Chapter 293: The Conquest Order
"First of all, Onii-chan, what you need to do is win over the easiest one of the three!"
In the living room, Komachi made a grand sweeping gesture as if slapping a non-existent blackboard, initiating a war council with Hachiman Hikigaya.
"Uh, well, I haven't exactly made up my mind yet..."
Seeing Komachi so full of fighting spirit, Hachiman raised his hand somewhat guiltily.
"Why haven't you decided? Didn't Komachi just decide for you, Onii-chan?"
Komachi looked at the hesitant Hachiman with a puzzled expression.
"That's exactly what's weird about this, isn't it? The idea of you deciding whether I start a harem or not..."
"Then which one do you plan to choose, Onii-chan? Or are you choosing none of them?"
A look of helplessness appeared on Komachi's face. She rested her hand on her forehead and questioned Hachiman.
"I haven't thought it through..."
As he answered, Hachiman felt his physical presence gradually shrinking.
"Since you haven't thought it through, let's just proceed toward the 'Full Harem' goal for the time being. Given your personality, Onii-chan, it's impossible for you to choose just one in the end anyway.
Alright, back to the topic. Among the three, the most difficult to handle is undoubtedly Yukino-san. If you told her your goal in your current state, the probability of her beating you up is 100%. After that, the probability of her cutting ties versus tacitly accepting it is probably fifty-fifty..."
"Where are you getting these suspiciously accurate statistics?"
Hearing Komachi's words, the corner of Hachiman's mouth twitched. He could certainly predict that Yukino would hit him, but what was with that fifty-fifty split afterward? Komachi barely has any contact with Yukino; why was she so certain that the odds of her flipping out or staying silent were even!
"Ha? Onii-chan, are you an idiot?"
Looking at her dense brother who hadn't noticed Yukino's feelings at all, Komachi sighed helplessly.
"Hey, Onii-chan, let me ask: how many times have you been to Yukino-san's apartment?"
"Five times, maybe?"
He scratched his head and thought for a moment before giving a rough estimate.
"And how many of those times were you alone?"
"Three times."
This time, Hachiman gave a definitive answer.
The first time he went to Yukino's home alone and entered the apartment was right after returning from the other world, when Yukino asked him to come up to get his essay award certificate. The remaining two times occurred during the month and a half between then and summer vacation. Each time, it happened when he was walking Yukino home; she would take the initiative to invite him upstairs to discuss certain matters...
"Three times already!"
Wagging her finger, Komachi emphasized the count.
"You should know that even a regular girl would never invite a boy to her home unless their relationship had reached a certain level of intimacy. Especially when it's Yukinoshita Yukino. She invited you to her apartment three times in just two months, and yet you still don't understand her feelings..."
Thinking of this, Komachi had to admit that her brother was a total moron when it came to emotional intelligence!
"That doesn't necessarily prove anything, does it?"
Hachiman frowned. If simply being invited over meant someone liked you, that would be a bit much...
"This depends entirely on the person!"
Seeing Hachiman trying to argue, Komachi delivered a swift "hand-sword" chop to his head.
If the person were a cheerful, outgoing girl, inviting friends over would be a common occurrence, so it couldn't be used as evidence. But neither Hachiman Hikigaya nor Yukinoshita Yukino were the type of people who easily invited others into their homes!
"Anyway, using game terminology, Yukino-san is undoubtedly the Final Boss. You have to save her for last, Onii-chan. Next is Yui-san."
"Yui-san looks like she'd be easy to handle, and in reality, she is. She cares deeply about both you and Yukino-san. If you were to choose just one person among the three, Yui-san would likely withdraw sadly on her own and run off somewhere where you couldn't find her. But if you aim for the harem ending, Yui-san might actually become a huge help in winning over Yukino-san!"
"Is it because that girl has a slight yuri leaning?"
Hachiman didn't know whether to laugh or cry at the suggestion that Yuigahama Yui might help him win over Yukinoshita Yukino. However, Komachi's analysis did have merit.
For some unknown reason, Yuigahama Yui acted like Yukino's natural counter. From their first meeting, she seemed to have a firm grip on Yukino, eventually earning the status of the "Ice Queen of Sobu High's" only best friend.
"But how can you be sure Yui will stand on our side?"
Hachiman and Yui were indeed close, and he could faintly detect her hidden feelings for him through their daily interactions. But when it came to a major life decision like the future, simple "liking" might not be enough.
"Because Yui-san really doesn't want the three of you to be separated. Isn't she always the one mediating when you and Yukino-san bicker?"
"How do you know about that?"
Hachiman looked at Komachi suspiciously. He could accept her analysis of Yukino as being based on observing him, but how did she get intel on what happened inside the Service Club? Only the three members should know about those things.
"Hehe..."
In response to Hachiman's doubt, Komachi wore a triumphant smile. She whipped out her phone and flashed her contact list in front of him; Yuigahama Yui's name was right there. Not only that, Hachiman spotted Yotsuya Miko, Yukinoshita Yukino, Hana Yurikawa, and others at the bottom of the list.
"Unlike you, Onii-chan—the idiot who never takes the initiative to add girls on LINE—Komachi's social skills are top-tier!"
Having answered the source of her intelligence, Komachi tucked her phone away and resumed her role as strategist.
"Overall, Yui-san is undoubtedly the easiest to convince. Therefore, Komachi has decided to put her in second place!"
"So Miko is the first one to be settled?"
Hearing that he had to win over Yotsuya Miko first, Hachiman felt a sense of absurdity and confusion. That situation had just happened while walking Miko home, and now he was supposed to immediately convince her to accept a harem?
And according to normal logic, shouldn't the order of conquest go from easiest to hardest? Why follow the order of Medium, Easy, then Hard?
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