I really don't want to have a girlfriend.

—If the sky could clear up here, perhaps this would just be a thrilling but not bad story?

The landslide destroyed all hope.

Aomurye is a small town nestled against the mountains. In recent years, various developments have caused the mountain forest ecosystem to deteriorate. Therefore, once a mudslide occurs, it's as if the entire mountain collapses, and no one can stop the terrifying outbreak of this natural disaster.

Especially near the lakeside close to the forest, there was no time to escape; one could only stare wide-eyed as the murky, muddy water rushed toward them, powerless to do anything but kneel down and pray.

With his stamina nearly depleted and the system only providing him with various skills related to raising a girlfriend, he was also accompanied by a frail girl who had just returned from the brink of death.

Yuu Tenkuji abandoned his escape plan and did the only thing he could do in that moment—

He found a large rock to lean against, tied himself tightly to it with a rope, and then pulled over a tarpaulin to cover the two of them. He tried his best to protect his sister with his own body, letting the rocks and trees smash his body, knock away his consciousness, and tear his flesh apart.

Faced with natural disaster, he had no better course of action, nor did he know if it was simply a futile attempt to stop a chariot.

Even so, he had to become the last line of defense to protect his family members who were in a coma in his arms.

—Boom!

After that, the raging mudslides swallowed everything that existed on the ground.

Including the town, the lake, and even the large rock not far away, where the brother used his body to shield his sister from a sliver of life.

"..."

Tachibana Kanade silently watched the scene automatically recorded by the system. The light jade that replaced her body floated above the mud, its brilliance unconsciously dimming considerably.

She was late.

She couldn't do anything, and there wasn't enough time to do anything.

Once again, I witnessed the tragic end of my beloved.

"Why did this happen..."

Everything is going much better than before...

His girlfriend this time clearly doesn't have any illnesses...

He had already decided what to name his future child...

His happy ending was right before his eyes...

"Is it all my fault?"

Muttering in anguish, Tachibana Kanade wanted to cry, but couldn't feel any tears.

If she hadn't been so engrossed in analyzing the system, she might have been able to prevent this accident from happening on her own...

"No, now is not the time to blame yourself!"

The ball of light suddenly rose into the air, along with an even smaller ball of light that floated up from beneath the soil.

Forcing herself to wake up from her resentment and sorrow, Tachibana Kanade's voice gradually changed from fragile to the same resolute determination as before.

"If it doesn't work this time, then next time!"

"I swear, I will definitely save you, Yu—"

"No matter how many times we have to start over, I will always protect you!"

Time began to flow backward, and the luminous jade gradually became transparent under the clearing sky.

Traveling through the long river of time, she constantly goes against the current, searching for the origin that turned all of this into a tragedy.

This is the second time.

Perhaps there will be a twentieth time, a two hundredth time, a two thousandth time...

Before he reaches a happy ending, Tachibana Kanade's journey will never end—the "Kanade of Light," which pursues miracles, will continue to move forward forever and alone.

"Let's start by modifying that system..."

As they murmured, the cicadas sang once more in the summer.

On the familiar street, the boy wiped away his sweat and revealed a tired yet invigorated, cheerful smile.

Meanwhile, in the distant sky, two beams of light flew rapidly toward his head, about to change his extraordinary and wondrous life.

……

The screen gradually darkened.

Sitting in his chair, Yuu Tenkuji looked expressionlessly at Sora Kasugano by the podium, struggling to suppress the distorted expression that was about to appear on his face, and said calmly:

"I said, Qiong..."

"Those hundreds of films, could they have recorded hundreds of ways I could die?"

Chapter Sixty-Seven: Becoming His Hero

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"A compilation of ways to die..."

Seemingly surprised by this interpretation, Kasugano Sora paused for a moment before covering her mouth with a slight chuckle: "...Seriously, how can you joke about something so serious? Is this the kind of composure one has when it comes to this?"

“Serious?” Tenkuji Yu frowned, clasped his hands together, and said calmly, “I just think this is very unreasonable. Even if I’m destined to die, why do I always have to drag you down with me? The first time was because I had a mental breakdown and you had to take care of me. The second time was because I didn’t soothe your emotions and you ran away from home during the typhoon… If it were me now, I would never be so reckless as to let this happen!”

"Is that what you care about..." Kasugano Sora sighed helplessly, resting her cheek on her hand. "As expected, Yu, you don't care about your own life and death at all... Although I don't really want to say it, I used to cry every time I watched these scenes. I was really immersed in them."

"Although he did what I would do, he is not me after all, and he is not as smart as me. Knowing this, I naturally don't feel any sense of identification with him."

Without a trace of narcissism, Yuu Tenkuji said matter-of-factly, "On the contrary, even if I know that the you in the video is not the real you, to me, Kasugano Sora in any world is my sister, the face I see every day—compared to a self that is not myself, of course I will care more about you."

