ITITPS 3

Chapter : 3

“Make yourself comfortable. It’s a bit shabby, though.”

Serena gave a sheepish smile as she showed me a suite that had to be close to a hundred pyeong.

Technically, since the entire top floor of the Magic Tower belonged to her, calling it a room felt wrong—it was practically a penthouse.

This was unusual too.

Serena was kind throughout the whole game, but unless it was during the early demon raid incident, you normally couldn’t come here unless her affection was at least 50.

Something felt off, so I opened my status screen with a frown.

[Name: Serena]

[Affection: 57]

Now it made sense.

In this run, Serena’s starting affection wasn’t 30—it was 50. With that, all her overly friendly behavior so far checked out.

“Is this all the completion-ending patch does?”

They hyped it up as a special patch, so I expected more. What a letdown.

Beginners might like it, but I’m a veteran. Starting affection this high just kills the fun of the route.

Maybe digging deeper would reveal something new, but…

“I can’t quit now anyway.”

Run number 99. I’ve seen ninety endings, not counting duplicates.

At this point I’m playing more out of affection for the characters than for fun. I’ve spent more time here than in the real world; of course I can’t drop it.

If someday I suddenly couldn’t play Les Dernières, the loss would be unbearable.

This game was my life.

“Um… do you like chocolate?”

Serena asked cautiously, trying to change the mood when she saw me zoning out. It was sweet of her.

Honestly, she didn’t need to fuss over a slave this much.

Romance targets are supposed to be friendly to the protagonist, but Serena… she was truly kind. And only to me!

[No.]

[I don’t know.]

Two choices popped up. Since I wanted dessert, I picked the second one.

“…I’ve never tried it, so… I don’t know.”

Looks like this run’s persona was “pathetic slave.” My avatar hunched its shoulders obediently.

Serena’s blue eyes trembled. Her clear distress was adorable.

“I misspoke.”

Guilt colored her voice. Muttering miserably, she fetched a small box of chocolates from a cupboard.

Apparently my avatar had no idea what chocolate was. When I just stared instead of unwrapping one, Serena made an oh-no-I-forgot face.

“You unwrap it like this.”

She peeled the gold foil slowly, revealing a rich brown chocolate inside.

Drawn in by the sweet scent, my body leaned forward. Serena gave a pained smile at the sight.

“Open your mouth, would you?”

Oh. Ohhh. My avatar mirrored her gesture. The chocolate slipped into my open mouth, and my eyes widened.

“It’s… good.”

Chew, chew. Sweet flavor spread across my tongue.

It tasted exactly like chocolate in reality, except with no worries about gaining weight—virtual reality really was the best.

“I think I like chocolate.”

“That’s a relief.”

When the final line ended, control of my body returned. Serena smiled with her eyes crinkling.

“There’s plenty of chocolate. Eat as much as you like.”

Under her warm gaze, I ate piece after piece.

All sorts of premium chocolates—delicacies only available in the Magic Tower.

When I finished, drowsiness hit me. Feeling full might be fake, but the sensation was real enough.

Serena guided my wobbly, food-coma body to the bed.

Her signature sweet milk-chocolate scent tickled my nose. Between her gentle touch and the soft sheets, my limbs quickly grew heavy.

My vision flickered out.

I was drifting in sweet sleep when noise stirred around me. Voices floated in as if underwater.

“Lady Serena, your meal is—… Lady Serena?”

“I’ll be down soon.”

“That’s not the issue…”

Adele, who had come just to announce the schedule, froze when she saw me using Serena’s lap as a pillow.

A ranged dealer with low physical defense, she almost never let anyone near her—no wonder she panicked.

She looked worried I might hurt Serena.

If this went on any longer Adele’s affection might drop, so I was about to wake up when—

[(Pretend to be half-asleep and cling to Serena)]

[(Startle awake and pull away from Serena)]

A choice appeared.

Pick the first and Serena would love it, but Adele’s affection would nosedive.

If anyone’s affection goes negative, you get penalized.

I had no desire to witness the backstab-betrayal ending, so I chose the second.

“…Gah! Ah, I—I mean…”

My avatar opened its eyes and realized it was lying in Serena’s lap. I jolted upright.

Then, flustered beyond belief, I grabbed at my clothes.

Shaking hands, wide-eyed like a terrified rabbit—perfect.

Why were all the choices in this run like this?

It had forced me into a “wounded-mistress-of-tragedy” build from the moment I reacted sensitively in Chapter 0.

“S-sorry…”

One more emotional strike for the bewildered Serena and Adele.

Serena looked utterly helpless.

[Adele’s affection has increased by 1.]

At least it was the right call. Sorry, Serena, for putting you through this.

“Anastasia.”

Serena reached out, but when my avatar flinched, she pulled her hand back. Her fingers hovered, uncertain.

“…Let’s go to the dining hall.”

A blink later, I was standing in the dining room.

“I hope the meal suits your palate.”

Meal time. Traditionally we sit at opposite ends of the table, but today Serena sat right beside me.

“Here.”

She cut my steak for me. So this is what starting at 57 affection does.

After Chapter 1, quiet meals with Serena are rare, so this was refreshing.

“…Thank you.”

If she cuts it, I’ll eat it. I stabbed a large piece. Rich juices—and brilliant magic—burst out.

[Chapter 1. The Wizard’s Tower]

This comes right after the prologue—Serena’s buff period.

It looks dull and predictable, but Chapter 1 actually matters a lot.

[You consume the wizard’s food.]

[Magic settles into your body.]

Les Dernières is a romance sim but packed with action. There are no visible stats, but every character has distinct combat characteristics.

Classic hero logic: the player’s job is always Swordsman.

You become Holy Sword Hero in Chapter 2, and your permanent awakening depends entirely on how much magic you stockpile before then.

And the easiest way to get magic is: eat at the Tower.

So to play smoothly, you gorge yourself throughout Chapter 1.

Because Serena’s affection was high, the food today seemed even higher quality than usual.

[Warning! HP is dropping into the yellow zone.]

…Huh?

A sudden alert made me jerk upward.

“Urgh—cough!”

Black blood spilled from my mouth.

Dazed, I opened my status window. Sure enough, my HP bar—normally green—was hovering dangerously near yellow.

Why?!

“Anastasia!”

I’d only eaten a single bite of steak.

Magic-infused, sure—but for a Neon clan member, magic is a tonic, not poison.

There wasn’t even a “poisoned” debuff, so it wasn’t actual toxin.

Which meant this broke the established rules of the game.

A bug? Or was this really a full-clear bonus patch?

I like a challenge, but this was way out of left field…

“Anastasia! Stay with me!”

“Ghh!”

Serena’s panicked shout snapped me out of my thoughts. The status window auto-closed.

“W-we need a healer—no, a priest—”

Serena turned pale, clutching me tight. Her voice shattered like glass shards in a whirlwind.

Serena…

Whenever I got hurt or died in-game, she was always like this. No one worried about me like that in real life.

Not just Serena—any character with high affection in Les Dernières was willing to lay down their life for me.

Illya said the same thing last run.

Thinking of them made my heart swell. I gently placed my hands over Serena’s.

“Serena, calm down.”

“How can I calm down!?”

“I’ll be fine.”

I wasn’t bluffing. I would be fine. Even if this was a bug—even if my avatar died here—nothing would happen to me in reality.

Pain and negative feedback are filtered out. In-game, I was always fine.

“But… the blood…”

But for Serena, this world is real. Of course she worried.

I wanted to ease that worry, even a little. It feels nice, but worrying about the protagonist is the most useless thing in the game.

I averted my eyes slightly.

“It happens sometimes. It doesn’t hurt.”