So, I Possessed a Body

Possessing a body inside a novel was the one thing I had always wanted.

Unlike my dull, utterly unremarkable reality, the protagonists of novels shone. They crushed everything with overwhelming power, became ridiculous munchkins, built harems, and lived happily ever after. Hoping I might someday step into a story myself, I read every kind of novel I could find and drilled the settings into my head, so that no matter when I crossed over—and into whichever book—I would be ready. A happy munchkin harem life. That was the whole point.

And at last, my chance arrived.

Blink. Blink.

Where... is this?

An unfamiliar scene lay before my eyes: a room in an old wooden building, and carriages passing beyond the window. There was only one thing it could mean. I had possessed a body in the world of a novel.

I did it. I finally did it—the other world I had wished for so desperately! Had someone up there actually noticed how badly I wanted this? Sure enough, wish hard enough and you really can do anything.

Heh heh heh...

Well then. Shall we get to work? The very first step of my munchkin harem life!

First I needed to figure out where I was. I still had no idea which novel this place belonged to.

Hmm...

What I was looking at was unmistakably another world, and yet there was nothing special about it. A drab little room, a colorless bed, a single window facing the street. Not a place that called any particular story to mind.

No point dragging it out, then. Time to try that.

The truth of truths. The ironclad rule of ironclad rules. The thing every protagonist in every story shouts at the very beginning.

"Status window!"

....

"Status window...?"

Huh?

That's weird. Isn't it a universal law that this thing turns on? I had the faint sense that something had gone slightly wrong. No—more than that, my voice was wrong too. Not the cool, handsome tenor a protagonist was supposed to have...

This was giving me a bad feeling. A slightly—very slightly—bad hypothesis.

No way. Right?

I brought a faintly trembling hand down to a certain precious place.

And then—

Huh?

Why isn't it there?

What should have been there was missing. There was no status window, and something even more important than that wasn't registering either. Was this right? A cold sweat began to bead along my spine. This definitely was not what I'd had in mind.

For a more definitive check, I moved my hand up to my chest.

Squish.

Squi...sh?

My gaze drifted slowly downward. I lifted my clothes to look, and there—was something that should not have been there.

"AAAAAAAHHHH!!!"

What the—!! What kind of rule is this?! I was all set to build a harem life, and I possessed a girl?! Nobody said anything about this kind of story!

"Hic... hnngh..."

How much I'd been looking forward to this. How hard my heart had pounded when I opened my eyes. It felt as if everything I had ever been had just betrayed me. What had I dreamed of transmigrating for, if this was the result? This was too cruel.

Bang!

"What is all this racket!"

The door flew open, and a middle-aged man stormed in.

"You do realize there are other guests staying here, don't you! Kindly refrain from making such a commotion!"

"Hic... m-my pre... precious, hic... my precious thing, hnngh... it's gone, hic..."

"Your precious thing? Whatever do you mean by that..."

The man thought for a moment, then ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠held something out.

"Ah. Perhaps this is what you mean?"

"...?"

"I just picked it up outside your door. Your name is written on it, so I assume it belongs to you. Allow me to return it."

What he handed over with those words was a letter envelope, worked with patterns that looked lavish even at a glance. Across it, in large letters, was written Academy Admission Certificate, and beneath that, in smaller script, what appeared to be a name.

Cecina.

This is my name?

"You seem to have been given quite the opportunity. You really mustn't handle something like this so carelessly."

"...."

"Do take proper care of it from now on, so you don't lose it again. And please—no more noise."

Before I could even react to the sudden turn of events, the middle-aged man was gone.

A single letter, left in my hands before I knew what was happening. Carefully, I looked inside.

The moment I finished reading, a feeling I couldn't put into words washed over me. My name from a moment ago, and this place now before my eyes called Nertia Academy—there was only one thing it could mean.

Haa...

"What the hell is this—! You damn otaku!!!!!"

And the old man scolded me. Again.

Late evening.

Once I had calmed down, I slowly took stock of how I looked. Using the window for a mirror, what stared back was hard to describe. Dark ash-brown hair fell all the way to my chest, and the bangs hung thick and unkempt across my eyes. When I brushed them aside, blue irises caught the light, and the face itself was quite pretty—but those bangs hid that beauty, and the whole of me gave off a gloomy, ominous air. I looked to be about 160 centimeters tall, and my chest had filled out enough that my shoulders felt faintly stiff under the weight.

