"What the hell is going on?"
My thoughts were a scrambled egg—extra runny, no toast.
Was it a dream?
A memory? A flashback?
Had I passed out and hallucinated the entire date like a budget romance anime protagonist?
No.
Too vivid. Too specific.
Confession. Awkward café date. Vending machine. The god. The pain—
I touched my head. No blood. No burns. Just a thick layer of cold sweat like I'd just lost a boss battle with reality.
Yet… I could still feel it.
The pop, the crack, the brain confetti. Like someone had mashed my skull with a metaphysical hammer and yelled, "Try again, loser!"
What was this? A reset? A rewind? Some kind of cursed save point?
Who the hell coded this game?
I demand a refund!
I blinked a few times. The world looked… normal. Too normal.
Except for one detail.
I squinted at Rin, standing there like a confused NPC.
And then—
BAM.
Something wrong.
Right above her head. Bright, bold, fluorescent red letters, like the UI from a sketchy dating sim app downloaded at 2AM:
[LOVE LEVEL: 82% → 64% ]
[Day 1]
I froze.
No. I malfunctioned. My soul physically left my body for a second.
Is this… Is this legal?
Did I just get dumped by a percentage bar?
A sharp memory jabbed me.
That creepy voice I heard right before my brain decided to become fireworks.
"Her love for you dropped."
"Repeat the day again to regain that lost love."
Oh.
Oh no.
Oh hell no.
So let me get this straight.
My head literally exploded because her feelings for me dropped after that café date?
Wait—WAIT!
That means…
Every. Single. Day.
If her affection for me drops…
BOOM.
Brain detonation. Romantic Game Over. Back to Day 1.
And I have to redo the day like some poor protagonist in a visual novel nightmare loop.
A shiver ran down my spine.
Not the cool anime protagonist kind.
The toilet seat's too cold in winter kind.
"...You've got to be kidding me," I muttered, staring at the numbers.
Rin tilted her head. "Hm?"
"U-Um… A-Are you… okay?"
A soft voice cut through my internal panic.
I blinked.
Rin. She stood there, fidgeting with her sleeve, eyes avoiding mine like they owed her money.
"A-Are you feeling sick? Y-You look pale… l-like ghost-pale…"
Her voice was barely above a whisper, like someone trying to order food for the first time in kindergarten.
"I'm fine," I said, trying not to look like someone who just saw the timeline collapse.
"O-Oh… o-okay…" she nodded quickly, then tripped over her own shoes while bowing slightly. "S-Sorry! I didn't mean to—!"
"Yo"
"Why are you sweating like you just ran a marathon in a sauna?"
I turned my head slowly like I was in a horror movie.
And there he was.
Yuuki.
"Ew. Okay. That's not sweat. That's emotional leakage."
"Wait… wait… don't tell me… did you confess to Rin-chan and get rejected so hard your soul tried to escape your body?"
"No!"
I stood up.
Abruptly.
With the kind of sudden movement that makes chairs screech and people pause.
I placed my hand on Yuuki's shoulder.
He looked up mid-snort, confused.
"...I'm going to the restroom."
He blinked. "You're going to the—?"
I gave him the blankest expression I could muster, turned around, and walked away with the pride of a man fleeing a battlefield full of embarrassment.
Yuuki was still laughing.
Loudly. Shamelessly. Inappropriately.
People were staring.
Rin was probably still trying to reboot her internal OS after my catastrophic attempt at flirtation, and this idiot was out here cackling like we were in a comedy sketch.
Only I didn't go to the restroom.
I climbed the stairs.
All the way up.
Each step creaked like it was judging me.
Until finally—I reached it.
The rooftop.
The wind hit me immediately, like a slap from reality.
I exhaled.
Leaned on the railing.
And began to think.