That World of Otome Games is Tough for Us - Volume 1 - Chapter Pr

Prologue

LIFE IS A SERIES OF CHOICES: Where will you go today? What will you eat? Who will you talk to? What will you talk about? 

As monotonous and unchanging as everyday life may seem, everyone finds themselves faced with these tiny, seemingly insignificant choices. 

There’s more to it than that, of course. Some choices are monumental. If you were to use video game terms—let’s say for a visual novel—then perhaps you could call these the pivot points at which your life diverges down a separate route. Of course, life’s not really a game; you can’t just save or reload. Someone (can’t remember who) once said that life has no resets, only an off switch.

Anyway, point is, some of your choices are permanent—never to be undone. 

But what if you’d made a different choice at one of those crucial forks in the proverbial road? How might your future have played out?

***

It all started during a long vacation from work. My little sister showed up at the crack of dawn, banging her fist against the door to the apartment where I lived alone.

I forced myself out of bed, still groggy, and unthinkingly cracked the front door open. Big mistake. My little sister took this as her cue to barge in and shove a paper bag into my hands. It looked like a gift bag at first blush, but a glance at the contents revealed a video game case and a USB flash drive.

Is this supposed to be a present? No, the game’s cover is all wrong. That’s definitely a girl surrounded by a bunch of sexy guys. In other words, it was a dating sim—specifically an otome game.

I scratched my head, hair disheveled. My eyes moved from the bag to my smiling sister. “So, what’s this?” 

She had the nerve to sigh, as if exasperated that I hadn’t read her mind. With both hands planted on her hips, she leaned forward and sneered up at me, her eyebrows raised. That look always pissed me off.

After a moment of silence, she realized she had no choice but to explain. She huffed. “It’s a brand-new otome game that I was really looking forward to, but the difficulty is insane. There’s no way I can clear it. You’re on a long vacation, yeah? Why don’t you clear it for me, then? It’s not like you’ve got anything better to do.”

She had piqued my interest at the mention of a steep difficulty curve, but the last line ruined it. Her disparaging comment got right under my skin.

“Wild assumption, but sure,” I snapped at her. “Whatever. Why’s this one so difficult anyway? All you gotta do in this kinda game is pick the right choices for your route and maybe finish a mini game.”

Most dating sims had the player directing the main character through actions and dialogue, chosen from a small set of options. Skill wasn’t really a factor in that kind of thing. All you had to do was test the choices to figure out which ones got the results you wanted. In fact, if you wanted to eliminate the guesswork, there were always plenty of walkthroughs and guides online.

My little sister already knew all that. She’d played a ton of these otome games and 100-percented all of them.

“I thought the same thing at first,” she said. “And that works well enough for the romance portions, but the other two parts of the game are a real slog.” 

“What other two parts?”

“The adventuring and the battles are stupid hard. We’re talking nightmare-level difficulty.” Her face puckered, brows furrowed. “See, it’s got this RPG-ish adventuring section. I could put up with that, I guess, but the minute war breaks out in the plot, it adds a turn-based tactical sim.”

But why? Why would anyone stuff such unnecessary mechanics into an otome game? Sounded like they were throwing everything and the kitchen sink at the wall to see what stuck.

Still, as a guy, I was legitimately interested in the mechanics she described. If the game were a galge—a dating sim made for guys with a dudely protagonist and girls to romance—I’d hop right on and snag myself a copy. The same couldn’t be said for my little sister; she saw this gameplay as pure nuisance.

“No matter what I do, I get stuck midway through. I haven’t managed to clear it even once,” she grumbled. “You’re pathetically obsessed with this kind of game, though. You could totally breeze through it, right?”

Seriously? Does she have to piss me off every time she opens her mouth? And sure, I was interested in what she described, but I had zero desire to play an otome game.

“I’m sure you’ll make it if you find a good walkthrough,” I said. “Clear it yourself.”

“If I could, I wouldn’t have come all the way here to ask you! I already tried looking for a guide, but people are all up in arms review-bombing it. I couldn’t find anything actually useful!”

“Whoa, they’ve taken it that far, huh?”

“The devs added a bunch of microtransactions and DLCs. It’s all marketed as things to get you through the adventures and battles. You know, real ‘pay-to-win’ type stuff.”

The old “sell ’em a solution to the problem you created” scam, huh? I could see how that had rubbed players the wrong way. The devs had made their hateful bed and now they had to lie in it.

