The Heroines I Failed to Capture Won't Let Me Go
I wondered what the advantage was of being possessed by a dating sim game where all the heroines were complete disasters. In my expert opinion, there wasn't one. Getting to flirt and have sweet moments with multiple heroines? Don't make me laugh. Having to constantly cater to their endless demands—this, that, I like this, I hate that, wah wah wah? Or the way they'd go completely insane with jealousy and start sabotaging each other the moment you raised another heroine's affection even a little? That might be fun the first couple of times, but after dozens of loops it just makes you sick to your stomach.
Sure, there are probably games where the heroines fall for you no matter what you do and everyone gets along with a bunch of happy laughter. But the game I got possessed by wasn't that kind. The heroines were all batshit crazy, capturing each one was an absolute nightmare, and if you failed to get all of them, the world straight-up ended in a bad ending.
At first, I tried to capture them to survive. But as the loops kept repeating, it stopped being just about that. For a while, even after failing, I'd still feel motivated to try again. After all, it was a game I used to love, and seeing those characters come to life filled my chest with excitement. That feeling only grew stronger over time. What started as simple fondness and curiosity eventually turned into a genuine desire to save them. I couldn't bear to watch them fall into their bad endings and end up miserable.
I'd been betrayed plenty of times, too. One wrong move and it would spiral into a bad end, which meant tasting some truly agonizing pain. I'd been dragged off to a religious tribunal in place of a fallen saintess. While my nails were ripped out and my whole body was seared with hot irons, I kept believing she would come rescue me. I thought our bond of trust was that strong. But in the end, she never said a word. She stayed silent so everything would be pinned on me as my crime.
Of course I understand her position. I know she was terrified. In this world, a single word from the temple can end your entire life. But that day, the saintess protected only herself with her silence.
There were countless other times, too. I'd tried to save the Sword Princess after she was consumed by her blade, only to be cut down myself. I'd been reduced to a living experiment for the Witch after she went mad from a curse, spending what felt like an eternity as her human guinea pig. And I'd been used and then discarded by the Princess once she was blinded by her lust for political power, left to die miserably.
“I’m so done with this.”
I stared at the ceiling of the dormitory room that now felt like my own bedroom and let out a long sigh. Once again, I had failed to capture all the heroines and died in the annihilation ending. And just like always, I had regressed back to the starting point—the moment of admission to the Academy.
This time, I had raised all four heroines' affection levels almost to their maximum and seen every possible event. Yet I still failed. Even when affection was near max, one wrong choice or one hidden condition could make them let go of my hand without fail. It wasn't a game where capturing just one heroine was enough. Because the world would be destroyed the instant even one of the four went wrong, the difficulty was beyond nightmare level.
“I guess I really am hopeless…”
I have zero talent for romance. That makes sense—I was a twenty-seven-year-old virgin back in my original world. Capturing four heroines at the same time was like trying to pluck stars from the sky.
A wave of self-loathing crashed over me.
“What the hell did I do to deserve getting dragged into a place like this…?”
I felt like I might actually cry.
“Screw it. I’m quitting.”
Since I was going to die anyway, I might as well spend the next four years until graduation—the point where the ending triggers—doing whatever I wanted. Yeah. I’d been isekai’d, after all. I should at least enjoy myself. Eat what I want, go where I want, and meet some normal people instead of those insane heroines. Back in my old world I’d spent my school days buried in books and never really enjoyed my youth. This time, I’d live it up.
“Giving up! Total surrender!”
This loop, I was going to take it easy for once. Yeah. I still had to keep regressing and suffering like a dog in the future, so taking one break was only fair.
“Romance can freeze to death for all I care.”
Time to sleep. The entrance ceremony was probably happening right now and the main story was starting, but none of that mattered to me anymore. What I needed more than anything was deep, uninterrupted sleep. Maybe it was because my mental exhaustion had reached its peak, but the moment I decided to take it easy, drowsiness washed over me like a wave.
