Prologue
I just cut off my finger.
The reason is absurd. It felt too good. What on earth was my sanity doing instead of stopping me?
With trembling eyes, I stared at my pinky finger rolling across the floor.
I didn't mean for this to happen. I just... I just wanted to give it a little poke. I only meant to draw a tiny bit of blood. But when I came to my senses, I had cleanly severed the finger.
What's even more ridiculous is that I had just been about to slice off my ring finger too when I suddenly snapped out of it.
"...This is dangerous. Really dangerous," I muttered, a faint trace of fear creeping into my voice.
This is bad. And dangerous. This is far more dangerous than I anticipated.
The throbbing pain radiating from the severed stump. The agony shooting up my spine and piercing my brain. The physical scream of a body that brought tears to my eyes without me even realizing it. This is, truly...
"It feels... so good."
It hurt. It hurt so much it was no joke. But it felt amazing. It felt so good that, before I knew it, I was about to chop off all my fingers.
Fighting back tears, I looked into the mirror. Standing there was a girl with tear-filled eyes, just like me. A stunningly beautiful girl with flowing blonde hair and striking pink eyes. Just like me, her pinky finger was currently detached from its rightful place.
The girl in the mirror wasn't crying from the pain. She was crying because she couldn't suppress her resentment at how utterly pathetic her situation was. If you were to ask how I knew that so well, I'd only have one thing to tell you. Because that girl is me.
If you ask why that girl is me, I have nothing else to say. Because I don't know either.
I wanted to cry my eyes out, but I couldn't. Right now, I was in an academy restroom. It was still class time, but there was no telling when another student might walk in.
I hurriedly picked up my pinky rolling on the floor and pressed it back onto the severed stump. Then, I washed the blood off my dagger and slipped it into my inner pocket.
About ten minutes ago. When I suddenly came to, I realized I was sitting in a classroom I had never seen before in my life. When, how, why? Unable to make heads or tails of it, I frantically looked around, only to realize... this was the world inside the novel Dawn Swordsman.
It sounds like crazy talk, but it's the truth. Probably. Otherwise, there was no explaining the teacher at the podium lecturing on novel settings like interdimensional monsters and Supernatural Abilities, or the protagonist sitting diagonally in front of me. Unless this was all some incredibly elaborate surprise prank.
And unfortunately, it wasn't a hidden camera show. After grasping the situation, the very first thing I did was figure out who I currently was. For starters, I knew the body I was using wasn't mine. After all, I'm a guy. My hair isn't blonde, I don't have breasts, and I don't wear skirts.
Fumbling through my pockets, I happened to find a student ID and pulled it out in a hurry.
Department: Knight Course
Status: Active Student
I excused myself from the classroom under the pretext of feeling unwell. Lying that I was heading to the infirmary, I went straight to the restroom. And there, I came face-to-face with my current reality.
"Lucia... It really is Lucia."
My pinky finger fused seamlessly back onto the stump. There wasn't even a trace of it being severed. Super Regeneration. Lucia could regenerate any wound in an instant. I had truly become Lucia.
Lucia. One of the heroines of Dawn Swordsman. Exquisite appearance. Well-mannered. Top of her class. On top of that, she possessed a gentle, sweet personality. While everyone praised her as an exemplary student, Lucia actually had one fatal flaw.
Lucia possessed a penchant for masochism. She derived sexual pleasure from being abused and injured. In other words... to put it simply, Lucia was a massive masochist.
I had become a masochist. Oh, my god.