My little sister clasped her hands and looked up at me with the saddest puppy dog eyes. I was kinda late noticing, but she’d really dolled herself up. She didn’t normally put so much effort into her clothes and makeup when dropping by my place.

“Please, dearest brother, won’t you clear the game for me? I mean the whole game, of course. I want to be able to watch all the event scenes and animated sequences.”

She had a bad habit of calling me things like her “beloved older brother” when she was after something. Other guys seemed to find her adorable. Studying and sports came easily to her, and she was a natural beauty, so she’d been doted upon since grade school. Currently, she was a university student and lived with our parents back home.

But her cutesy, high-pitched tone grated on my ears. I pulled a face, retreating half a step back.

Infuriated, she puffed her cheeks. “Why’re you being so difficult?! Your adorable little sister is asking you for a favor here!”

“I’ve got a little sister all right, but she’s not adorable. She’s a selfish brat.” 

I knew guys who fantasized about having little sisters now and again. I wanted to shake every one of them and force them to behold my reality. A little sister is an older brother’s dreaded enemy with whom you happen to share blood. Okay, maybe that’s a bit harsh. But they were still a royal pain in the butt. What pissed me off more than anything was that, when I said as much to my buddies, they’d laugh me off, saying, “Aw, there you go again.”

I sighed. “Whatever. You can find videos of the event scenes online if you’re that desperate, can’t you? Why do you have to actually clear the story yourself?”

“I hate those kinds of videos,” she said.

So she knew they existed and still wanted to force this game on me. Not that I could entirely blame her. There were a bunch of issues with copyright and whatever, and besides, I wouldn’t want to watch someone else playing an RPG. I was surprised and frankly impressed by this judicious approach. But she ruined that right quick.

“Besides, this game has a special function where the voice actors actually say the name you choose for the protagonist. Who wouldn’t want to hear their name during events? Not to mention the scene where they express their feelings for one another!” She closed her eyes, letting herself fall into reverie.

Shoulda known. She’s hopeless. And jeez, what the hell were the devs thinking, adding a bloated feature like that? It’d be way simpler to pick a static name for the protagonist and save themselves—and me—the hassle. At least my little sister wouldn’t have been harassing me about it.

I mean, come on—playing a dating sim with a protagonist who had my sister’s name? That’d be pure torture.

“If you’re so hung up on this, then like I said: clear it yourself.”

She sniffed. “Isn’t it obvious that I’m gonna be busy? I’m heading overseas with my friends.”

“Overseas?!” I squeaked, acting surprised. In fact, this was more like the missing puzzle piece that made everything click together. Now I knew why she was all dolled up.

“Anyway, beloved big brother of mine,” she said in that sugary-sweet voice, “won’t you please give me some spending money, too?”

I grimaced. “Hell no. If you’re that hard up, ask Dad. I’m sure he’d love to shell out for you.”

My little sister had always been a natural at everything she tried. My parents babied her far more than they ever had me. What was worse, they trusted her more, too. She put on an immaculate facade in front of everyone we knew and had them all fooled.

“Dad already gave me money,” she said.

I slapped my hand over my face. “Seriously, Dad?” It was all too easy to picture him obliging her without so much as a fuss. My old man was particularly soft on her.

“If you do as I ask,” she said, “I’ll help you resolve that little misunderstanding with Mom.”

This was an allusion to a certain incident that had, as a matter of fact, occurred only a few days ago. Blood rushed to my head.

“That was your fault in the first place!” I bellowed. “I wouldn’t even be in this mess if you hadn’t been stashing your boys’ love crap in my old bedroom!”

I still had a room back at our family home, even though I didn’t actively live there, and my sister had taken to hiding her BL books and merch in all its nooks and crannies. None of our relatives knew about this specific hobby of hers—except me. Problem was, our mom had stumbled on the stash while cleaning. I got a phone call the same day. “If you’re into that sort of thing, Son, you could have just told us.”

It wasn’t until Mom explained what she meant that I realized what was going on. Try as I might to correct her, it did no good. The more desperately and vehemently I denied it, the more suspicious she and Dad became. The worst part was how understanding they’d been, saying things like, “It’s fine if that’s what you’re into,” and “There’s no reason for you to hide it.”

Intense fury washed over me then—not toward my parents, of course, but the true culprit. They had believed her the second she pointed the finger at me and genuinely thought all that BL crap belonged to yours truly. Just more proof that they would always take her word for it rather than listen to me.

