Only Human (Goddess of Victory NIKKE SI)

[Fragment of Serenity]

Now we need to know where Neon is because she is the only one still missing...

Click to shrink...

She's likely stuffing her face full of dino-nuggies.

Or making things explode.

Likely both.

 

[Jsebas19]

so any bets how many failed Joe clones are in a missilis dump somewhere?kek

Click to shrink...

In the game the MC is No. 7, I bet that here in OH there would be 7 failed MMR superhumans which would provide justification for why the commander of the game is not in OH because he is dead.

I theorized that the program failed since Joe is from another world, his DNA and blood would not be compatible with the other subjects.

 

[Jsebas19]

Now that I think about it... Rapi's situation in OH reminds me a lot of Mythra in Xenoblade 2 Torn, where like both Red Hood and Mythra seeing a loved one they loved but suffered because of Red Hood and Mythra, caused both to be sealed or "died" consciously or unconsciously (Mythra due to the shock of seeing Milton's lifeless body caused Pyra to be sealed and created, a less powerful and kinder version of Mythra, and Red Hood suffering the mind switch would cause the death of his personality and Rapi would be created.
Being what Red Hood promised to the dying Joe while "Diing" being Rapi, more obedient, serious, less perverted military, I mean the opposite of Red Hood to be the nikke that Joe deserves from his perspective)

 

[BakaSmurf]

===
Chapter 74 - All You Can Be
===

After she calmed down, Joe said his good-nights to Rapi and headed to his room to let her see herself out. The following day, the man stirred from sleep.

Said sleep had done little to rejuvenate him in the wake of recent events.

He kept his eyes shut, sighing as he confirmed that he'd fallen onto bed and passed out without getting properly undressed first. Might've contributed to his shitty night.

As much as the man would have loved to just remain where he was, and hopefully slip back into unconsciousness, his brain began to spool up.

As waking thoughts began to assert themselves in his mind's eye, he started to turn over to-

Hear a soft, protesting whine at the motion of the bed being disturbed.

Eyes slamming open, Joe was immediately confronted by the sight of Rapi, curled up right next to him, similarly atop the sheets and nearly fully-dressed like him.

Where the Commander had slipped back into wakefulness, the little blonde slept with what looked to be utter contentment.

She lay there, little other than her lips and eyelids slightly trembling in the midst of what must have been a fairly fierce dream, given the slight, almost inaudible vocalizations she periodically produced.

At once, Joe's mind flashed back with significant intensity to their time together in Goddess. All the times he'd awake to Red Hood, having crawled into his bed and under the covers to startle him awake with shamelessly rakish intent.

Rapi didn't actually leave the previous night, after Joe wished her pleasant dreams and proceeded to pass out the moment he laid down—just to collect himself before actually going to sleep, he'd assured himself.

She had, in fact, fallen back upon old habits from a far and away lifetime instead.

Back then, this was a particular bedbug Joe didn't mind getting nipped by. But now?

What was she doing? Was this her deliberately enticing him? Was she trying to signal to him that she wanted a return to that?

But she'd clearly only spent the night there. She'd laid down and gone to sleep alongside him without doing anything.

Did she, rather, want something deeper than what they'd had a century prior? Did she want him, but this time, in a meaningful manner?

Heart skipping a beat, at the thought of entwining their fingers together, Joe's breath hitched at the image of being romantically intimate with Rapi. Of sharing a bed with her every night. Of-

His attention, his mind's eye, drifted to Marian's I.D. on the nightstand beside him.

The man started to rapidly shift into panic mode. Self-defence mechanisms kicked in, and attempted to silence, to at least muffle such thoughts and related considerations.

Here. Now. The Raptures. Him. His title. Who he was. Who he needed to be.

He was the Legendary Commander. That's who he was, that's who he needed to be.

He couldn't afford to waste time on anything else. He couldn't afford such dalliances. Not when he didn't focus enough back then.

Not when he'd already failed humanity once before. Not when his not taking his duty seriously enough is what caused almost the entirety of humanity to fall. Not when this weight was placed on his shoulders again. Not-

Rapi let out a grumbling sigh, reaching up to rub at her eyes as she stirred heavily, groaning and wordlessly complaining about the need to wake, as she always would back then. She lifted her head without opening her eyes, whining as wakefulness too, dug its claws into her.

