, but the school before me was truly a demon realm!
If you don’t want to die, you need to take care of your self-defense.
Since the long sword was too conspicuous, I brought a small knife that could be hidden in my sleeve.
“Hmm, this should be enough for the first day.”
Nodding my head, I passed through the school gate and stepped into the school grounds.
A boisterous group of students who also seemed to be freshmen.
I desperately wanted to mingle with them, but there was a place I needed to check first, so I moved quickly.
‘First-year Class A… Ah, here it is.’
This is the class where the protagonist of ‘Apocalypse Love Comedy’ and the nominal heroines belong.
It was more difficult to match the entrance exam scores to be with the main characters.
I might have arrived a bit late, as the classroom was already quite filled with students.
‘Reddish-brown, light pink, golden. Judging from the unusual hair colors, everyone from the Fire Priestess to the Ancient Weapon and the Descendant of the Great Mage has arrived.’
The protagonist doesn’t seem to have arrived yet, but all the other characters I needed to pay attention to were present.
I had been as careful as possible in my activities, but I was still worried about the butterfly effect; fortunately, there seemed to be none.
They are still assigned to First-year Class A, and no one knows me as we begin our school days together.
We’ll save the world together.
“Fuhuhu, it’s like I’ve become a hero or something.”
I smiled with a good feeling.

“…Fuhuhu.”
Just behind the seat of a new student who was somehow making a lecherous laughing sound… a squinty-eyed man.
The girl blinked.
She couldn’t take her eyes off the man with a villain-like impression who had appeared right in front of her.
“Ichinose-san? Are you feeling unwell?”
“…No.”
The Fire Priestess, Ichinose Hotaru, was immediately certain.
The new student who looked like a villain in front of her was the person who had saved her from the wolf yokai half a year ago.
She quickly scanned the man’s name tag.
‘Ichimaru Shiki.’
The Fire Priestess remembered her savior’s name.
Do you know what?
In manga, it’s common knowledge that when a character draws a sword, their ability activates.
Of course, what I’m playing now isn’t a manga but a visual novel game titled [Apocalypse Love Comedy], and there was only one protagonist character who was a swordsman with special abilities, but that was fine.
A demon sword (魔劍) that can slice through anything.
A game where a protagonist with special abilities clearly forms a harem of beautiful girls and saves the world—isn’t that truly appealing?
Yes, if it had been full of lovey-dovey scenes like the game title suggested, and if it had been a witty game, that would have been the case.
If it had plenty of service scenes like a proper visual novel and easy gameplay, it really would have been a godly game, but…
[…Is it really the apocalypse after all.]
The visual novel protagonist, who had a gallant impression when first starting the game, was now looking up at the darkened sky with a face fallen into despair.
Dragons and giants that bring about the apocalypse were emerging from the dark clouds.
Even one of them appearing would result in a bad ending, but the sky above Tokyo, the setting of the visual novel, was already filled with all sorts of monsters.
I tried commanding him to quickly defeat the monsters, but the protagonist character didn’t budge.
The demon sword that could slice through anything was broken in half, rolling on the ground, and the female characters who were the protagonist’s companions had either all betrayed him or were already dead.
[If there’s a next life…]
The protagonist, who had been muttering with an empty gaze, soon closed his eyes.
A giant shadow enveloped his entire body, and a thunderous voice came immediately after.
BOOM—!
The giant’s foot trampled the city.
[Bad Ending!]
It was the 132nd bad ending.
Forget about a happy ending—I hadn’t even experienced a single service scene or couple formation event.
I was starting to get confused about whether I was playing a cute girl conquest game or one of the world’s toughest raid games.
“…Who the hell recommended this piece of garbage game? Shit, why did I even buy this?”
I was fooled by the pretty female characters on the sign and the impressive monster artwork.
Date the most gorgeous beauties in a simulation, and defeat grotesque monsters.
It’s killing two birds with one stone, isn’t it?
…Of course, the big problem was that none of it worked out as I thought.
Well, I wasn’t particularly lonely.
Looking around the internet, I could find many other ‘Apocalypse Love Comedy’ comrades besides myself.
[Damn, who recommended this?]
Barely passed chapter 1, but can’t get past chapter 2…
Someone mentioned before that there are fifteen episodes.
Don’t tell me you have to clear all fifteen episodes to see one adult scene for each main character?
For real?
Who recommended this trash game;;
Anonymous1 – Yes, aren’t you the one who paid 25,900 won for this trash? This is the path you chose, right?
ㄴDamn it.
Anonymous2 – Still, do you agree Eris is the official wife?
ㄴNowayHotaru is the official wife~
Anonymous3 – If you think of it as a Souls-type game rather than a visual novel, it’s easier on your mind. The artwork is surprisingly good, yes…
ㄴNo, I came to play a cute girl game… this is just all about the artwork.
ㄴAnonymous1 – Yes, aren’t you the one who paid 25,900 won for this trash? This is the path you chose, right?
ㄴDamn it, stop it.
“Hmm, it’s always a mess.”
Usually, in visual novel communities, comments like which female character is the prettiest or most arousing are abundant, but here in the ‘Apocalypse Love Comedy’ community, there were only the whining voices of users who encountered bad endings and the gameplay records of those seriously trying to beat the game.