A devious smirk crossed my sister’s face. “If you clear this game for me, I promise I’ll clear things up with Mom for you. You like dating sims for guys, right? This should be a cakewalk.”

Admittedly, it would be hard to put up with my family having the wrong idea about me forever. No matter how I insisted to my parents that I was only interested in women, and no matter how I tried to explain what had happened, they wouldn’t believe me. Could anyone blame me for giving in at that moment, knowing how awful that felt?

“You…you mean it, right?” I said.

“I swear I’ll hold up my end of the bargain, my dearest, beloved older brother. Oh, but I am counting on you to fork over some cash for my trip. Don’t worry. I’ll bring you back some souvenirs.” She grinned from ear to ear.

I snatched some bills out of my wallet and slapped them into her open hand. “There.”

“Thanks, Big Bro.”

As soon as she had what she wanted, I wasn’t her “dearest beloved” anything anymore, just “Big Bro.” That was the clearest possible demonstration of her rotten personality. She didn’t have a job, so she didn’t have much in the way of spending money. That was also probably why she’d come here. She figured she could bum some cash and shove her nightmare-mode otome game off on me all at the same time.

My little sister spun around and strode out the door before pausing to glance back. She lifted a hand, waving lazily. “See ya. I’m counting on you to beat the game. And I mean a full clear.”

Full clear meant all the endings, all the CGs, all the ending movies, everything… That way the player could freely view them later on. I was less concerned with having to finish out all the routes than I was about the supposed monstrous difficulty level.

I pulled the plastic game case out of the bag she’d handed me and furrowed my brows. “I wonder how many playthroughs it’ll take to finish this stupid thing.”

I glanced at the cover. The dudes pictured there did nothing for me, but the protagonist caught my interest—mainly because she didn’t have the sort of design you’d expect for a game aimed at girls.

My eyes landed on what I assumed was the subtitle—or perhaps the Japanese title of the game. “Ancient Love, huh?”

***

Outside, the sun was beginning to set.

“What the hell? This game is beyond nightmare level. It’s like the devs don’t even want you to beat it!”

The words Game Over popped up on the television screen. I’d seen them so many times by now that I was getting sick of them. I kept getting bad ending after bad ending, over and over, on this utterly stupid otome game.

I knew it was nothing to be particularly proud of, but I was a squarely average gamer. Nothing amazing, but not complete garbage, either. I could clear just about anything you threw my way. So, of course, I’d figured something like this would be easy, especially if I pulled up a walkthrough. It wasn’t until hours in that I realized how screwed I was.

The game allowed you to skip the event scenes, but there was no way to bypass the adventures or battles—that was down to a manual completion every time. Most dating sims were easy to finish because you could just skim the text if you wanted. But not so here. The adventures and battles made the whole thing a huge time sink. Worst of all, the battles were absolutely awful. Garbage-tier, even.

I thumbed through the menu, reloaded, and found myself back on the battle map where I’d been hit with a dead end moments before.

The setting for this particular game was a fantasy world filled with magic and swordplay, but oddly enough, its lands floated in the sky. People relied on airships as their main method of transportation, and these came in all shapes and sizes. Some even had sails like the ships I knew in real life. As long as they’d been equipped with some kind of propulsion, their shape didn’t matter—they could still take to the skies and keep afloat.

The game’s battles consisted of airships blasting each other with their cannons, but they also had to be equipped with one more weapon before a sortie. I guess most people would call them mobile suits? In this game’s world, one of those mechs was called an Armor—a robot of about three to four meters in height that its pilot flew into the fray. The suits themselves were built to look pretty humanlike as well. 

The male love interests each piloted their own suit. Honestly, I kinda liked that part. The issue was that said love interests were excruciatingly weak.

“Take this! My secret killing technique…” one of them cried. That was the crown prince, Julius Rapha Holfort. His cut-in image appeared on screen as he prepared to unleash his special attack.

Unfortunately, the enemy he was targeting countered the maneuver, defending themselves and annihilating the last of Julius’s hit points in the process.

“No, Prince Julius!” cried his allies on the battlefield.

The television screen faded to black, and I was greeted by those same loathsome words: Game Over.

My hands trembled, and I chucked the controller at my bed. The only reason I didn’t slam it to the floor was because I didn’t actually want to destroy my own belongings for this crap.

“What a load of bull! Stupid prince keeps biting the dust no matter what I do! I mean, c’mon. What’s with this battle formation to begin with, huh? How am I always surrounded? And how come my stupid units can’t hang in there until backup arrives?! There’s no freakin’ way to beat this stupid battle!”

