Chapter 2: I Became a Trash Character in a Gacha Game (2)
Chapter 2: I Became a Trash Character in a Gacha Game (2)
Prince Archive Order.
Commonly known as PAO, this trash game was, at least until its launch, a "God-tier" game to someone like me who enjoys 2D waifu-collecting gacha games.
The illustrations were gorgeous.
The Live 2D was incredibly fluid.
The voice acting cast was so stacked that anyone would recognize their names.
The grand graphics were enough to enchant anyone who saw them.
Even though the developer was a complete unknown in the industry—and their previous IP had been a total disaster—expectations were through the roof because a scenario writer famous in other character-driven industries had joined the project.
I was worried there might be some crazy clause in the terms of service about collecting device information, like my phone contacts, but fortunately, there was nothing like that.
"God-tier game confirmed!!"
...Or so I thought, until I dropped my first 300,000 won on the gacha and it immediately transformed into a steaming pile of garbage.
If they hadn't been handing out enough freebies for about fifty pulls, people probably would have rushed for refunds and bought rerolled accounts from the start. The gacha rates were that abysmal.
I was lucky enough to pull an essential meta unit from the freebies. If I hadn't, I would have been forced to struggle through the game using only my "waifu" characters.
But what’s the point of talking about this shitty game now?
I woke up, and I’d become the young lord of this trash game.
"......Ruji."
Ruji Fermaton.
The sole heir to the House of Fermaton, which rules over the Labyrinth City.
With a name that sounded like a twist on the word "loser," this unfortunate character was a 1-star unit whose sole purpose in the game was to be a punching bag.
Is there a maintenance? Beat up Ruji.
Did you fail your gacha pulls? Curse Ruji.
Is the new character's performance underwhelming? Say they’re on the same level as Ruji.
He was a piece of trash associated with every bad meme imaginable. Not only was his in-game performance terrible, but his personality was also bottom-tier garbage.
It was so bad that even the "story skippers" would watch Ruji’s death scene in the main story once on their own phones, watch it again on U-Tube, and then watch him get skewered by a spear every time they failed a gacha pull just to ward off bad luck.
Ruji Dies Again Today.
Even today, Ruji dies.
I, too, had performed the ritual of rewatching the video of this young lord dying several times to cleanse my bad luck before doing my multi-pulls.
And now, I am Ruji.
Blonde hair.
Annoyingly wavy locks that flowed down to my back.
My body was just an average, unathletic build. No muscles to speak of, and my lower belly poked out slightly with a bit of "beer fat."
If there was one and only one thing to be proud of...
"Holy shit, there was a reason Ruji was banging everyone on Pixiv."
His junk was a 5-star.
There was a reason why Ruji took up more space in those degenerate NTR doujins than the typical fat bastards or blonde delinquents.
It was huge.
It wasn't quite long enough to reach his knees, but it was long enough that for an average woman, even if he buried it to the hilt, there would still be two or three knuckles' worth of length left over.
"It's freaking massive. Damn..."
It was a bit sad that Ruji was much bigger and more impressive than I was in reality, but now this dick was mine—
Slap!
I slapped my own cheek hard.
I couldn't let myself go.
I couldn't just accept being Ruji just because I was impressed by a dick!
Even if I was the sole heir to the Fermaton family, the lords of this Labyrinth City!
Even if I had enough power to control this city at my whim!
Even if I could exercise the Right of the First Night, and the player characters could do nothing but show their disgust, clench their fists, or help the newlyweds elope!
Even if the dick was huge!!
I couldn't be Ruji.
Because Ruji was a character destined to die.
And he didn't just die in some side story; he died in the Main Story.
Ruji, the sole heir, dies pathetically when the "Empire," a rival nation eyeing the Labyrinth City's vast resources, invades.
The core of the Part 1 main story involves the protagonist, the "Player," joining forces with allies to reclaim the Labyrinth City from the Empire after the heir is gone.
In other words, I was just a villainous extra meant to frustrate the player until the protagonist became the master of this city.
To list his misdeeds one by one...
"Should I just kill myself?"
The first misdeed that came to mind was already worthy of a death sentence.
