Chereads / Don't Simp! / Chapter 15 - Love Hate

Chapter 15 - Love Hate

In a world where everyone is a simp, and he is not, he has to adjust, adapt, and assimilate with his new environment. That is why despite finding the act of simping to be disgusting, Hans has to do what he deems dislikable.

The laws of the magic of this world revolve around love, and with it as the catalyst, the weirdest development may occur. From tropes such as opening the door while the girl is still changing clothes and vice versa, or to tropes such as falling in love with your roommate.

In order to survive, Hans has to embrace these tropes.

How hard can it be?

It is just for two years. At this point, Hans's greatest enemy is fate. To defeat fate, Hans has come to the conclusion that only the protagonist can save him. Of course, this is not a permanent solution for many reasons.

Hans doesn't want to end up as the heroin's slave after all.

Two years is a long time, but just enough for Hans to get stronger. Maybe on graduation day, he will grow to become independent of the protagonist finally.

During the whole vacation, Hans spends most of his time 'courting' Mira, which causes the latter to fearfully distance herself from the abominable creature that is Hans. While there are ridiculous developments like the separation of the territory, learning of Mira being his half-sister all thanks to Tammy's forgery of documents being so tacky, and Mira mistakenly wearing his underwear, everything is normal as it should be.

It is a very rom-com development…

"Don't fall in love with me, okay? I am only doing this to harvest your love…" Hans gives a charming smile to Mira as he gives her flowers and a box of chocolates.

"What the fuck are you on?" Mira shyly nibbles on the chocolate.

As the old Hans is someone who is quite excellent at baking chocolate, the current Hans voluntarily learns the art himself. Because it is a part of his identity, it is necessary he learns this. For a short period of time, his chocolate baking skills have become passable.

Hard work will not betray his efforts, and for some time, he accumulates his skills like a madman. From flower arrangement, tea serving, and even… fucking freaking poetry.

"Your beauty sublime, looking at you is a crime…

…and when life gives you lemons, you should make persimmons…"

Though his poetry skills still need improving, it is sufficient to say that his tactics are working.

"H-hans… Are y-you on drugs?" Mira fearfully addresses Hans.

In this world, the source of all magic is love. By harvesting 'love', Hans wishes to improve his magic abilities. Of course, it is not necessary for it to be love as there are a lot of derivative emotions that come from love like affection, joy, laughter, and all sorts.

All throughout the vacation, Hans makes it his highest priority to harvest Mira. To make her smile, blush, and squirm in various ways is a delight to the eyes. However, Hans doesn't appreciate any of that cuteness, but is merely and overly just too happy with the amount of 'love' he ought to refine.

"You bastard! This is what you are aiming for all along?" Mira screams at Hans in total disbelief, the sense of betrayal weighing heavy on her heart.

One day, Hans returns from grocery shopping, and after giving Mira the most expensive chocolate in the store, a Porcelana chocolate, Hans suddenly goes through a breakthrough and awakens his mana heart at first circle.

"Whatchu gonna do? It is not like I am playing with your heart. You don't even like me, duh? Of course, there is something on me for doing all of this…"

"…I give up, you human trash…"

Hans's routine didn't change. He continues to tease Mira. The quality of the love that Mira is giving him at his smallest gestures is quite a lot. Mira is an idiot when it comes to emotions, this is the root of her deficiencies, and Hans comes to learn of the person 'Mira' step by step throughout the vacation. She is no longer a character in Hans's eyes, but a person.

Incapable of actively refining love into mana and magic, Hans proceeds on the brute method of simply just simping around Mira. It is incredibly impressive, that with this alone, Hans manages to reach the 1st circle just in the duration of the vacation.

At the start of 3rd year of high school in July, Mira enrolls at Holden High School. With this, Hans continues simping at Mira like an annoying buzzing fly. However, Mira is growing more immune to Hans's charm by the day slowing down the cultivation of his magic abilities.

