[Ektor]
IT’S only recently that I realized I was living in a fictional world.
Up until now, I lived life as a simple child. I was an attractive orphan with a promising future, who knew their way around a sword and had a few tricks up their sleeve… Not that I’m that big of a narcissist to think that about myself. It’s merely what I’ve heard from others. As a ten-year-old kid who’d never laid eyes on a mirror, how could I possibly know that about myself? But you’re so good-looking, Ektor!
That’s right, I’ve been reborn as the male protagonist in a bishōjo game—a game focused on romancing the attractive female characters! When I learned that, my heart leaped for joy. Give me a break, I’m still a guy, after all. Having countless attractive women throwing themselves at you is basically a dream come true. There’s no man alive who hasn’t fantasized about it at least once. Probably.
I learned all about that and more when I turned ten. It was also the first time I’d ever caught a glimpse of myself in a mirror. Long, flowing golden locks and dazzlingly emerald eyes. I looked like a prince out of some fairy tale, and it took some time before I realized that reflection was me.
As soon as I saw myself, all of my memories came flooding back so violently that my head felt like someone had smashed it in half. The pain was so bad, I passed out, crumpling to the ground. When I came to, I was in my bed in the orphanage. Seeing the worried looks on Rinny and Macro’s faces left no doubt in my mind. I’m in the fictional world of the game. I’ve been reborn as the character Ektor, and the game has already begun.
I frantically struggled to grasp the situation I was in. How long have I been “Ektor”? Since I was born? A part of me wondered if I’d somehow hijacked Ektor’s consciousness. After thinking about it long and hard, I came to the conclusion that it was probably the former, mainly because after the return of my memories, my personality hadn’t seemed to have changed that much.
In the game, Ektor is kindhearted and princely. I, on the other hand, am simple, stupid, and I hate to lose more than anything. In short, I’m a mischievous troublemaker. There’s no way that a guy who was constantly running around and pulling pranks alongside Rinny and Macro could possibly be Ektor.
The fact that I hadn’t hoisted someone else’s consciousness from their body was a relief, at least. I mean, that’d be pretty awful for the original Ektor, right? Knowing that made it easier to bask in the glory of my new life. Even if I had kicked the real Ektor’s consciousness out, there’d be no point in moping about it. You gotta live your life to the fullest.
The next thing my mind jumped to was the world itself. Was this really the world of the game? I desperately tried to remember anything about my previous life, comparing whatever memories I still held from the game to the world around me. As far as I can recall, it started off as a simple otome game, which steadily worked its way up through the ranks.
As soon as the rival characters suddenly skyrocketed in popularity, the game devs quickly put out a spin-off sexy bishōjo game for guys. I was, of course, more into the dating sim version of the game, but as a die-hard fan, I played the original version for girls as well. Consequently, I was incredibly familiar with both the male and female characters. It’s just a hunch, but Claire seems like the type who would’ve preferred the original otome game.
There was a side quest in the spin-off version of the game that had players working to first create and then level up their guild. This game mechanic became so popular that people started playing for this reason alone. They ignored the main premise of the game, having no interest in wooing anyone, and instead built up their guild membership, made friends, completed various missions, and even battled against other guilds via the online multiplayer feature.
I’m not exaggerating when I say I spent the majority of my adolescence playing this game. It’s not like I was a loner or anything; my friends from real life played right alongside me!
But let’s leave my adolescence in the past for now. Being reincarnated in this world means there’s one thing I absolutely cannot forget about, and that’s advancing the spin-off’s story. The main protagonist, Ektor, will always be faced with an important decision at some point along his journey. Being a dating sim, this decision is choosing who to date. Once you beat the game, you have the option of a harem route, where you can date multiple women at once, but for me, there’s only ever been one girl. Everyone else is just a bonus.
I played through the game countless times, and the girl I fall for every single time is, of course, Miku! What’s better than a silver-furred, innocent, shy fox girl?! Some of my friends preferred Miku’s twin, the cheerful, spunky, on-again, off-again Claire. Others preferred Laura, the heroine of the otome game, who had a charmingly devilish naivety about her. Still others favored the spoiled and bratty Candice or the cool and stylish Angela. But for me, I only had eyes for Miku. I’ve never given a thought to anyone else. Being able to date her in real life would be a dream come true!
And apparently, now it has, thank the gods! And that’s why I’m doing whatever I can to make sure everything follows the bishōjo game’s story perfectly. I’ve worked so hard to make sure I’m as close as possible to both Rinny and Macro and that we’re all at peak performance levels. Actually, it wasn’t really all that difficult.
Having grown up in the same orphanage, they’re basically like brothers to me. Rinny’s the oldest by a year, but that doesn’t stop him and Macro from constantly fighting like cats and dogs, putting me in charge of babysitting them. The three of us are inseparable and basically like a real family.
Both Rinny and I have never known our parents. Macro chose to live in the orphanage to provide for his family, so he still has an actual home. We traveled to the dwarven mountains once for a visit and even took a dip in the hot springs. It was pretty fun. I’d love to take Miku sometime. I know she’d absolutely love it!
…Sorry, I’m getting side-tracked. In order to start a relationship with Miku, there’s one thing you can’t forget, and that’s Miku’s character flaw. In a world where almost everyone can use all sorts of magic spells, Miku can only use light magic. Because of that, whomever she falls in love with will become her soulmate for life. Sounds great, right? That’s what makes her all the more endearing!
But there’s a huge pitfall hidden in there as well. If she falls in love with someone else, for example…perhaps she’s already met the love of her life in her own village? The thought alone makes me sick. I worked so hard to get strong and to build up my guild, following the story perfectly! I had to trust that she simply wouldn’t fall in love with anyone before meeting me.