The so-called whiners and the sages.
Just how do you move on to the next chapter?
How much sincerity do you need to pour in to see the affection scene of your favorite character?
I was among the sages who were seriously discussing such matters.
It wasn’t so much that I wanted to see the adult scene of a particular character, but rather a stubbornly bundled determination.
For me, who started this game with a romantic notion about being a demon swordsman, this was a huge challenge.
‘I will definitely beat this trash game.’
Even though it had already been a month since its release, no one in the world had cleared it, so I was beginning to doubt whether it was even possible to beat in the first place, but there weren’t any other games I was interested in lately, so I just kept playing.
[Bad Ending!]
“Ah, damn it.”
I collected the 133rd bad ending.
This time, I died after being hit by the fearsome fire breathed out by the apocalyptic dragon.
And so, my playtime accumulated bit by bit.
‧
‧
‧
‧
[Bad Ending!]
“…Huh.”
By now, with the collection of the 250th bad ending, two months had passed since the release of ‘Apocalypse Love Comedy’.
There had been progress during that time, but I had only cleared about half of the episodes, and after getting beaten hundreds of times by enemies that kept getting stronger, I came to a conclusion.
[Hello! I’m Kitagawa Kenichi!]
A bright 17-year-old.
A male high school student with a strong impression and orange hair who seemed to be the protagonist.
If this had been a normal visual novel, he would have been the alpha male, but now, two months after release, ‘Apocalypse Love Comedy’ was one of the world’s most notorious garbage games.
This guy, who had just enrolled in this school that should rightfully be called a demon realm, wasn’t going to cut it.
‘What? A demon sword that can slice through any ability? Wow, that’s super cool!’
This character, whom I had been enthusiastic about when I first started, was impossible to use.
It was impossible to clear this game with a demon sword that had an ability-nullifying feature attached.
I realized that just now.
“Shit, what a garbage game.”
Ding—!
“…?”
Just as I was starting to think about quitting the game, a notification arrived.
What is it? I had disabled all messengers to concentrate on the game…
Opening the message with furrowed brows, it was a notice from the game I had pre-subscribed to notifications for.
Currently, there was only one game for which I had set up notifications.
[Hello, dear players. Due to your enthusiastic support, we, the creators of ‘Apocalypse Love Comedy’, have decided to release DLC, a game expansion pack…]
To summarize, because you guys are so bad at the game and can’t beat it, we’re releasing an expansion pack that makes the game much easier to progress.
“What the hell?”
I had a gut feeling.
These bastards got greedy, made the main game difficult, and now they’re releasing an expansion pack.
Feeling quite heated, I quickly scrolled through the expansion pack patch details, skimming through them.
“…Oh.”
There are this many patches?
There were many characters and events that would be added just by downloading the DLC, the expansion pack.
Also, weapons with special abilities too!
“…No way, there’s a sword that cuts through space, and even a sword that cuts through time?”
All of this could be experienced for just 15,000 won.
After nervously biting my nails and deliberating, I decided to become a happy sucker after much internal conflict.
I’ve already wasted two months, if I could be happy for just fifteen thousand…!
“…I’ll gladly be a sucker!”
After immediately purchasing and downloading the expansion pack, I launched the game.
My goal wasn’t to clear the game… but to get the time-stop sword!
While the space-cutting sword was also cool, I thought controlling time was more awesome.
Later on, when you become overpowered, you might be able to vaguely cut through space, but you can never cut through time, even later on!!!
Anyway, I memorized the information of the character listed as the owner of the time-stop sword.
There weren’t specific settings written down, just what kind of events you might encounter.
So, this character’s name is…
“Ichimaru Shiki.”
The moment I uttered it, my vision went dark.

How long had I been unconscious?
“Kyaaaah!”
I was startled by a sudden piercing scream and opened my eyes.
What entered my vision wasn’t my dark room and large monitor, but an unexpected mountain forest.
It was a scene of black wolves the size of houses pouncing on a girl in a school uniform.
‘…What is this?’
An incomprehensible scene far from my ordinary life. It was like a scene you’d only see in a game event.
For instance, the garbage game ‘Apocalypse Love Comedy’ that I had been playing until just now…
Just as I was feeling a sense of déjà vu, the girl being pounced on by the wolf screamed once more, and while my mind was dazed, my body moved automatically as if familiar with the situation.
—Swoosh.
I drew the sword at my waist.
This too was a long sword far from everyday life, one that might have been used during the Warring States period.
As the full moon light reflected off the blade, the ability activated.
—At that moment, everything stopped.
As proof, the girl who had been desperately screaming froze in place.
The piercing scream could no longer be heard.
Thump, thump, thump, the wolves that had been running on all fours toward the girl also stopped in mid-air.
As if under a petrification spell, they stood still in place.
No, if they had simply turned to stone, they would have fallen to the ground immediately, so it was truly close to a stop.
Yes, time had stopped.
Realizing this fact, I joyfully exclaimed at this amazing situation.
“Oh? Everyone has stopped moving?”
…?
What’s this?
After rubbing my lips that had uttered strange words on their own, I soon realized.
It seems that not only did I obtain the time-stop sword, but my body had also changed.
Many things seemed to have changed.