04: I Have My Standards

While it was noon in Hilda's world and nighttime in Chelsea's and Natsuo's worlds, it was already late past midnight in Kana's world. At this hour, she would normally have been asleep after doomscrolling for a couple of hours, but because of the strange chat group, she was still holding her phone, reading the messages and furiously typing replies to everything.

Sometimes people could be easily deceived, and teenagers were even easier to fool than adults. This chat group was strange, and so were the people in it, especially that guy. He just kept saying nonsense.

Besides, why would a man be in an all girls' chat group?

Unlike Natsuo, Chelsea, and Hilda, Kana thought this was just a normal chat group and that she was talking to random people from around the country. Since they were all speaking Japanese, she naturally assumed they were Japanese as well.

Sure, 'Hilda' and 'Chelsea' weren't exactly Japanese names, but then again, plenty of parents over the past decade had given their children Western names.

But after seeing the conversation between Natsuo and Chelsea, she began to feel that things might not be as normal as she had originally thought.

Kana often daydreamed. She liked to think she was special and secretly believed in the supernatural. She often imagined herself in all kinds of supernatural scenarios, where she would eventually meet her destined soulmate.

Kana: [Is this some kind of prank? You're trolling me, right? How could someone from a fictional world actually exist?!]

Natsuo: [It's true. You yourself are also just a fictional character in my world.]

Kana: [Bullshit!]

Natsuo: [That's your choice if you want to believe it or not. I don't really care. It's not like I'd lose any sleep over it.]

If anyone were told that they were nothing more than a character written in someone else's story, they would never believe it.

"This can't be right!"

"Hmph! Trying to bullshit me! I'll expose you!" Kana rolled around on her bed, biting her nail.

Kana: [If what you are saying is true, then all of you turn on your cameras and send a picture!]

Natsuo: [All of us?]

Chelsea: [What is a camera?]

Hilda: [What is a picture?]

Kana: [Are you serious?! You don't know what a picture is?]

Natsuo: [Alright, let's do it. @Kana, you have to send a picture too. @Hilda, @Chelsea, I'll show you how to take a picture. You see that button on the bottom left...]

Kana didn't immediately send her own picture to the chat group. She would have to be stupid to send a photo of herself to a group of strangers. Instead, she watched as Natsuo guided the other two women, waiting for them to prove they weren't lying before she sent her own picture as well.

She was also curious about that guy, Natsuo. What exactly did he look like?

He must be some loser looking guy who reeked of virginity. A total otaku.

...

Hilda: [Sent {Selfie}!]

Natsuo struggled a bit to teach Hilda how to take a selfie and post it, but fortunately, she managed to do it in the end.

When Hilda posted her picture, Natsuo stared at the image for a full thirty seconds like a man who had just discovered his favorite 2D waifu had escaped into real life. She was actually far more beautiful than she had looked in the anime. Standing in a red aristocratic gown, Hilda somehow managed to look adorably shy while still carrying herself with the elegance and dignity of a noblewoman.

'It's insane that she gave birth to three children yet still looks so young and beautiful. Her husband is one lucky bastard,' Natsuo thought.

He quickly banished that dangerous little idea before it could grow legs. He better not entertain any funny business. She was a married woman with kids. There was no way he would ever try to wreck a family, right?

Besides, it's not like he could even pull it off if he wanted to. He had been a virgin until just a few days ago, and he was realistic enough to know his rizz level was firmly stuck in the single digits.

'I need to find a girlfriend!' Natsuo groaned, holding his forehead and muttered in a dejected tone.

Chelsea: [Sent {Selfie}]

Right after Hilda, Chelsea sent her own selfie. She was making a peace sign with a playful teasing smile and a cheeky wink.

Natsuo thought she was rather cute. She looked incredibly mischievous, like a playful little cat who was always looking for trouble.

Kana: [Whoa! It's real! You guys are real!! I'm actually talking to fictional characters!]

After confirming that everything was real, Kana exclaimed in shock and excitement. She looked as though she could barely contain herself.

Natsuo: [Stop talking and send your own selfie already. {Selfie}]

Natsuo quickly snapped a selfie of himself. It was nothing special, just a casual picture he took without putting much thought into it.

Hilda: [@Natsuo, is this really you? You look cute! And so young too! You'll grow up to become a fine, handsome man.]

