Global Sign-in: 10x Multiplier with the Strongest System!-Chapter 92: Love Is War [9]

"Y-You’re just saying that because you don’t want me to jump."

Aiko was quick to dismiss whatever was too good to be true.

"No. I can feel it right here." Pierre pointed at his heart.

"You’re lying," Aiko mouthed.

"I am not!"

Aiko opened her mouth, deliberated for a second before voicing, "In a planet filled with over seven billion people, you love me? You are lying. And even if you’re saying the truth, the moment a girl better than me shows up—"

"There’s no girl better than you, ever." Pierre cut her off, which surprised her. "In seven billion people, I only see you."

Aiko pouted. Only a hint of her initial depression was present. Her cute charisma was already returning.

"Wh-What about your childhood friend, Suzuki Kyouno?"

Pierre’s eyebrows twitched at the mention of that name.

"I don’t care about her the way I do for you. And don’t pity her. She is the one who spread the photos along with the false rumours out of jealousy."

"..."

Aiko fell silent.

She had suspected it was Suzuki Kyouno but had no way to verify, so she avoided pointing fingers.

"How dare she..."

Aiko stood up from the edge, but her vexation made her hasten her movement, and she slipped.

"Ahh— Oh..."

Just as she was about to fall, Pierre caught her by the arm and dragged her back. He was already expecting such a slip-up and had been moving closer to her as they conversed.

"Phew, that was close. Never try this again!" Pierre yelled.

"Th-Thank you..." The Class Rep voiced, her heart beating rapidly.

She held onto Pierre tightly even after she was safe. The chills that ran up her spine when she thought she was going to fall to her death made her briefly incapable of letting go.

Pierre smiled lightly and patted her on the head.

"Aiko-chan..."

She reminded him of a kitten he once had.

Aiko spoke in a tone so low it was almost a whisper.

"I... I think I love you... too."

Her cheeks were as red as tomatoes. She couldn’t even raise her head to look at Pierre.

"What? I didn’t hear that," Pierre voiced loudly, eliciting a shy laugh from her and an attempt to cover his mouth.

"Shh. Don’t be so loud."

Ggrr~

Just then, the door that led up here opened, and a girl with a blood-stained uniform, blonde hair, and a dark gaze appeared. In her hand was a knife.

’Time for the final showdown,’ Pierre complained inwardly and hid Aiko behind his back.

"I heard... everything," Suky voiced, sounding completely distraught. Her shoulders shuddered, and her eyes were red from salty tears.

"Suky-chan, calm down, ok—"

"Shut up!" she shouted. "You never even cared for me!"

Suzuki Kyouno let out a scream of agony and charged at the duo.

"That’s not true!" Pierre didn’t try to fight her, but instead made a move to subdue her by grabbing her wrists.

Bam!

She kicked him in the crotch, wriggled her wrist out of his grip, and stabbed him!

Pierre let out a pained scream and found that the knife Suky held was plunged deep into his shoulder.

Pa!

Pierre smacked her away with his backhand, and she fell to the ground.

"You!" Aiko, furious, charged at the fallen Suzuki Kyouno.

"How dare you!"

Aiko and Suky grabbed each other’s hair, threw punches with their free hands, kicked, and swung each other around while screaming and hurling insults.

It was practically a dog fight.

"I wish Daichi-sensei raped you, you stupid bitch!"

Angered even further, Aiko responded by biting Suky’s left ear and gripping her trachea.

Suky screamed and repeatedly punched Aiko’s neck, but they barely did any damage.

Suky choked and couldn’t bear the pain. She grabbed Aiko and threw them to the ground.

However, Aiko was on top.

"Why are you that jealous?! What did I ever do to you?!" she screamed the question as she strangled Suky, who used her thumb to press the former’s eyeball in.

"Aaaahhh!!!"

They both screamed, but neither relented.

"Stop!" Pierre regained himself and dragged Aiko from behind away from Suky.

"I will kill you, stupid bitch slut!" Suky spat vitriol and ground her teeth. Her mind was completely clouded with rage. She sat up and continued her charge at Aiko.

Pierre stepped forward and pleaded, "Suky-chan, please, there is a better way. Stop this. This is no way to love me..."

