"What the hell?!"
Reiji screamed internally.
He lay stiff on the bed while Hina slept peacefully beside him, snuggled tightly against his arm.
One of her smooth legs rested across his waist, dangerously close to his crotch.
And to make matters worse...
His right hand was resting on her soft ass.
Well, it wasn't like he had intentionally put it there.
Hina had been the one who grabbed his hand in her sleep and placed it there herself.
Could he pull it away?
Absolutely not.
Not unless he had a death wish.
The last thing he wanted was for Hina to suddenly wake up, stare at him, and wonder why her boyfriend had decided to remove his hand from her ass in the middle of the night.
Knowing what he had learned just few hours ago...
That innocent misunderstanding might just become his cause of death.
So for the past few hours, Reiji had remained completely still, awkwardly keeping his hand exactly where she had placed it.
His arm had already gone numb.
His soul wasn't doing much better.
Right now, only one thought occupied his mind.
'I need to get the hell out of this bed.'
Not because he disliked sleeping beside a beautiful girl.
No sane man would complain about that.
The problem was that beautiful girl happened to be a yandere who had already murdered him once.
That made things considerably less romantic or erotic.
Besides, he desperately needed more information.
The previous Reiji's memories helped, but they were nowhere near enough for him to understand this world.
Earlier, while pretending everything was normal, he had spotted a laptop sitting on the study desk in the corner of the room.
If he could reach it without waking Hina...
He could finally start figuring out what kind of nightmare he had transmigrated into.
Luckily...
From what he had observed over the past several hours...
Hina was a deep sleeper.
Very deep.
Deep enough that she hadn't woken up despite him accidentally twitching several times whenever she hugged him tighter.
Reiji slowly inhaled.
'Alright... Operation: Escape The Yandere begins...'
Very carefully, he slid his right hand away from Hina's soft backside.
His movements were so slow they were almost invisible.
Luckily his hand came free.
'Step one complete.'
Reiji nearly cried tears of joy. He looked down at Hina.
She didn't react. Still sleeping. Still adorable. Still terrifying.
He let out the smallest sigh imaginable.
'Now comes the hard part.'
Her leg.
Reiji stared at the pale leg resting comfortably across him.
For some reason...
It looked heavier than the damn truck that sent him here.
The warm amber light from the bedside lamp illuminated his serious expression.
Anyone walking into the room right now would probably think he was defusing a bomb instead of trying to escape from a sleeping girl.
Even beads of sweat had formed across his forehead.
'Steady... steady...'
He slipped both hands beneath her leg and slowly lifted it.
The movement was painfully slow.
His heartbeat echoed loudly inside his ears.
'Don't wake up. Don't wake up. Don't...'
He gently placed her leg beside his.
Success.
Reiji slowly removed both hands.
Then...
*Whoosh!*
Hina's leg instinctively slid right back onto him.
"..."
Reiji stared blankly at the ceiling.
For several long seconds he simply accepted reality.
'I lost.'
He almost wanted to tuck himself back into bed. Almost.
"No."
He whispered inwardly.
"I didn't spend hours with my hand on her ass just to lose now."
Taking another deep breath, Reiji tried again.
This time the moment he placed Hina's leg beside her he immediately pulled his own leg away.
Just as expected...
Hina's leg searched for him again.
Only this time...
There was nothing there.
It rested harmlessly on the mattress.
Reiji blinked twice.
A slow grin spread across his face.
'I actually did it...'
Suppressing the urge to celebrate, he carefully slid off the bed.
Both feet touched the wooden floor.
Freedom. Sweet freedom.
A victorious smile slowly appeared on his face.
He hadn't even taken a full step...
"...Rei-kun."
Hina's soft voice drifted through the silent room.
Every hair on Reiji's body stood upright.
"I'm sorry... please... don't leave me."
Reiji froze. Completely.
His breathing stopped. His heart almost did too.
Very, very slowly he turned his head.