How did I not notice something like this?

When I first possessed the body, I must have been too giddy to actually look at myself.

Haa...

I'd been so happy then. How had it come to this? What was the point of any of it now? Everything just felt empty.

Still, I had managed to pick up some information by chance. Laying the situation out plainly: I had fallen into a work I didn't know, I had become a woman, and I had received an admission certificate from a place called Nertia Academy.

An academy. Right—this was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the world of an academy novel.

Academy settings overflowed with heroines, and they made a perfect stage for a protagonist to shine, so they had always been my favorite places in a story. That one thing, at least, I liked. But so what if I did? It wasn't even a work I knew, and I had no grasp of the setting. I couldn't even see a status window, so I had no idea what abilities I had or how strong I was. Forget being a munchkin—I'd be lucky not to drop dead in a ditch somewhere. And of course I hadn't the faintest clue how to build a harem out of heroines.

In short, I had possessed a girl inside a story I didn't know. Either one of those alone would have sent any hope of a harem sailing clean over the horizon, and both had landed at once.

What was I supposed to do?

Frustration surged until I nearly wailed out loud again. I swallowed it, just barely, and tried to think about what came next.

Hmm.

Staying here, there was nothing I could do. So, for now—the academy. Sink or swim, I had to throw myself at it.

Yeah. I had possessed a body in another world. I couldn't give up without even trying anything. If I ran away now, piling excuse on excuse, I would regret it for the rest of my life.

To the academy. Somehow, I would become a munchkin and build that harem life. Even if I could no longer function as a man, if I made friends with a whole cast of heroines, wouldn't that count as a kind of harem too? In other words, a transmigrator who ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was the ultimate social butterfly. That would be me.

I didn't know how this world's story was meant to unfold, but with the know-how I'd scraped together reading novels in every spare moment, I could probably feel my way through it. I knew the worlds inside novels better than the real one, after all. Even if the world itself decided to nerf me into the ground, I would still make it happen. At the end of this story, I would be surrounded by pretty heroines, living the good life!

No matter what!

"...."

I can do this, right?

The next morning, I went outside to gather more information.

Where I'd been staying was an inn for commoners, and after a bit of trouble I managed to check out.

"Excuse me."

"...."

"Excuse me?"

"...."

"Excuse me!"

"Gah!!"

The innkeeper's hearing was worse than I'd thought; getting the key back to him took some doing. Anyway, that wasn't the important part. What mattered was the scene in front of me.

Clothing that called medieval Europe to mind. Low buildings lining the street. And far off, crowning a hill, a castle glittering in splendor. All of it drove home that I really had arrived in the other world I had pictured over and over in my dreams.

Yes. This is it!

Seeing the other world of my imagination right before my eyes, I felt my heart start to race all over again. I really couldn't give up. I had possessed a body, for once in my life—a chance that might come once in a lifetime, if it came at all. Passion burned hot in my chest.

I want to get to the academy, fast!

Because countless heroines would be waiting for me!

All right. Time to ask around for the way.

Two men who looked like knights caught my eye at once. I could just ask them, couldn't I? They seemed sort of like police. Trudge, trudge. Up close, great scars cut across their faces, and the impression they gave was considerably vicious. Violent-crimes detectives, or something along those lines?

"Um, excuse me. I was hoping to ask for directions."

"Ghk!"

Seriously, what day is it today? Why does everyone keep jumping out of their skin? It's honestly rude.

"Which way do I go to get to Nertia Academy?"

"Uh... uhh. Ah. Nertia Academy?"

The knight looked flustered for only a moment. Then a grin spread across his face, and he told me the way. Wow. He really did look vicious.

"Bit complicated to explain it from here. I can point you to someone who'll guide you, though."

"Really? Who?"

"Go into the building with the blue roof, down that alley. There'll be a man inside. Tell him Hex sent you, and he'll kindly show you the way. Nothing to worry about."

"Oh! Thank you!"

Certain that things were going well, Cecina set off for the place she'd been told, her steps light.

And Hex, who had watched her go, wore a smile that was nothing short of grotesque.