"Hey, wake up."
Uhhhhh
"If you don't get up, don't blame me for using my skill on you."
'Huh?'
A strong force suddenly pulled me out of the tent, making me fall right next to the campfire.
"Damn it... You know that hurts, right??" I got up, holding my back.
I glanced at the tent and saw no one else was woken up, so I let out a sigh of relief.
"You seem to care a lot about others' sleep, huh?" said the guy in the black cloak.
"At least I'm not like you! Who the hell uses a power to wake someone up!" I snapped, sitting down.
"I did warn you though. Not my fault you slept through it."
"Ugh, whatever. What do you want to talk about?" I looked over at him.
Honestly, the cloak covered his whole face, making him super mysterious.
I was a bit curious about what he looked like.
"You want to see my face, don't you?"
"Umm... No?"
"You're a terrible liar. Anyway, I don't really care who sees my face."
He instantly took off his hood, and my eyes widened.
Longish black hair tied in a ponytail, purple eyes that looked like galaxies, high nose bridge, pale skin, and a face that looked both feminine and masculine.
Basically—WAY too good-looking!
Dude! You're supposed to be in some other genre, not this cursed NTR one!
"Don't stare too long. I know I'm hot."
"Arrogant jerk."
"Thanks."
We stared at each other.
"So? What were you gonna tell me? Just say it."
"..."
He looked into the flames.
"My name is Reito. My skill is space manipulation. Since the universe is also space, I can use black holes as a basic attack."
"?"
"I'm 14. I don't go to school, I work as an adventurer to survive. I'm currently Rank A."
"Hey?"
"I don't smoke or drink. Whenever I make money, I check my gear first, then think about food and lodging later."
"Hey hey..."
"I usually hunt monsters every day except weekends—those are my self-reward days for entertainment. I—"
"STOP!"
Kai stood up, looking at Reito.
"Why are you telling me your whole life story? I thought you were gonna say something like—"
"Sound familiar?"
This time, Reito looked straight into my eyes.
"...What do you mean?"
"My story, my background, my skills... Doesn't it sound familiar?"
His eyes looked like black holes as he stared into mine.
"Doesn't it remind you... of a certain villain?"
...
Kai inhaled deeply, then exhaled, looking at the boy—yeah, at 14, "boy" was more fitting.
Kai looked at him and said:
"You crazy bastard."
"...?"
Now Reito was the one confused.
"Acting all mysterious like some edgy tryhard villain—dude, it's so cringe."
"No... I mean..."
"What? You mean you copied some killer's monologue and stuffed it into your intro to scare me?"
Kai walked up to Reito.
"And by the way, the way you talk—I think I'm starting to get it."
Kai grabbed Reito by the collar.
"You... You're like me, aren't you?"
...
Reito started sweating, revealing more of his true face.
"How long have you been here?"
"A month..."
"Why did you come to this world?"
"...Read a novel."
A novel?
"You read this NTR novel?!"
"NTR??"
They stared at each other again.
Then, they sat facing each other, with Kai studying Reito's still slightly nervous face.
Looks like this kid's not good at acting.
"Before you came to this world—how old were you, what was your name, what did you do?"
"Same name, same age as this body..." Reito looked away.
"...14 for real?"
"Yeah..."
"14 and reading erotic novels? Kids these days are bold..."
Oh right—my little brother's turning 15 this year, and he had that cursed NTR book in his room.
"Erotic?" Reito looked confused.
"It's not?" Kai asked after seeing his expression.
"I read a revenge novel."
Revenge? Like... NTR-style revenge?
"In my version, Reito's family gets murdered, friends betray him, so he goes on a revenge path. That's it." Reito explained quickly.
'...So he read a different book than I did?'
"So, wait... does the character Kai exist in that too?" I asked Reito.
"Yeah, you were the original main character, but Reito gradually replaced you as the protagonist."
"But I thought Kai was kind of pitiful, so I didn't want to interfere. Then I suddenly saw you join this group to go dungeon diving. At first, I thought I accidentally caused a butterfly effect, but the way you act is so different from the Kai I knew, I wanted to check."
"Then why act all mysterious?" I raised an eyebrow.
"...Coolness."
14-year-old logic, huh...
'His book is different from mine, but somehow it's the same world... Is someone behind all this? Are there going to be others like me and this kid?'
Kai looked at the boy, who was now a little nervous.
"...Sigh, do you miss your family?"
"Family? No..."
"...Why not?"
"Abuse."
...great.
"The only person I cared about died from illness, so coming to this world was actually a blessing for me..."
Damn it... My big brother instincts are flaring up again.
Calm down, I barely even know this kid yet...
"Sorry to hear that."
"Yeah, but when I going to see his altar, his older brother suddenly disappeared too."
"I see... Huh?"
Kai turned to Reito.
"Huh? What is it?"
"...What's your full name?"
"Huh? Oh, uh... Reito. Reito Kimura."
Suddenly, memories rushed through Kai's brain like a bullet train.
'I think... my little brother once mentioned his only friend—said his last name was Kimura.'
Kai went silent, staring at Reito, who started sweating again.
"Uhh, why don't you introduce yourself? I mean, I did—"
"Kai."
Reito flinched at the strong tone.
"Just Kai."
'My little brother's friend… That means I have to protect him.'
Kai's big brother instincts... have fully returned!