[TS] Surviving in a Yuri Visual Novel

“Did you enjoy it?”

As Leo suddenly asked while gulping down the drink straight from the bottle, with the cool dawn breeze hitting him and using the densely packed stars in the sky as a snack, there was a brief pause.

Leo’s hand froze mid-gulp. Damien, who had weakly set down the bottle, took a moment of silence before glancing uneasily at Leo and opening his mouth.

“Do you want to get hit?”

“You enjoyed it but you’re changing the subject… No, can’t friends joke around a bit?”

“Sexual harassment is a crime, you know.”

“Who cares what anyone says.”

Leo looked horrified at Damien, who was grinning with fists clenched. His face clearly showed his disdain. Damien’s eyes, watching the hero making sexual jokes at any moment, were cold and distant.

“Ah, I want to have sex.”

Damien blinked at Leo’s nonsensical sexual comment, confusion written all over his face before he turned to Leo with an incredulous expression.

Just the fact that he can say something like that is ridiculous.

“Stop bluffing and just go do it. You really go beyond anything, seriously.”

“I only joke like that around you to relieve stress.”

“…As a friend. But if you’ve changed professions from hero to duke, shouldn’t we maintain some dignity?”

“Change professions? I don’t even know the terms from your world. And this is my mansion’s terrace with no one around but you, so what does that matter?”

There’s no rat eavesdropping. Leo declared firmly.

“There wouldn’t be any ears catching that in this early hour.”

If there were, they would just be ignorant scum trying to assassinate the hero and his companion. Leo maintained a neutral expression with a look of disinterest.

The alcohol must have influenced him; Leo’s words were more brazen than usual. Damien stared fixedly at Leo’s face. His cheeks were flushed; he seemed to be already drunk.

That guy is really something, Damien clicked his tongue.

Three years of rolling as a hero must have given him some mental illness where he couldn’t go a moment without making sexual jokes. At this point, it was genuinely concerning.

A renowned doctor from the empire definitely said there was nothing wrong with his head. But was it really the head that’s the issue?

Initially, when he first met him, Damien thought of Leo as a lively and spirited friend overflowing with a sense of justice, but he progressively became strange.

It made him wonder if he received a bizarre curse from an archdemon or even a demon king.

Now that he thought about it, when he first encountered him as a 2D character, his character description mentioned he was simple and honest, but that suddenly came to mind.

Isn’t this a total scam? His personality is completely different. He is honest, but simple-minded? Is having a brain dominated by sex considered simple-minded?

…Wait, that may not be wrong?

Even if he is foolish, he isn’t rigid at all. Rather, his mind is so open it became a problem.

He honestly didn’t understand why, in front of his lover, the saintess or elves, he acted all composed, yet in front of Damien, he was like this.

‘He said it was something he could only say in front of friends.’

Isn’t this too much?

Sighing briefly, Damien said with a half-joking, half-serious expression, “How about renouncing the ducal title and checking into a mental hospital for treatment?”

“…Hey. I only joked a bit, seriously. Was that too much?”

“Was that a bit excessive? My bad. Then just take it as a casual comment.”

Damien immediately offered an apology.

“But.”

There is a limit to jokes, my friend. Damien added with a frown.

“Is this really a hero?”

“Please keep those words to yourself.”

“If you control yourself, I won’t have to say such things out loud.”

“Do you think that’s easy? Heroes are human too! It’s normal to throw sexual jokes around with friends.”

“…The noble hero is dead.”

Leaning his elbows on the railing while sipping the homemade beer made by a dwarf, Leo took a long gulp and, finding it quite delicious, suddenly smiled faintly.

“This goes down surprisingly smooth. It’s way smoother than other beers.”

As he filled his empty glass with beer for a shot and grinned like a fool with slightly unfocused eyes, Damien blinked.

Some princess he had seen in the western kingdom once said that smiles of handsome men and beautiful women are treasures. That wasn’t wrong. Leticia’s smile truly was a treasure.

However, this guy is an exception.

Seeing a guy so close he might as well be family give a fresh, carefree laugh like a romantic fantasy protagonist smiling at a heroine is nothing short of disgusting. He rubbed his eyes as if he had seen something terrible.

“Eyes that haven’t seen anything shall remain, damn it. I have less than ten minutes left, is this how you want to spend it?”

At his scolding, Leo snorted.

“Are you really going to act so petty over a smile between us? I’m dead serious right now. My only friend is leaving to return to his own world!”

“…You idiot. I can tell you’re drunk from the way you’re stumbling over your words; quit drinking, man.”

Drinking too much of the strong dwarf’s alcohol was really annoying. Leo stiffened his smiling face and politely refused as Damien, raising an eyebrow, tried to grab the beer from his hand.

“I don’t want to. I’m about to become a loser with no friends, so there’s no way I can send you off sober.”

“…Whatever. Do what you want, you loser.”

“Sure, I’ll be a loser then. Sigh. My so-called only friend can’t even comfort me but throws insults, how am I supposed to feel?”

“You really are drunk.”

Damien was taken aback by Leo’s unusual behavior as he uttered words that made his hands curl up in embarrassment.

He was drunk, way too drunk. The fact that a guy who couldn’t drink much downed a shot of this world’s strongest dwarf wine was already a bit off, but now he was truly losing it.

