Hajime hears a strong knock on the door. Knock knock.

  Hajime mutters, “Five more minutes, Mom…”

  Another set of knocks.

  Hajime groans, “It must not be that important…”

  Then Deus’s monitor materializes right in front of him, making the knocking sound directly in his good ear.

  Hajime shouts, “God damn you!!! I finally get a good night’s sleep and now— Wait a minute… ahhh. I'm still in this shithole.”

  Deus’s voice echoes, “Wake up, prop. It’s time for you to select the one true Saintess!!!”

  Ad-confetti explodes around her monitor.

  Hajime sighs, “I know, I know… let’s just finish this already.”

  He wipes his eyes, still groggy from the unpleasant awakening.

  Deus says, “First, we need to get you out of your clothes and into better equipment. We cannot have our hero looking like shitty merch.”

  As soon as she says that, a team of angels burst through a dimensional door, charging at Hajime.

  Caught off guard, he’s dragged away without his gear.

  Valiant screams, “This is not good!!! Hajime, reach for me!!!”

  Caladblock yells, “NOOO, don’t take him away from me!!!”

  Miasma erupts across the room, followed by angelic screams—but unfortunately for Hajime, mascot-tier archangels were present.

  Deus barks, “Adphael! Contain the miasma!!!”

  Hajime shouts, “What the hell are you doing!? You can’t interfere with me on this scale!!!”

  Deus replies calmly, “Elnora’s approval is all that matters. She instructed me to prepare you for the Ideal Hero × Saintess Moment?. You will submit and play your part prop.”

  The tyranny of the CEO is truly terrifying.

  While being grabbed, Hajime manages to snatch Valiant and put her around his neck.

  The moment he does, his chest hair falls off, revealing skin smooth as a newborn’s.

  He hasn’t even started the day yet and everything is already going downhill.

  Then, from somewhere far away, he hears a piercing scream:

  “I’LL DESTROY THIS WORLD IF SOMETHING HAPPENS TO HIM!!!!!”

  Deus shouts, “Take Whalescalibur! Hurry! We cannot have the hero without his signature weapon!”

  She freezes time just long enough for an archangel to retrieve her.

  Whalescalibur materializes. “How did I get over here?? Oh—Hajime, you look… smoother?”

  Hajime, thrashing dramatically, reaches out and yells, “I’ll get you back!!!”

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  Those are the hero’s final words before he disappears behind the dimensional dressing-room doors.

  Deus adds, “Get the cow too! Got to prepare him for the big reveal!”

  And just like that, Hajime is separated from his platonic wife.

  A terrible start to an already shitty day.

  A few minutes later, Hajime is sitting in a bathtub with angels promoting advertisements for “The Best Washing Tutorials?,” staring at him expectantly as if he should watch them wile he is cleaned up.

  Hajime is completely silent.

  The light in his eyes are gone.

  Ads are literally playing across his pupils and he doesn't even process their existence.

  Deus says, “Good, you’re clean. And your eyes are beautiful—just like the first hero’s.”

  Hajime doesn’t respond.

  Deus frowns. “Odd. Usually you’d have a comeback or at least a snarky thought. I’m sure this is just a temporary setback.”

  She slaps him with a 30-minute ad for therapy, she adds a sprinkle of mood-boosting med commercials for good measure.

  Suddenly, his eyes light up again.

  Hajime blinks. “I’m back in my own room? No... was it all just a bad dream?”

  Then looks at the direction of the angels… and Deus’s monitor…

  And he only reacts when he realizes he’s naked in a bathtub.

  “Odd. Why am I naked in a tub?”

  Deus shouts, “Hey, you idiot! Don’t ignore me—get ready!!!”

  Hajime continues, “I’ve never seen such fine decorations before… but why do I feel like I’m being watched?”

  Deus peeks into his mind, then freezes in shock.

  “He… he can’t see me? Or remember me??? What the hell!?”

  Valiant sighs. “I kinda know what’s happening…”

  Deus snaps, “Scummy lawyer! Explain! We cannot have him like this!!!”

  Valiant clears her throat. “I think the traumatic separation was too much for the hero’s psyche… He decided to deny the existence of this world.”

  Deus shrieks, “Deny!? That’s impossible!!!”

  Valiant continues, “In his mind, you don’t exist. Your divinity doesn’t exist. All the features he hates—the ads—they don’t exist. He’s filtering the ads out of reality.”

  Hajime mutters, “I better get clothed soon… it’s getting drafty…”

  Deus panics, “This is horrible!!! The show is about to start and I have a broken prop!!!”

  Valiant says, “I have a suggestion. It might work out if you...”

  Deus then suddenly shouts in a panic.

  “I’ve got it! I’ll go back in time to fix this!”

  She tries.

  But something blocks her.

  “No… no, that’s impossible. A singularity event!? I can’t change it!?”

  She breaks the sun in her divine realm out of pure frustration.

  Valiant coughs. “…Are you ready to hear me out? You don’t have much time left.”

  “Fine!!! Tell me! I’ll reward you handsomely!”

  Valiant explains, “He only needs to be a spectator. A prop. Just sit him down and let him watch the show. Don’t worry about the ending. I’ll nudge him to choose Elnora. This could be the only moment he falls for her. Ads can flow later, once he recovers. Happy ending guaranteed!”

  Deus mutters, “Elnora… happy ending… Sure. Fine. I’ll agree to it.”

  Hajime, now fully clothed and cheerful, says, “This must be a dream!!! Such a cool room! Let’s explore!!!”

  Valiant’s voice booms dramatically in his mindscape:

  “Chosen hero!!! You have been summoned to this world for treasures, power, and lion-girl booty!”

  Hajime blinks. “Ummmm… isn’t an isekai supposed to be a harem?”

  Valiant: “Yeah, that too!!!”

  Hajime: “OKAY!!! I’m sold! What do I do first!?”

  Valiant (already having negotiated with Deus in a fraction of a second):

  “We must retrieve your Holy Sword!!! A true hero’s journey awaits thee!!!”

  Hajime jumps up. “LET’S GOOOO!!!”

  Deus mumbles in the corner, “…I think this will work. Probably..." She the dramatically looks at her new desk engraving that reads:" Too big to Fail"

  Meanwhile…

  In the dungeon, malignant miasma seeps through the floor, corrupting and deforming Hajime’s room.

  Caladblock strains against Deus’s seals.

  For now, they hold.

  But nothing will stop a yandere inclined maiden in love…