Heroine-Saving System: Reborn In A Third-Rate Manga As The Protagonist-Chapter 36: Talking With HeroGod

The next morning, Kōya walked down the road with a small sigh escaping his lips.

He was wearing his ALI uniform... the black vest, yellow tie, and open cloak that marked him as Class 5.

"Good thing I had breakfast..." Kōya muttered to himself.

Nami and Reona had woken up pretty early to cook, so he’d had a quick but filling meal before heading out.

They were already off doing their own thing... Reona took a day off from school with his help and was settling into her new room with Nami’s help, and Nami preparing to head to the market.

Nami had wanted to drive him to the Academy, but he’d decided against it. He didn’t mind walking all the way, especially since he was very early today and besides, he had other things occupying his attention.

「HeroGod: I’m splendidly impressed by your life. You lived a far more active life than me before being reincarnated」

He was talking to HeroGod through the System shop’s chat feature.

At first, it had been just to thank the person for the generous gifts... 100,000 FP was nothing to sneeze at.

It seemed that HeroGod did this with every newbie that entered the shop, a welcoming gift of sorts. Kōya had been one among five others who’d joined recently, and HeroGod had gifted all of them substantial amounts.

The person was practically the richest System holder alive, though everyone seemed to be in their own separate worlds.

It made him wonder how many worlds actually existed out there. Were people just being reincarnated every day across countless realities?

Another good thing about the chat system was that his thoughts could turn into text in the chatbox automatically, and then he could send them with just a mental command which meant there was no typing required.

「PoppedOutLikeAPhantom: You’re lying. I’ve never had any experience with women due to my height, and I wasn’t even treated like a human back then. Yours can’t be that bad」

If it was a battle of past-life trauma, Kōya was certainly sure he would not lose to anyone. A moment later, HeroGod’s text came through in response.

「HeroGod: Ah? I was born with an incurable disease that made me have to take drugs every time just to even move properly. Somehow I got a girlfriend, only for her to cheat on me with ten black men and have the video sent to me directly. And then, in a stroke of bad luck, I got cancer as well」

Kōya winced visibly, his steps faltering for a moment. That was pure horror fuel, the kind of suffering that made his own past look almost mild in comparison... a bit.

HeroGod sounded like the average light novel protagonist that suffered until their second life gave them a fresh start.

「PoppedOutLikeAPhantom: Well, at least your second life is working out right?」

「HeroGod: For sure... I have about thirty wives that love me and several children as well, and I’m the King of this universe too. You could say I’m living the life. You’re planning to have a harem too, right?」

For a moment, Kōya looked around at his surroundings.

He was on the sidewalk, pedestrians passing by on their way to work or school.

He also glanced at the GPS on his phone... he was still a long way from ALI’s main building, at least an hour or more on foot then he groaned aloud.

"Fuck... I wish I could take a tax—"

He hadn’t even finished the statement when several taxis suddenly pulled onto the sidewalk in front of him.

Different people walked out of them, all wearing official driver uniforms with the cab company logo.

"Please, Amagi-san, use my cab!" they all yelled out in unison, drawing attention from everybody on the street.

People stopped and stared at the commotion while Kōya blinked in confusion.

"Eh?"

He’d been stopped from using any cab just days before, so what was with this sudden change of heart today?

Well, he wasn’t going to pass up an opportunity, whatever these drivers had been told. He would just get to the gates of the Academy quickly so he walked to the first driver who had called out.

"Let’s go. I want to head to ALI. How much do I have to pa—"

The man saluted him sharply, like a soldier greeting a superior officer.

"I thank you, Amagi-san, for using my cab... Commissions are free as long as you’re in Keropolis City. You can go anywhere within the city limits on any cab, and you won’t be charged a single crown."

Kōya’s eyes flew open with genuine shock. This was very weird, almost suspicious.

He had to wonder if it was some kind of elaborate kidnapping scheme.

"What brought about this change of heart? I was banned from using cabs after all," Kōya said cautiously as he got into the back seat anyway.

The other cabs had begun pulling away, their drivers disappointed but accepting.

The chosen driver got into the front seat and started the engine.

