Kono Sekai ga Game da to, Ore dake ga Shitte Iru (WN) – Chapter 144

“Operation Name: Prince Charming’s Deception.”

The moment I uttered those words, the air around us turned frigid. I tried to salvage the situation by elaborating on the plan. While my companions were initially speechless, as I continued, life returned to their faces, and by the time I finished, they were all energetically berating me.

“Soma, you’re the worst!” Maki exclaimed, kicking things off.

“Y-you truly are a pathetic pervert,” Sahzan declared, recoiling in disgust.

“Soma-san…” Even Ena, who was usually more sympathetic to me, looked at me with sadness.

And then there was Mitsuki, who stared at me without a word, her gaze like a physical blow.

“…”

I knew I would never forget that chilling, contemptuous look she gave me, as if I were a fly carcass stuck to a pebble on the roadside. It was the first time, no, perhaps the second time, Mitsuki had ever looked at me with such disdain. Either way, my heart was too delicate to endure such a stare for a lifetime.

“W-wait! Just listen to me! Layla is genuinely that dangerous!”

I raised my voice, trying to escape her gaze. Yes, this plan was undeniably terrible, but if lives were on the line, we had to do what was necessary.

There was a “Nekoneko” player who once compared Layla to a bomb. I thought that comparison was spot on. I wasn’t familiar with Layla’s event quests, but from a risk-avoidance perspective, I had at least the minimal knowledge about her.

And if that knowledge was correct, the fuse on Layla, the bomb, had already been lit.

The memory of Train-chan, Ena, becoming a loner due to system-related circumstances and then relentlessly stalking me, her newfound companion, was still fresh. However, that was merely a consequence, an accident caused by the real world reflecting the game’s settings. Ena herself in the game didn’t inherently possess the “loner” attribute or a stalker tendency. You could say Ena was a post-hoc “loner character” born from the friction between the game and reality.

But Layla was different. Layla had an official backstory: after her only family, her father, passed away, she never opened her heart to anyone and had lived alone ever since. She was a true, born-and-bred loner. And simultaneously, her, dare I say, obsessive affection towards those she grew close to was also part of her official settings. Layla was the ultimate yandere stalker character, crafted by the “Nekoneko” staff, who were famously quoted as saying, “We love to trouble players more than we love our three meals a day.”

She was even casually listed on the official website’s character introduction. The description read:

“Layla Milton, Female, 19 years old. An archaeologist and treasure hunter residing in the Capital City. Talented, but she closed herself off after losing her parents a few years ago. Initially aloof upon meeting, but grows more open…? She possesses a faithful and passionate side, and will only fall in love with one man in her lifetime.”

This was clearly an introduction designed to bait players. Indeed, from the early to mid-stages of “Nekoneko,” many players took the bait and tried to become friends with Layla. Unaware of the despair that awaited them.

The problematic and ingenious aspect of Layla’s event was that this path to ruin was unpredictable in the early stages. As the introduction implied, Layla was far from friendly in her initial state. She was known as a character who evolved in three stages, and her behavior changed dramatically depending on the player’s affinity with her. These ranks, from lowest affinity, were called Tsun-Tsun, Tsun-Dere, Dere-Tsun, and Death Stalker. The naming between the third and fourth stages was a bit questionable, but that wasn’t my doing, so please bear with it.

In the initial Tsun-Tsun stage, Layla’s attitude was extremely cold. In fact, conversation and communication were almost impossible. Her appearance rejected people; she wore a ragged cloak and hood that covered her entire body, and she remained unresponsive even when spoken to. If you persisted in trying to converse, she would flee.

Raising her affinity in a short period from this state was incredibly difficult, presenting the first and biggest hurdle for triggering Layla’s event. Nevertheless, encountering her would still increase her affinity. Her appearance wouldn’t change, and even if she seemed annoyed, talking to her would increase it faster. Crucially, due to her “Absolute Unsinkable Affinity” trait, her affinity would never decrease. She would approach you regardless of faction affinity, meaning you could befriend her over time, no matter how poorly you handled the situation.

Once you break through the difficult Tsun-Tsun phase, you enter the Tsun-Dere realm. This stage is often cited as the most enjoyable part of her events. She, who had never sought interaction with others, would now awkwardly initiate conversations. While there weren’t any major events or quests, several minor events related to her would unfold. The affinity, which only increased slightly once a day in the Tsun-Tsun phase, would now rise rapidly depending on your choices. This was precisely why players would raise her affinity rapidly and become deeply involved with her.