Confirmed 100th regression in total.
“Ugh… I don’t want this… I hate it…”
Something like text seemed to be floating in front of my eyes, but it was probably just the usual tutorial stuff I already knew by heart. I ignored it and surrendered myself to the oncoming tide of sleep.
All heroines have inherited memories from their respective failed capture routes.
The Solo Survival route has been unlocked.
. . .
“Whoa, I feel refreshed.”
Deciding to take it easy had done wonders for my sleep quality. When I checked the clock, the entrance ceremony had already ended and it was halfway through lunch. I’d only slept about four hours, but my whole body felt as light as if I’d gotten a full-body massage.
“Guess I’ll go grab a bowl of something.”
I threw on my uniform shirt, loosely tied my tie, and left the room. Normally, keeping a neat appearance was essential for gaining the heroines’ favor, but that wasn’t my problem anymore. I strolled down the stairs toward the cafeteria with a carefree stride when a familiar figure caught my eye in the distance.
“...Already running into her?”
A woman with shimmering silver hair and deep blue eyes was climbing the stairs. Irene. One of the heroines of this world. In terms of holy power alone, she was already the top student from the moment of admission. A famous figure across the continent as the leading candidate for the next Saintess. And the first person who had let go of my hand.
If you followed Irene’s route normally, she would eventually become the Saintess. Of course, that required my devoted support behind the scenes.
Yeah. Who needs to be a Saintess anyway? It’s just exhausting. You’d probably be happier just living a normal life.
Yep, yep. I convinced myself and tried to walk past her.
At that moment—
“Eek!”
Irene let out a strange noise and tripped on the stairs.
“...?”
“O-ow…”
Irene clutched her ankle, wincing in pain. Then she stared straight at me. What did she expect me to do? She was supposed to be Saintess material. There was no way a fall like that actually hurt her.
Her expression practically screamed, ‘Look at me…!’ and ‘Help me up…!’ Her eyes sparkled as she appealed, ‘I hurt my ankle~’
Why was she acting like this?
“Ah.”
Come to think of it, the first event with Irene was supposed to be me catching her when she fell on the stairs. That look of ‘Why aren’t you helping me up?’ made sense if it was part of the event.
“That’s how it used to go.”
I ignored her and walked right past.
But then—
“W-wait!”
Irene called out to stop me.
“Um, I’m sorry, but… could you help me…? My ankle hurts…”
“Oh? I see. Must hurt pretty bad.”
“Yes, so if you could… help me up…”
“Hey everyone! This friend fell and got hurt! Can someone please help her out?!”
I shouted so loudly the entire staircase rang. Naturally, the eyes of every passing student turned our way.
“Hey, you there. Yeah, you. Can you help this student to the infirmary?”
I grabbed a random clueless male student walking by and shoved him toward Irene.
“Huh? Uh? Oh, well…”
The student looked reluctant but still helped the fallen Irene to her feet.
“You’re a good kid. Take care.”
“W-wait a second!”
Irene shouted something after me, but I quickly descended the stairs. Nice. First event successfully avoided. I was now one step closer to my no-romance life. For some reason, lunch today felt like it was going to taste amazing.
Just as I expected, eating alone was pure bliss. Normally I would have helped Irene and eaten with her, but that was its own kind of torture. She’d pray for a long time before eating, refuse certain foods for religious reasons, lecture me on etiquette, and so on. Eating with her completely killed my appetite.
So today, without worrying about anyone’s judgment, I dunked my bread straight into the meat stew with my hands and stuffed it into my mouth. If Irene had seen it, she would have fainted in horror.
“Ahhh. This is the stuff.”
It was pure bliss. This was the first taste of true freedom I’d had since being possessed in this world.
That was when it happened.
“Is this seat taken?”
A familiar voice dragged me back to reality. I looked up to see Irene standing there holding a tray. For someone who had supposedly been clutching her ankle in pain earlier, she looked remarkably steady.
