Translator: RaidenTL
[I like you, Tetsuya-kun.]
[Miyuki...]
[What do you think of me, Tetsuya-kun?]
A beautiful girl with glistening eyes looked up at the tall man.
Her sanpaku eyes, where the whites were just barely visible beneath her irises, were incredibly alluring.
With bright brown eyes that were at once innocent and somehow sensual, she gazed at the man, as if urging him to hurry up and confess his feelings.
After a long pause, the blushing man finally opened his mouth.
[...I'm sorry, Miyuki. I'm still not sure how I feel...]
The moment I read that line, I shot up from my computer chair.
Is this bastard a fucking idiot?
No, seriously. The most beautiful girl in the entire game just confessed to him, and out of all the heroines, the protagonist has the strongest feelings for his childhood friend, Miyuki. So why the hell...
It was absurd that he was still second-guessing his love this late in the game.
I was tempted to crack open the scenario writer's head just to see what was inside.
Scoffing, I clicked the mouse, praying the protagonist would say it was just a joke and that he liked her too.
But then…
[Thank you for playing Doki Doki Academy.]
The next screen that appeared had no background art, just that unexpected sentence plastered across it in huge letters.
Stunned, I couldn't help but curse out loud.
"What the fuck?"
What? Thank you for playing? Does that mean it's over?
So instead of ending on a sweet note that would melt the player's heart, they decided to make me boil with rage and then just cut it off?
If it ends like this, what happens to Miyuki after her confession?
She'd probably go home, clutching the pain of a broken heart, and cry her eyes out for days.
And what about the other heroines, Renka and Hiyori? Were they just being abandoned?
This game was supposed to be a sweet rom-com.
It's a genre where, despite some conflict, the protagonist and the main heroine are supposed to get their happy ending.
So what the hell was this insane ending? Even the most frustrating rom-coms don't pull something like this...
Did the writer do this just because they wanted to see players metaphorically cough up blood from frustration?
Is the writer some kind of psycho?
No sane person would release the final DLC like this.
"Isn't this completely nuts?"
If they wanted an open ending, they should have at least made Tetsuya shut his mouth.
If they had, I could have at least let my imagination run wild with positive possibilities. But this... this just filled me with negative thoughts.
Did they think I put up with this frustrating bastard of a protagonist, who was way more infuriating than any other dating sim lead, just to see this?
Even though the game wasn't popular, the art style was exactly my taste, and I loved the thrilling tightrope walk of their budding romance. I poured my heart into it.
I enjoyed it, even projecting myself onto Tetsuya and getting emotionally invested. I spent my days eagerly waiting for new DLCs to be released.
I even bought a bromide poster for the first time in my life.
And this is how they repay me? By stabbing me in the back? Don't they feel the least bit sorry?
If they were going to give the heroines such a tragic fate, they should have just pivoted and made it an adult game with tons of fan service scenes.
Then I would've ditched the emotional investment and at least had something to fap to.
Still dazed, I closed "Doki Doki Academy," or "DokiAka" for short.
Then I went to the developer's website and wrote a long, critical post.
It was the first time in my life I had ever expressed such intense anger or written a critique like that.
That's how immersed I was in this game, and how furious I was at the developer and writer for wasting my time with such a garbage ending.
I play rom-coms to feel something sweet, but this just left a disgusting taste in my mouth.
I think I may have just played the worst trash game of all time.
After I was done, I looked out the window and saw the night was deep.
I'd been so excited about the new DLC with the ending that I'd lost all track of time, getting absorbed in every line and every illustration.
Swoosh-!
I yanked the blackout curtains shut and buried my face in my pillow.
Fuck.
Playing this game was the biggest regret of my life.
But what could I do? I never imagined it would turn out like this.
Still, it was sweet while it lasted...
If only the ending had been decent, it would have been a certified masterpiece... Those sons of bitches...
Trying to calm my raging heart, I looked at the bromide posters of the three heroines on my wall.
Miyuki, Renka, and Hiyori.
They were all so beautiful.
If only they hadn't fallen for a dumbass like Tetsuya... they could have been happy...
To think that a game I'd loved for so long could turn into a piece of shit in an instant because of one bad ending.
The sense of betrayal was immense. Now I finally understood why this game was never popular.
It was because the developers were thoughtless.
Letting out a deep sigh that came from the bottom of my heart, I tried to sleep.
I thought I'd be too angry to fall asleep, but surprisingly, a wave of drowsiness washed over me.
The intense emotional outburst must have completely drained my mind.
Yeah, this is for the best. I should forget this trash game as quickly as possible.
With that thought, I soon drifted off to sleep.