Plonking her head back down, her eyes drifted open, then slammed open as widely as Joe's had.

Joe and Rapi's gazes met. Rapi, clearly, was just as caught off-guard as he was.

There was a beat in which the pair just stared at each other.

Then at once, they each rolled in opposite directions, very literally leaping to their feet on the flanks of the bed as though their lives depended on it.

"I-" Rapi cried out, only for her voice to catch in her throat.

"I-" Joe started as well, only to similarly fumble over his own breath and choke.

There was a long, stifling pause as neither of the two seemed to be able to find the words to address the other.

Utter, oppressive silence filled the room, until Rapi suddenly started off for the door. "I-I'm going to go do maintenance on my gear!"

"Okay," Joe shot back without missing a beat, the two pointedly not looking each other's way as Rapi power-walked off.

Rapi quickly zoomed through the apartment space, and out the hallway door. She power walked up to the elevator, reaching out to hit the button to call it-

Only to pause, brain glitching as she noticed that it was already making its way up to the current floor.

For a moment, the blonde just stared, then her mind kicked into overdrive, and was horrified by the notion of someone catching her leaving Joe's room first thing in the morning.

Still dressed in the same clothes she'd been wearing the previous night, hair a mess, and having no reasonable explanation for why she'd laid down next to Joe once she'd noticed he'd immediately fallen asleep.

She didn't want to leave after he'd finished comforting her. She didn't want it to end. She just wanted to make sure he didn't have any nightmares. She was just worried about him. She just wanted to make sure he slept soundly and safely.

He looked so miserable all the time, despite her memories from Goddess revealing to her how broadly he could smile, how brightly his eyes could shine. She wasn't doing enough. She clearly wasn't doing enough.

She wanted to be able to be there for him, she wanted to be with him all the time, so he'd never be alone.

But she'd be criticized for that. After all she'd done, where did she get off? Who did she think she was? By what right did she presume to be with him?

So, Rapi leapt for the door leading to the stairwell, and started bounding down them to avoid being caught.

Back in his room, Joe had retreated to the bathroom to wash his face with cold water. He did his level best to just not think about the fact that Rapi had, rather than leave, snuggled up next to him the previous night.

Just don't. Just don't. The here and now. His job, his duty. That was all that mattered, that was all that could matter. He couldn't afford to entertain the notion of relationships.

So, just-

A knock from the front caught his attention, followed by a call out.

"Joe?" Cinderella's voice carried into the washroom, and upon finishing drying his face, he ambled out to greet her.

The man was met by not only Cinderella carrying a tray bearing a pair of steaming bowls, but by the silverette wearing a new outfit.

Cinderella was no longer in her incredibly revealing, skin-tight, half-transparent bodysuit.

Instead, she was wearing a simple, perilously low-cut white sundress, adorned with little other than a white ribbon nestled just beneath her bosom, and a simple pattern of four, evenly-spaced black Petrine crosses along the hem of the skirt.

A white choker encircled her neck, alongside a more traditional ivory chain necklace and a ribbon strip which plunged deep into her cleavage.

Another length of ribbon encircled her right leg, just tightly enough to produce noticeable thigh squish. It trailed from all the way up to where a thigh-high stocking would terminate, all the way down to her ankle.

The most ostentatious aspect of her attire was, intensely prominent cleavage aside, her 'glass slippers.'

Because of course, Cinderella would gleefully adorn a set of transparent, about three-inch high-heels at the first opportunity.

A thoroughly simple outfit compared to what she typically wore—though the get-up's simplicity still only worked in her favour. Complimentary, yet not distracting from her own beauty. In a word: perfection.

"Do you find my new attire agreeable?" Cinderella inquired, lightly cocking her head at Joe, still holding the tray with a small, anticipatory smile.

"Jesus fucking Christ, you're resplendent," the man breathlessly, yet immediately shot back with unabashed awe, legitimately struck dumb by the reminder of just how pretty the woman was.

The part where he got embarrassed for expressing as much didn't even come, because what had he said besides the plain truth?