"Ugh..." Kasugano Sora covered her cheeks with her hands, and her fair skin quickly turned red. She looked away shyly and stammered, "You, you shouldn't say things like that in such a serious tone... It's so cheesy."

"Just to be fair." Yuu Tenkuji couldn't help but chuckle, then steered the conversation back on track, "So, every timeline since then ends with my death?"

"Yes, every time you die, Kanade starts over, and that's how hundreds of world lines with different processes but the same ending are created."

Kasugano Sora's lips curled slightly, it was unclear whether she wanted to mock Tachibana Kanade's foolishness or admire her indomitable spirit.

She spoke in an unexpectedly calm tone: "Although there are less than a hundred ways to die, there are still several that are repeated... However, without exception, no matter how Kanade tries to change her fate, you will not be able to live past the end of your senior year of high school. It's as if the whole world is targeting Yu and has already decided to give you an ending where you will never be happy until the end."

The silver-haired woman sighed again: "More like a theorem than a curse?"

"Is the setting that someone is destined not to live past eighteen...? It's not like it's a parallel universe..."

Gently pinching her chin, Yuu Tenkuji murmured, "But I shouldn't have offended a witch or some big shot from the mystical side. Could it be because of my identity as a transmigrator..."

"Stop guessing. If there are no objections, I'll move on to the next one, okay?"

Not hearing his mutterings, Kasugano Sora waved her wand, and the screen, which had been darkened, reappeared.

Before the screening, she asked Yuu Tenkuji a question again.

"Now, have you remembered something about Kanade?"

"...It's a pity that although I have a deep impression of her, I haven't been able to recall the 'memories' of our time together yet."

"……Yeah."

Kasugano Sora certainly understood.

That friend erased her own existence from this world, rather than using the clumsy method of altering memories to make everyone forget her. Naturally, it's impossible for her to be easily recalled just because she was moved by watching a video.

But in this science classroom, the video playing on the projection screen was another, indelible, version of "Tachibana Kanade"—

Simply put, it's a backup, and also a key that bypasses the rules.

It might take some effort, but Kasugano Sora truly believed that even with just this documentary-like backup, her older brother would surely be able to recall his friend's existence.

After all, when it comes to things related to girls, Yuu Tenkuji has never disappointed.

In every timeline, he always manages to overcome all obstacles, win the hearts of girls in his own way, accomplish feats that seem miraculous to others, and make them fall head over heels in love with him.

—Kanade, who already loved Yu, still remembered Yu even after she disappeared.

They'll definitely be incredibly moved and fall deeply in love again, unable to extricate themselves from this despicable guy who has a girlfriend but still goes around flirting with other women, right?

Just imagining that scene made Kasugano Sora lower her head and smile, eagerly anticipating seeing her friend's delicate and elegant face streaked with tears of emotion.

Even though it's unlikely, what if I cry? I need to be prepared to record it...

"Qiong?"

"Ahem, it's nothing." Kasugano Sora quickly coughed twice, suppressing her malicious thoughts, and gestured for Tenkuji Yu to watch the next video carefully under his questioning gaze.

The screen lit up, but it was no longer that familiar summer; instead, it showed several television screens that flickered with a cold light in the darkness, like surveillance monitors.

At the same time, the girl's soft but slightly low voice rang out, accompanied by a sigh.

……

"Failed again."

"I've tried to modify the 'system,' but no matter what I do, I can't get Yuuka to graduate from high school..."

"The difficulty of the task was lowered so that he could easily obtain the rewards. However, after obtaining a certain amount of money, he abandoned the system and started his own business... Then he had relationship problems and died."

"The task difficulty was increased, and a bunch of obstacles were deliberately set for him. Although he overcame them all perfectly, in the end, in order to prevent the system from controlling his emotions, he tried to find a way to rebel against the system... In the end, before he could find one, he died in an accident."

"I tried ninety-nine times, using every method I knew, and completely changed the original 'girlfriend training system' beyond recognition..."

"But they are still going around in circles, unable to find any glimmer of hope to save You."

The girl's tone grew increasingly somber. A hand emerged from the darkness, clutching a remote control, and turned off the screens that were flashing various cruel images.

If you look closely, you'll find that they are all boys named Tenkuji Yu, whose bloody endings will come sooner or later before they graduate from high school.

Perhaps he was hit by a truck while saving someone, or he was willing to die with his girlfriend because of her emotional problems, or he sacrificed himself to save his sister, or his girlfriend was so yandere that he was drugged and chopped into seventeen or eighteen pieces before anything could even be done...

It was like a poorly written script destined to be a tragedy, a manifestation of the world's malice towards Yuu Tenkuji.

"So, I decided to try a different approach."

However, the screen lit up, the familiar city reappeared, and the girl's voice revealed a firm and resolute tone.

“I understand very well that I can’t do anything on my own.”

"Therefore, in order to save Yu, I must find a helper."

A helper who, like her, is willing to overcome all kinds of difficulties for Yu, and cares more about his safety than common sense.