Why Put NTR in a Gacha Game? (1)

Twenty years have already passed since I reincarnated into this filthy, despicable NTR game world. In this game that fails to live up to its title You Want to Become a Hero Like You!, I have been living as the character Shade whom I created myself. At first, I truly struggled to the point of near death. The thief character Shade was one I made during my edgy middle-school phase, so the starting difficulty of life was downright hellish.

“I really almost died back then.”

A complete orphan with no decent parents. No hidden bloodline or noble status even if I died and came back to life. I had one ability, but the conditions were strict and there was a chance of side effects upon use. In short, I was worse off than the basic one-star characters the game handed out for free. On top of that, the moment I reincarnated, I fell straight into the Slums—the lawless underbelly of the Empire where all the trash gathered to commit crimes.

“Still, I survived in the end. And because I reincarnated before the original story even began…, I was able to make this massive criminal underworld my own. There are no more variables now.”

I muttered to myself while touching the burn scars that marred my face in front of the mirror. Back in the day, my ex-girlfriend used to say I was pretty good-looking, but I had deliberately burned my own face in the Slums to kill someone and escape safely. Hiding my identity and status like that, I enlisted as a child soldier in the war against the neighboring country.

“…In the Empire, I was even called a war hero, and as a mercenary I built up enough achievements that nobles and even the imperial family trusted me deeply.”

I smirked as I looked at the medals and badges hanging on the wall. The protagonist the original game pushed? The hero chosen by the holy sword? Some pretty white-haired boy with an androgynous voice? I could crush all of them now with political position and military power. No matter how precious a hero was in this medieval fantasy world or how capable they were of slaying the Demon King, that did not mean they could ignore the long-standing blue blood of nobility. In the end, even a hero was just a piece on the chessboard. Once the Demon King threatening the world disappeared, they would be discarded without hesitation.

“Right. Because of this damn status window, I couldn’t meet the heroines in advance and capture them before the original story started….”

I cursed under my breath while staring at the translucent status window floating before my eyes. The game famous for its NTR mechanics had set up this safeguard precisely so I couldn’t capture the heroines ahead of time. If I tried to break it, my voice would fail to come out, the other party’s perception would shift, or I would even suffer intense pain strong enough to make me faint. Of course, there were workarounds. I had hidden my face with a mask and saved the heroines or their parents during their childhood while concealing my name and identity.

“Ruthless. No wonder it flopped.”

Originally, the moment the story began I had planned to say, “Yeah, I’m the one who saved you back then.” Maybe helping them had just been doing favors for someone else. Since I had also been a complete orphan with no parents in my previous life, and I knew most of the original storylines of the game characters, I hadn’t wanted them to carry such bleak pasts. Why did every single one of them have to start with dead parents? It was bad enough that having even one parent alive put you in the top ten percent. Still, the original story seemed to have twisted quite a bit compared to what I remembered. But the point of playing a game was to have fun, not to stress yourself out. The developers had forgotten that fact, which was why they failed. If the problem was that their pasts had changed, then my very reincarnation into this world as a foreign element was already nonsensical to begin with.

“Boss, some suspicious people showed up at the entrance to the Slums. They’re apparently the famous hero party from the capital lately…. Should we deal with them?”

“No need. Just open the door and welcome the guests like usual. We’re not the kind of group that sells drugs or women anymore.”

I knocked on the closed door and gave that reply to the vice-captain’s voice announcing the start of the original story. Just as I had muttered earlier, the original Slums had been a den of all kinds of crime—drug trafficking, organ harvesting, brothels. But when you were playing an original character, the fun came from ignoring or twisting the existing settings.

“Yes, sir. Ever since you arrived, even people like us have been able to step into the sunlight.”

“…Right. Prepare as always.”

“Understood. Then, as the information-trading thief guild, we Moonshadow will open our doors with a message welcoming the hero party. As amicably as possible.”

After becoming famous as a mercenary, I returned to the Slums and established a thief guild focused on buying and selling information. You might wonder what kind of thief guild openly reveals its name for everyone to know—but I had modeled it after the Hao Clan from wuxia novels. Originally the lowest stratum of the Empire, I had gathered their wealth and redirected them. Just like the Hao Clan, I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠helped them take ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠up jobs as coachmen, cleaners, and porters, turning them into my eyes and ears spread across the entire world. That was why, even if their individual combat strength was nothing special, their information network was second to none. Furthermore, I had divided them into cells across various locations beyond the Slums and set up doubles so that identifying the true leader was difficult, making the setup plausible enough.

“…I’ll head out soon. You’ll get to see something interesting.”

“Yes, Boss!”

I put on the white mask I had left on the table and set out to see the face of that so-called hero Damian for myself.

* * *

A lively, noisy place like a tavern. The Slums were originally supposed to be damp, dark, and sunless, but that had changed after I interfered here and there. Fitting the name Moonshadow, the walls were decorated with a sign carved with a crescent moon, soft lighting, and starlight patterns. Now it was a place where children, the sick, the elderly, widows, and slaves—anyone without work—gathered to buy and sell information.

