The Heroine Drove Me to Suicide
The Heroine Drove Me to Suicide
[ Experience it yourself. ]
[ Whether Ian von Pong Eastan Blackangus truly deserves nothing but scorn. ]
[ The culprit is a non-virgin heroine. ]
[ Good luck. ]
◆
Kim Ian opened his eyes.
Literally, nothing but his eyes.
His body wouldn't move.
—Splash!
Water hit his face.
He flinched on reflex, but it didn't feel... cold.
He couldn't feel anything at all.
All he could do was see. That was the entire scope of his existence right now.
'Is this a bathroom sink? No. Did I actually get possessed?'
The sensation was disturbingly close to a "genuine possession"—like a ghost clinging to someone else's body.
What the hell was going on?
The body's owner looked into the mirror.
'... !!!'
Ian von Pong Eastan Blackangus.
The Newbie Slasher of Fanta X Aca.
Pongpongi for short.
Seeing that face in the mirror meant he'd possessed the guy's body.
'Fuck.'
The curse came out before Kim Ian could stop it.
I mean, come on... it's Pongpongi.
A guy who'd racked up a mountain of dislike from both players and characters in more ways than one.
The memories from right after the possession slowly surfaced.
[ Experience it yourself. ]
[ Whether Ian von Pong Eastan Blackangus truly deserves nothing but scorn. ]
Experience it yourself.
Meaning, see things from his perspective, presumably.
'I didn't want to swap places that badly.'
Kim Ian felt wronged.
What sin had he committed to deserve seeing the world through Pongpongi's eyes?
After thinking it over, he decided there probably was a sin.
The sin of sending feedback to that lunatic developer.
The sin of pouring his life into this shitty game and becoming a fossilized veteran.
It was a mortal sin.
'Fuck.'
Internal lamenting changed nothing.
He could only watch Pongpongi's actions in a daze.
The guy muttered to himself.
"Hoo. Rina accepted my homemade lunch, but Sharon rejected my confession."
...What was that supposed to mean?
Kim Ian fell into confusion.
He gave a homemade lunch to Rina, and confessed to Sharon?
"Aria... can I consider that a rejection? She didn't look well. I'll try confessing to her again later."
Huh.
At this point, the guy seemed like some kind of confession machine.
"And Emilia, well. She'll call for me again if she needs me later, right?"
Emilia, one of the heroines, was the successor to one of the most prominent merchant guilds in the setting. I wasn't sure what she could possibly need from Pongpongi...
But one thing was certain: he'd been shot down by all four heroines.
"Alright. Let's try again!"
Pongpongi clenched his fist, staring into the mirror.
Kim Ian was unwittingly impressed.
'Impressive.'
From the looks of it, he'd been rejected by the heroines four times in a row, yet he'd bounced back this quickly.
Something felt a little off about it, but maybe that was just in his head?
With no time to figure out what felt off, Pongpongi started walking.
He walked through the academy corridors.
The sunset light streaming through the windows was beautiful.
He opened a door to reveal an empty classroom.
'...Don't tell me he's here to steal the heroines' gym clothes?'
That actually sounded like something Pongpongi would do.
But fortunately, the guy went straight to his seat and sat down.
Then, after rummaging through his desk, he pulled something out.
"...Huh?"
Round, bubbly handwriting.
A cute, decorative envelope.
The guy unfolded the paper with a confused look.
[ To Ian von Pong Eastan Blackangus. Will you come to the rooftop before sunset? I have something to tell you. ]
"!!!"
Pongpongi shot up from his seat.
Then he started running for the rooftop.
Kim Ian was rather taken aback.
'Was there a story like this?'
This was a development Kim Ian had never seen before.
Something felt wrong.
The rooftop... something had happened on the rooftop, he recalled.
- Bang!
Pongpongi slammed the door open violently.
"......"
But nobody was there.
The sunset had already faded, and a deep navy darkness was settling in.
'Ah!'
Only then did Kim Ian manage to retrieve a hazy memory.
A side story in Fanta X Aca.
[ In the early evening, an incident occurred where a student jumped from the rooftop. The extent of the injuries from the suicide attempt is unknown. Four letters were discovered at the scene, and fingerprint analysis suggests they are the suicide notes of the student who jumped. ]
Pongpongi's suicide threat.