For her part, Cinderella's smile turned ruinously smug. That smile, that damned smile. She'd inherited it from her father, and good Lord was it dangerous to be caught in its area of effect.

Needless to say, Joe gawked like a smitten teenager, while Cinderella shamelessly basked in his deer-in-headlights stare. After a moment, she ambled towards his desk, gracefully setting the tray down.

Then, she stepped back from the surface again, and upon meeting Joe's eyes-

The Commander hurked and nearly lost his footing as Cinderella spun atop her toes—her twintails and the hem of her skirt flaring out at the motion most dangerously.

Noting that her underwear was incredibly scanty might've been in poor taste, were she not making it very clear that she wanted as much to be known. You could tell that she was Andersen's daughter every time she shamelessly, pridefully flaunted her body like that.

While Joe braced himself against the washroom door frame, Cinderella just presented that striking smile that dripped in self-assured endearment to him.

"We all woke to new outfits this morning," Cinderella explained matter-of-factually. "From Tetra Line, a friend of yours and my father's, apparently. We've been here for only a day, and already, gifts abound… Such a beauteous state for we goddesses to find ourselves in."

She smiled contentedly, lightly running a finger along the hem of the skirt Mustang evidently had tailored for her on very short notice. That man was prepared for anything, it seemed.

"Come," the short silverette instructed the man, as she claimed the seat across from his own. "I made this for you—I want to see you enjoy the fruits of my labour."

Blinking in surprise, Joe's attention was drawn to the steaming bowls. He approached the desk, to see what Cinderella had made.

"Vegetable soup?" He observed, making note of the large chunks of potatoes, carrots, and celery amidst obvious signs of fine seasoning.

With an acknowledging nod, Cinderella replied, "Just like how you taught me, so long ago…"

She closed her eyes, halfway between nostalgia and longing melancholy.

"I've done my best to perfect it, since you descended into the Ark. I might not be able to ever enjoy it with you again in this life…"

"But, perhaps, it might feel as though we were still connected, if I maintained and continued to partake in this simple recipe you'd once taught me."

Cinderella once again looked at Joe, her smile wide and earnestly fulfilled.

"It has since been an unending dream of mine. One cloying, so tempting to lose myself entirely to, in times of isolation."

"The notion that I might one day finally prepare a meal for you, just as you would have done for me. But the first of many to come."

Her smile redoubled. "A meal which we might share, once, and ever onward into a most beautiful future together."

Picking up one of the bowls, she leaned over and set it before Joe's seat, before doing the same with her own.

"Come, let's eat, my Prince," Cinderella directed him with a smile.

Joe… Did as instructed. Though he returned Cinderella's smile, he did his best to just not absorb her deeply romantically charged words, avoid letting them take root and take his mind off of his duty.

Don't, he told himself. Just don't.

Focus on the path ahead. You can't afford anything else. Mankind can't afford anything else. You have to be a hero, not a lover.

You have to be a soldier, a warrior, a restless commander whose eyes remain fixed on his terrible duty. With only regard for the whole of humanity, whose lives have once again been placed upon your shoulders.

You're the Legendary Commander.

That's all you can be.

He sat down, and shared a table with the gorgeous woman, greatly enjoying the deceptively simple meal she'd offered him.

With a grateful smile, Joe thanked Cinderella for making breakfast—one which he only belatedly realized might well have been worth the equivalent of many hundreds of dollars in the Ark proper.

This given that she'd informed him that she'd used real vegetables and herbs from Scarlet's various gardens on the surface. The man wasn't sure Cinderella had quite caught up to Privaty's spending, but this simple bowl of soup doubtlessly got her damn close in one fell swoop.

Even still, the diminutive Grimms wasn't done, it seemed. From a distantly familiar thigh-mounted pouch, she withdrew what looked like a super heavy-duty phone, and slid it over to him.

"Your original phone died a very long time ago, and was left with Dorothy when she made a… Memorial for you in Eden," she explained somewhat mournfully.

"But, its contents were transferred over to this device. All of your music, pictures, movies and such, are all still in there. Along with a fair few extra pictures and recordings I'd taken over the years."

Blinking, Joe remembered handing various personal articles over to Goddess, back when he descended into the Ark that fateful day. The girls had actually maintained his stuff, to the best of their ability, then?

