Chapter 4: Uh-oh, it’s the Dog-Head Strategist
“Are you an idiot?”
Finally escaping from the hell of the homeroom teacher’s scolding, Nagi returned to the classroom.
What awaited her was a swift chop from her beautiful childhood friend.
True, with her upright and adorable face, raised eyebrows, and cat-like eyes, Mana looked quite displeased at that moment.
“Ouch! Why did Mana-chan hit me?”
Nagi cupped her head with both hands, pretending to be pitiful because she knew she was in the wrong.
Hinata Mana.
One of the main heroines in “Hoshihiki 2”, the absolute center of the game’s promotional cover, and the true embodiment of the “childhood friend” trope in the original work.
As a mixed-race girl, she inherited characteristics from her father’s Nordic lineage, boasting platinum blonde hair that reached her shoulders.
Compared to Asian girls, her features are well-defined and more three-dimensional, with a tall and slender figure and skin as white as snow.
With slightly upward-slanting phoenix eyes, she appears more charming and beautiful than simply cute.
Her crimson eyes are flecked with gold, reminiscent of a rising sun, emitting a dazzling radiance.
The white hair and red eyes strike a chord with certain players.
She is undeniably a white-haired, red-eyed beauty.
Additionally, she possesses a very conventional “ability replication” power common in supernatural battle stories, giving her many moments of brilliance in the plot, earning her the title of “true protagonist” from players.
Mana has never fallen out of the top three in the popularity polls for female characters in “Hoshihiki 2”.
Even though she is still in middle school, her charm has already begun to captivate all players.
Knowing the original plot, Nagi had interacted with her since childhood.
She successfully rescued Mana from the tragic events of the original story, drawing the two closer together.
They became the childhood friend trio they are now.
“Why do you even need to ask? What did ‘wink’ mean during the freshman speech? Thanks to you, the situation was chaotic!”
Mana said as she grasped Nagi’s cheeks.
Nagi’s soft, bouncy face was stretched like mochi in Mana’s hands at that moment.
“I can’t, I can’t…,” Nagi hurriedly exchanged glances with Kanade nearby for help.
“…If little Nagi reflects on this, why don’t you forgive her?”
“It’s precisely because Tsukimi-kun always indulges her that this girl becomes so willful…”
Mana cupped Nagi’s soft cheeks in her hands.
She swallowed the words “Do you really understand how serious the situation is now?” that were on the tip of her tongue.
Because today is the first day for new students.
After completing the entrance ceremony.
The new students have no classes today and can choose to leave school early.
In the 1-A classroom where Nagi and the others were, many students had already left.
Only a few small groups of students who already knew each other, like Nagi’s group, were still chatting nearby.
But they occasionally cast glances toward Nagi and her friends.
“Is it true? I’m actually in the same class as Hoshimiya! What a win!”
“Not just Hoshimiya, that girl over there is an amazing beauty too! The beauty level in this class is off the charts!”
“This class is basically a winner’s lineup in life!”
…
Nagi could faintly hear their whispers.
But it was no surprise.
This was all due to the high level of attractiveness in their little trio.
As the main heroine of “Hoshihiki 2”, Hinata Mana goes without saying.
As a mixed-race girl, she was known as the “Pure White Fairy” in the entertainment industry when she was a child star, thanks to her dreamy and adorable appearance.
As for herself — “Hoshimiya Nagi”, the female protagonist, possesses an unparalleled top-tier beauty in the original work.
This all started from a voting event announced by the “Hoshihiki 2” production team on social media regarding the addition of a new female protagonist.
Many players despised the inclusion of a female protagonist in a male-oriented game, but the production company forced it through with vote manipulation.
The result was that an insider revealed that the voting was merely a show; the inclusion of a female protagonist was a foregone conclusion, and it was merely a publicity stunt.
The new character’s art was lackluster; her design was just a gender-swapped version of the male protagonist, with an identical story.
This led to outrage among players.
In order to quell the incident.
The official side took drastic measures and spent a lot of money to hire a well-known artist to design the character art for the female protagonist, “Hoshimiya Nagi”.
What started as a plain, forgettable character transformed into a seductive and curvaceous black-haired beauty.
Though she is a player-controlled character, she is even cuter and more alluring than all the other heroines.
The appeal of her character art outshines that of any other female character introduced.
If we were to draw a parallel with gacha mobile game character art.
It would be like “Hoshimiya Nagi’s” art suddenly jumping from a regular N card to a fes-exclusive ultra-powerful SSR character at peak performance.
Even though Nagi is not yet a high school student like in the original story.
At this moment, her figure, slightly more developed than her peers, carries an inexplicable allure.
For the teenagers in this age group, she possesses a destructive charm that distorts their preferences and fetishes.
If she continues to develop in line with the original story…
Nagi can only internally mourn for herself and Kanade, “I hope we can withstand this in the future.”
“A naturally cheerful and bright childhood friend, completely oblivious to her own beautiful face and alluring figure, who has no guard against others and doesn’t understand the boundaries between men and women, getting physically close all day.”
This was the direction Nagi and Karura decided upon together.
According to the suggestion Karura gave her on the rooftop today.
It seems that physical contact between girls is a popular demonstration of their friendship.
Nagi recalled her memories from her previous lives, and it certainly felt that way.
There truly exists frequent skinship among girls who are best friends.
For that reason, Nagi intended to fully embrace her character design and implement her “White Moonlight” strategy.
“It’s so great to be in the same class as Mana-chan~”
Nagi flashed a cute smile while leveraging her character trait of being someone who “doesn’t understand personal space”.
She took the initiative and hugged Mana’s slender, soft body.
Mana was stunned by the sudden embrace.
The soft sensation on her chest and the sweet fragrance filling her nostrils left her at a loss for what to do.
“Wait, Nagi-chan… don’t just hug me out of the blue…”
She was aware that Nagi was a naturally oblivious girl regarding personal space, but she never expected her to hug her so suddenly in public.
If she were to hug Kanade like this suddenly… Mana caught sight of several boys in the small group nearby, their expressions now menacing as they directed their gazes toward Kanade.
Boys like Kanade, caught between two cute beauties, could not help but provoke their dissatisfaction and competitive spirit.
Realizing this, Mana resolutely pushed Nagi away with a bit of force and promptly smacked her forehead with her hand.
“Ouch!?”
“Alright! That’s enough! Nagi-chan is already a middle schooler; you need to be aware of personal space!”
Faced with Mana’s sharp gaze reminiscent of a feline predator, Nagi realized that Mana was genuinely angry.
Nagi could only nod in grievance.
Watching this troublesome childhood friend in front of her, Mana sighed in her heart like a worried mother.
…
…
“Hey, Master, why does this ‘physical intimacy strategy’ feel like it’s not working so well?”
“It shouldn’t be! I see others doing it successfully.”
“By the way, what were your reference points?”
“Romance manga serialized online.”
“And what face do you have to criticize my reference to galgame!?” Nagi thought to herself, oh no, I’ve got a strategist who only knows how to talk the talk!
“From now on, I’ll have to prohibit you from using my phone for the internet.”
“There’s nothing I can do; after all, the women I used to watch were all fighting over men in arenas with a long spear each. Whoever survived would claim the man…,” Karura was explaining while shifting the topic:
“By the way, aren’t you supposed to have known her since childhood? After being together for so long, why haven’t you become good friends?”
“That’s the thing; I feel like an old man whose mentality is almost that of an uncle, using such overtly purposeful actions to approach a female elementary student would definitely get me reported.” Nagi said seriously.
“Is it possible that even as middle schoolers, you’re already out of the game?”
“……”
