The Fate of the Protagonist Who Chose the Harem Ending - Episode 37

All the Answers Revealed (※ ???’s Perspective)

On my way home after the graduation ceremony for the third-year students. Kanefune-senpai suddenly appeared, laughing, and said this:

“Sorry, but you’ll have to accept living under surveillance!”

Rather than being startled by her sudden appearance, I was annoyed at the idea of having to accept a “monitored life”.

What nonsense. Why do I have to be monitored?

Even though I complained, deep down, I understood. 

This must be the confinement route that comes with staying behind until the end… 

………Wait. Surveillance? That’s lighter than the original story. Lucky me.

Since Amamiya left, for some reason, her influence faded. And it became harder to communicate or provoke her. I didn’t know how to interact with or lure her out anymore. Even though her influence was gone, she and the others were always nearby. So I thought it was fine. 

Even if I wanted to make a move, I somehow had this instinct that doing so would get me killed. So I couldn’t. 

I didn’t even know where her house was, so I couldn’t suddenly drop by. 

During summer vacation, I couldn’t contact her at all and was completely confused. 

Well, more than that, dealing with anyone other than Kanefune Mahou meant facing the deep darkness within them head-on. It was troublesome, so I just wanted to ignore it and go for the harem ending. 

But they kept leaving one by one, and it pissed me off. 

Still, I didn’t really care if they were taken from me because I didn’t want to deal with their darkness. 

I wanted to have some fun before they were taken, though. 

I had no desire to take them back. 

Sharing women with those guys? No, thank you.

I wanted all the “firsts” and everything else to be with me alone. 

They’ve probably already messed up and gotten someone pregnant by now.

“You don’t look convinced, do you? Fine, I’ll give you a question. If you get it right, I’ll tell you why you have to live under surveillance.”

Since I stayed silent, she must’ve thought I wasn’t convinced. 

Fine, I’ll play along. This is easy for me. 

“Bring it on.” 

“Great, I like that attitude. Alright, √2.”

√2. In her case, this is obvious. It’s one of the simplest riddles from the story. 

“Hito yo hito yo ni hito mi goro.” 

(Note: In Japanese, this phrase phonetically matches “1.41421356,” which is the approximate value of √2:

ヒトヨ (Hitoyo) → 1.4

ヒトヨ (Hitoyo) → 1.4

ニ (Ni) → 2

ヒトミ (Hitomi) → 1

ゴロ (Goro) → 3.56

This mnemonic helps people memorize the digits of √2 by associating them with a rhythm or phrase.)

“Correct!” 

I answered all her questions. 

I already knew all the answers. This was effortless.

— 

“Perfect! 30 out of 30 correct!” 

“I answered them. Now tell me.” 

“Sure, I’ll answer.” 

She said this while laughing. Though her expression seemed to say, “Don’t respond to questions with questions.” 

Still, it was a relief for me. 

Kanefune Mahou continued speaking, her tone growing colder and more detached. 

“…Now, tell me. Why were you able to say answers I liked from the moment we first met?”

What?! I-I can’t tell her! There’s no way I could explain that! 

“Not going to answer? Well, fine. I stayed close to you because I was wary of you. I didn’t want any more cute girls falling prey to your fangs.” 

The condition for the harem ending was to maximize everyone’s affection levels and then finally conquer Kanefune Mahou. 

Her route in the original game was known as the *yandere* route where she uses the conglomerate’s power to pit the heroines against you. That was the general understanding of the romance route for those who played the game, right?! 

Ignoring my visible agitation, Kanefune Mahou calmly explained everything, one by one:

“Why didn’t any of the harem members meet with you during summer vacation? Simple—I protected all of them and made sure they didn’t meet you. Even if you went out, I used the Kanefune Group’s exclusive properties and transportation to ensure you’d never encounter them.” 

So that’s why I couldn’t contact them?! 

Even though I should’ve run into them in the city, I never even saw them…! 

I’d hoped to see them at the festival in yukatas or in swimsuits at the beach, but that was all blocked by her…! 

“Thanks to that, their feelings for you have faded. Though after summer vacation, I figured they’d all return to you, and I couldn’t understand why. I concluded that some kind of mental suggestion must be at play. So I decided to break it.” 

The part in the harem ending where it says, “I spent happy days with everyone,” must’ve actually had an effect. But why was that nullified?! 

“If there’s a suggestion, I’ll wake them from it. In that sense, Amamiya Shizuku was easy to deal with…. No, I should say it became easier because of Higashitani Haru. Well, whatever. Amamiya Shizuku is an earnest, good girl. She’d never approve of a life with a parasite—ah, I mean, a freeloader. I knew she’d inevitably oppose it. The only miscalculation was how much I ended up provoking her. But thanks to Higashitani Haru, I managed to resolve it.” 