On a limited banner, no less—the very last pull I managed to scrape together—he had the audacity to show up and screw me over.
That alone made Ruji someone who deserved to die immediately, but that person was me.
"Dammit, is being a powerful guy with a big dick everything? ......Wait."
A powerful man with a big dick.
The ruler of the Labyrinth City, Fermaton.
Until I die, until this place falls to the Empire or the protagonist...
"I'm... basically the king here, aren't I?"
Technically, there was a "Lord" above me.
My mother, Countess Zenith Fermaton, a 3-star character in PAO.
But she had no talent for managing the Labyrinth City.
Zenith, who had entered a political marriage with the Count, had simply inherited the estate after the previous Count Fermaton—Ruji’s father—died.
Therefore, the Labyrinth City was managed by the Young Lord, Ruji.
The reason I was called the "Young Lord" was that I practically ruled over the family's retainers and this city.
The authority to enter the "Infinite Labyrinth" beneath the city, the countless adventurers who challenged it, the magic stones and gems they brought back, and the wealth obtained from monsters—all of it fell under the influence of the Fermaton family.
Without a permit from the Fermaton family, one couldn't even enter the Infinite Labyrinth.
"......I might actually be pretty powerful?"
Who cares if the character's performance is trash?
I had a big dick—no, I had big power.
I had power so absolute that I could exercise the Right of the First Night with a single word.
In this Labyrinth City, I was the law, and I was God.
The reason?
Well...
'The Labyrinth City will perish if the Fermaton bloodline ends.'
The Labyrinth had become part of the family.
In the past, the Fermaton family made a contract with a demon, and a bottomless labyrinth—a dungeon—opened beneath the castle of the earldom.
All sorts of monsters poured out of the labyrinth, and even when killed, their corpses didn't disappear.
After an Archmage investigated the situation, it was revealed that those with Fermaton blood could not leave this city until the deepest part of the Infinite Labyrinth was conquered—specifically, until the labyrinth was closed.
Wait?
This?
If managed well, wasn't it a place for infinite farming?
Thanks to the gamble taken by the first Fermaton, the Fermaton Earldom gained the ultimate power in the Labyrinth City.
And now, I was the only one left with Fermaton blood.
If I die, the Labyrinth City is finished.
The reason I was still killed in the main story was that the previous Count had fathered two illegitimate children.
One on the Empire's side.
One on the Player's side.
The main story was about those illegitimate children eventually cooperating with the protagonist to maintain the Labyrinth City and continue the conquest to break the curse.
"...I'm screwed."
For now, I was definitely screwed.
"I skipped it."
The main story.
The side stories.
Those were just things to be done to get gacha gems—"Lapis Lazuli."
What? A game with a God-tier story?
Full voice acting for animations?
I told myself I’d watch it all later.
And because of that, there were so many things I didn't know.
But there was one thing I knew for sure.
'Ruji always dies.'
He was a character with a clear death flag.
So, if I removed that death flag, I wouldn't have to die.
First: the two illegitimate children somewhere in the city.
I knew exactly who they were.
'One was a story companion character, and the other was a 3-star "citizen rights" character.'
One companion character who was part of the protagonist's party.
One character who wasn't quite "essential meta," but allowed you to live as a citizen in the Labyrinth City instead of a slave.
Those two.
I just had to find them and bring them to my side, or in the worst-case scenario...
"...There are plenty of 3-stars."
Sorry, but I’m a selfish guy.
I’ll do anything to survive.
And then, the biggest threat to my power.
"...The 'Adventurer'."
The Player.
Once, he was my avatar, seducing countless women, but now he was my enemy.
"......Whew, this is driving me crazy."
There was too much to check.
I had to figure out what point in time it was, what my current status was, and also my...
"Status Window!"
"Young Lord...?"
"......Ah, Amy."
My exclusive maid had just entered with a cart carrying breakfast.
A brown-haired maid, she was one of the retainer characters working for the Fermaton family.
An extra character who would serve the protagonist after my death.
Just an ordinary person, a regular worker like I was before my possession.
"...Hey, Amy."
"Yes...?"
There was only one thing I needed to check.
"Lift your skirt. What color are your panties today?"
My power.