Chelsea: [Hmm! So innocent. You're giving me the strong urge to tease you!]

Kana: [For an otaku, you're surprisingly not ugly… or fat. Behold my beauty, peasant. Don't fall for me too hard, okay? {Selfie}]

The selfie Kana sent showed her wearing a pinkish white pajama set. She was puckering her lips cutely while forming a heart shape with her fingers. Her long black hair was scattered messily across the pillow, giving her a soft and cozy look.

Natsuo: [Mid.]

Chelsea: [Mid.]

Hilda: [I don't know what it means, but... mid.]

Kana: [Ehhh! You guys are so mean!! Do you know how many people want to go out with me? My locker is always filled with confession letters, just so you know!]

Natsuo: [Yeah sure, horny teenagers will view anything walking and preferably alive as beautiful.]

Hilda: [Preferably alive?!]

Chelsea: [Does that include you?]

Natsuo: [Of course not! I am not that desperate! I have my standards. She needs to still be breathing at the very least!]

Chelsea: [So you really are desperate!]

Hilda: [Don't go to the dark side! Come back! It's not too late, Natsuo!]

Seeing that Kana didn't say anything, Natsuo thought she must be sulking right now. This made him feel even better. The less she interrupted their discussion, the better.

He first downloaded the Mushoku Tensei novel and anime.

Natsuo: [@Chelsea, do you believe what I said now?]

Chelsea: [I haven't read the entire thing yet, but honestly, I don't want to believe it. At the same time, I'm afraid that if I ignore everything you said, I'll end up dying.]

Hilda: [What about me?]

Natsuo sent {Anime: Mushoku Tensei} and {Novel: Mushoku Tensei}.

Natsuo: [These are the story of your world. Take your time reading them.]

Her world was quite convulsed with all the different timelines and loops. Besides, he was somewhat worried that she would take a huge emotional blow. Unlike Chelsea, her death in the original story was quite meaningless.

Hilda: [Mushoku Tensei? Thank you, Natsuo.]

The red-haired aristocratic woman was no longer in the mood to sit outside and sip tea. She hurried back to her room and ordered her maids not to allow anyone to disturb her under any circumstances.

Holding her phone tightly, she opened the first episode and began watching. For some strange reason, the anime was in a foreign language, yet she was somehow able to understand every word. However, that was not what concerned her at the moment, so she simply attributed it to the strange device she was holding.

So many unbelievable things had happened today. Compared to everything else, this was nothing worth being surprised about.

Another person was also no longer staying in her spot.

When Kana saw Natsuo send Mushoku Tensei to the chat group, a thought suddenly crossed her mind. Unlike a normal person who would immediately worry about their own future, she got up from her bed and walked over to her desk.

She turned on her PC. The room remained dark, and the only source of light came from the monitor, its glow reflecting on her face and making her look strangely ominous.

Her fingers moved rapidly across the keyboard as she searched on Google. When the results appeared, her grin widened.

"Domestic Girlfriend? Oho, so this guy actually does have a girlfriend."

She clicked on the first link and started watching the first episode. The more she watched, the stranger her expression became.

For an unknown reason, she actually found herself getting a little excited while watching the younger brother and his stepsisters "deepen their bond."

Kana became so invested and absorbed in the anime that she completely forgot to reply to the chat.

...

"Weird, is she asleep?"

Natsuo sent the anime Kiseijuu and its manga to the chat group, but he got no reply from Kana. In the end, he simply shrugged his shoulders. The other two women were also completely occupied watching their own anime, so the chat group fell into silence.

Natsuo glanced at the clock and realized how late it had become. He closed his laptop and returned to bed to sleep. After all, he had school tomorrow.

But the moment he put down his phone, he ran into a very difficult problem.

He couldn't fall asleep!

How could he possibly sleep so easily after everything that had happened to him today?!

He had discovered that the woman he slept with had suddenly become his stepsister, his teacher had also become his stepsister, and then, not long after that, he was invited to an interdimensional chat group.

He was excited and terrified at the same time. A part of him was afraid that if he fell asleep and woke up tomorrow, his cheat ability would somehow disappear and everything would turn out to be nothing more than a dream.

Feeling restless, Natsuo spent the night staring at the ceiling until exhaustion finally overtook him and he fell asleep.