So that declaration about freeloading being okay was to break Amamiya’s influence?!

Even so, why was Amamiya able to break free from the harem ending’s text effect?! 

Come to think of it, why didn’t the harem ending’s text work on *her* either?! 

If this is the antagonistic route, does that mean the effects don’t apply because she’s the antagonist?! 

Then why was I still able to reach the harem ending in the first place?! 

“And so, Higashitani Haru and Amamiya Shizuku became a couple and regained their happy days together. Thanks to that, it gave the other girls a chance to wake up. What do you think caused it?”

How would I know something like that…?! 

“The gamer Adachi Yuusuke figured it out. The harem ending requires you to conquer everyone. But if even one person leaves, the harem ending becomes unattainable. Amamiya Shizuku leaving weakened its effect.” 

Wait! At that time, the effect was still active! 

“And there’s one more thing. If we put it in game terms: 

Higashitani Haru took your place, expressed his feelings to Amamiya Shizuku, and became her boyfriend. 

He took her hand and headed toward her individual ending. 

That’s why the weakened harem ending shifted into an individual ending. 

That’s why the girls were able to wake up from your suggestion.”

So that’s what caused the harem ending’s effect to disappear… 

The moment I felt something vanish inside me, it became harder to connect with them…! 

Wait, but at least one person should have still been affected! Even in an individual ending scenario! 

……….Could it be the reason *she* stayed until the very end is—?! 

“Why did I stay until the end? 

It’s the same reason. When reaching an individual ending, the person with the highest affection level goes there. 

You even flirted with me, didn’t you? So I thought I might also be a target. 

In fact, I was present at that group confession scene, wasn’t I? 

So, unsure if it would work, I stayed. 

Though it disgusted me, I accepted it because it was necessary to make the other girls leave. 

That’s why I stayed until the end.”

So that’s why everyone else left except her…?! 

“And for me, a very, *very* pleasant miscalculation. 

You’ve never truly loved anyone, have you? You’re a virgin who’s so obsessed with purity that it twisted you into a pathetic man-child. 

That’s why you didn’t try to win Amamiya Shizuku back after she left. 

Instead, you assumed she was already sleeping with Higashitani Haru. You thought of her as ‘used goods’, and dismissed her as unnecessary. 

You had the same vile thoughts when the other girls left too. 

As a noble daughter, I meet all kinds of people. 

Among them, I’ve encountered others like you. 

Tell me, are you really a high schooler inside? Or are you some middle-aged man?” 

W-What…?! How far does she know about my true identity…?! 

“Because you’ve never loved anyone, you don’t know what makes someone happy, angry, or sad. 

You can’t think about or act on behalf of others. 

You’re nothing more than a hideous lump of selfishness, content as long as *you* are happy. 

That’s who you are. 

Leaving someone like you to graduate and walk free was simply too terrifying. 

So I had to repeat the year. 

This way, under the pretext of assigning guards to monitor me, those guards can also monitor you within the school. 

My entire family agreed. 

They said leaving a manipulative, brainwashing individual like you unchecked would be too dangerous. 

Even my strict grandmother, who loves sweets and is usually hard on me, said so. 

That’s how serious you are, don’t you think?” 

So that’s why she stayed among the students?! 

What is driving her to go this far…?! 

“You should count yourself lucky. 

If you’d made any move on anyone, the guards were ready to capture you immediately. 

But you didn’t. Surprisingly, you stayed still. 

That’s why we settled for mere surveillance. 

You barely escaped by the skin of your teeth. 

If the conglomerate took action to eliminate or imprison someone without visible criminal acts, we’d face severe backlash.” 

Does that mean my inability to act actually worked in my favor…? 

Can I even call this good fortune…? 

“Still, starting from your third year, the guards will monitor you. After that, the entire Kanefune Conglomerate will keep an eye on you. 

Don’t think you can escape. 

If you try anything, you’ll disappear from this world. 

Let me make one thing clear: I’ve never liked you. 

I don’t even hate you—I despise you. 

You tried to brainwash me, and you caused so much suffering to those girls without a second thought.” 

What is she…? 

Who is this person…?! 

In the game, if you chose her first, time would automatically skip to graduation. 

If you picked her midway, all the other heroines would become hostile. And you’d be isolated, confined by her wealth. 

Even if you reached the harem ending by saving her for last, it always felt empty despite the sense of achievement. 

I thought I could surpass the harem ending after reincarnating. But this is a massive trap! 

“If you live an honest life, aside from the surveillance, you can live normally. Well then, goodbye, Ichijou Makoto—or should I say, whoever you really are?” 

Kanefune Mahou………. It feels like she’s seen through everything. 

I can’t escape. That’s the only thought left in my mind.