The train rocked in a steady beat, and Shimizu Ken leaned back in his seat, making a quiet promise to himself. "Before, I had no choice. Now, I want to be a good person."
Two and a half years ago, Shimizu Ken inexplicably crossed over into a romance game called "Everything of Mine Was Taken Away" after an unexplained event. You could guess the story from the title alone.
The game was set in Tokyo. The character he played was named Shimizu Ken, a student at Haikawa High Training Academy, and a mere supporting character in the game.
He unexpectedly awakened a system that forced him to take the five heroines surrounding the main protagonist, one by one, against his will. All the scenes and plots that couldn't be broadcast in public were handled by Shimizu Ken alone, as dictated by the system, while the main protagonist remained a virgin until the very end.
"I don't want a parasitic childhood friend who needs me like that," the childhood friend said when the main protagonist witnessed Shimizu Ken's actions with her. After hearing this, the main protagonist left in despair and shock, ultimately leading to the game's ending.
Shimizu Ken himself had no interest in stealing others' love. If he didn't, not only his life would be in danger, but even the people he cherished would be taken by others. Once, due to that damned NTR, Shimizu Ken was kidnapped while sleeping and submerged in Yokohama Port, taken all the way from Kanagawa.
But now, all the tasks were complete, the system had been deactivated, and he chose to spend all his accumulated points to rewind time to the starting point, beginning his second playthrough.
His goal was to give the main protagonist a HE (Happy Ending). This time, he wanted to be a good person.
"A killer on the train! Everyone, run back!" a girl's scream pulled Shimizu Ken from his thoughts.
He opened his eyes and saw a crowd desperately fleeing from something. Through the gaps in the crowd, he glimpsed the end car of the train. An adult man with a middle-parted hairstyle was holding a mature woman, pressing a fruit knife to her throat.
However, the previous girl's voice didn't come from the hostage. It came from a girl in a blue JK (schoolgirl) uniform who was confronting the man.
"Tch. You look so good, but you only have two thousand yen on you. But at least you have a cute little sister. Hey! If you don't want your mother to get hurt, hurry up and take off your clothes!" The middle-parted man waved the small knife exaggeratedly in the air, threatening her.
Shimizu Ken was all too familiar with that girl.
Her features were familiar to Shimizu Ken, with glossy, jet-black hair, soft lips, and sparkling blue eyes, matching his memory of Amamiya Iori from the game.
Along with these features, the name that surfaced in his mind was... Amamiya Iori.
"So it begins..." he whispered.
Two years ago, he had saved the main protagonist's childhood friend, Amamiya Iori, here with the system. Afterward, Shimizu Ken followed the missions and gradually won her over. But this time, to avoid that outcome, he decided to take a different approach.
"Iori, don't!" The mature woman was Amamiya Iori's mother, tears welling up in her eyes.
At this moment, Amamiya Iori bit her lower lip hard, her fingernails digging into her flesh as she clenched her fists. If her mother wasn't being held, she would have charged at the attacker.
No—she definitely would have.
"Hurry up! Little sister, you don't want your mother to get hurt, do you?" the man threatened Iori again, using her mother's life as leverage.
"You... you will really let my mom go?" Iori asked, forcing each word out.
"Of course. As long as you obey my orders," the man replied with a smug, sinister grin.
"I... I understand." Iori managed to utter the words, her hand slowly reaching for the buttons of her uniform shirt.
"Damn it, where is that guy!?" Shimizu Ken turned sharply, looking towards the timidly hiding crowd.
He was searching for Kondo Yuuichi, the main protagonist of this story, his close friend from their after-school cram school.
Kondo Yuuichi and Amamiya Iori were childhood friends who lived close by and walked to school together every morning. He should be on this train.
Soon, Shimizu Ken's gaze locked onto a boy wearing the same blue school uniform.
That was Kondo Yuuichi. Kondo Yuuichi had a more ordinary appearance and a relatively timid personality, blending into the crowd. Shimizu Ken recognized him by his school uniform.
"What are you doing hiding here? Go save Amamiya!" Shimizu Ken pulled a baseball bat from his backpack and handed it over.
Shimizu Ken had prepared the baseball bat, knowing this situation would occur from his previous playthrough.
According to the game's settings, this thug was weak.
Although he held a knife, he was actually a weakling with a combat power of only 5. Anyone who dared to rush him could definitely save Amamiya Iori.
Shimizu Ken intended to give this chance to Kondo Yuuichi. If he saved Amamiya Iori, the storyline would change.
"Ken... maybe we should just call the police and wait," Kondo Yuuichi said. He didn't take the baseball bat, instead trembling as he pulled out his phone. Shimizu Ken noticed his entire arm was shaking.
"The police won't arrive until the next stop. Are you just going to watch Amamiya get bullied until then?"
"But... he has a knife. I might... I might die," Kondo Yuuichi insisted, shaking his head desperately. Tears were visibly welling up in his eyes.
Shimizu Ken glanced back. Amamiya Iori had already unbuttoned the top two buttons of her shirt, revealing her fair, unblemished neck.
No, there wasn't enough time...
"Stop crying! Swallow it! Isn't Amamiya your most important childhood friend!?" Shimizu Ken tried to provoke Yuuichi. He knew Kondo Yuuichi had harbored unusual feelings for Amamiya Iori since childhood and had been looking for an opportunity to confess.
Perhaps the verbal provocation worked. Kondo Yuuichi finally made up his mind and took a step forward, emerging from the tightly packed crowd.
Mount Fuji erupting... that didn't happen.
"Ken, I really can't do it," Kondo Yuuichi said. After taking just two steps, he turned and fled back into the crowd, disappearing again.
This guy...
"Heh heh heh. Now, it's time for me to enjoy myself," the middle-aged man said with a lecherous grin that made one's skin crawl, slowly approaching Amamiya Iori.
No. If this continued, Shimizu Ken feared his worries would become reality.
But if he rushed forward to save her himself, the ending would remain unchanged.
What should he do...?
"Someone... please save me!" Whether it was a hallucination or not, Shimizu Ken suddenly heard a desperate cry for help.
Amamiya Iori's lips remained tightly pressed, yet he heard her voice.
Before he knew it, Shimizu Ken's body moved on its own.
Notes:
• Amamiya Iori - JK heroine; targeted; her mother is the hostage. Long-haired and busty.
• Kondo Yuuichi - Original main protagonist; timid; Iori’s childhood friend; freezes despite push.