You WOULD ask that, wouldn't you. Okay, I haven't read the novel in a couple months, since after they got revenge on God I kinda checked out since didn't see the point in the series continuing after that? I mean, what do you even DO after locking a deity inside an inescapable prison? (Answer: Apparently something involving dragons.)
ANYWAY, this is one of those novels where I read the raws, so here's the link:
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n8850ft/
(And looking at this, the rating actually is R-15. Push it higher, Author. Age Charl up and push the rating higher.)
There is also someone MTLing the story, so you can read that here if you don't want to MTL it yourself:
https://www.novelupdates.com/series/as-a-result-of-breaking-an-otome-game-the-villainess-young-lady-becomes-a-cheat/
I haven't looked at it though, so I don't know how good the translation is.
The ML is being thrown at us, in the first chapter even! Just read the text. ╮( ̄▽ ̄)╭
Personally I find it a nice change from many other isekai themed stories. I also really like the idea about 'a messenger of the red star', would be nice to get more info on that, although I do not have high hopes on that.
But back to the topic of the ML ... isn't it about time for him to show up, again? ;D
Richard will show up sooner or later. Next chapter should be our two cheat characters handling the dried fruit distribution situation, and then maybe Richard will show up again. ╮( ̄▽ ̄)╭
It's been months since I read the novel, so I can't really remember much in the way of detail. It doesn't help that sometimes the manga shuffles events around, so even if I did remember, I can't get too specific. ( ̄∇ ̄")
It's very hard to remember much detail about WHEN Richard appears in the novel because he doesn't have anything to do with the plot (such as it is). He's not actually a FEATURE until after Charl meets all the capture targets, and then he's still more of an accessory because Charl is a super-overpowered cheat character who can (and does) do everything and only has companions for narrative purposes. ╮( ̄▽ ̄)╭
What I DO remember is the two of them are officially together after meeting four, possibly five times, and it happens right after the capture targets are introduced (which is now). I THINK (but don't quote me on this) that Richard shows up after the dried fruit dilemma is settled, does the suffering ML thing where he has to improve himself before he can be with Charl (there were tears and me horrified thinking he was about to climb on top of a twelve-year-old), then more dungeon madness.
I THINK Charl and Richard are together officially after they finally conquer the dungeon, but I don't really remember; it could have happened before. It was a hot scene but I don't know where it happened in the timeline!! Their scenes are hot, but they blur together! ╥﹏╥
I'm sorry, but at no point did I ever say otherwise. Allow me to give you some backstory: when this manga was first posted, several readers thought that it would be another harem story. There were dozens of harem manga released at the same time, so the misconception was that this story was the same. This mistaken belief continued even after Richard made his second appearance.
Note that over a year before this manga was ever posted here, I had a habit of reading random shoujo novels on syosetu. At the time, my preference was isekai novels with a villainous protagonist. One of the novels I read at this point was the novel this manga was adapted from. The novel made a REAL impression, because it was so steamy that there was never any question who the love interest was. In fact, introducing a secondary love interest would have caused severe tonal whiplash.
Which was why, when this manga became available here, I genuinely laughed at the belief that Charl would end up with anybody but Richard. And I reassured those readers who cared to know that this story WAS NOT a harem, and DID NOT include a love triangle, because the only person aside from Richard who ever had romantic feelings for Charl...never acted on those feelings.
At no point did I suggest that this was a negative thing. The only thing I have to say about this story is that, despite how steamy the novel was, the romance did not impact the plot at all. Richard, the undisputed male lead, was the equivalent of a recurring background character, and the "capture targets" from the game stopped being important after their arcs. This actually gave the novel a very episodic feeling, where the only two characters that appear in every single arc are Charl and her brother, Lucas, and obviously...they DO NOT have a romantic relationship. Lucas remains her guardian from start to finish.
I swear, it's so funny watching you guys worry about Charl's "harem" and who the ML is and how much ship tease will happen before they're together, or if she's just going to be another Bakarina.
And then here I am, having read the novel, and it's like. You don't have to worry. There is an ML. There is absolutely an ML. The ML is so blatant that I think the author made an error in writing the novel, because there is so much sexual tension going on from the first few chapters of this story that the rating should be R-15 AT THE MINIMUM. And it's not because of the violence.
There is no room in the novel for Charl to EVER consider another man other than Richard, and the only other ONE person who likes Charl gives up without ever doing anything because there is literally no space to get in there.
And all of this is without a single kiss, and the FL only being twelve years old.
Author, I admire you so much, but please change your genre. Your so-called "shoujo" is too overwhelming. ⁄(⁄ ⁄·⁄ω⁄·⁄ ⁄)⁄