Hina was still lying exactly where she had been.
Her eyes closed. Breathing peacefully. Still fast asleep.
"..."
Reiji remained frozen for another five seconds.
Just to be sure.
Then, moving on pure instinct, he quietly walked over to the bed and waved a hand in front of her face.
Nothing.
He waved it again.
Still nothing.
"...She's really sleep talking."
Relief flooded through his body all at once. His knees nearly gave out.
"This girl..."
He muttered inwardly.
"Even sleeping, she's trying to shorten my lifespan."
Reiji quietly tiptoed toward the study desk in the corner of the room.
The wooden floor creaked beneath his feet.
He immediately froze.
His head slowly turned toward the bed.
Hina didn't move.
Only after waiting several more seconds did he finally continue walking.
He reached the desk and slowly pulled out the chair, making sure it didn't scrape loudly against the floor.
The laptop sat neatly in the middle of the desk, with several books stacked beside it. A framed photo of him and Hina stood near the edge.
Reiji glanced at it.
The two of them were smiling brightly at the camera.
He couldn't help but stare for a moment.
'The previous me... actually looked happy.'
His expression softened slightly before he shook the thought away.
'Focus.'
He opened the laptop.
The screen lit up.
Password Required.
Reiji smiled.
"This one's easy."
Without hesitation, he typed in Hina's birthday.
Enter.
Incorrect Password.
"...Huh?"
Reiji blinked.
"What do you mean incorrect password?"
He quickly typed it again.
Incorrect Password.
"..."
His confident smile slowly disappeared.
Then realization struck him.
"Oh. This isn't my Hina."
He slapped his forehead.
The Hina from his previous world and the Hina from this timeline obviously weren't born in the same year.
Feeling slightly embarrassed by his own stupidity, he subtracted one from the birth year before pressing Enter once again.
The desktop appeared.
"Finally."
Reiji let out a sigh of relief before immediately opening the browser.
The homepage was already flooded with trending news.
Almost every headline revolved around the same topic.
"The Disappearance of Mankind."
"The Last Recorded Male."
"Government Emergency Response."
"Gate Outbreak Continues Worldwide."
"..."
Reiji silently clicked the first article.
Its title immediately caught his attention.
**They Slowly Went Away As The Wind**
"What kind of depressing title is that?"
He muttered before continuing.
According to the article, nobody noticed the change at first.
Every year...
Slightly fewer boys were born.
The difference was so small that nobody paid attention.
People simply assumed it was coincidence.
Until it wasn't.
Then everything changed.
Without warning...
Mysterious dimensional rifts began appearing across the world.
The media eventually named them...
**Gates.**
Monsters poured out from them.
At the same time, ordinary humans began awakening powers beyond human limits.
Some controlled fire.
Some manipulated lightning.
Others possessed strength capable of tearing apart buildings.
The entire world descended into chaos almost overnight.
Reiji frowned.
'Gates... Awakened... this sounds exactly like one of those web novels.'
He continued reading.
Then the unthinkable happened.
One day...
Every single male disappeared.
Regardless of nationality. Regardless of age. Regardless of status. Newborn babies. Old men. Even children who hadn't yet been born.
They all vanished without leaving behind a single trace.
"...What?"
Reiji's eyes widened.
"So they didn't die... They just... disappeared?!"
The words escaped his mouth before he instinctively covered it with both hands.
His eyes darted toward the bed.
Fortunately Hina remained fast asleep.
Only then did he slowly lower his hands.
His heart was still pounding.
"So that's what actually happened..."
He had assumed every man had simply died because of some strange virus.
Instead they had been erased.
Like they had never existed.
Reiji felt a chill slowly crawl up his spine.
"What kind of virus can even do something like that? And if every male disappeared..."
He frowned.
"Then why didn't the previous Reiji disappear too?"
Nothing made sense.
The more he learned the more disturbing this world became.
Then another thought quietly surfaced inside his mind.
His expression slowly stiffened.
