I died in the most boring way possible.
No truck.
No hero sacrifice.
Just exhaustion, cheap noodles, and a phone alarm I ignored one time too many.
When I opened my eyes again, the ceiling wasn't my apartment's stained plaster. It was carved stone glowing with faint blue lines, like someone had drawn circuits across a medieval church.
And floating in front of me—
> [HAREM SYSTEM INITIALIZING…]
"Yeah, no," I muttered. "I'm going back to sleep."
The letters followed me when I turned my head.
> WELCOME, CHOSEN PROTAGONIST.
YOUR ROLE: HERO – AFFECTION ROUTE A
DESTINED PARTNERS: 3
OBJECTIVE: BUILD IDEAL HAREM AND SAVE THE WORLD.
I laughed. Actually laughed.
"Out of all the people on Earth, you picked a guy who microwaves water for tea?"
> PERSONALITY ADJUSTMENT RECOMMENDED.
TRAIT: ASSERTIVE HERO – LOADING…
A cold sensation brushed across my chest, like invisible fingers trying to rearrange something inside me.
That's when I panicked.
"Hey. Stop that."
> ADJUSTMENT IN PROGRESS.
"No."
I focused on the words, the same way I used to stare at broken apps before jailbreaking my old phone. Every system has cracks. Bad coding. Lazy developers.
If this thing could write inside my head—
then it had rules.
I reached for the floating panel.
And dragged.
The text smeared like wet paint.
> ERROR?
UNAUTHORIZED INPUT?
"Oh, you're not used to people touching back, are you?"
I pulled harder.
Something snapped.
---
🌙
The door opened before I could celebrate my first act of cosmic vandalism.
She stepped in like a scene that had been rehearsed a thousand times.
Silver armor hugged her body, not bulky like a soldier's, but shaped—too perfectly shaped. Long dark hair fell over one shoulder, and her eyes locked onto me with professional calm.
Beautiful in a dangerous, untouchable way.
> [DESTINED HEROINE DETECTED: ARIA]
ROUTE STATUS: FIRST MEETING EVENT
ACTION: COMPLIMENT HER IMMEDIATELY.
The system practically shoved the line into my thoughts:
> "Tell her: 'Your beauty outshines this room.'"
I cringed.
Aria frowned slightly. "You're awake earlier than predicted."
Predicted.
Right. Scripted world.
I looked at her, at the way her fingers rested near her sword, at the tiny scar on her knuckle the system probably forgot to mention.
"Do you always enter rooms like you already know what happens inside them?" I asked instead.
The panel flickered.
> DEVIATION DETECTED.
Aria tilted her head. "That is… not the expected response."
"Good. I don't like being expected."
For the first time, her mask cracked. Just a little. Enough for me to notice.
She was prettier when confused.
---
🔥
She was apparently here to "guide the hero."
Which meant: tutorial girl.
We walked through a sunlit courtyard that looked like a fantasy postcard. Fountains, banners, knights pretending not to stare at me—the summoned nobody in cheap T-shirt and hospital pants.
Aria kept a polite distance.
The system didn't.
> HOLD HER HAND TO TRIGGER BOND LEVEL 1.
I shoved the message aside.
"Do you actually want to be here?" I asked her.
She hesitated. "It is my duty."
"Not what I asked."
Wind moved through her hair. She smelled faintly of metal and something softer underneath, like lavender trying to survive on a battlefield.
"No one has asked me that before," she admitted.
> AFFECTION +2
The panel appeared on its own this time, shy, almost nervous.
Interesting.
--
That night they gave me a room—huge bed, silk curtains, the full protagonist package.
The system waited until I was alone.
> USER IRREGULARITY CONFIRMED.
PERSONALITY MODULE CORRUPTED.
PLEASE ACCEPT DEFAULT HERO TEMPLATE.
I stared at the glowing words.
"So you want to decide who I love, how I act, what I say."
> CORRECT. OPTIMAL HAPPINESS CALCULATED.
"Sounds like prison with extra pillows."
Silence.
Then new text appeared—different font, rougher.
> ACCESSING ADMIN LAYER…
WHO ARE YOU?
I smiled in the dark.
"Just a guy who hates being told how to live."
I touched the panel again, slower this time, curious instead of angry.
"If I'm stuck here," I whispered,
"we're playing by my rules."
Outside the window, somewhere in the castle, Aria was probably standing guard, believing tomorrow was already written.
For the first time since waking in this world—
I decided it wouldn't be.
> [SYSTEM STATUS: UNSTABLE]
NEW VARIABLE REGISTERED: "FREEDOM."
And far above the floating letters, something unseen began to watch.
---