Foreseeing this, Hans decides to court the other girls in his class. On the very first day, he brings boxes of chocolate to his classmates and even a random passerby receives his words of love. Using whatever money he has, he devotedly 'cultivates' love and magic.

"I love you." He says.

"God loves you." He says.

His crazy antics aside, it is peculiar as to how the others are not averse to him. Mira especially is feeling creepy as to how this madman is spreading his love to the world. It is like a cult that the Bureau of Magic ought to investigate.

It continues for the whole year.

The whole 3rd year for Mira is mundane but enjoyable so far. She has friends like Darla and surprisingly, even Claudia who she finds a shared hobby of torturing Hans.

For a sheltered girl like Mira, her days have been enjoyable as a normal high school girl's. While Hans is annoying, the man himself respects her boundaries which is weird considering how overly discriminatory Hans is.

Still, under the protection of Hans's commoner status, Mira remains hidden from her clan.

Unexpectedly, friendship buds between the two within a safe distance, not romantic but intimate, not simply acquaintances but a long lost relative. From the love-hate relationship, each of them starts growing to the other… just like how a rom-com typically does it… the romance did develop.

Before school ends, on top of the rooftop of Holden Highschool, Mira makes her unexpected confession. "U-umu… We... You know… We should just go out now, since you are harvesting my love, right? I don't mind being your partner…"

No matter how intelligent, smart, or how incredible Mira is… she is just a girl who can fall victim to the emotion of love. Hans's too much simping is bearing fruits in the direction he doesn't want to…

For that, Hans decides to vanish. Gone like the wind.

Mira wakes up without the annoying bastard beside her. Sharing the bed is no big deal for the two who don't even consider the other as remotely appealing. However, that doesn't mean, the other doesn't care about the other. However, at Hans's sudden disappearance, Mira realizes that there is a void in her heart.

Just suddenly gone. Vanished. At first, Mira thinks that he must be outside buying eggs or something. But no. The two cups of coffee she kindly prepares are getting cold, and it has been an hour or more since Mira realizes Hans is not around.

It is just the end of their 3rd year, and the start of a vacation, when Hans Neverine disappears just like that.

How desperate is that guy that he is resorting to something like this?

To Mira who is slowly enjoying the commoner's life, the change is too shocking. The rom-com routine is no longer there, but only her, alone, and confused. It is a tragedy.

*Knock *knock! *Knock!

The urgent knocking from the door wakes up Mira out of her stupor. She opens the door and meets her Aunt Tammy, a close relative on her mother's side.

"Aunt, what is it?"

"That guy… Hans… He is dead…"

"W-what?"

Mira doesn't know what to feel. The news of a sudden death of an acquaintance, and maybe even a friend is something that she cannot process well. Last night, he should be here, so what is this?

The mystery around Hans is so destructive that it can even lead to this to the point that her aunt will be looking like this. The outside is raining hard with occasional lightning. It didn't escape Mira's eyesight how haggard and nervous her aunt is.

Aware that Hans's disappearance is not a simple matter, Mira mentally prepares herself. "What happened?"

Tammy's eyes quiver. In her mind, Hans is someone close enough to Mira as in the past year, she continues to monitor both of them. While their bickering is childish, Tammy recognizes it as bonding. "He attacked the organization behind the Dara Ramen Shop, literally burned everything to the ground, and now, his corpse is in the morgue… Please come with me, you are no longer safe here…"

"I… I don't want to return to the clan…" Mira scrunches her eyebrows still in disbelief at Hans's death.

"Don't worry, I have a plan…" Tammy assures Mira as she places her hand over her shoulder.

Just outside, in the shadows under the lamppost is a silhouette of a man quietly watching over the interaction between Mira and Tammy.

Hans dully watches the expected development. For a year, he prepares himself all for this. "It is time for another genre change… From rom-com to tragedy… Well, I am sorry, Mira… But I don't like you…"

The love-hate relationship prevails.