Becoming the Face Genius
Before explaining the situation, let me make one thing clear: I was a guy with utterly ordinary tastes. The fact that someone like me ended up reading a romance fantasy called Heaven's Seres was pure coincidence. I spotted a banner ad by chance, clicked into the serialization site, and saw it had over a million views, with sky-high recommendations and favorites. How could I not be curious about what made it that good?
The synopsis went something like this: Seres, the frail but kind and beautiful only daughter of a count's family, discovers by chance that she possesses the power of a saintess. That revelation leads her to encounter various male leads...
...Anyone hearing just that would think it's your standard reverse harem story. If not for the obsession and downfall tags attached to it. But back then, I had no clue what those tags meant. I just figured the guys were super clingy with the girl. With zero preconceptions, I dove in.
Before long, my expression hardened, and I found myself yelling out loud without realizing it.
"All these guys are fucking psychopaths?!"
One chokes Seres for hanging out with another guy, another imprisons her demanding she look only at him, and there's even one who threatens to kill her parents if she doesn't marry him. It was the kind of plot that made you curse nonstop!
The comments were full of people venting just like me. And yet the novel kept blowing up—much like those trashy dramas you hate-watch while complaining. I got hooked too, diligently catching every new chapter after that first one. I kept waiting for things to turn around... but instead, it plunged straight into the abyss.
Framed as a fake saintess, thrown into an underground dungeon. Tormented relentlessly by one of the crazy male leads, loses her saintess powers. One guy cuts her Achilles tendon to keep her from running, turning her legs useless. She gets a terminal diagnosis, barely recovers, only to lose the will to live and kill herself.
The protagonist suffers endlessly and ends it all with suicide!
Even the downfall enthusiasts couldn't stomach it—the comment section exploded. I was right there with them. Over hundreds of chapters, I'd grown seriously attached to Seres. I wanted her to have a happy ending, even begging in comments to let her live well for once.
But to end it like this?
Fuming, I fired off a novella-length rant at the author via DM. Still not satisfied, I downed a bottle of booze...
...That was the scene right before I passed out drunk.
"Where the hell am I?"
But when I woke up, it was a whole different world.
I propped myself up halfway in bed and looked around. The bed was huge and plush, the room stuffed with expensive-looking furnishings. This wasn't my room from before I slept!
My body felt off too. I'd only had a little to drink before bed, but I felt languid and weak, like I'd chugged a whole bottle. Did someone drug and kidnap me while I was out?
"Who'd bother kidnapping a nobody like me..."
I muttered in disbelief, then froze. That wasn't my voice. It was a soft, melodic tenor.
"M-mirror!"
A bad feeling hit me. I spotted a mirror across the room, slid out of bed toward it—and sharp pain shot through me.
What the—? Why was even walking this hard? Just a few steps left me breathless, legs aching!
"Ugh..."
Gritting my teeth, I pushed on. Finally reaching the mirror, I confirmed my worst fears: a completely different face stared back.
Long silver hair. Flawless white skin. Thick lashes framing sparkling blue eyes. A doll-like, exquisitely beautiful face. Stunning... and familiar.
"Seres?"
No mistaking it. I'd gotten hooked on the novel partly because of this face. It was a perfect 3D match for the cover art.
"What the fuck..."
Dazed, I stumbled back—and lost my balance, crashing to the floor. My body wouldn't respond! I tried to stand, but these legs that could barely walk refused to obey.
"What's that noise?"
"No way!"
As I groaned and flailed on the ground, people rushed in. Servants in uniform flung open the door, gasping at the sight of me.
"Young Master Seres!"
"Are you alright?!"
They scooped me up and tucked me back into bed. I just blinked in confusion. Who were these people, calling me Young Master Seres? Did that mean I was Seres now? But "young master"? I groped my chest—definitely male, not female.
Possessing the protagonist was wild enough, but the gender swap?
"Young Master Seres, why were you moving around alone?"
Still lost, I just rolled my eyes around until one servant scolded me worriedly.
"We told you to call us whenever you want to move."
"Your condition's been worse lately, and now you're doing things you never did before."
They eyed me strangely. In the novel, original Seres was extremely frail early on—couldn't even walk properly without escorts. Of course tumbling alone looked suspicious.
"I-I just needed to check my face real quick."
Still no clue, but drawing suspicion wouldn't help. I bullshitted.
"Felt like something was on it."
"There's nothing like that, sir. You're as beautiful as ever."
"Oh? Must've been my imagination."
I trailed off. Couldn't think of a better excuse, but surprisingly, they bought it.
"Well, with her coming today..."
"You wanted to make sure nothing was off before seeing Hero Arios, right?"
Arios Graviuss. Heir to the Graviuss ducal family. The empire's top knight, a Sword Master. Known as a hero for slaying man-eating demons. And a "gentlemanly bastard!"
Seemed gentlemanly at first, treating Seres kindly—until he backstabbed her like the rest.
In Heaven's Seres, the first chapter ends with her introduction and Arios's appearance. If she was coming now, this was the novel's opening?
"..."
"Young master, do you need anything?"
"...I'm fine. You can go."
I shooed out the interrupting servants mid-thought.
"We're fucked."
After mulling it over, I glared at the ceiling in despair. I'd become Seres—a guy version. Meaning I might endure all the original's bullshit torments!
How to survive this?! In stories, possessions came with cheat powers, right? Did I get any?
Worse than my original body, even. Back home, I'd trained martial arts at dojos as a hobby—decent skills, real confidence. But this frail shell? No fighting back!
...Wait. What if Seres's power transferred to me?
I focused my mind. Nothing happened.
"...Can't use Divine Power yet, huh."
Divine Power. Superior to priests' holy power—literally a god's might. Why original Seres was called a saintess. Also why her life went to hell.
A cheat that fully healed any wound or illness on others—but not her own body! Later revealed as the cause of her frailty: too potent for a human vessel, impossible to self-treat.
She loses it anyway after the leg incident. What kind of power is that? The story justified it as tricky to wield. She doesn't awaken it right away—some trigger event does it.
Maybe that's why now? Or because I'm male? Didn't matter.
"...Might be better off without this crap."
Barely used in the original anyway. The plot was all about her humiliations, not healing praise.
Not the priority. The real issue: that Arios bitch.
First male lead Seres meets, first one readers see. Visits to see the empire's famed beauty, gets smitten, keeps coming. Falls hard, treats her well at first—but goes insane with rivals.
Eventually: "Even if I have to force it, I'll make you bear my child. Let's see if that stops you whoring around." But now I'm Seres—a guy. Does that change—
"Argh!"
I tumbled off the bed. Forcing shaky legs, I staggered to the door.
Got to run—now!!