"Our boss gave us the orders this morning, Amagi-san..." he explained as he pulled out from the sidewalk and merged into traffic. "Your ban from Kumo Terrace has also been lifted completely, and you will be allowed to use the VIP section for free. You don’t even need to pay for food or drinks anymore."

Now Kōya was absolutely certain that Hakua had something to do with this or it could be another noble pulling strings, but he didn’t know any other nobles with this kind of authority to challenge Akari’s family.

’I guess she’s decided I would be her Knight, huh?’ Kōya thought with a small frown on his face.

The possessiveness was already starting.

’It can’t be helped.’

He relaxed into his seat and opened the chatbox again, the interface appearing in his vision. He wouldn’t stop chatting with HeroGod until he got to ALI... might as well make use of the travel time.

「PoppedOutLikeAPhantom: I’m personally not confident in my looks enough to get a harem... even though the original protagonist had all the heroines chasing after him. This world is different now」

It was quite refreshing to be able to talk to someone who understood what it meant to be reincarnated, HeroGod was someone who’d lived through the struggle of a first life.

「HeroGod: I feel you. Looks are everything in any world, unfortunately... However, since you were reborn into the body of a protagonist, right? You can’t be that bad-looking. Let me see a picture」

「PoppedOutLikeAPhantom: We can take pictures on here?」

「HeroGod: You didn’t know? Just double-tap the bottom of the chat screen and you can take a high-resolution picture directly」

「PoppedOutLikeAPhantom: And you’re sure that if I take a picture right now... it won’t get posted on the community chat for everyone to see?」

「HeroGod: 😂😂😂 You can’t be that bad. I’ll take a picture of myself right now just to show you it’s safe」

「PoppedOutLikeAPhantom: You can use emojis?」

「HeroGod: Of course... You’ll have to subscribe to ChatPremium though. It’s 35,000 FP per month. I wouldn’t recommend it if you don’t have a lot of people to talk to regularly」

「HeroGod has sent a view-once attachment」

’View-once?’ he thought, curious about the feature.

He tapped on the attachment, and the chat screen dimmed immediately.

Something popped up, covering the entire interface with a promotional message.

「ChatPremium allows you to talk to fellow reincarnators across worlds without restrictions, also allowing you to open several chat tabs at once, use emojis, send view-once attachments, and even more features for only 50,000 FP per month」

’What...? HeroGod said it was 35,000.’ he thought with immediate suspicion.

He didn’t particularly want to buy it, but he had a feeling that the System would give him some bullshit explanation.

「That is the rate for old customers... as you and others are new customers, you will be charged 50,000 FP for a 25-day free trial, and then pay the real price of 65,000 FP the following month.」

Kōya’s eye twitched with barely contained annoyance. The System was scamming people yet again with its manipulative pricing schemes!

"Not interested," he sneered aloud at the popup.

The cab driver, who was still driving smoothly through traffic, turned his head back in confusion.

"Huh?"

"I wasn’t talking to you. Please keep driving," Kōya said quickly.

The man looked forward again, focused on the road. Kōya dismissed the ChatPremium popup and got a chance to actually view HeroGod’s picture.

And well... it was a she!

His face reddened immediately with embarrassment. The photo showed her on a white bed that was even longer than the camera frame could capture.

A golden-haired elf with two elegant horns on her head, and massive breasts that dominated the image! It was just a photo, but he swore he could almost see them jiggling with implied movement.

Her face was absurdly beautiful, almost otherworldly.

’What the hell?’ he thought, quickly exiting the attachment before he stared too long.

「HeroGod: What do you think? I’m hot, aren’t I?」

「HeroGod: Why aren’t you responding」

「PoppedOutLikeAPhantom: Well, I would say you’re the hottest woman I’ve ever laid my eyes on, but you’ve probably heard that compliment a thousand times before」

「HeroGod: ☺️Thanks, my wives tell me that every day. It never gets old though」

「PoppedOutLikeAPhantom: Wives? You’re married to several women?」

「HeroGod: Of course, I’m a girl’s girl through and through. I don’t usually have interactions with men too often, so consider yourself lucky... I have to say, if it was anyone with any other username, I would ’t have sent them a friend request, but yours still makes me laugh when I see it. What was going through your head when you chose that?」

「PoppedOutLikeAPhantom: Great, I’m glad to have made you laugh then」

「HeroGod: I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic or genuine... well whatever. Send a picture of yourself. I’ll be the only one to see it, I promise」

He double-tapped the bottom of the screen reluctantly, and the camera interface opened.