“What about your ankle?”
“It hurts.”
“Yet you seem to have walked here just fine?”
“Thanks to a certain someone who made a classmate help me instead.”
Irene snapped at me in an obviously sulky tone. Then, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, she pulled out the chair across from me.
I was one beat faster. I raised my hand.
“Hey! You guys over there!”
Three male students who had been looking for seats nearby turned to look.
“There’s space here! Let’s eat together!”
“Huh? Is that okay?”
“Of course, of course. The more the merrier!”
In the blink of an eye, the table was filled with three male students. Irene froze, still holding the back of the chair.
“...What exactly are you doing?”
“What does it look like? Making friends. This is an academy, after all.”
“What about me?”
“Well, you can make friends on your own, can’t you?”
Irene’s lips trembled. I couldn’t allow even the slightest mistake. I couldn’t give her even a tiny opening. Irene’s route began with the smallest act of kindness. Holding her hand on the stairs, sitting together in the cafeteria, chatting while eating, waiting for her during prayer times—one by one, the snowball would grow until my entire day revolved around her.
This time, I had zero intention of letting that happen.
“Enjoy your meal.”
I deliberately flashed her a bright smile. Irene glared at me for a long moment before finally picking up her tray and heading to another seat. As she wandered around looking for an empty spot, her shoulders seemed to tremble just a little.
“Whew. I’m stuffed.”
I patted my full belly and headed back to the dormitory. Afternoon classes were all orientation anyway, so skipping them wouldn’t be a problem. I was climbing back up the same stairs I had descended earlier when—
“Mom, that scared me!”
The moment I turned the corner, Irene, who had been crouching on the stairs, popped out.
“Hey. Let’s talk.”
She spoke to me in a slightly angry voice. It looked like she had been waiting for me.
“Hmm… You mean what happened in the cafeteria earlier?”
“Not that!”
“Really? Then I don’t have anything to say. Were we close or something?”
“...How can you say something like that so easily?”
Irene’s voice shook.
“On the stairs, in the cafeteria—you keep acting like we’re complete strangers…!”
“Well, we are complete strangers, aren’t we?”
“Strangers?”
Irene let out a hollow laugh.
“Are you really going to pretend you don’t know me now?”
“Ah. Is this about me not helping you on the stairs earlier? Sorry about that. I was in a hurry.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about! Are you seriously abandoning me now?!”
“Abandoning you…? I don’t remember ever owning you.”
“We were together until the very end last time! So why are you the one letting go first? Was our relationship that shallow?!”
“Relationship? What relationship are we supposed to have?”
“Ugh, seriously!”
Irene stomped her foot in frustration.
“Last time you said you liked me so much! How can a person change like this?! Was all of that a lie?!”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about…”
“Aaaah!! You’re such a terrible person! I don’t need someone like you either!”
Unable to contain her anger, Irene huffed and stormed up the stairs.
“Eek!”
And then she tripped over her own feet and fell again.
I quietly pretended not to notice and walked right past her. Somewhere on the stairs, I could hear the sound of quiet sobbing. My feet paused for just a moment. The old me would have definitely turned around. But I didn’t look back. I kept walking.
If I turned around here, this loop would end up exactly the same. A single moment of carelessness always led to disaster.
“Sigh…”
I returned to the dormitory and immediately shut the door behind me. I never expected to get entangled with Irene like this.
“Still, I think I handled it pretty well.”
Out of habit, I opened the status window to check the heroine’s affection level.
Irene : 75 / 100 (-5)
“Wha… huh?”
I rubbed my eyes. I looked again. The number didn’t change.
“Minus five, making it seventy-five…?”
That meant Irene’s affection had been at eighty just moments ago. Toward me—a complete stranger.
“Why is this happening…?”
I had no idea what was going on, but one thing was certain.
“I think I’m screwed…”