Does Friend A Have to Be Conquered Too?

Before enrolling at the technical college, Shoko thought the world she lived in was either a hot-blooded battle anime or a supernatural horror anime.

After enrolling, however, she discovered that both guesses were wrong. This world seemed to be one enormous romance game.

Above the heads of her two male classmates, one with black hair and one with white, she saw the labels [Romanceable] and pink progress bars.

Above the heads of her other classmates, she saw the label [Player].

The label above her own head, meanwhile, read [Friend A]. She also found a chat app on her phone called "Friends' Book," for making friends across worlds.

Shoko took one second to accept her identity as a background NPC, then began her daily routine of serving as a friend-tool who checked affection levels.

Player A: How much does Gojo like me?

Shoko: Hmm... it's his height.

Player A: Is it already over a hundred?! That's so tall!

Shoko: The unit is meters.

Player A: ?

Player B: Geto smiled at me today! He even brought me something! How much does he like me?

Shoko: Hmm... what's the temperature today?

Player B: Huh? It's 24 degrees today. Why are you asking? Is it what I think it means?

Shoko: ...Yeah.

Player B: ?

Player C: I feel like they've been looking at me so intensely lately! Are their affection levels about to go off the charts?

Shoko: Hmm... they are about to go off the charts, but...

Player C: Looks like I really am a master at winning people over! Wait, hold on. But what?

Shoko: You've got it backwards.

Player C: ?

Shoko: If you're still breathing, you can come see me.

At the same time, she also made a few online friends on Friends' Book, each with their own quirks.

A rich kid from a long line of wealthy families cried to her every day about how awful his tutor was, because he didn't want to inherit the family business.

A marshmallow fanatic asked her if she was interested in taking over the world.

A chuunibyou who hated evil and wanted to wipe out the forces of darkness arranged to meet her in a dream.

An unlucky guy with a lovely singing voice and a pure heart who seemed to have been tricked into joining a strange organization.

A weirdo who might have psychological problems and would occasionally ask her how to kill himself quickly and painlessly.

After repeating the start of the school year who knew how many times and seeing countless batches of classmates come and go, she returned to the first day of school once again. A group of classmates with [Player] labels eagerly crowded around her.

Shoko: ? Is this really the kind of treatment an NPC can get? Huh? Why has my label changed to [Romanceable Character]? And why are my online friends here too?

Gojo: What online friends?! And this time you've set your sights on Shoko?!

Geto: Online friends should only exist online.

Yaga: ...Why are there so many students in this year's class? The classroom is actually full?

The romance game Love and Curses, developed by LOVE& Game Company, became hugely popular after its release, thanks to the beautiful characters on its cover. Many players picked it up for that reason.

Later, word spread that nobody had managed to win the game, and its extreme difficulty attracted even more people to give it a try. Every one of them failed.

The players who failed demanded refunds from the company in anger.

LOVE& Company hurriedly posted a thread asking for suggestions on how to modify the game, saying they would make changes based on the suggestion with the most likes.

[There are clearly three people on the game cover! Why can we only romance two of them?!]

[Why do we have to fight in a romance game?! You can get hurt so easily! If not for Friend A, I don't know how many times I would've died!]

[Those two are so awful! They're nowhere near as good as Friend A!]

[Waaah, I want to see Friend A!]

[I miss being in Friend A's arms so much QAQ!]

The most-liked suggestion in the thread was:

[Let me romance Friend A! I want to marry her!!]

Theme: Only sincerity can be repaid with sincerity