Strands of Suky’s hair had stuck to her face, covered in tears, sweat, and saliva. Her jaws tightened repeatedly as she gnashed her teeth. Her cute image was now gone; now she resembled a mental case.

Pierre couldn’t even find the usual light in her eyes. Now they were sunken deep and hopeless. It was obvious that she had lost all reason to live.

Was this the dark side of love?

"What better way is there, Pi-senpai? Will you leave that stupid bitch and love me back?"

"..." Pierre fell silent. Aiko was eager to hear his answer, too.

"Suky-chan, my heart belongs to her," he said confidently, albeit there was a melancholy in his tone.

"Lies! Lies! Your heart is mine!"

Suky charged at Pierre.

Slash!

"Ahh!" Pierre screamed and held his shoulder.

Suky had retrieved her knife that was lodged in there.

"...even if I have to rip it out of you!"

She tried to stab Pierre again, but Aiko came from behind him and grabbed her knife hand, stopping her.

Suky spat through gritted teeth as they wrestled for the knife, "If I can’t have Pi-senpai, then you can’t have him too!" 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

"I love him. You are not going to take him from me!" Aiko uttered, surprising Pierre despite his current predicament.

Suky kicked Aiko back and raised the knife.

"I love him more than you ever will!"

Bam!

Before she could stab Aiko, a folded chair struck Suky’s head, and she immediately fell unconscious.

"What a crazy bitch!" Sato Himari voiced, while Nishi Sakamoto got busy tying the fainted Suky’s hands together.

Utahime held Roy up, and he grinned after seeing Pierre still alive.

He recalled the moment death was knocking on his door.

Luckily, he had converted two error-points to 60 love-points and purchased three apples at once.

Since ’energy’ was replaced by love-points in this world, as long as he had error-points to convert, he could use his 2x Multiplier multiple times in succession.

To stop the constant drain on his health, he had to eat three supercharged apples, akin to six apples at once. Roy considered dying at the finish line wouldn’t be an issue, but he wasn’t sure about what would happen to the real Haruto Takahashi.

He would most likely stay dead.

Although the system world was akin to a simulation, that common assumption wasn’t a verified fact. Because when hosts ask their systems whether their system world was just a simple simulation and nothing more, the answer has always been the same across the board: deafening silence.

Yoshida Aiko ran to Pierre’s aid and tried to stem the bleeding from his shoulder, but he took out an apple from his pocket and took a few bites.

Shortly after, the authorities had taken Suzuki Kyouno away, and Pierre was completely fine.

He walked Aiko home.

"So... what do you say?" he asked her. "Will you be my girlfriend?"

She spent an entire minute deliberating.

"I don’t like romance, or love. But..."

"But?"

"...Yes."

Pierre smiled and faced her.

And then, they kissed.

Meanwhile, Roy walked with Utahime and bid her farewell. She had been crying nonstop, thinking he was going to die.

He chuckled weakly, "I’m fine. See?"

Utahime stared at him with red eyes. Her uniform was still stained with his blood that came out from his neck.

"Are you really alright?" she asked, worried.

Roy took out a napkin from his pocket and wiped her tears.

"I feel great, actually. Yoshida-san isn’t going to die anymore."

Utahime finally steeled herself and regained her composure.

"And about that... how did you know her life had been at stake from the very beginning?"

Roy shrugged. "Lucky guess."

"Are you really alright, though? She hurt you really bad..."

"Ahaha, I’m fine. Really."

One thing Roy noticed, though, was that the ’characters’ of the simulation didn’t seem to draw fact or notice just how fast Pierre healed from his grave injuries.

However, for Haruto Takahashi, his survival was akin to a miracle. He was half-extra, half-player two after all.

And although Pierre wasn’t fully aware of the level of damage Suky’s trickery caused Roy, the latter erred on the side of caution and visited the school infirmary to have his neck bandaged.

All he used the apples for was to turn the life-threatening injury into an uncomfortable scratch.

"Maybe I will meet you again someday," Roy said, and his vision darkened.

When he opened his eyes, he was back in his nullspace, watching Pierre.

[Your love has saved her life!]

[Main Story #10 — Cleared!]