Miyuki... Renka... Hiyori... You poor things...
I fell asleep desperately calling out the names of the three heroines, who were now undoubtedly fated for a heartbreaking end.
* * *
- Hanazawa MiyukiThe chirping of sparrows grated on my ears.
The blazing sun, too, was piercing through my eyelids, disturbing my sleep.
This was strange. I always sleep with blackout curtains.
Frowning, I groggily sat up with my eyes still closed.
The blanket felt weird.
Unlike my usual fluffy, thick one, this felt coarse, almost like I was touching a hemp cloth blanket.
Even my butt felt heavy, as if I were sleeping on a thin mattress on the floor instead of a bed.
'What the...'
Forcing open my heavy eyes, I looked around.
A spacious room. On the floor were several mats that looked like they were woven from straw... with green borders.
Tatami? The faint scent of rice straw, which I remembered from a trip to a Japanese ryokan, suggested I was probably right.
As I grunted and pushed myself up, everything felt unfamiliar.
The interior design, the furniture, the layout of the house—I'd never seen any of it before.
It felt like I was in someone else's home.
'What the hell is going on...'
Wondering if I was in a lucid dream, I stepped past the open sliding door.
My feet landed on a brown veranda connected directly to the living room, and a small garden came into view.
It was poorly maintained, littered with dead plants.
Looking around, I saw several other houses that looked similar to the one I was in... traditional Japanese homes.
I didn't understand anything. My mind was a mess.
Where am I right now?
As I tried to get my bearings, a young man passed in front of me, and I watched him closely.
A slice of bread in his mouth, a bag slung over one shoulder, the man was sweating as he ran somewhere.
A classic school-life genre cliché. The protagonist, sprinting at full speed while munching on bread to avoid being late.
Seeing it in real life, I relaxed and let out a chuckle, then snapped my head back in surprise.
The man's face was incredibly familiar.
'That... That guy is...'
I definitely, absolutely knew that guy.
'Isn't that... Tetsuya?'
Miura Tetsuya.
The hopelessly dense protagonist of DokiAka had just run past me.
Tall but with a slender frame, and that frustratingly shaggy hair.
Even from behind, the features were a perfect match. That had to be Miura Tetsuya.
Startled, I scrambled out barefoot, hopped the house's fence, and stared blankly after the retreating figure of Miura Tetsuya. Then—
Slap—!
I smacked my own cheek, hard.
It hurt. It fucking hurt so much I saw stars.
Why am I feeling pain if I'm in a dream?
Was the saying that you don't feel pain in dreams a lie?
"Hah... hah..."
My breathing grew ragged. I couldn't make any sense of the situation.
Swallowing hard, I moved my body and saw the firmly shut main gate of the house I had just come from.
And next to the gate, a nameplate caught my eye.
Kanji was carved in an elegant script, and next to it, in smaller characters, was kana, the syllabic script used in Japan.
I didn't know a lick of Japanese, but for some reason, I could read the name on the plate perfectly naturally.
'Matsuda Ken...?'
I knew that name, too.
Matsuda Ken was a minor character who tries to make a move on the main heroine, Miyuki, only to get taught a lesson by Tetsuya, who's powered up by the "my-girl-is-in-danger" buff... and that's the end of his role.
He was just an expendable plot device to solidify the bond between Miura Tetsuya and Miyuki.
Since he was an orphan with no parents like me and had inherited a sizable fortune, I'd felt a strange sense of kinship with him.
I'd also found it a shame that a character with more potential was used as a mere extra.
So, am I experiencing DokiAka from Matsuda's perspective right now?
The moment I had that thought,
"Guh...! Aaargh!"
An immense pain tore through my mind.
And then, it flowed in naturally.
The memories of Matsuda Ken.
"Haaah... haah...!"
I gasped for breath, trying to calm myself, when a middle-aged woman walking down the street recognized me and asked.
"Matsuda-kun? Are you alright?"
I didn't have the energy to answer. Ignoring her, I staggered back home.
Fortunately, the pain subsided quickly.
The memories settled in as fast as syncing a phone, drastically improving my ability to adapt to this unfamiliar place.
Thanks to that, I, now perfectly adjusted, calmly looked at myself in the bathroom mirror.
Short hair, a normal-sized head, and distinct features within it.
Broad shoulders, a moderately muscular body, and slightly tanned skin.
After checking my appearance, my jaw dropped.
'This is me...?'
The person in the mirror was me.
Not Matsuda Ken from DokiAka, but the real me.
I was a little more muscular than before, but it was definitely me.
"Ah... Aaaah..."