And the shocking contents of the suicide notes.
This rooftop was the perfect stage for all of it to unfold.
The pieces of the "suicide threat incident"—the event that would cement Pongpongi as Fanta X Aca's most despicable character—were clicking into place, one by one.
◆
Trudge. Trudge.
Pongpongi wandered the rooftop.
'Is he... writing the notes here?'
The core of the suicide threat incident was the notes.
Rina, Sharon, Aria, Emilia.
Nasty letters, each addressing one of the four heroines. To summarize, they were notes that amounted to, "I'm jumping because you rejected my confession."
This was the catalyst that sent Pongpongi's reputation plummeting into the abyss.
'...No, wait a second.'
Something didn't add up.
Why? What about this felt so wrong?
Right.
Pongpongi, this guy—he wasn't the type to jump just because he got knocked down a few times.
I loathed Pongpongi, so I knew him well.
'He's jumping over a few rejected confessions?'
No. This guy was the type to confess dozens, hundreds of times without giving up. That was what made him even more insufferable.
A clueless, foolish bastard. But also the type—a pushover who didn't know the meaning of giving up.
"Right. Let's shake it off and get back up. Someday, someone will see me for who I am!"
Yes, exactly like this.
Pongpongi was the kind of pushover who'd get back up and keep doing dumb things even after being knocked flat.
That's why the dissonance grew even stronger.
Why on earth...
Why on earth would a guy like this jump?
No. Let's say he did jump.
He wasn't in the mood to write those trashy suicide notes, either.
'What the hell is going on?'
At that moment.
—Whoosh!
The anonymous letter Pongpongi was holding burst into flames.
Then it transformed into four sheets of paper.
'...The suicide notes!'
Was it magic?
Pongpongi examined the papers, flustered.
"What is this? To Rina, Sharon, Aria, Emilia...? Huh? This is my handwriting?"
...!
That was it.
A trick to leave his fingerprints.
Which meant someone had intentionally fabricated those suicide notes.
And the reason for that.
'Don't tell me...'
A foreboding premonition always hits the mark.
A dull thud landed against Pongpongi's back.
"...!"
His vision lurched.
Pongpongi reached for the railing.
His hands grasped empty air.
He was pushed straight over the edge of the rooftop.
"!!!!"
He whipped his head around frantically.
Looking up at the rooftop.
He caught only a glimpse of fluttering hair before it vanished from sight. In the deep sunset, he couldn't even discern its color.
Thud—!
A heavy impact.
"Gahk!"
A short, choked groan.
Along with Ian von Pong Eastan Blackangus, Kim Ian's vision began to fade as well.
"I didn't even... get to perform the growth blessing ritual yet..."
The experience point buff Pongpongi used to give the heroines.
The fact that he hadn't been able to do it yet—those were Ian Blackangus's last words.
◆
"......"
Kim Ian opened his eyes.
This time, his body moved properly.
He was in a dormitory bed.
A body you haven't moved in a while always feels awkward.
Looking at a nearby mirror, it was Pongpongi's body, just as anticipated.
This appeared to be Pongpongi's dorm room.
"Ugh."
His head throbbed like it was splitting open.
Was it a side effect of the possession? Or pain from the body hitting the ground?
But something else was far more shocking.
"That crazy developer was right."
The developer's voice he'd heard right after the possession.
[ Experience it yourself. ]
[ Whether Ian von Pong Eastan Blackangus truly deserves nothing but scorn. ]
[ The culprit is a non-virgin heroine. ]
[ Good luck. ]
There was a culprit. Someone who framed Pongpongi and tried to clean up the mess by making it look like a suicide. Someone who even went so far as to push him off the rooftop.
Not an extra. Not a supporting character.
One of the heroines themselves.
"...Fuck."
The shock was hard to shake off.
I mean, really...
A heroine and a culprit.
Wasn't that the most ill-fitting pair of words in the world?
And not just a simple villain, either.
A vicious person who pushed someone off a rooftop and manipulated suicide notes. A calculating person who turned a man into complete garbage to make sure they'd never be suspected. And a non-virgin on top of that.
Someone like that was hiding among the heroines. Pretending to be a pure, innocent heroine in the most revolting way.
And they'd already tried to kill Pongpongi once.
