Trouble on the Very First Day
There was a web novel called Heros City’s Hero.
It had a lot going on, but all you really needed to know was that it had been popular enough to become a game developed in collaboration with a major studio.
I figured I probably owned about 0.001 percent of that game, honestly. That’s how huge a fan I was.
But the game was the problem.
If you asked what was wrong with it, I could spend all day tearing it apart. Forget the gameplay; the story alone was enough.
No, come to think of it, the story was all there was to tear apart.
Still, I was in no mood to ruin my day right from the start, so I’d sum it up as briefly as possible: the problem was the original hero being treated like the villain by the original protagonist.
A guy born with everything, yet too stupid to know it, and so sheltered from the darkness of society that he treated gray as evil and made enemies of it.
More obnoxious than the rich young master type who usually got cast as the jerk in the original, he shoved the real protagonist aside and stole the lead role for himself.
So I’d written a fifty-seven-character review in the store.
A review in name only, really. It was mostly insults and sarcasm.
But if you wrote a story like that, you were basically begging to be cursed out. So I cursed it out.
Apparently the story’s author was petty enough that they couldn’t take even that, because they possessed me into one of those disposable experimental subjects—the kind lower than an extra.
And I had never regretted it.
Even knowing I was going to end up in the body of one of the test subjects dying by the dozen in a secret lab on the Outskirts, I would have said yes.
If I’d known even my sex would change, I might have hesitated for a second, though.
I stood before the mirror and straightened my uniform. It felt a little awkward in my little one-room apartment, but I’d have to get used to it.
And today, maybe awkwardness like that didn’t matter much anyway.
Today was the academy’s entrance ceremony.
I’d already been bracing myself ever since I first brought up the idea of infiltrating the academy to the boss, but now that I was really about to wear it, I couldn’t help feeling a little excited.
At the same time, it left a bitter taste in my mouth.
To be the one actually wearing what the heroines wore—it made you painfully aware of your own situation all over again.
If I could have chosen, I’d have rather worn the boys’ uniform. Somehow, I’d ended up like this.
No point getting gloomy on a good day. Think positive. I still get to go to the academy, don’t I?
Right. That’s what mattered.
“Why won’t this close…!”
But the moment I was about to head to the academy, trouble had already started. I couldn’t even fasten my coat.
The boss had definitely ordered the largest size available. What kind of body was this supposed to be, anyway?
Had it grown in the meantime? A month ago, I could at least force it shut.
Only after trying it on for myself did I finally understand the heroine’s complaint about clothes being too tight.
So that’s how it feels. Though even she could still button her coat.
This was less “wearing a coat” and more “barely draping it over myself.” I could already imagine getting marked on the very first day for dressing improperly.
Even if the academy was known for being free-spirited, that wasn’t the same as being lax.
They even had a disciplinary committee, so wouldn’t they hand out demerits for showing up like this on day one?
After struggling in vain for a while, I gave up and sighed.
Come on, would anyone really complain about an unbuttoned coat? I wasn’t trying to dress like a delinquent; it was a physical issue.
I stood in front of the mirror one last time to check if anything looked off.
Aside from the coat and the dark circles under my eyes, there wasn’t much. Both were beyond my control, so I stopped thinking about them.
It was time to get to the meeting place.
My watch said it wasn’t even 6:30 yet. Still, I could be cutting it close. Heros City was packed with people.
And by that I meant plenty of people who, at this hour, were thinking, I’ll get a nice seat if I leave early.
I grabbed my bag and ran to the monorail platform.
Sure enough, people were already starting to gather in small clusters. If it was already like this now, then at seven…
It would have been awful. My body already took up too much space as it was, and I hated squeezing into crowds.
Luckily, the monorail that arrived wasn’t very full.
There were even a few empty seats here and there, so I managed to sit down. That was a load off my mind.
“Citizens of Heros City, the capital of the world. The proud citizens of Heros City are what keep this city moving. Today as well, your noble…”
I ignored the usual morning pep talk meant to boost work ethic and looked out through the window of the monorail as it sped along the elevated tracks.
It was exactly the same spectacle they used to hype up as a futuristic city on TV when I was a kid, and there was something about it that still made your heart flutter.
Or maybe it just looked especially beautiful because it was entrance ceremony day.
“…Tch.”
Of course, living in a city like this didn’t magically make human beings into Human 2.0.
I clicked my tongue in obvious disgust and glared at the man who kept sneaking looks at my body.
He awkwardly turned his eyes toward the window.