When he first suggested they drink, it felt unusual, but it turned out he couldn’t hold his alcohol at all.

What to do about this guy?

It’s amusing, but is it really okay to leave him like this?

His face was flushed, showing very well that he was drunk, with slightly dilated pupils; it was evident he was wasted.

“Alright, cheers! You don’t have long now, do you? Let’s drink until the end.”

During a brief distraction, Leo filled his empty glass with beer, clinked it against the glass Damien was holding, and began to gulp it down.

“Hey, stop drinking! You’re drunk!”

“What are you talking about? I’m not drunk! I’m the best dart player in the hero’s party; there’s no way I can be drunk!”

“You, the one who can’t drink at all, what are you even saying? Stop. You’re plenty drunk already.”

Damien flusteredly stopped him.

“I’m not drunk. Ah, I feel dizzy in a good way, so just be quiet for a moment. Ugh, I’m getting drunk. Dwarf-made alcohol really is the best.”

It’s not good at all.

The state you’re in is completely gone, so what’s good about it?

Among people who say they are not drunk, he has never met anyone who was actually sober.

Thus, this guy was definitely drunk.

“Now go in and sleep it off.”

“I need to see you leave.”

“What kind of farewell is it between guys, disgusting. No need for farewells, and we’ve already shared everything, now go get some sleep next to your lover.”

“Shared what? I haven’t shared anything at all.”

Damien bit his lips tightly. A bit of blood trickled from between his lips.

Was it that everyone got all sentimental right before parting, like Leticia and this guy?

Maybe the alcohol hit Leo hard because his behavior was different from usual.

“We can’t see each other again forever, right? Damien Redius, you’re not coming back to this world, are you?”

“…Well, maybe I could come back.”

He spoke words he didn’t mean. Damien vaguely sensed that, starting today, he would never come back to this world again.

“See? You’re not coming back.”

Leo’s words pierced his heart like a cold dagger.

“And now that the hero is leaving, shouldn’t we bid farewell as a matter of friendship between men?”

Casually draping an arm across Damien’s shoulder, he smirked.

“It would have been better if it was Leticia saying farewell instead of a guy like me. But you haven’t even told Leticia that you’re leaving, right?”

“…If I say I’m leaving, then both she and I would be shaken up, so… why am I even telling you this?”

“If you don’t, Leticia will be hurt even more, you know? You can’t handle it.”

“What’s there to handle? I won’t be coming back.”

His voice sounded cold, almost like it could be perceived as cruel. Damien looked at Leo.

“Lying isn’t good. Look at me. Right now, I’m proudly dating both Chloe and Irina at the same time.”

Leo spoke confidently, even if it was a little embarrassing to share.

“…Is that a boast?”

“It is.”

Seeing Leo being so forthright made Damien sigh with a troubled expression.

He seemed to have forgotten about the fierce argument he witnessed between the saintess and the elf regarding how he would be the main wife. It was the first time since the fight with the demon king that he saw the healer fight so fiercely.

Still, well.

“That’s good.”

Certainly, while polygamy is permitted in the empire, nobles and royalty usually only look at one main wife, as having a concubine is seen poorly.

So much so that a noble with a concubine is labeled corrupt and unfaithful, making the perception quite bad.

This world has peculiar standards for being medieval.

“It’s only because you’re a special case being a hero that no one is saying anything about creating a harem.”

“It’s not a harem! Although I am a pure lover, life is unpredictable.”

“Where did you even hear that… forget it. Let’s stop this talk.”

Talking to a heavily intoxicated person would only be painful. Damien restrained his words and checked the remaining time.

[Time remaining until forced logout: 00:00:30]

[Time remaining until forced logout: 00:00:29]

[Time remaining until forced logout: 00:00:28]

[Time remaining until forced logout: 00:00:27]

Wasn’t there less than 30 seconds left? Time really flies.

As Damien checked the remaining time before him, he drank down the alcohol he was holding. The clean, bitter, yet somewhat sweet drink went down his throat, but his heart felt in turmoil.

Leo’s words kept echoing in his mind.

Should he have said goodbye to Leticia at least? If he had, it felt like he would only regret it more, so he hadn’t. It was at that moment of conflict for Damien.

“Damien!”

“Wait a moment, Leticia…?!”

“…Oh, oh? Leo was here too.”

In order, Leticia, Chloe, Kanp… and then Irina walked through the door. It was the worst timing.

[Time remaining until forced logout: 00:00:01]

[Time remaining until forced logout: 00:00:00]

The time was up.

[Initiating player’s forced logout. We hope the time spent in this world was enjoyable for you, Hero.]

“…Enjoyable time, huh.”

Damien chuckled in disbelief. It’s no joke. While the first meeting might be bearable, the farewell was the worst.

“Damien! Wait! Just wait a moment! There’s still something I want to say…!”

In the end, as he saw Leticia with tears in her eyes reaching out desperately, Damien reflexively reached out, but then his body turned into particles and disappeared, leaving his vision to darken.

[Congratulations on clearing the game.]

Before his vision faded, the mechanical voice of the system proclaimed.

And the system consistently referred to this world as a game from start to finish, as if warning him not to confuse it with reality.

* * *

“Hey! It’s already past eight o’clock. Get up!”

“…Mom?”

Damien mumbled blankly. Damien Redius, no, Ryuraon, had logged out from the game’s world after three long years.

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