There was no guarantee they wouldn't try a second time.
The problem was, Ian himself was the one inside Pongpongi's body now.
Which meant the culprit heroine was, unequivocally, Ian's enemy.
"...Wow. That's chilling."
As it happened, Ian had experience collecting and raising all the heroines.
Naturally, he'd never once suspected a crazy bitch like that could exist. I mean, who normally suspects the heroines? And she even pretended to be a heroine while not being a virgin.
"The back of my head stings."
Ian scratched the back of his head and surveyed his surroundings.
If this was Pongpongi's room, there had to be some evidence.
He found something good right away.
"...A love diary?"
But you've never been in a relationship, Pongpongi.
Curiosity piqued, Ian read through the diary.
"Yeah, that figures."
Love diary in name only; it was closer to a "strategy guide," scribbled notes on how to win the heroines.
For example, the diary entry about Rina Rosewell was like this.
———
Lately, Rina is still broke.
The only times she eats anything is during tea time with her friends.
Even then, it's just a few pieces of cookies and cake.
No matter how slight she is, a girl can't survive on nutrition that thin.
So today, I woke up early to make a lunchbox.
I decided on the menu: <Esmé Salata>.
This menu, where you slice vegetables and meat into easy-to-eat pieces, should be perfect for Rina to enjoy a light lunch with her friends.
The sous-vide turkey will help replenish the protein she lacks.
———
"Wow, that's real dedication, Pongpongi."
The diary was so painstakingly meticulous it drew grudging admiration.
I mean, he calculated nutritional needs and packed a homemade lunch?
"So that's why they had explosive growth when he was around."
Having a guy you don't like push a homemade lunch on you is bound to be burdensome. And he gave them all sorts of other things... from the receiver's perspective, it could easily feel like being stalked.
Ian read through the diaries about the remaining heroines as well.
Sharon Pierce. A cool beauty-type heroine renowned as an ultimate performance character. He had gifted her a "famed sword" along with his confession, and apparently... sold his parents' heirlooms to buy it.
"Wait, hold on."
He sold his parents' heirlooms for a Pongpongi move?
Ian hurriedly looked around.
On second look, it was a cramped dorm room.
'...Don't tell me he blew through his entire fortune?'
Even though the guy was supposedly the heir to a prestigious house near the capital.
His future looked pitch black.
"Ha."
...Anyway, let's finish reading about the remaining heroines.
Saintess Candidate Aria.
A heroine with the concept of a gloomy saintess.
An unexpected detail was written in her entry.
"So Aria and Pongpongi were childhood friends."
In truth, Aria was a mentally quite unstable heroine. As befits the gloomy, big-breasted girl trope, her background was that she'd been a shut-in since childhood and was even bullied.
The game didn't really offer a specific method for caring for her.
"He looked after her quite well."
Pongpongi's notebook detailed Aria's symptoms and how to stabilize her.
Still, it seemed he'd confessed recently and got shot down.
"...You really live diligently, Pongpongi."
As for Emilia, it seemed he'd dutifully donated his talents to her.
Thanks to that, he could learn the magic Pongpongi had mastered.
"<Extract>, <Transform>, <Restore>, huh..."
What was he, some kind of human heavy machinery?
Anyway.
—Thwack!
Ian shut the notebook with a snap.
Pongpongi seemed to have looked after the heroines with more sincerity than he'd thought.
Their skyrocketing growth rates happening alongside him wasn't for nothing, it seemed.
He'd absolutely loathed the guy when playing the game, but now that he was possessing him, he could see Pongpongi had his genuine sides.
"Though his way of expressing it was seriously misguided."
No matter how well you look after someone, if the recipient starts thinking, "Isn't this guy a stalker?", you should stop.
Pongpongi couldn't do that.
And so, he was driven to suicide.
The culprit was one of the four heroines.
The sole non-virgin.
Who the hell could it be?
The kind-hearted spirit mage, Rina?
The endlessly cool-headed knight of ultimate talent, Sharon?
The gloomy saintess candidate, Aria?
Or the successor to the continent's greatest merchant guild, Emilia?
"This is tough."
A heroine who seemed even likelier because she was infinitely kind on the surface.
A heroine who should be a virgin, but probably had a twist, and so on.
All of them were plenty plausible.