And then, following his lead, a few others also averted their gazes in embarrassment.
…So it didn’t seem like it was the academy uniform drawing attention.
Why does everything I eat go straight to my chest or ass? I really didn’t want a body like this.
Though even if I didn’t have a body like this, wearing an academy uniform would probably draw attention anyway.
Because wearing an academy uniform meant you were a capable person.
There might be quite a few capable people, but strong ones were rare. So wearing the academy uniform was practically proof of power.
Most people wouldn’t even make eye contact if they could help it. And yet here they were, noticing my body before anything else.
Cursing the story’s author for putting me in this body, I silently ground my teeth and vowed I’d ruin their story for sure.
I got off not at the academy itself, but at the station before it, then slipped into an alleyway out of sight of the street-level CCTV. The time was 7:00.
That was more relaxed than I’d expected. I could probably afford to leave a little later next time.
With that comforting thought, I wandered the back alleys toward the meeting place.
The route was so tangled it would have been hard to find without GPS, but using my phone would have made me traceable, so that was out. Still, there was no need to worry.
All I had to do was follow the foul stench and noise that didn’t belong here.
Among beastkin, even within the broader category of subhumans, the senses of the beastkin were unmatched. So I flicked my ears, tracked the scent, and made my way to the rendezvous point.
“Oh, you’re all here.”
I’d expected at least one or two to run, so seeing every single one of them show up was a surprise.
That saved me the trouble of deciding what to do with them, so I was grateful.
In a broad open lot, a bunch of scruffy but nasty-looking delinquents had gathered.
One high school girl and a crowd of punks. Anyone looking at the scene would assume the girl was the one who should be afraid, but reality was exactly the opposite.
The punks were the ones trembling at the sight of me.
“You were the one who called us here…!”
“That’s true. But I didn’t realize the little world of villains had such a strong sense of solidarity. I never expected the whole big-brother-little-brother thing to be real.”
They were the ones I’d completely crushed not long ago and forced under my command.
Just average trash-tier villains—the sort even heroes considered a waste of time to arrest.
You might ask what use people like that could possibly be, but there was always a use.
“Shut up! Our bond is not something a brat like you can throw around so lightly!!!”
Ah. Fine.
They had no real power, so I didn’t know what good some sticky sentimental bond was supposed to do them, but if that was their pride, I didn’t feel the need to trample it.
I wasn’t that kind of bad person.
Instead, I wordlessly put on gloves and took six syringes from my bag.
“Take these. It’s something that’ll let even useless nobodies like you fight a capable person for a little while.”
“T-This was real? That thing really existed…? You weren’t just messing with us? Then you really expect us to ambush academy students?!”
It was a little crude compared to the genuine article, but among everything I’d synthesized while doing my own research, it was the strongest thing I had. And the most vicious.
“Of course. Did you think I’d tell you to go barehanded against academy students? Naturally I’d prepare this much for you. Don’t worry. If you do exactly what I told you, there won’t be any problems.”
“…Fine. Then I hope we never have to see each other again. I don’t know why you’re wearing an academy uniform, but that’s none of our business. Right?”
“Right. It’s none of your business. We’re not that close, are we? Still, do your best. If you pull this off today, there’ll be enough money to let you live however you want.”
Of course, only if they succeeded. I added that one line, then left them behind at my leisure.
When I checked the time, it was about when those bastards would be passing through the district, so I kicked off one wall and another and vaulted up to a rooftop.
Then I sprinted across rooftop after rooftop until I reached a place close to the street they’d be using.
I didn’t even have to sharpen my senses to find them. Not far away, a girl with a red ponytail and a boy with white semi-curly hair were walking side by side toward the academy.
Seo Jinhyun, the original protagonist, and his heroine, Lee Yeonhwa.
I’d seen Jinhyun from a distance before when I was planning to kill him, but this was my first time seeing Yeonhwa.
She really did have the vivid presence of a flame. Red hair, red eyes. Even her posture and movements fit her age perfectly.
Her personality was bright, too, and I couldn’t understand why someone like that would fall for a guy like him. Well, no, I could understand it at least a little.
The story author probably knew that if they paired the original heroine with Jinhyun, fans would scream NTR and start an actual war. It must have been a compromise.
Listening in on Yeonhwa chattering away excitedly to herself only made me think, what a boring opening stretch.
So I decided to make it more interesting.
I waited until they were about to pass through the alley.
And then, right now—
“…Look out!”
The villains, now even larger than when I’d first seen them, lunged from the alley to ambush them.