"I'm home, Mom!"
"Mom?... Huh?"
Li Zhu took off his shoes as he entered.
He walked from the hallway, through the kitchen, to the living room, but saw no sign of his mother.
"She's not home? Is she still at work at this hour?"
"No, that makes no sense… today is Saturday. She doesn't work. So where would she go?"
"Maybe she went shopping. I'll just rest a bit."
Thinking his mother had simply gone to buy groceries, he didn't dwell on it.
He grabbed a banana, dropped his bag on the floor, lifted his feet and sprawled on the couch to eat slowly.
"Ahhh… this is the life~"
"Hey, little invisible girl… I don't have to take care of you anymore! I don't have to worry about you causing trouble! I finally cleared the game! I'm free, free!"
Right now, Li Zhu felt weightless, relaxed, savoring a peace he had not felt in a long time.
It's a kind of joy hard to describe… like wearing brand new underwear for the New Year.
If you hadn't lived his past three months, you wouldn't understand his relief.
When he first opened his eyes in this world—strange yet familiar—he was standing in front of Sakura High School, confused and helpless.
Then he learned about his situation… and the death destined to happen in three months.
Thus began his three-month mission: protecting the "invisible girl" like a counter-terrorism agent.
He survived only thanks to caution and cleverness.
In simple terms: as long as he didn't catch the invisible girl's attention or trigger death flags, he had to act cautiously and follow the plan.
No one told him what to do in this game-like world.
So he had to figure out how to survive on his own.
He once thought about avoiding Sakurai Yūko completely… but he didn't dare bet with his life.
What if he did nothing and still died when the day came?
That would be the dumbest death imaginable.
And now, he even had a mother in this world—someone he cared about.
Having attachments made everything heavier.
The game dictated that he would die in three months.
If worldline correction was real, then that day would surely come.
So he began his fight against fate.
First: even as a side character, he must never become a villain.
Instead, he had to assist the protagonists and borrow their "main character aura" to alter his fate.
Thus Plan A was created—to safely distance himself from the heroine without triggering death, while encouraging her proper relationships with others.
He would secretly protect Sakurai Yūko, observing her every movement, until the destined day passed.
And if any danger appeared—even slightly—immediate retreat.
Just run.
If he couldn't escape, he could still plead for mercy based on his previous help.
Double insurance.
He didn't expect that this roundabout method would alter the storyline… but it allowed him to survive his fated death day.
Which proved all his efforts were not in vain.
Also… after playing the game for so long, he had formed some attachment to it.
And after seeing the heroine in person—clumsy, soft, harmless—he couldn't bear others bullying her.
Worst of all, the invisible girl route was the one he had played the most.
(Just remembering made his liver ache.)
Because the game constantly reset, he had never cleared it.
He wanted to strangle the game developer (thousands of curse words omitted).
At least at first, the invisible girl was so oblivious that she didn't notice him.
She looked harmless, soft, and gentle.
Easy to protect.
Though… strangely, it felt like raising a daughter.
Still, it was exhausting.
She was timid and fragile—yet possessed stunning beauty impossible to hide even under disguise.
She was a walking route trigger.
Li Zhu lived on constant alert.
Simple harassment—catcalling, fake rescues, stalking, traps, kidnapping attempts—those were manageable.
The true danger was hidden malice.
Cruelty no one else saw.
He still couldn't understand what she had done to deserve such hatred.
It wasn't dislike.
It was pure human cruelty.
It started with "jokes."
Then public humiliation.
Whenever she resisted, they said:
"Aren't we friends? It's just a joke."
Eventually, it became full bullying.
Waking her by yelling in her ear while she slept on her desk.
Hiding her gym shoes.
Destroying her textbooks.
Placing sharp objects on her seat.
Fake snakes under her desk.
Those were the things he managed to see and stop.
But what about the things he didn't see?
One day, after finishing class cleaning late, he saw her.
Soaked.
Crouched behind the school building.
Crying silently.
She was tall—yet now looked so small.
Like a stray kitten, thin and trembling, hiding and licking its wounds alone.
She did cry.
Just where no one could see.
Something in Li Zhu broke.
He had believed she was fine with his protection.
But she had been suffering while he was proud of himself.
He had underestimated the cruelty of people.
A nameless fire rose inside him.
His fists trembled.
Old, dark memories surfaced.
But instead of losing control, he became calm—dangerously calm.
He knew direct revenge would make it worse for her.
So he went to the principal.
A principal who truly cared.
He told a simple story about "friends," sentence by sentence, dripping with bitter irony.
After that day, those bullies disappeared from the school.
No one touched the invisible girl again.
Yet Li Zhu was not satisfied.
"Too easy for them…"
He wasn't a saint.
His rule was simple:
If you don't harm me, I won't harm you.
If you harm me, I return it double.
The principal was too kind.
From then on, he officially took over the protagonist's role—quietly protecting her, advancing Plan A.
Until one day… she noticed him.
The balance broke.
The story shifted.
"How did she notice me? That dummy… Did the principal tell her?"
He didn't know.
And didn't ask.
(It was the principal.)
Once exposed, problems flooded in.
And honestly, without disguise, his looks were not inferior to the protagonist's.
Which was dangerous.
What if she fell for him?
He had to keep distance.
But fate doesn't care.
She confessed to him.
And it nearly triggered the dark route.
"Aahh… my charm really has nowhere to go…"
"If Shimazu Ka still doesn't show up, what then? Am I supposed to conquer the rest of the heroines too?"
He was just venting.
One girl was already too much trouble.
He definitely wasn't touching the others.
The correct path was always: avoid the heroine.
He remembered the terror of that game.
That cursed game that dared call itself "Sweet Healing Romance: I Am the Harem King."
Ha.
It should have been called:
"Dark Psychological Romance: I Am the Restart King."
Those heroines weren't romantic partners.
They were palace intrigue incarnate.
One wrong step, and either the heroine snapped and reset the game, or the protagonist was killed.
Just then, his phone rang.
"Hello? What is it?"
He answered irritably—still angry about the game.
But the moment he heard the voice on the other end…
His expression froze.
His brows tensed.
Urgency took hold.
He jumped up.
Ran for the door.
"WHAT?!"
"I'm on my way right now!"
Li Zhu's mother had been in an accident.