'No wonder... no wonder Hina killed the previous Reiji.'
If every other man had disappeared then the previous Reiji would've become the only man left on Earth.
Governments would've wanted him. Scientists would've wanted him.
Every powerful woman in the world would've wanted him.
To Hina that probably meant only one thing.
"They're going to take him away from me."
Reiji slowly turned toward the sleeping Hina.
She looked peaceful.
Innocent.
Like someone who wouldn't even hurt a fly.
Yet hidden beneath that beautiful face was someone capable of murdering the person she loved simply because she couldn't bear losing him.
Reiji swallowed.
"...This girl is seriously unhinged."
Reiji quietly shut the laptop.
He had already learned enough for one night.
Anything more and his brain felt like it would explode.
He leaned back in the chair and stretched both arms above his head.
A long yawn escaped his mouth.
Since both hands were occupied, he couldn't cover it.
His mouth opened so wide an egg could probably fit inside.
Even tears gathered in the corners of his eyes.
"...I'm exhausted."
Hours had passed.
First, he had almost died trying to escape Hina's embrace.
Then he discovered he had transmigrated into a world where every male had mysteriously vanished.
And finally...
He confirmed that the beautiful girl sleeping peacefully behind him had murdered the previous owner of this body.
What a wonderful start to his second life.
Ding!
A familiar chime echoed inside his head.
A translucent green screen materialized before him.
_____
[Main Quest Unlocked.]
[To Have The Dominion To Gain Bonds.]
_____
Reiji stared blankly at the screen.
"...What kind of quest title is that?"
Before he could think any further...
Ding!
Another screen appeared.
[Info: To have the dominion to gain bonds or, in simpler terms, to possess the power required to create bonds.]
[Bonds are relationship-based strengthening connections rewards that are gotten from your Bond Partner that are refined into Bond Points by the system.]
[The stronger the affection and connection. The greater the Bond Points.]
Reiji nodded slightly.
"So basically... I need women to like me ad become bond partner to gain Bond Points."
[Affirmative.]
That sounded simple enough. Then another notification appeared.
[And from the system's analysis, you have neither the power nor the looks. Sooo sad. Does the Host wish to check his status? [Y/N]]
Reiji stared at the glowing screen in front of him with a weird expression before finally tapping on the yes option.
Ding!
_____
[Status]
[Host: Kurosawa Reiji] – [LV1]
[Class: None]
[Skills: None]
___
[EXP: 0/100] [BP: 0/100]
[Health: 100] [Mana: 100] [Fatigue: 40]
___
[STRENGTH: 5] (Vital for the accumulation of bond points through affection. Who doesn't love a strong, thick man ;) but sadly, you are not one.)
[SPEED: 4]
[STAMINA: 4]
[PERCEPTION: 6]
[INTELLIGENCE: 9]
[AESTHETICS: 3] (Also vital for the accumulation of bond points. Beauty and aesthetics appreciation are things you clearly lack.) :(
Free Stats: 0
_____
Reiji stared silently at the screen.
Then back at himself. Then back at the screen.
"...You're lucky you're just a floating window otherwise I would've punched you."
Still, the system wasn't wrong.
He had no strength. No skills. No way of protecting himself.
Even his looks had been roasted by his own cheat.
Reiji slowly clenched his fist.
The smile on his face gradually disappeared.
He looked toward the bed. Hina was still sleeping peacefully.
Beautiful. Gentle.
Completely harmless...
As long as nobody tried taking him away.
Then he remembered the article.
The governments. The Gates. The awakened. The monsters. This world wasn't safe.
Not for the only remaining man.
"If powerful women come after me... I won't even have the right to refuse."
The thought alone made his chest tighten.
His eyes slowly hardened.
"I need power. Enough power that nobody can force me to do anything. Enough power that I can decide my own future."
His gaze drifted back toward Hina.
"...And enough power that I don't end up getting stabbed by my own girlfriend."