Prologue: The Protagonist is Dead

Crash! A man took a spectacular tumble.

Beneath hair as white as snow, a face so handsome it commanded immediate attention was revealed.

"Oh my, Lord Vikamon!"

The woman walking beside him rushed to help him up. Her flashy attire, striking looks, and excessive accessories immediately brought to mind a woman of the entertainment district.

But the man called Vikamon didn't budge. Or rather, he couldn't.

With a stiffened face, he muttered, "...Vikamon Niflheim."

The pixel RPG, Demon Palace Academy Slayer. Its third and final installment, the Flame Butterfly Chapter.

A third-rate villain who, in Act 2, Chapter 3 of the scenario, failed to get revenge on the protagonist, ultimately resulting in his expulsion from the academy and banishment from his own family.

After that, Vikamon used his handsome looks and former noble status to become an underworld host. A parasitic existence, scraping by on the money of courtesans.

And now, into that very Vikamon's body...

I have been possessed.

Possession inside a game. A common enough trope. But right now, he had a much bigger problem.

Vikamon slowly unfolded the newspaper he was holding.

Lucas Fernando. He was the protagonist of the Flame Butterfly Chapter. And now, he was no more. He no longer existed in this world.

Act 2, Chapter 8. In the 'Clearing the Demon Palace with a Childhood Friend' chapter, the protagonist died. Right now, it was winter break, just before the start of Act 3, Chapter 1. In other words, this game had officially entered a Bad Ending.

Vikamon let out a hollow laugh.

In a world after the Bad Ending, he had been possessed by Vikamon Niflheim—a third-rate villain who was not only expelled from the academy and cast out by his family, but completely discarded by the scenario itself. How miserable.

"...Miserable," the man muttered, emphasizing the word twice.

Twenty-nine. That was the number of times I had cleared the Flame Butterfly Chapter.

The Flame Butterfly Chapter possessed twelve canon and hidden endings. And behind them lay thirty-eight Bad Endings.

The protagonist, Lucas, possessed the unyielding Flame of Fighting Spirit. A stubbornly righteous protagonist who pressed forward no matter what trials lay ahead. It was a mindset perfectly suited for a hero. Yet, along the path this protagonist walked, thirty-eight Bad Endings lay in wait. Whether one could navigate through these Bad Endings determined if the game could be cleared at all.

Act 2, Chapter 8. Clearing the Demon Palace with a Childhood Friend. This was also the scenario where beginners died the most. It wasn't that difficult if you knew the strategy, but if you went in blindly like a reckless dinosaur, you would die nine times out of ten. And Lucas had been exactly that—a reckless dinosaur.

"Dammit..."

A curse slipped out naturally. I grabbed my white hair, pulling at it in frustration.

A world that had entered a Bad Ending because the protagonist died. Without Lucas, this world could never move in the right direction.

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Lucas's unique ability, the Flame of Fighting Spirit. True to the title Flame Butterfly Chapter, the scenario was intertwined with the Flame of Fighting Spirit from the very beginning to the end. Without it, the canon storyline was completely out of the question.

A long sigh escaped my lips.

On the day of my possession, I shook off the courtesan who was infatuated with me and returned to the inn where I was staying. Since then, I had been endlessly agonizing over what to do.

I don't even know how I got possessed. So, of course, I don't know how to go back. This wasn't a possession I had asked for. I had simply opened my eyes to find myself in this state.

Would clearing the game return me to reality? That, too, was highly uncertain. Even if the game progressed along the canon route and was cleared, there was absolutely no guarantee I would return to the real world. If so, the probability of me having to live out my life in this world was high.

Vikamon has nothing going for him except his handsome face and an inferiority complex toward his younger sister. He might be scraping by in the underworld using his looks for now, but looks fade with time. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I couldn't live like this forever.

And above all else, the ultimate goal of clearing the scenario is the salvation of the world. In other words, failing to progress toward the end of the scenario meant the exact opposite of salvation. Ruin.

I looked out the window at the falling snow. It was a freezing winter. But a world far colder than this was about to descend upon us. I knew the outcome that awaited this world. I had seen the words written on the screen countless times whenever I hit a Bad Ending.

A single, short sentence. That lone line threw my mind into disarray. Normally, I could have just restarted the game. But now, I was a resident of this world. If the world was destroyed, I would die too.

The Flame Butterfly Chapter would almost certainly end in ruin if it couldn't progress along the canon path. Since I didn't know how to go back, I had no intention of dying. My fists clenched tight. If you don't have teeth, you use your gums.

"...If there is no protagonist," then I would have to lead the world to its canon ending myself.

But how on earth was I supposed to do that? The situation was bleak. Not only was Vikamon Niflheim completely cut off from the scenario, but he had already been expelled from the academy. The stage for the Flame Butterfly Chapter was Jerion Academy. If I wasn't affiliated with Jerion Academy, I couldn't progress through any of the scenarios.

Talk about a forced bad hand. I wouldn't have cared if I was an extra or a third-rate villain—they should have at least kept me in the academy! There was a limit to how miserable one could be. I buried my face in my hands, falling into a brief silence. But then, a sudden thought flashed through my mind.

"...Is it actually possible?"

At that moment, a single concept surfaced in my mind. A hidden character. Hanon Airey. A character who transfers to Jerion Academy in the first semester of the second year, right at the start of Act 3, Chapter 1.

However, there was a catch to this character. Although the transfer procedures were already fully processed, Hanon would never actually transfer unless several specific conditions were met. If he didn't transfer, Hanon would succumb to wanderlust and roam the world aimlessly. In other words, he would become a character completely outside the scenario.

"If I pretend to be Hanon..."

Then it would be possible to enter Jerion Academy. The problem was how to impersonate him. The answer lay in the game's strategy. An item the protagonist was originally supposed to use during an infiltration mission in the late game. The Bandage of the Veil.

It allowed the user to perfectly alter their appearance to match someone else, but prolonged use would randomly strip away one of their core emotions. There were three types ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of emotions that could be lost: sadness, anger, and love. The protagonist had lost 'love' as a penalty for abusing the Bandage of the Veil, though he eventually regained it with the help of the main heroine he chose later on.

There was a way to cure the emotional loss. The downside was that it was only possible near the very end of the scenario. Furthermore, unlike the protagonist Lucas, I had no idea which emotion I would lose. But that's fine. No matter which of the three disappeared, it wouldn't hinder my ability to lead the game to its clear.

Fortunately, Vikamon was a guy who loved hoarding money. I could raid his savings to acquire the Bandage of the Veil.

"Stay strong, self..."

I would, without fail, guide ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠this world after the Bad Ending back to the canon path.