And when her affinity reached 50 in this second stage, she would murmur, “I… might not dislike you…” and transition to the third stage, Dere-Tsun. It was at this point that her main event, the ruin exploration quest (which contained the item we needed), would finally begin, and simultaneously, players would finally understand hell.

Layla in the third stage was a magnificent maiden. Her dulled blonde hair was impeccably maintained, possessing a brightness and luster envied by all women. Her skin, once smudged with soot and dirt, now shone radiantly. Her clothes suddenly became stylish and offered higher defense. She would blush as she expressed her affection for the player, enchanting many with her shy yet affectionate gestures. However, such changes could only be enjoyed for a few minutes, or perhaps mere seconds, depending on the person. It was at this stage that her yandere tendencies fully bloomed.

“Nekoneko” didn’t have a system for romantic relationships, and players never explicitly “dated” Layla. However, every time a player interacted with another female character in Layla’s presence, her hidden “Jealousy Gauge” would increase. When this gauge reached its maximum, she would unleash her ultimate player-killing skill, “To the Disloyal, Death!!”

“To the Disloyal, Death!!” was, in simple terms, a stabbing attack with a knife, but it had a mandatory instant-death effect on the player. Even a graze would result in the player’s guaranteed demise, regardless of their stats. Even with the best armor, it would pass through. Even using another character as a shield wouldn’t work; for some reason, it would pass through allies as well. Furthermore, during her charge, Layla gained enhanced agility, infinite stamina, super armor, and immunity to status effects, making her incredibly difficult to stop. Her attack was the worst possible for players, with evasion and escape being the only means of survival.

Incidentally, the reason this stage was called Dere-Tsun (affectionate-tsundere) wasn’t “because she’s affectionate usually but tsundere when alone,” but rather “because she’s usually affectionate, but if you’re unfaithful, she’ll give you a ‘tsun’ (stab) with her knife.” In many ways, it was far beyond the level of “tsun.”

Moreover, Layla’s threshold for jealousy was abnormally low. If you recruited a female character, *stab!* If you had a brief chat with a female acquaintance, *stab!* If a female character so much as spoke to you, *stab!* If you rode a mare, *stab!* If you shopped at an item store run by a female clerk, *stab!*

I knew this from personal experience. It was impossible to engage in normal gameplay. It was at this point that players finally realized: “Crap, this woman is a minefield.”

Players who realized this would then resort to harassing Layla. They’d resort to party attacks, dropping equipment, and gifting items that decreased affinity. They’d try every trick in the book to lower Layla’s affinity.

However, these efforts would never bear fruit. The name “Absolute Unsinkable Affinity” was well-earned. For Layla, these harassments meant nothing. In fact, at this stage, Layla’s affinity would increase no matter what the player did, making these actions counterproductive.

As a result, either when Layla’s affinity exceeded 75 or after clearing her main quest, the ruin exploration, she would evolve into her final form the very next day.

Layla’s Fourth Form: Death Stalker.

Though I had only heard about it, Layla’s beauty in this form was further refined, radiating an aura with every word and scattering particles of light with every movement, like a poisonous butterfly shedding scales of light. And naturally, her stalker level also ranked up. She would bestow upon the player a family heirloom, the “Eye of Heaven.”

This item, found by Layla’s father in some ruin, had an effect similar to Mitsuki’s Explorer Ring. However, unlike the Explorer Ring, it wasn’t an item that allowed you to know someone’s location; it was the opposite – an item that made your location known to others. Once she gave you this, Layla could constantly track your location and would pursue you day and night, relying on your signal if you were even momentarily apart.

Naturally, the jealousy gauge increase was even greater than before, making it impossible to proceed with quests involving females when she was around. Some players had even killed her in a fit of desperation, but in that case, it was recognized as “killing a lover,” making you despised by NPCs like a snake or scorpion, sending you straight into a sinner playthrough. Furthermore, if Layla, with high affinity, died for any reason, all faction affinities would plummet, meaning killing her through MPK or environmental damage yielded the same result.

So, what about just discarding the “Eye of Heaven”? That too was difficult. The “Eye of Heaven” possessed an “Indestructible” attribute and was kindly designed to automatically return to your possession if it was out of your hands for more than six hours. There used to be a simple bug exploit to destroy items with the indestructible attribute, but now that it had been fixed, being handed the “Eye of Heaven” was effectively checkmate.

After my lengthy explanation, Mitsuki tilted her head with a slight twitch of her cat ears and asked curiously, “…I don’t quite understand. I grasp that Layla is dangerous, but doesn’t that simply mean we should avoid any contact with her going forward?”

Yes, that was the logical conclusion. But it was not that simple. If it were that easy, I wouldn’t be in such a panic.

