Chapter 1
Chapter 1
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Prologue
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"No!"
Rafne Bell Martinez cried out.
And grabbed my pant leg for good measure.
These were pants I planned to take off soon enough, but stripping right here wasn't part of the plan.
"D-Don't go! You're just gonna leave me here alone again...?"
Rafne's eyes, drained of all light, laid bare her utter despair. Her damp pupils quickly brimmed with tears.
"This time... when are you coming back...? Do I have to stay here all by myself until then? N-No, I hate it! I hate it! Don't gooo!"
She shook her head wildly, sending her signature red hair flying every which way.
"Don't gooo... I-I'll be good...! I'll listen from now on, do everything you say! So please...!"
She went beyond clutching my pants and wrapped both arms around my leg in a desperate hug. Her ironclad resolve not to let go was plain as day.
I got the sentiment, but this kind of full-body contact was way too stimulating.
D-Damn, that soft sensation pressing against my thigh...!
"Listen, Rafne."
"Y-Yeah! Anything! Just say the word, and I'll do it...! Don't go! I'm begging you!"
Her face lit up for a split second.
I let out a heavy sigh.
"At least let me hit the bathroom..."
"No! Absolutely not! Don't go!"
I seriously felt like I was about to burst.
...
I stared at the thing hovering in front of me for a good while.
It was what folks commonly called a status window.
A helpful message someone—or something—had kindly sent my way.
Just like I'd heard, the translucent blue rectangle wouldn't vanish no matter how much I rubbed my eyes or slapped my cheeks.
⚔ STATUS ⚔ 👤 Name: Ken Fine Stein 🛠 Unique Skills: Item Creation, Calorie Burn ✨ Unique Trait: Physical Abilities Amplify as Body Weight Decreases 📊 Possessed Trait: Obesity 📏 Current Body Specs: 175cm, 110kg I read the details carefully, then shifted my gaze downward.
There sat a massive mountain that definitely hadn't been there before.
If I'd possessed a female character, it might've meant a huge rack, but nope—I was unquestionably male.
That's right. It was my gut.
A monstrous blob of fat.
"Holy shit."
I slapped my belly, and it jiggled like jelly.
In your standard gender-swap possession story, this would've been the line I'd mutter while groping a pair of breasts. What a shame.
My original self wasn't exactly ripped with a six-pack, but I'd never dealt with a gut this enormous before.
No wonder my movements felt sluggish and my body weighed me down.
I stepped in front of the full-length mirror in the room.
Standing there was a familiar yet utterly alien guy.
"...Damn, he looks exactly like the in-game sprite."
That's right. I'd possessed a character from my favorite game...
Academy of Epiris—an otome game!
If you're wondering why a straight dude like me was playing an otome game, it's because one of the characters, the villainess boss from Part 1, was right up my alley looks-wise.
Especially those massive tits... ahem.
"...That aside."
Why this guy of all people?
Nicely put, the man I'd possessed wasn't even a main character. Hell, he wasn't a side one either.
The guy I'd become: Ken Fine Stein.
He was a lackey for Mary Heidi, the villainess boss of Part 2.
His screentime consisted mostly of chiming in with a few snide remarks while Mary squared off against the protagonist.
A total extra with zero backstory or details.
"Wait a sec."
Come to think of it—ow—didn't he pop up in a couple more scenes?
Lemme think, lemme think...
"...Ah!"
I remembered!
Yeah, this dude made a cameo in the bad ending of the final chapter.
That gut-wrenching illustration of war's horrors. Mary Heidi collapsing in a daze before his corpse—that image stuck with me.
Haha, yeah, yeah. When I first saw it hunting for illustrations, it hit me right in the feels...
"...Hold up. That means I die!?"
Yup. I'd possessed an extra. The problem? In the bad ending, he kicks the bucket.
...
The Academy of Epiris I'd played was an otome academy sim & RPG.
Your goal was to control the protagonist, Emily Epiris, level her up, and romance one of the four main capture targets.
Of course, I skipped most of the guy event scenes. I was there for the girls.
The villainesses from Parts 1 and 2:
Part 1's Rafne Bell Martinez, Part 2's Mary Heidi.
Classic villainesses with stunning looks and prickly attitudes.
Rafne was hot-blooded like her red hair suggested, quick to look down on others.
Mary had that cool blue-haired rival vibe, laced with a strong sense of justice.
I had a blast playing it.
"Hmm, the issue is..."
Yup. I'd zeroed in on the villainesses.
So I barely remembered jack about the actual male characters in Academy of Epiris.
"...I'm fucked."
I'd bulldozed through using walkthroughs, skipping choices to snag my preferred endings.
But those choices were now life-or-death intel for my future.
If I screwed up and triggered the bad ending, I'd die for real.
Luckily, while I'd forgotten how to romance the guys, I remembered the broad strokes of the plot.
And the items & tips for powering up Emily.
So, how do I dodge death here?
Simple: Steer the world's story away from the bad ending.
Thankfully, there's just one ending where I bite it: When war with the demonkin erupts and Emily hasn't hit the required stats, leading to defeat.
'...But just in case I can't avoid it.'
Yeah. Things won't always go my way. With my fuzzy memory, and not being the protagonist Emily, I can't puppeteer events perfectly.
So, plan B.
Get strong enough to survive the war.
"...Alright, I've got the rough outline."
Time to tackle the biggest problem head-on.
Get stronger.
"Hey."
And now, problem number two.
"Oi, pig. What've you been muttering to yourself about?"
"Kyahaha, muttering all creepy-like~"
"Hmph... Guess I gotta deal with this first..."
I adjusted my nonexistent glasses out of habit.
A week after possessing Ken Fine Stein, here I was at my desk in the academy classroom.
Surrounded by a pack of delinquents.
"...Mary-chan ain't showing up, huh."
"Dumbass, can't you see it's pouring outside? Your boss, Mary Heidi, called in sick today."
Seems this extra was canonically an easy bullying target.