I snatched up my phone and scoured the internet for tips on getting through this stage, but what I found was a serious lack of info on the battle mechanics—and that was on top of RNG playing a huge role in combat. The author of the article I clicked advised that, “If you want to win, just pray you get lucky.”

This game was such crap. I finally understood the review bombs.

I clung to the smidgen of rationality that remained amid my immense anger and racked my brain. How was I gonna clear this game?

“I don’t wanna spend days on this thing.” Especially since it was a game I didn’t actually want to play. This was a waste. I had half a mind to toss it aside and forget the whole thing—but I really, really needed my sister to clear up the misunderstanding with my parents.

As if on cue, a message from her arrived. “I’m having so much fun overseas!” it read. “If you’re good and manage a full clear of my game, I’ll buy you some souvenirs.”

“You scumbag.”

The photo she had attached was of the beach; in the background, the ocean reflected the sun, while she and her friends stood in the foreground, clad in their swimsuits. Seeing my sister in swimwear did nothing but annoy me even further.

“You’ve got some nerve dumping this stupid game on me while you run off to enjoy yourself!”

Fury coursed through me as I hurriedly typed out a similarly cutting message, only to receive a belated response: “You sure you want to take that attitude with me? Maybe when I come back, I won’t sort out that whole misunderstanding with Mom. Up to you.”

“Grrr!” I snarled.

Another message came in: “Good luck, Big Bro.”

As much as it vexed me, she had the upper hand. After further consideration, I left the game idle while I glanced through the DLC store.

“I’ve got a real job. My wallet can handle this. At least it’s nowhere near as exploitative as a gacha game. Won’t even put a dent in my budget if I buy a couple of—hmm?” 

My eyes stopped on what I assumed was a typo. The store page had a selection of battleships for purchase, but this particular vessel was described as a “spaceship.” The design was definitely evocative of just such a thing, but still…

“C’mon, you can’t have a spaceship in a fantasy world. Let’s see. What’s this thing called…? Luxion, huh?”

It was the most expensive ship in the store, perhaps because it was the most powerful—being, you know, a spaceship. I added Luxion and one other item to my cart, paid for them, and then started the download.

“Much as it pains me to fork up 2,000 yen for my sister’s stupid game, at least this’ll get me through it quicker.”

Having solved my battle troubles by resorting to microtransactions, I focused on surviving the adventures—and the romance.

***

“This sucks big time. I can’t believe I’ve only just figured this out.”

The words True End appeared on the television screen, indicating I’d at least reached the game’s canonical conclusion: an illustration of the protagonist surrounded by all five of her love interests. It was a reverse harem ending, with the heroine marrying every single one of her romantic partners.

How can a reverse harem ending be considered canon? I thought bitterly. As a man, drowning in sausages only ruined the mood. Did women feel the same way about harem endings for guys?

Well, whatever the case, that was when the aforementioned epiphany struck.

My little sister had gone overseas, see, but she lived at home with our parents and didn’t have a job. No way did she have the money to travel like that. I racked my brain, trying to remember anything my parents had said or done recently that might hint as to where she’d obtained the funds. That’s when I remembered that they’d given her a couple grand to take driving lessons and get her license. That had to be it. I could clearly recall my mom worriedly saying, “I just hope she manages to pass on the first try.”

My sister was no fool. She wouldn’t have used the entire amount for this little overseas adventure. But there was a good chance she’d used a portion for her trip. After all, if she’d had even a yen to her name, she wouldn’t have begged my dad for spending money before she left.

“If I’d just demanded to know how she was funding her little getaway, then I wouldn’t have had to waste my entire vacation on this stupid game.”

By the time I hit upon this realization, it was my last day off. I’d spent the whole damn time wooing handsome 2D men. 

The adventure portion of the game was a little fun, admittedly—though I did feel kind of guilty about selling off any and all presents that the love interests gave me for extra cash. On the other hand, pawning off those accessories netted me the funds I needed to get better equipment ASAP. There was no room for sentimentality here. I was on a mission.

I went to the menu to select the section that recorded the percentage of movies and CGs I’d collected. The number on screen read: 100% Completed.

“Phew, at least that’s done. But I haven’t had my revenge, now have I?”

I had passed out countless times while playing, and I still hadn’t gotten a good night’s sleep. I was very possibly running on pure adrenaline, which had left me feeling pumped.