“No, in order to acquire the item we need, we apparently need to clear a ruin that requires Layla’s assistance. Moreover, I’ve never done that quest in the game before. I don’t know the ruin’s location or how to clear it.”

To be precise, I was in the middle of the quest when I was transported to this world. Just before being sent here, I had raised Layla’s affinity to the “Dere-Tsun” state, made her a temporary companion NPC, and was aiming to clear the ruin with her. At the time, there wasn’t any specific item I needed, but I wanted to try the renowned Layla event and a famous spell obtainable in the ruin. However, I had saved right before returning, at a point where Layla’s affinity was 24. I had saved while Layla was still barely in the “Tsun-Tsun” state. And the reason for that was…

“And, you see, if you raise Layla’s affinity to the second stage, ‘Tsun-Dere,’ there’s no turning back.”

This was the biggest trap laid by the “Nekoneko” staff for Layla. When Layla progressed to the third stage, “Dere-Tsun,” her danger would be obvious to everyone. Therefore, many players would reset after Layla’s affinity reached 50 and she entered the “Dere-Tsun” state, or they would die and return to the save point without saving.

But it was already too late. Much too late. Layla, a maiden who fell in love with love itself, could deepen her feelings in her absence. That’s right, in addition to “Absolute Unsinkable Affinity,” she possessed the trait “Automatic Affinity Increase”!

“C-co-count… of… death…?” Maki, who was weak against foreign words, looked at me with wide eyes. I explained it simply.

“Once Layla’s affinity exceeds 25 and she enters the second stage, she deepens her feelings for you even without meeting. In game terms, her affinity increases automatically. In the extreme, even if you don’t meet her once after entering the ‘Tsun-Dere’ state, she might stab you the next time you meet.”

This was one of the reasons Layla was compared to a bomb and chosen as the Capital City’s most dangerous NPC. While visible threats were understandable, even the most experienced “Nekoneko” players didn’t immediately notice the approaching doom. Players who, unknowingly, raised Layla’s affinity to 25 found themselves burdened with an irreversible debt.

“U-um, but isn’t there a possibility that Layla-san hasn’t… reached that ‘Tsun-Dere’ state yet…?” Ena, trying to comfort Maki who had fallen silent, offered a sliver of hope. But there was none.

“No, actually. When Layla transitions from the ‘Tsun-Tsun’ state to the ‘Tsun-Dere’ state, there’s a line she absolutely says. It’s a line where she sees the image of her beloved deceased father in the player. She suddenly says it. Looking at the player, she’ll say, ‘…Father?'”

From my tone, everyone realized I had already heard that line.

“Th-then, does that mean… perhaps, it’s already…” Maki asked hesitantly. I replied with a look of complete resignation.

“Ah. I’m already screwed.”

“…I-is that so.” Maki looked taken aback by my words but still pressed on, “B-but, she’s human too, right? Can’t we all somehow get along with her?”

I scoffed at Maki’s naive words, or rather, her unfamiliarity with “Nekoneko.” “That’s because you’ve never been stabbed by Layla in the game. If you put a Yellow Slime next to a Nor slime, thinking they’re both slimes, what do you think will happen? This is already at that level.”

“…Ugh.” Imagining the scene, Maki grimaced.

“…Soma, are you going to get eaten?” Ringo asked, looking up at me with concern. Maki quickly tried to cover.

“D-don’t worry, don’t worry. Even if Layla is like that, apart from stabbing, she wouldn’t… ah.” Maki cut herself off, as if a realization struck her, and fell silent, blushing. *What just crossed your mind?* However, considering the origin of her epithet, “Night-Creeping Darkness,” it might not be entirely far-fetched…

“In any case! To overcome this, we have no choice but to turn her yandere tendencies against us and make her fall for someone else, so I’m removed from her target list!!” I shouted, shaking off my hesitation. In truth, there were well-known methods to neutralize troublesome NPCs: the “Infinite Corridor Seal Method” and the “Eternal Statue Method.” However, they were far too ethically problematic to use on a real person. Although this plan had many uncertainties as it wasn’t a game-tested strategy, the “Prince Charming’s Deception” operation was still the more lenient option.

My companions seemed to grudgingly agree with my conviction. Only Ringo, who had remained silent until then, started to say something, “…If it were me,” but when she met my gaze, she shook her head and fell silent. It seemed she still had some reservations, but it couldn’t be helped now. It was a matter of striking while the iron was hot, before anyone changed their minds.

“So, I’m going to bring Layla’s next target! Come on, Sahzan, let’s go!”

“…Huh? Me?”

Grabbing Sahzan, who was staring blankly, unable to keep up with the conversation, I bolted out of the mansion.