“How strange. I thought a thief guild would be full of shady dealings, but it just looks like a fancy tavern from the outside.”

“W-we should be careful. I-I heard the Slums used to be a place that literally ate people…! Eek!”

“Don’t be so scared. We came here to meet the leader of this place, Shade, in order to defeat the Demon King.”

From afar, a group approached— one man and several women. It was clearly the hero Damian along with the first pickup character, the Saintess Lavia, and the other heroines trailing behind.

‘Originally, all of them were supposed to be my wives….’

Grind. For the first time, seeing Damian’s face made irritation rise in me, and I ground my molars in secret. Honestly, even a man would find him captivatingly handsome. It was obvious the game company had targeted both genders from the start. As if he had some kind of pheromone that charmed women, he was the enviable bastard who went around seducing every gacha character.

“So, where exactly is this guy called Shade? Finding him among all these people seems nearly impossible….”

“Welcome. I am the one called Shade.”

While Damian’s party was distracted by the crowd, the double I had prepared in advance approached them first. That was how our guild handled guests—we sent a reliable, burly subordinate as the representative to gauge the other side.

“W-wow…. I’d believe it if someone said he was a bear….”

“He does have a pretty menacing look. He must have worked hard ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to establish a thief guild in the Slums.”

“Isabella, judging people solely by appearance is a bad habit. Even if you are a count’s daughter.”

So this opponent was the type who wouldn’t back down even when faced with someone strong. As expected of a hero party meant to slay the Demon King, they didn’t yield even when I sent out a subordinate with the most intimidating appearance.

“Hahaha, I hear that a lot! So, what exactly brings you to our guild? If you want information, just say the word! Of course, there will be a corresponding price.”

The subordinate I had stationed recited the lines I had prepared while probing their intentions, but—

“……Hmm.”

Damian alone showed no reaction to the act and wore a serious expression. Resting his chin on his hand, he kept examining my subordinate’s face from various angles.

“This person is not Shade.”

“……?!”

The words that suddenly left Damian’s mouth were so unexpected that even my subordinate—and I myself—was taken aback.

“The person I want as a companion is a man with burn scars on his face.”

How the hell did he know? Aside from a very small number of people, no one should have known I burned my face when I escaped the Slums. Even during my mercenary work or when founding the guild, I had always used masks or magic to alter my face and physique. When I received medals as a war hero, I had even created a separate public identity.

“It doesn’t look like he used magic on his face…. If he had, our party’s mage Luna would have noticed. Then he must have hidden it with makeup or tools, but that doesn’t seem to be the case either?”

“Hahaha, what on earth are you talking about….”

“Now that I’ve heard his voice, I’m certain it isn’t him. He seems to have found someone with a similar tone, though.”

Thud, thud. Damian walked away from the double and headed straight toward me, hidden among the masked crowd.

“D-Damian! What are you doing? He clearly introduced himself as Shade with his name and identity!”

“That’s right. The strength and fighting spirit I feel from him are stronger than anyone else in this space….”

“It’s all a trick. I never expected the leader of the thief guild Moonshadow to meet us so willingly in the first place.”

The androgynous voice drew closer and closer. The moment he brushed past me, I caught a strangely pleasant scent from him. Just how did he know?

“Excuse me, could I see your face and hands together?”

He passed one person.

“Not this one. My apologies.”

He passed another.

“You’ll have to take off your gloves. I want to check the calluses and scars on your hands too…. Hmm, not this one either.”

Damian was identifying me as if he had already anticipated it, noticing details that even the party’s mage and saintess had missed.

“Now only you remain.”

“……”

“Could you hold out your hand?”

Damian stood before me making this request, even chuckling as if he already knew I was the real Shade. Left with no choice, I extended my hand—

Grab.

“……?”

Unlike the others who had only looked, Damian took my hand and slowly traced it with his fingers to examine it. No, the others had just looked.

“Found you. Shade.”

While directly touching my scars and calluses, the hero Damian spoke those words. His eyes even held a sticky, obsessive glint, as if he would stop at nothing to slay the Demon King.

“I’m not Shade.”

“Then could you remove your mask? It really seems to match. Or are you perhaps operating under a different identity?”

Damian made the request with an almost cheeky attitude, making it obvious he recognized me. Yeah, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠this was the kind of guy who pulled off NTR. The truth was, Damian—who went around stealing so many women—was actually a genuinely good person, fitting for a hero. The problem was that he lacked the corresponding abilities.

“It’s unpleasant to be suspected without any basis.”

“Haha, is that so? I’m just glad I seem to have passed the test.”

“……Hah.”

I let out a deep sigh and shook my head to indicate I would not remove the mask. My favorability was already in the negatives; showing the burn scars would only lead to worse results.

“Would you become my companion? I’ve been looking for you for a long time.”

Then came Damian’s proposal.

“You’re looking for me? Why?”

“Because you’re the only war hero who possesses the skill Copy.”

This bastard knows my ability.