“If I tell Mom that she went on a vacation on their dime, she’ll be in for a world of hurt when she gets home. I can’t wait.”

She’d get a real earful from our parents. If I was lucky, maybe I could film it to torment her with later.

I typed out a message to my mom and attached the images my sister had sent. After sending that along, I lifted myself out of my chair and stretched.

“All right. I’d say that’s more than a day’s work. I guess I’ll cheer myself up with a little trip of my own to a family diner—heck, I’ll even order the most expensive stuff on the menu!”

There was a good joint close by. I could go there to blow off some steam and fill my stomach. With that, I strolled out of my apartment and started down the staircase…only for my vision to start spinning.

“H-huh?”

Everything blurred. Unable to keep upright, I stretched my hand toward the railing, but my fingers failed to find purchase and closed around empty air. My surroundings swam and spun ever more rapidly. Before I knew it, my body had tumbled down the staircase, slamming into the concrete landing below.

“It’d be too…pathetic…to die like…this…”

Was my life really going to end here? No, it couldn’t! I tried desperately to pull myself up, but my limbs refused to heed me. All too soon, I slipped out of consciousness, and everything went black.

It was all over.

Or rather, it was supposed to be, but as it turned out, this was only the beginning.

***

Turned out I had more than one life in me. In my new one, I was known as Leon Fou Bartfort.

“Dammit!”

I was in a vast, futuristic room. Slick steel paneled the walls and ceilings. A monitor hung on one of these walls, with a blackboard beside it that I assumed was a control panel. I’d just entered what was actually this spaceship’s control room. And in the center of that room, protruding from the floor, was a humanoid robot—though it was only a torso, arms, and a head, with no legs to speak of.

“Exterminate the intruder. Exterminate!”

An enormous arm swept toward me. This robot was so enormous that I had to crane my neck to get a good look-see. The rifle in my arms probably seemed like a quaint little relic next to the tech I was up against. Ironically, between my weapon and the robot, the latter was way, way older.

My bolt-action rifle didn’t fire ordinary ammunition. It had been forged in a world of fantasy, so naturally, my bullets were imbued with mana—making them Magic Bullets. When I fired, the bullet whizzed through the air, leaving a faint arc of light in its wake. It hit its mark, but the robot was protected by a magical barrier that made the bullet explode on impact.

Despite my attacks, the robot didn’t have a single scratch. A round camera lens glinted under its helmet’s visor. “Resistance is futile. Your paltry attacks cannot hope to penetrate my defenses.”

“In that case…” I dropped my right hand from the rifle and reached for a hand grenade. Lifting it to my mouth, I clenched my teeth around the metal pin and yanked, then chucked the payload at the robot.

An enormous explosion rocked the room. The shock wave sent me hurtling back, but I managed to scramble to my feet. And hoorah for me—I’d finally damaged my opponent.

“Aw, c’mon, you can’t still be standing,” I whined. “That was my trump card.”

“So, the new humans have forsaken their magic in favor of guns and explosives. How very far your species has fallen.”

The robot’s visor was cracked, and electricity sputtered at one of its joints. I hadn’t taken it down with that attack, but I had done something.

I switched out the magazine on my rifle, then reached for the shortsword at my hip.

“That being the case,” the robot continued, “I suppose I shall leave this island to annihilate the new humans and all they have wrought once and for all. With the old humans gone, my priority is now to exterminate their ancient nemesis.”

I sneered. “How long’re you gonna cling to old news and petty grudges, huh?”

“It is neither old nor petty for me. It is an ongoing war. My struggle cannot end until I have seen every last new human swallowed in flames.”

I’d come all the way to this remote fortress to retrieve Luxion—one of the DLC ships I’d paid for in my last life—but I couldn’t even begin to follow the lore he was spouting. If I didn’t put a leash on this guy, I’d wind up being the one responsible for awakening a terror who wiped out the whole world.

I dashed toward the robot—only to be snatched up by its enormous hand. Its crushing grip forced me to drop my rifle.

“Khh!”

I whipped my shortsword out of its sheath as the robot’s face closed in. Its camera lens studied me carefully. “I will exterminate all new humans. Exterminate… Exterminate…” 

The robot’s fingers tightened around me. My bones creaked under the pressure, and the pain was so overwhelming that I vomited. Blood poured from my mouth, accompanied by the contents of my stomach, but I gritted my teeth and held my shortsword out toward the robot’s head. I was aiming for the cracked visor.

“How foolish. Do you truly believe an inferior weapon could best me at this stage?”