Reaching out, he picked up the phone, and upon unlocking it… He stared at it in mild non-comprehension, because this was not the Android interface his phone had used—nor was it the interface used by the Elysion or Tetra Line phones either.

He, at least, was able to start making his way to the pictures.

While he fumbled around with the device, Cinderella spoke up again. "I must apologize, my Prince. Given that I was under the impression that you were gone, and, how… Melancholic I would often grow, wishing to see you again, I did eventually go through the personal photos and videos you had on it."

There was a beat as Joe processed that.

His lips parted slightly, and his eyes went wide as he realized that, indeed, everything he'd had on his old phone was still there.

Everything-

"I do truly apologize for the violation of your privacy, even while believing you gone," Cinderella continued. "Though, I cannot be anything but earnest regarding how glad I am to have so many articles of confirmation that I am very much your ideal woman. Your taste is utterly patrician, my Prince."

The twintailed shortstack silverette's expression achieved levels of smug scarcely describable even by the unfettered chimeric lexicon of the English language. She'd found the good stuff, and found naught but sweet validation therein.

What had he done to deserve this?

With characteristic grace, Cinderella rose to her feet as she reached out and gathered up the now empty soup bowls.

With the tray in hand once more, she looked down at a still-seated Joe, and with an appraising hum, she said, "While I'm sure that you'll be eager to reacquaint yourself with your long-lost archives…"

Her grin, somehow, someway, against all odds, became even more smugly anticipatory as she continued.

"Do be sure to also enjoy the most recent additions to your collection too. At least as much as I enjoyed ensuring your new phone's camera is up to par."

With that, Cinderella about-faced, and moved for the hallway door with a deliberately exaggerated sashay, leaving Joe alone again after delivering that final, crushing blow to his resolve.

The man was left dazed, downright stupefied. He very pointedly set the device containing all of the memories of his old phone down, without opening the photo album first. That woman was too damned confident, too damned assured in her goals.

He had to just keep his head. Remain focused. Not let his attention waver.

For as much as Joe might have earnestly adored Cinderella, knowing how she felt about him and how genuine, and loyal she was, how she'd never done anything to hurt him, how she'd just demonstrated that she wished to be good to him, and would act upon that wish with such fervent earnesty, how he himself wanted to see her happy and fulfilled…

To say nothing of Rapi, what he'd once had with her, and what she might want from him too, in the here and now.

His mind's eye, once again, drifted to Marian's I.D. badge on his nightstand.

Somehow, the Raptures didn't quite seem like the scariest thing in the world to the Legendary Commander anymore.

 

[Fragment of Serenity]

'F' in the comments for Joe's pelvis.

And a second one for what's left of his sanity.

He's not making it out of this with either.

 

[Jackie Avocado]

Man down! Man down! She found his hentai stash!

 

[Vicentehuerta777dragon]

Man down! Man down! She found his hentai stash!

Click to shrink...

Should we pity Joe for that or rage on how he's platonic ideal woman is still in to him?

 

[Jsebas19]

Man down! Man down! She found his hentai stash!

Click to shrink...

And don't forget the fact that Andersen might realize that Joe's collection "Corrupted" his daughter's mind turning her into a perverted Andersen 2.0. So in a nutshell; Rest in peace Joe because the knife will make its return.
I find one thing ironic; Joe avoided Cinderella's corruption at the hands of Red Shoes, but Joe's private phone collection also corrupted his mind.

Did you notice that Cinderella's dress is the Gacha skin, "Glass Princess"? Yes, that's right, so it won't be long before we see Scarlet with her "Longing Flower" skin.
I wonder what Snow White and Rapunzel's new skins or clothes would be.

Come to think of it, if Cinderella saw the contents of Joe's phone... does that mean she knows Joe isn't from her world? Because I mean the dates should be shown on the images and videos taken.

Joe's presence brought changes and even rewrote history, bringing positive and negative reactions. If Joe prevented Cinderella's corruption it means that Abe never became Grave and the rest of Old Tales are still united and did not suffer the trauma of their game versions being dismembered by Anachiro. The theory is that they work in Eden with Dorothy
Because snow white already gave a clue: that Eden has the knowledge and technology to reactivate the glass slippers and let's remember that the only one who knows how to make them work is Abe because she was the one who created Cinderella.