He placed one hand on the wound-down car window casually and gave a random pose that made his blond hair blow dramatically in the wind then he mentally tapped the capture button, making it snap the photo.

His face appeared on the screen preview.

He was handsome by Earth standards, despite being supposedly average in this world according to his initial assessment but if he were to compare himself to HeroGod’s godlike beauty, then he was flat-out ugly.

There was something about her face that looked genuinely divine, beyond normal attractiveness.

’There’s no view-once option?’ he thought, searching the interface then he remembered that feature was part of ChatPremium’s exclusive functions. ’Stupid System...’

He sent the picture without it, watching the read tick appear immediately.

However, HeroGod didn’t reply right away.

It reminded him painfully of those times back on Earth when he’d sent a girl his picture, only for her to ghost him completely afterward. It was a bad memory he’d tried to forget.

Just when he had given up hope and was about to close the chat, HeroGod finally replied.

「HeroGod: Average my foot. You’re not average at all... who gave you this wrong information? You’re a hot man that can pull women easily, and I’m guessing you’re on a low ranking in your world’s power system right now?」

「PoppedOutLikeAPhantom: Yes, I’m only a two-liner」 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

「HeroGod: Exactly my point... You’ll grow even more handsome as you rank up to the point that women won’t want to keep their paws off of you. Though have some standards, please... You don’t lay with every woman who throws herself at you」

’Feels like I’m talking with the owner of the orphanage...’ he thought with a mixture of warmth and nostalgia.

She had been his motherly figure before eventually kicking him out when he turned seventeen back on Earth.

「PoppedOutLikeAPhantom: Yeah, I understand. I can see why you have so many wives with that personality」

「HeroGod: Sounds like someone’s jealous. Anyway, I wanted to ask... What’s your name? Not the name in your second life, but your name back on Earth?」

「PoppedOutLikeAPhantom: Mateo. Mateo Estes」

「HeroGod: 😒 I just asked for your name... not your full government name, idiot」

「HeroGod has set your nickname as Mateo」

「Mateo: You gave me a nickname?」

「HeroGod: Of course. PoppedOutLikeAPhantom is way too long to type every time... Mateo is shorter and better. I’ll be your guide to talking with women properly, so lay your questions on me whenever you can. Right, my Earth name is Helen. You can set it as a nickname if you want」

「You have set HeroGod’s nickname to Helen」

Just then, the cab pulled to a smooth stop. Kōya got out and found himself standing in front of the imposing gates of ALI.

People were already gathering and students in their colored ties indicating different classes. The cab driver pulled away without asking for payment, waving politely.

Kōya walked toward the gate, only for his Danger Sense to suddenly trigger with sharp urgency.

「Passive Skill: Danger Sense has been activated」

"Think fast!" Renji’s voice called out from nearby.

A basketball was right in front of Kōya’s face, thrown with considerable force and Kōya’s hand shot up instinctively and hit it back with even more force.

The ball slammed into Renji’s stomach, leaving him suspended in the air for a second like a cartoon character.

He coughed out saliva violently, then collapsed to the ground in a heap.

"You thought too fast..." Renji wheezed from his position on the ground.

「Mateo: I’m at the Academy now. We’ll talk later, right?」

「Helen: Of course, Mateo. Don’t be a stranger」

「Mateo: Alright, later then」

「Helen: Later, Mateo. Good luck with your day」

And then he closed the chat tab, the interface disappearing from his vision. He looked down at Renji, who was still sprawled on the ground dramatically.

"What was that about...?"

"I was thinking if you wanted to join the basketball club," Renji wheezed as he pulled himself into a sitting position with visible effort.

He rubbed his stomach where the ball had impacted.

"Club activities help you earn more IP... ALI is launching the club system today for everyone, so how about we join the basketball club and get the babes? The women love basketball players, Kōya-kun."

Kōya gave him a flat, unimpressed look. Could Renji not stop thinking about getting a woman for even five minutes?

"Hard pass."