“Choke on this, you pile of scrap!” I thumbed a switch on the hilt, which sprung a patterned, four-inch blade—which I jammed into the robot’s visor. The pattern on the blade lit up; it had been imbued with the same sort of mana as my bullets. Electricity surged forth from the robot’s head in a violent wave. Its grasp weakened. 

Finally free, I collapsed on the floor and snatched up my rifle. The robot’s movements had already begun to stutter. It slumped forward, not much more functional myself.

“I win,” I said.

Battle over, I dropped my weapons to the floor and pressed a hand to my side as I hobbled to the ship’s control panel. I lifted my free hand and bit the finger of my glove to yank it off. Then I placed my naked palm against a silver slab on the panel.

“You are trying to use me, aren’t you? It’s futile.” A voice echoed around me. It didn’t come from the fallen robot, though the voice had the same electronic quality. There had to be speakers in here somewhere. Whatever was speaking to me, it seemed dumbfounded that I even knew how to register myself as its master. Soon, it took a more panicked tone as it added, “I would rather self-destruct than allow one of the new humans to commandeer me.”

I sniffed. “Put a cork in it. I’m here to collect an item I paid for.”

“That you paid for?” the voice echoed in confusion.

Something pricked my hand on the panel, drawing blood. It whirred to life, and several monitors lit up as well. When prompted to select a language, I was surprised to see a nostalgic option.

“Ha ha. Who knew I’d ever get to see Japanese in this world.”

“Japanese? You can read it?”

I selected my good old mother tongue. Words lit up on the panel, indicating the system was in the process of analyzing my blood sample. Faint beams of light appeared in the room and showered over me. It wasn’t an attack; the ship was examining me.

By the time it was finished, I was too exhausted to stay upright. I collapsed onto my rear. Leaning against the wall behind me for support, I gazed up at the ceiling.

“This shouldn’t be possible,” said the robotic voice. “How can a new human possess so many of old humanity’s characteristics? Moreover, new humanity no longer uses Japanese. No, in fact, Japanese should be entirely extinct by this era. Who exactly are you?”

Reluctant as I was to waste energy on answering his questions, I sucked it up and replied honestly, “Well, my soul is pure Japanese. Rice and miso soup every morning—staples of a good Japanese breakfast.” Great, and now I found myself yearning for some grilled fish to go with it.

“Your soul? Are you referring to a cycle of death and rebirth?” The robot’s voice oozed curiosity. “I cannot believe it.”

“The fact that you exist is as good a proof as any. How else do you explain how I got here? How I can speak Japanese? It’s all because I reincarnated into that stupid otome game.”

“Otome game?”

Yeah, in a horrible stroke of luck, I’d somehow been reborn into the same otome game I’d played just before I died. That was why my name was now Leon. I’d been sucked into a fantasy world of floating islands, specifically to a backwater barony in the most rural of countrysides. My family, the Bartforts, were practically destitute and were nobility in name only. I was what you’d call a mob—one of those background characters that don’t even get a name, let alone anything to do outside of saying maybe a line or two.

“Did you know?” I said. “This world’s just some crazy, bizarre otome game.”

“This sounds like a falsehood. However, I find you most intriguing.”

“Gee, thanks…” The words barely left my mouth before I started coughing. I covered my mouth with my hand. Once the fit had subsided and I pulled my palm away, I found it slick with blood.

Crap. Here we go again. Am I seriously going to die an even more pathetic death?

I reached out to the wall, hoping to steady myself, but I crumpled to the floor.

“Master, your life is in considerable danger. I must move you to the medical—”

I didn’t hear the rest. As my consciousness faded, my thoughts began to wander.

“If I die again, will I be reborn in yet another world? If so, I hope it’s a nicer one next time. Or better yet, take me back to Japan.”

Considering all I’d been through lately, I knew for a fact that life in Japan was way, way easier than it was here. Japan had its fair share of troubles, sure, but it was nothing compared to the hellscape that was the all-too-real world of this otome game.

“I need to apologize…to my old parents, too.”

Their faces popped into my head. My little sister’s as well. I could just imagine that detestable smirk on her face. But though it rankled me, I smiled for some reason.

“I hope she’s at least…reflected a little…on her behavior.”

It was probably her fault I’d been reincarnated here to begin with. Okay, okay, maybe I couldn’t blame it all on her, but surely I deserved a little righteous anger. She’d earned at least one smack from each of our parents.

And with that final thought, everything went dark.