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

“…Fuhuhu.”
When seeing a man who immediately lets out a meaningful laugh upon arriving in the classroom, most would feel bewilderment and curiosity, wondering what’s going on.
The girl with reddish-brown hair, Ichinose Hotaru, was closer to the latter emotion.
And it was a very deep curiosity in a positive direction. Or perhaps surprise.
‘Wow, how amazing.’
Who would have thought we’d meet in the same classroom? Ichinose Hotaru recalled that day half a year ago.
At that time, while returning home, she had moved as if enchanted by something, and by the time she came to her senses, she had left the main streets of the city and was standing in front of a mountain forest.
Before she could understand the situation that defied common sense, a pack of wolves of a size she had never seen in her life rushed at her. All she could do was helplessly scream.
‘Kyaaaah!’
N-no way, am I going to be eaten like this?
Hotaru was a fairly bold girl, but she was afraid of large beasts.
Of course, anyone would be terrified if predators large enough to easily devour them came rushing.
‘…Mom.’
Watching the gaping maw of the giant wolf as it leaped high toward her, Ichinose Hotaru sensed her own death and fell into despair.
Those sharp teeth would be very painful when they bit down. There were still so many things I wanted to do…
As she despaired like that, she suddenly noticed a man standing leisurely in her field of vision.
A squinty-eyed man with a relaxed smile as if he had just come out for an evening stroll, unlike Hotaru herself who was in a life-or-death situation.
If she had been eaten by the wolf monster just like that, she would have suspected that this person was behind it all, as he had such an innately lecherous appearance.
The typical impression of a villain.
The man with an appearance far from the everyday life of Ichinose Hotaru, an ordinary middle school student in the city, suddenly drew a real sword from his waist.
—At that moment, her vision went dark.
Hotaru thought she had died. That she had been cut by that sword and died.
But when she opened her eyes, the monster wolves and the squinty-eyed man were nowhere to be seen, and she was at a police box in the city.
An incomprehensible memory as if it had been a dream.
If the shrine that enshrined the Fire God hadn’t followed her mystical powers afterward, if she hadn’t become the Fire Priestess, she would have truly believed it was just a momentary dream, an illusion.
Though ordinary people don’t know it, yokai do exist.
Hotaru only learned this fact after becoming a priestess who served the Fire God.
Then the incident where the unidentified man saved her from the monster must also be real.
The Fire Priestess, Ichinose Hotaru, who believed without a doubt, finally found her benefactor on the first day of high school entrance.
For some reason, his once snow-white hair had changed to black, and the sword at his waist was no longer visible, but she was certain it was that person.
‘Such a lecherously-looking squinty-eyed… no, would there really be two people in Tokyo who laugh “fuhu” like that?’
No way.
No matter how big Tokyo is as a metropolis, there couldn’t be another squinty-eyed person that lecherous.
Moreover, how could she forget the face of her benefactor whom she had met in the final moment of her life?
Nodding her head, Hotaru looked sidelong at her benefactor, ‘Ichimaru Shiki’, who was still making a lecherous “fuhu” laugh, and thought.
‘He seems busy now, so maybe I’ll try talking to him later when he has time.’
I hope he’s not actually someone else.
As Ichinose Hotaru was worrying until the end, a familiar figure entered her field of vision.
Unlike herself who had come to the classroom early, this delinquent student arrived almost when time was up.
“Kenichi!”
She smiled brightly and waved happily to the male student with orange hair.

