"Yugo, I brought your dinner. Open the door."
"Melt? Thanks."
Yugo thanked her and opened the door in response to the voice that followed the knock. Melt entered the room carrying a tray of food, set it on a nearby table, and spoke to the dejected Yugo.
"You should eat. I know how you feel, but skipping meals is bad for your health."
"Sorry, I just don't have much of an appetite. The President treated me to some home cooking a little while ago, so don't worry too much."
"......"
Melt cast her eyes downward as she looked at Yugo, who managed only a weak laugh. After a moment of silence, she suddenly spoke.
"You're still dwelling on it, aren't you? About Shiroi..."
"Yeah. I can't help but think I could have protected him better."
Yugo let out a deep sigh as he confessed his regret. Still looking at him with her head bowed, Melt spoke in a quiet, unbelievable tone.
"Shall I... comfort you?"
"Eh?"
Yugo looked up at the sound of rustling fabric. His eyes went wide. Standing there before him was Melt, completely naked.
As he gasped in surprise, the girl approached him, gently cradling his cheek with her hand while whispering in a saccharine voice.
"It’s hard, isn't it? It’s sad. I understand how you feel... I’ll hold you and comfort you. Just for you, Yugo. As a special treat..."
Yugo started to say something, but she pressed an index finger against his lips to silence him. She offered an enchanting, seductive smile as she continued.
"If it’s you, Yugo, I don't mind. My first kiss, and even things much more important than that... I’ll give them all to you right here. So, please? Just for tonight, forget all the pain and be honest with yourself."
Her expression, usually so full of life, was now heavy with a woman's allure. She put her outstanding physique on full display, swaying her large breasts and hips provocatively as she whispered. A mysterious light flickered in her eyes.
She cupped his face again, her breath hot and heavy as she spoke with a desperate, sultry edge.
"Come here, Yugo! I’ll make you so happy!"
"Melt—"
Pressing her soft, ample chest against him, Melt stood on her tiptoes and brought her lips close to his. Hearing him say her name, she closed her eyes in mounting excitement, a faint smile playing on her lips as she narrowed the final gap. And then—
"You’re not her. Who the hell are you?"
"Eh? Glargh!?"
Startled by Yugo’s voice—which was devoid of any excitement or tension—she snapped her eyes open just as his fist slammed into her stomach. The blow sent her flying backward.
She tumbled out of the room and slammed into the hallway wall, collapsing in a heap. Groaning at the throbbing pain, she looked up and glared at Yugo.
"Y-You! How did you—!?"
"Melt and I have already kissed. She’s the type who teases me about it every chance she gets; there’s no way she’d suddenly start babbling about giving me her 'first kiss.' Not that that was the only reason, anyway."
"Wha—!?"
On Yugo’s signal, a crowd of people flooded the hallway, cutting off her escape. The fake Melt stared in shock at the twenty or so people surrounding her, her eyes widening even further when she recognized their faces.
"Hey! What do you think you’re doing, stealing my face and then stripping off like that?! For the record, my waist is way slimmer than that, and my butt isn't nearly that big!"
"It was a mistake to choose a model whose body is all growth and no sex appeal. There was no way you were going to seduce Yugo with that."
"Marcos, you’d better remember saying that! I’m going to beat you to a pulp later!"
"Well, even if it is a fake, I doubt the person who served as the model feels good watching it. I’d be beyond pissed if it were me, too," Anhel added.
"Y-You guys! Even the villagers! Why are you here?! You should all be—!"
"Restrained in a secret hiding place after eating mushrooms with a sleeping effect, perhaps? I'm afraid your sloppy little plan was transparent from the start."
Melt and Marcos stood in the lead, flanked by members of the Cooking Club and a bewildered-looking Cyan and Egos. At the rear, the villagers—haggard and worn but glaring with eyes full of rage—surrounded the mastermind. Presia stepped forward with a stern expression.
Standing beside her, Hao spoke as he tossed a mushroom toward the culprit—the same kind he had found earlier.
"I found this in the kitchen while I was cleaning up. I've researched the dangerous plants in this region, so I knew immediately that this wasn't an edible mushroom. If you were the real proprietress, you never would have left this lying around with the other ingredients."
"You thought we might have heard something inconvenient from Shiroi, so you planned to lock us up with the other villagers, didn't you?" Yugo added. "You tried to knock out everyone in the Dining Hall with those mushrooms, and then you set a double trap for me with a honey trap since I wasn't there. Too bad for you. Next time, try hiding the evidence in a place that's actually hard to find."
"B-But you definitely ate that soup! How are you still—!?"
"We in the Cooking Club carry various antidotes in case we accidentally ingest something poisonous while foraging. We secretly mixed them into the soup, so we were perfectly fine."
"And to make sure you didn't notice us mixing the antidote into the food, we used Cyan and Egos as decoys. We only buttered them up and encouraged everyone to serve them to keep your eyes on them."
"We really appreciate you being so useful for our operation, Lord Heroes. You were excellent decoys," Anhel mocked.
"Guh... damn it!"
Cyan and Egos turned bright red, groaning in frustration. It was bad enough they had fallen for the enemy's trap, but realizing they were the only ones kept in the dark about the counter-plan—and that they had been manipulated by 'game characters'—was a humiliating blow to their pride.
Hao continued, ignoring the two heroes' irritation. "We only faked being unconscious so your underlings would take us to where the real villagers were being held. Once we found the location, the rest was easy. We just had to cut loose."
"They were all small fry without a command center; we finished them off without much trouble. You were so busy trying to seduce Yugo that you didn't even notice."
"Ggggh... you brats! How dare you interfere with my ideal world!"
"We know everything you’ve done and we know what you are. Give it up, Slime Woman!"
"He’s right! 'Ideal world' my foot! Do you have any idea how much trouble you've caused everyone?! You stupid daughter!"
From among the villagers, a woman stepped forward, trembling with rage. It was Serel, the true proprietress of the inn. She screamed at the crouching fake Melt.
Faced with her mother's wrath, the fake Melt seemed to finally give up. Her body began to ripple and wave irregularly like gelatin, melting away until her true form was exposed before the gathered crowd.