 

[HellWan]

Oh no, she found his search history.

.
.
.

And she liked it.

 

[Vicentehuerta777dragon]

Oh no, she found his search history.

.
.
.

And she liked it.

Click to shrink...

Remember earlier in story Joe was down bad for privatys looks to the point he called her, he's ideal woman and Cinderella fits all his boxes.

 

[SuperPulp2789]

Remember earlier in story Joe was down bad for privatys looks to the point he called her, he's ideal woman and Cinderella fits all his boxes.

Click to shrink...

Privaty: "It's a sacrifice that I must do" gets rid of breast compressors "now I have to get clothes that actually fit"

 

[Project Eden]

That feeling of cringe and dread when your porn stash is discovered.

Joe will never live this down. Ever.

 

[Dsaeg]

Focus on the path ahead. You can't afford anything else. Mankind can't afford anything else. You have to be a hero, not a lover.

Click to shrink...

Considering that the power of love is a thing for Nikke I'm pretty sure that such notions would be violently torn apart once others will become aware of such a silly ideas in Joe's head.

 

[Jsebas19]

Privaty: "It's a sacrifice that I must do" gets rid of breast compressors "now I have to get clothes that actually fit"

Click to shrink...

Don't forget when you meet Underworld Queen, the 777 bunnies, Vyper, Mary, Pepper in Bikini, Maiden and others.
but the author has already said it ad nauseam that there will be NO Harem.

I just hope Bakasmurf stands by his words. Because shift up listens more to fanboy otakus who want +18 moments 24 hours a day and that is worrying.

 

[SuperPulp2789]

Don't forget when you meet Underworld Queen, the 777 bunnies, Vyper, Mary, Pepper in Bikini, Maiden and others.
but the author has already said it ad nauseam that there will be NO Harem.

I just hope Bakasmurf stands by his words. Because shift up listens more to fanboy otakus who want +18 moments 24 hours a day and that is worrying.

Click to shrink...

It's a fanservice game, I an sure an hell NOT complaining because we know what we are getting in to and who the audience actually in and it's NOT the "modern audience"

Plus the actually made a Tsundere actually likable and busty

I still feel very annoyed with flatchested short ultra bitches like Louise from Zero No Tsukaima being the main heroines

 

[Ace of Scarabs]

Ellie knows what Joe likes, and she is perfectly happy to give it to him

 

[Jsebas19]

Ellie knows what Joe likes, and she is perfectly happy to give it to him

Click to shrink...

I wonder if Cinderella saw Joe's photos or videos before his arrival in the world of Nikke.
If so, maybe I'm a little suspicious of Joe.

One question, was the game's red hood like the one in OH, or did it have no problem with itself?

One question, what changes do you think Joe made due to his presence in Nikke's world, apart from preventing Cinderella from being corrupted in Anachiro.

 

[Grim Dark Fantasy]

I wonder if Cinderella saw Joe's photos or videos before his arrival in the world of Nikke.
If so, maybe I'm a little suspicious of Joe.

One question, was the game's red hood like the one in OH, or did it have no problem with itself?

One question, what changes do you think Joe made due to his presence in Nikke's world, apart from preventing Cinderella from being corrupted in Anachiro.

Click to shrink...

.
From what it seems, Joe went in with Red Hood to take down the Central Government, and Red Hood managed to hide herself as Rapi for a century, making her the original one and not a fusion.

 

[Dasneaky]

Cinderella was no longer in her incredibly revealing, skin-tight, half-transparent bodysuit.

Click to shrink...

Rip, also I feel like something got to give/break with Joe and the goddess squad is going to have rebuild Joe piece by piece.

 

[Jsebas19]

.
From what it seems, Joe went in with Red Hood to take down the Central Government, and Red Hood managed to hide herself as Rapi for a century, making her the original one and not a fusion.

Click to shrink...

I was referring to whether Red Hood's personality in the game is the same as OH's in terms of problems with herself.

I mean red hood had problems with herself in the game just like OH or not?

Sometimes I wonder if Joe's arrival in Nikke's world caused some alteration in space/time, causing Red Hood and Rapi to be the same person.