Outside the window, the blue sky along with the blooming cherry blossom trees was dyed in fluttering light pink, and inside the classroom was filled with students cheerfully greeting each other as if meeting friends after a long time.
It was truly the new semester.
With the energy of young people enjoying their youth felt everywhere, even I seemed to be influenced.
“Somehow I feel younger.”
Well, it was true that I had become younger.
My soul, or mind, was that of a hikikomori who played beautiful girl dating simulations, but my body was that of a 17-year-old superhuman who surpassed the category of a normal person.
I even have an overpowered ability like time stop!
This truly perfect body.
The only flaw was that I wondered if I was the only one in the classroom who didn’t know anyone, but there were people I intended to become friends with.
‘That’s why I came to this school.’
The world’s most difficult beautiful girl dating simulation, ‘Apocalypse Love Comedy’.
Abbreviated as ‘Apocalypse LoveCom’, there were main characters who would contribute to the episode progression.
There were as many as three heroines who were key figures in First-year Class A alone.
“Fuhuhu, finally the main story.”
I freshly felt that this was the beginning.
Sitting comfortably in my seat, I scanned the inside of the classroom looking for people with special hair colors.
They have a discrepancy with the appearance of ordinary students, befitting game characters or heroines.
Looks that wouldn’t be strange for celebrities and distinctively standing-out hair colors are their representative characteristics.
In other words, the more unrealistically someone looks, the more weight they have in the work.
Some characters even had followers in school from the first day of attendance.
“Look over there.”
“Oh my, it’s Lady Eris.”
“She’s beautiful as always today.”
“Ah, so dazzling…”
The noblewoman entering the classroom while flaunting her glossy golden hair.
According to the setting, was she the child of a British aristocrat?
Indeed, the name of the woman who showcased a dignified walking style was Eris Betelgeuse.
A mixed-blood with a British father and Japanese mother, she’s the character in charge of beauty in the work.
An appearance truly like a doll.
‘It’s a flaw that she’s only 150 centimeters tall, but…’
Yes, the fact that she’s really small like a doll is a major flaw if it’s a flaw at all.
Moreover, her chest… her bust is also flat.
Honestly, as someone who likes things moderately large, I couldn’t agree with the opinion that she was beautiful.
Isn’t she closer to being cute, no matter how you look at it?
Well, setting aside my impressions of her appearance, I needed to somehow become friends with her.
‘A magician who has awakened the star power of Orion, and simultaneously the descendant of a great mage.’
Since she’s a character with such an important setting, I should recruit her if possible.
Apart from me having the overpowered ability of time stop, this game ‘Apocalypse Love Comedy’ is also a formidable piece of garbage.
It would be good to secure as many available means as possible.
‘Next is here.’
As I turned my head, unlike the flat Eris, I saw an extremely large, generous heart. A beautiful girl with long light pink hair.
The Ancient Weapon, Sawamura Sento.
She will naturally take on the position of class president as the episode progresses, as she’s that much of a model student.
Although her pink hair is more striking than the blonde, no one questions it.
In such an indifferent society, I wonder if it wouldn’t have mattered even if I had come with white hair.
While thinking that, Sawamura Sento, who was surrounded by friends befitting her status as the school’s representative popular girl, looked exactly in my direction.
Our red pupils and gazes met.
For a moment, her expression became blank, and then she blossomed a smile on her face similar to mine.
Clearly beautiful, but with a mechanical atmosphere.
Similarly smiling back, I politely bowed my head like a gentleman and then turned my gaze away.
‘As expected, her senses are keen.’
Still, since I don’t need to pay attention to her in the early episodes, it should be fine to put her aside.
Rather, what I needed to respond sensitively to, although completely unintended, was ‘Fire Priestess’ Ichinose Hotaru who ended up sitting right behind me.
A high school girl with reddish-brown hair, with a rough character trait commonly found in gangster wives.
While her very pretty appearance is not ordinary at all, anyway, she who portrays a normal high school girl also excelled in the ability to purify ‘magic’, and above all, she was an indispensable existence for progressing through the early episodes.
Well, Ichinose Hotaru was the ‘childhood friend’ of the protagonist, the kind that always exists in visual novel games.
“Kenichi!”
For some reason, she who had been glancing at me repeatedly suddenly stood up from her seat and shouted.
It was because of the guy who had entered the classroom just before the homeroom time, cutting it close.
A male student with distinctively popping orange hair as if he too were a protagonist of the game.
The protagonist ‘Kitagawa Kenichi’ discovered his childhood friend who had arrived in the classroom first and smiled brightly.
“Yo, Hotaru, long time no see.”
“Yeah. Did you gain some weight while we haven’t seen each other?”
“…Really? Did I eat too much while being cooped up in the kotatsu?”
While worrying sincerely and grabbing his belly fat at his childhood friend’s common joke, the guy’s gaze met mine as I sat in the seat right in front of him, and he laughed heartily and said.
“Hello, I’m Kitagawa Kenichi! Nice to meet you!”
“…”
I momentarily held my breath at the sight of the guy, whose appearance overlapped with the in-game dialogue.
It wasn’t anything special, but it was because I found the weapon that he naturally had as the protagonist.
The cross-shaped accessory hanging around his neck.
The moment I discovered the protagonist’s exclusive demon sword with the characteristic of nullifying all abilities, I pondered.
‘Should I take it?’

The soul of a sword enthusiast screamed.
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.