I tested my voice like a singer warming up. It was identical to my real one.
So, did Ken become me?
No, that's not right. My body is the host, and I'm currently in Japan, the setting of DokiAka... so it must be that I've become Matsuda Ken.
Besides, when I was clutching my head from the headache, some lady clearly called me 'Matsuda-kun.'
That means she recognized me as Matsuda Ken.
To sum it up... I have possessed Matsuda Ken, while remaining as myself.
Unbelievably.
Taking a deep breath, I went out to the living room and opened the fridge.
I pulled out a bottle of water and chugged it down.
I had no idea why this had happened to me.
Maybe the developers of DokiAka were gods, and they were angered by the review I left.
It was a ridiculous thought, but seeing as I'd been transported here, it wasn't entirely impossible.
But did those bastards have any reason to be angry?
All I did was criticize a game and a writer that anyone would call garbage.
In any case, the thought of living as this guy from now on felt strange.
At the same time, my heart pounded with excitement.
Why? Because being in the world of DokiAka meant I could meet the heroines, including Miyuki.
It meant I could win them over.
My boring life had become so much more enjoyable just by watching those beautiful girls and seeing their academy life with their diverse personalities unfold.
Even if it was frustrating as hell thanks to the clueless Tetsuya.
Any thoughts of returning to my world? Not a single one.
I have no intention of looking for a way back.
I'm going to live happily here.
With whom? With the heroines, of course.
Honestly, they'd be better off liking me than suffering heartache over a dense idiot like Tetsuya.
After a sinister chuckle, I snapped back to my senses.
'Time to go to the academy.'
Ken... no, I am a delinquent who skips class and is late as a matter of course.
I hang out with troublemakers and have a bad reputation.
Naturally, the heroines also have a low opinion of me.
The one silver lining is that I've arrived at a point in time before he makes his move on Miyuki.
That alone was enough.
As long as I haven't screwed up yet, I know plenty of ways to build up affection.
Every dating sim has events to raise affection levels.
And I know every single event that happens between Tetsuya and the heroines.
From now on, I'm going to intervene in those events.
And I'll make the hearts of Miyuki, Renka, and Hiyori... all three of them, turn towards me.
Of course, my intervention will change the future, so there's a high chance new events will appear.
But that didn't matter. Because I would be the center of those new events.
I naturally opened the sliding closet, put on the uniform, and left the house. The route to the academy from here appeared in my mind as if it were a familiar path.
I knew where to catch the bus and where to transfer to the subway.
"Heh..."
Letting out a giddy laugh, I walked with a light step.
Even though it was summer, it felt cool rather than hot.
I was reborn.
Into the best possible world, as a person I quite liked.
In the world of DokiAka, the academy was a mandatory part of education.
A place you had to enter right after graduating high school.
A step above high school, but a step below university.
That was the ambiguous status of the academy here.
And I was attending a prestigious private school in Tokyo called [Yebonie Academy].
A quick search through my memories told me how a poor student like me could have gotten in.
Pathetically, it was just a lottery.
Well, settings like that in this world aren't important, so I'll move on...
On my way here, I seriously considered what kind of attitude I should adopt.
One option was to act like Tetsuya and win the heroines' affection.
But I didn't want to do that.
Why should I imitate that... that moron who can't even hold a girl's hand after all that time of mutual crushing?
I felt so sorry for the heroines who had to deal with the clueless Tetsuya... copying such a passive guy was out of the question.
On the other hand, acting like a womanizer and hitting on them relentlessly was also a no-go. My points would just plummet.
After some deep thought, the answer I came up with was... to maintain Matsuda Ken's persona, but arrange it a little, my way.
A guy who's incredibly insincere but has a warm side to him...
Who occasionally shows an unexpected side of himself, and who gradually turns over a new leaf thanks to a heroine's guidance...
My goal is to act that part.
Of course, I'll have to act differently depending on the situation, but that's the basic framework.
'Class 1-A... 1-A...'
Finding the classroom I was supposed to be in, I opened the door without hesitation.
Creeak!
As the wooden door slid open with a groan, all eyes in the classroom turned to me.
From the professor to the students... every pair of eyes was fixed on me.
Among them, I could see some people glaring at me, and others trying to avoid my gaze in fear.
And... among the former, there was one person glaring at me so intensely it was as if she wanted to kill me.
Long, light brown hair, eyes of the same color, a sculpted nose, and a slender jawline.
A large chest that looked to be at least an E-cup, one I wanted to run up and touch right away, and a slim waist...
A model student sitting at the front of the class, looking exactly as I remembered her.
