I Possessed a Character in the Game

It was an unfamiliar ceiling. I never imagined the day would come when I’d actually utter such a clichéd line. I looked around. This wasn’t my cozy studio apartment with its five-hundred deposit and thirty monthly rent. Just a lonely bed, a small desk, and a single wardrobe. The room looked exactly like a high school dormitory.

“...Am I still drunk?”

I remembered drinking last night and impulsively firing off a game review post on the community forums. After that…

Bethesda Academy. While scrolling through my game library looking for something to play, I saw the gorgeous illustrations, beautiful CGs, and the words “RPG elements added to a beautiful-girl dating simulation,” so I bought it on impulse. Then I cried my eyes out. It was from a company I’d never heard of, but the character stories, the art, and the stunning CGs completely hooked me. I even quit my part-time job and spent an entire year doing nothing but eating and playing Bethesda Academy.

The gameplay was simple. You progressed through the story, experienced various fateful events, leveled up the protagonist and his party members, then built a well-trained team for battles. The story would shift slightly depending on the battle results. If a mage died, any later events that required a mage simply wouldn’t trigger. And because I couldn’t clear those events, I eventually lost to the Demon King.

After suffering through countless bad endings and the spicy taste of almost-happy endings, I lost my mind, got drunk, and posted that garbage rant. The next day, I woke up in this situation.

‘…Hmm. Did I break into someone’s house while drunk?’

As I stood up and looked around, my eyes landed on a mirror and I froze in shock.

‘Who the hell is that?’

The face reflected in the mirror wasn’t mine. “……Who is that?” The words that left my mouth were different from ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠what I’d thought. Unlike my average Korean height, this body looked around 180 centimeters tall, with broad shoulders and strikingly handsome features. The kind of man who would make others jealous just walking down the street. And that man in the mirror moved exactly as I did.

‘…Huh? Haven’t I seen him somewhere before…? …Logue?’

The man copying my movements in the mirror was Logue from Bethesda Academy. I examined myself again. My original appearance was gone. In its place stood Logue from Bethesda Academy.

‘Is this the possession you only read about in novels…? But I only posted one comment. That’s enough to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠get me possessed?’

It was absurd. It’s not like I’d written a 5,200-character complaint or sent the developers a long email. I’d just typed one angry post… It seemed I had possessed the character Logue from Bethesda Academy.

. . .

“……It’s not a dream.”

Again. The words that came out of my mouth were different from what I’d thought inside. It seemed this was Logue’s natural way of speaking.

“Status window.”

I’d only tried it on the off chance it would work, but it actually did. A blue window unfolded in front of my eyes like a hologram. These must be this body’s stats.

‘…Huh? Clear Mirror, Still Water? Insight? What the hell are these skills?’

In Bethesda Academy, the character Logue was nothing more than a three-minute meat shield. His death didn’t affect the story, and he was a throwaway character whose only role was to block one instant-death pattern from an early boss. His growth rate and base stats were complete garbage, so that single skill with a twenty-four-hour cooldown was all he had.

Yet looking at the status window, there were two traits I’d never seen before.

‘…Clear Mirror, Still Water is a pretty good trait, and Insight… does that mean I can look at other characters’ status windows?’

At least the person who’d possessed me had a conscience and gave me two extra traits. …Still, it would’ve been nice to get an attack skill or a growth skill instead…

On the desk lay a single sheet of paper.

‘…A letter?’

I tore open the envelope and read the contents.

‘…That’s right. This guy really was human trash.’

Now that I thought about it, Logue was a character who induced cancer in the original story. That was why I’d used him as a meat shield without any guilt. He picked fights with the protagonist Hero simply because he was a commoner, then challenged him to a duel and got beaten like a dog. Even so, he had some pride; he ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠endured the beating until he lost consciousness.

“Haah… All I can do is sigh.”

Even his voice was annoyingly pleasant to listen to. I checked my pockets and found only ten silver coins. A meal at the student cafeteria cost one silver, so…

‘If I eat just once a day, I’ll starve to death in ten days.’

I needed to find work before I died of hunger. Even if I did nothing, the protagonist would save the world on his own, but there was no guarantee I’d survive until then. …As the bad endings made clear, most people died.

‘Hero deserves to be happy. So do ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the heroines.’

The heroines and protagonist I had raised with such painstaking effort. I had fallen in love with each of their individual stories. That was why I’d been so obsessed with Bethesda Academy. And that was why, when the heroines all died, I got drunk and posted that garbage rant.

…I had my goal.

I would give Hero a true happy ending, not the fake one from the original story.

‘…As long as I don’t die myself.’

Because death would be the end. I planned to watch from the sidelines as Hero and the heroines lived happily ever after, flirting and being disgustingly sweet with each other.

Gurgle.

…First I needed to fill my stomach.

I opened the dormitory door and stepped outside.

. . .

Judging by the fact that the Alchemy Department building, which had been destroyed during the homunculus incident at the end of the first semester of the second year, was still standing, it seemed the current time was the beginning of the second semester.

…That was when Logue had gotten beaten up by Hero, after all.

Bethesda Academy was constantly targeted by the demon race. The Demon King had somehow learned that Hero had been chosen as the hero. However, at this point in time the Demon King had only recently unified the demon tribes and was still busy consolidating power, so she couldn’t launch a direct attack.

‘…Which is why she’s pulling these petty tricks instead.’

Most of the incidents that occurred at the academy were caused by demons or followers of the Demon King.

…Something smelled delicious.

I followed the savory aroma of grilling meat, letting my feet carry me toward its source.

‘Why is there a shopping district and a forge inside the academy grounds…’

The setting was that the academy was enormous because it gathered the continent’s most talented individuals. Inside the academy grounds was a shopping area filled with stores selling weapons, armor, and food supplies.

I found the source of the smell. It seemed to be a street stall. I quickened my pace and headed toward it.

“…Give me one of those meat skewers. How much?”

“That’ll be five coppers.”

Ten coppers made one silver, so half my meal budget had already vanished… I reached out to take the skewer.

“Ma’am! One meat skewer please!”

A bright voice came from beside me. A girl with bright brown hair that fell to her shoulder blades and matching brown eyes, wearing the academy uniform. The moment she saw me, her face crumpled as if she had seen something filthy.

‘…Fuck.’

She was the classmate that I—this body’s original owner, Logue—had harassed. She was Hero’s childhood friend, Serein.