She was the class president of Yebonie Academy's Class 1-A, Tetsuya's childhood friend, and the main heroine of DokiAka, Hanazawa Miyuki.
Seeing her in person, she was absolute perfection.
Her looks and her body were insane.
Barely suppressing the urge to jump for joy, I greeted Miyuki inwardly and avoided her gaze.
It wasn't easy to ignore the Miyuki I had longed to see... but I had to endure it for the future.
"Matsuda-kun, you actually decided to show up today."
I gave a half-hearted "yeah" to the old professor's comment and went to my seat at the very back.
A quick glance to my side revealed Tetsuya, focused on the lesson.
Right, he was in the same class. How utterly useless.
I was trying to calm my racing heart while staring at Miyuki's back from a slouched position when, before long, the bell rang.
After confirming the professor had left, I looked at Tetsuya and saw him diligently scribbling with his pencil.
He loved to draw and would often sketch things during break time. Seeing it in person felt surreal.
I shot a quick glance at Miyuki, then jutted my chin towards Tetsuya.
"Hey, Miura. What're you doing?"
"Ah, this is... it's nothing."
Tetsuya timidly covered his notebook with his arm.
I snorted as if looking at someone utterly pathetic and was about to get up to mess with him.
Just then, Miyuki pushed her chair back, stood up, and walked towards me.
The reason Miyuki disliked me was partly because I was a delinquent, but the biggest reason was that I sometimes played mean pranks on Tetsuya.
Things like snatching the drawing he was working on and sticking it to the blackboard, or mocking him on his way to the bathroom by saying he smelled like shit... childish pranks like that.
Tetsuya would always just laugh it off, but deep down, he really hated me.
In any case, it seemed Miyuki thought I was about to do something to Tetsuya again and had come to stop me.
As she strode towards me, I thought to myself.
'The way I address her... I should stick to what I know, right?'
The thing I was most concerned about right now was yobisute.
The titles used when addressing people in Japan.
Of course, there are standard rules, but it was a headache because the standards were different for every situation and every person.
In Miyuki's case, the only one allowed to call her just by her first name was her old childhood friend, Tetsuya.
Close friends could call her 'Miyuki-chan,' while regular friends or classmates in the same class should call her 'Hanazawa.'
And for the rest of the rabble, it was 'Hanazawa-chan' or 'Hanazawa-san,' I think?
From her perspective, I'd be rabble, so calling her Hanazawa-san or -chan would be correct, but...
-san feels too distant, and -chan is fucking cringey, so I can't do that.
I'll just call her Hanazawa. Matsuda Ken called her that too, so it shouldn't be a problem.
My mind raced, and as Miyuki came to a stop in front of my desk, I spoke.
"What is it, Hanazawa?"
As expected, Miyuki didn't comment on the name.
But she made her dislike for me perfectly clear.
That contemptuous expression... it's surprisingly not bad.
"Matsuda-kun, if you're going to be late, you could just come in after class. Why do you have to disturb the other students?"
Ah... her voice was so beautiful I almost lost my mind for a second.
Hold it together. I have to hold it together.
Calming my pounding heart, I answered bluntly.
"Because an absence costs more points than being tardy? I need to start focusing on my studies, too."
"You never cared about that stuff. You gave up on studying."
"It hurts when you put it so bluntly..."
"I know it doesn't. Just don't do it again."
I desperately wanted to say, "Understood, I pledge my absolute loyalty."
"Well, if the class president insists so vehemently, I guess I have to listen. Fine."
"I'd appreciate it if you'd listen properly instead of mocking me."
"I said I got it."
At my slightly irritated reply, Miyuki shot me another glare, just like when I first entered the classroom, then turned to Tetsuya.
"Tetsuya-kun, I want to go to the school store. Want to come with?"
"Ah... yeah. Let's go."
Tetsuya, who had been watching our exchange, answered quickly.
The two of them soon disappeared from the classroom.
Now, Miyuki is probably bad-mouthing me, and Tetsuya is just nodding along, saying "uh-huh, uh-huh."
The distance between Miyuki and me was long and arduous.
For a class president who's supposed to look after her classmates to have that kind of attitude said it all.
I understood, though, given the bad karma I'd built up.
But it's fine. As I thought before, I know everything that happens to Miyuki.
Which means I'm confident I can get close to her quickly.
The date is July 10th. The timing of my arrival here was absolutely perfect.
Why? Because tomorrow, a cliché love-comedy event is going to happen.
Originally, it's an event that strengthens Miyuki's feelings for Tetsuya... but I plan to intervene.
From that point on, Miyuki's attitude will soften considerably.
And Tetsuya... he, of course, must not be present for our affection event.