Short Story - Otome games are tough for an unpopular girl
If you had one wish, and that wish was to be reincarnated in your favorite game, would it be the best choice you could make?
Even if nothing turned out the way you planned?
Even if all you wished for was to be an observer watching your favorite scenes?
Well, this story is about how terrifying it is to witness that.
◇
Starting a new school is what many look forward to.
Whether it's meeting new friends, running into old acquaintances, waiting for unexpected twists and turns in life.
In my case it would be the opposite.
What the hell fun is it to witness all that again?
Do you even know how annoying it is to go back to the stage of having acne?
To have no one come near you for smelling bad?
Being made fun of for a problem in the bathroom?
Fuck me! Who in their right mind wants to go through that again?
They're stupid aren't they? Stupid are those people who see the beauty of youthful life being popular kids, but unpopular people like me must live in the shadows of these individuals.
That's why I, for one, will live my life as a character from the background. Those kind of characters that don't stand out or draw attention to themselves.
My reason for doing so is that I don't want to get in trouble.
I am Ruth van Bradford, I am a country girl and I am reincarnated in this fantasy world.
But it's not just any fantasy world, it's the fantasy world of an otome game.
A dating simulator where a poor idiot virgin must win the hearts of attractive guys in order to achieve every girl's dream. A reverse harem of hunks!
Sounds very nice, but since I'm not the main character, and I'm just an ordinary country girl. I must see other people's romance, how disgusting it makes me.
Considering my looks, it would be nice to be that lucky.
I wouldn't know whether I'm an attractive girl or not.
First of all, since I grew up in the countryside my attitude is very rough and masculine. It's all due to my older brothers and my father who put me to work.
I was expecting my mother to tell me some secret or other about wooing rich men, but there was never that conversation.
My mother is beautiful, but I would say I look like my dad.
My hair is black, but it's messy, it's not that I don't take care of it, it's more like that by nature.
There are many ends of my hair that stand up on their own.
My eyes are black, but pupil seems to give the impression of a frightening look.
I have bags under my eyes that seem to indicate that I don't get much sleep.
Which is a lie, but what can I do? I was born unattractive to men.
I have a slim body, but with muscular eyes that I'm not proud to have.
I think because of that I have firm legs and a nice butt.
My chest would be classified as medium.
Anyway, after several years living as a peasant, one day my family said to me.
"Ruth, we have got you a husband, with this marriage, our debts will be settled."
I was happy since I had gotten a husband without even trying, I had no problem with his looks, as long as he treats me well and is very rich.
The problem is, they took it too literally!
The guy who was going to be my husband was a very unpleasant short fat guy!
Even my mother avoided seeing him.
Don't fuck with me!
I won't give up my sacred place to a guy like that! At least he would have been a nicer guy, as his obscene face didn't inspire anything good in me.
So I went out on an adventure to protect my chastity.
In this country, the Altfode Kingdom takes the profession of an adventurer very seriously, so something like being one is very normal.
Being close to death, I found an island. On that island was my salvation.
Right now I'm hiding in a bush in the courtyard of the academy.
And, hiding next to me is my companion Ixion, a red-eyed gray sphere.
"The prince pondering in front of the pond really looks artistic, huh. Though in his heart he's only concerned about something trivial like how he's tired of being the prince."
That's His Highness Liam, one of the conquest targets in this otome game.
He was pondering in a place where there was no sign of other people, but this is what one calls an event.
"Spying like this, you can tell you have a bad hobby, Master."
"It's because I'm curious, don't you think it's a precious experience to be able to see in real life a famous scene from a game you played thoroughly?"
It's the main character's meeting event with the prince.
The main character, who was excited with the expectation towards the academy life, slapped the rude prince.
If I can see the refreshing scene of the prince being slapped, then of course I will take a look.
"Didn't you say this was none of your business, Master?"
Certainly none of my business, but I also had a curiosity gnawing at my insides.
"I at least want to confirm what kind of girl the main character is."
Is there a difference between the player-controlled main character and the actual main character?
I was eavesdropping to clarify that kind of question.
"I want to see when a handsome man gets slapped."
When I uttered a random excuse, Ixion jerked his eye horizontally.
His gesture said he couldn't understand.
"You have a really wonderful personality, Master."
"You have a lot of sarcasm, as usual."
"Aren't you the one who's giving me a lot of chances, Master... Oh?"
Ixion's single eye twitched and spotted a girl approaching.
This girl resembled the illustration on the package of this otome game.
"Master, she's going to talk to Liam, is she the main character?"
"So it seems to be..."
It felt weird to observe this, but it couldn't be helped.
I watched as a beautiful girl lectured the prince, it made me feel bad. The reason for it was that such an opportunity would never come.
When I closed my eyes, I heard the sound of a knock. I knew what it meant.
"Ixion, it's all done. Let's go."
I told this annoying sphere that it was time to live our lives normally while the game where love and magic go hand in hand.
◇
It's a few weeks into the first semester of school, I was in girls' etiquette class.
The classes were boring.
We were only instructed on how to look pretty and catch the attention of the man who organized the party.
I was getting cranky about everything they said, since I don't fall into the category of being pretty or refined.
Once the bell rang, it signaled it was time to leave.
I listened to their conversations as I put my things away.
"Hey, did you hear about the prince?"
"Yeah. I can't believe it."
"Huh, what's that? Tell me about it too!"
(Surely it must be the event where the prince elopes in the middle of the night with the leading lady.)
(It's none of my business, so it doesn't really matter.)
Once I got out of the room. I headed straight to my special place.
It's a hidden location inside the academy facility that no one uses.
Once I arrived, I pulled out my lunch and proceeded to eat it.
"Umm, what a treat!"
They were sandwiches filled with meat and salad.
They were delicious and wouldn't make me fat.
I also had a can of soda next to me.
So after feeling myself gagging I opened it and quickly drank.
After feeling the breath of life again, I burped like a man.
"Hehehehe, this is happiness."
The moment I opened my eyes I found someone.
In fact, I couldn't believe who it was and even more so that he was standing in front of me.
It was none other than Prince Liam.
A handsome boy with silver hair that shone under the light, purple eyes that stood out in any contrast.
His face looked like that of a child, but a young man my age. His body was lean, but muscular.
The question here is simple-what the hell is he doing here!!!?
"Th-This... are you all right?"
He was saying as I was stunned by what happened.
After a brief moment, my voice came back.
"Ehh! Yes, thank you very much, I am!"
Really, what the hell is he doing here? There is no event involving this place.
As I was thinking what to say to get away, he said.
"I, I saw you come here since you dropped this."
He pulled a small one out of his pocket, the handkerchief was from my house, it had our family crest embroidered on it.
How did I drop it?
I remembered then that I didn't close my bag after class and immediately headed this way.
I thanked her for that.
"Thank you so much Your Highness, how clumsy of me, hehehe."
Truly how troublesome this is, at least she has no reason to stay here anymore.
"I..."
He was still here for some reason and continued to talk to me.
"It was the first time I've heard a girl behave like that."
Well, I'm sure there must not be girls like me around.
"Well... I grew up in the countryside, so I'm sorry if my behavior is obscene to you."
He shook his head in denial.
"No, not at all. It was very interesting to see something like that."
Huh, interesting? What is this guy talking about?
Hey, a woman burped. There's nothing weird about that since it's normal. The problem is that you don't normally see a lady do that.
We were both silent as we had no idea what should happen next.
"Your Highness, where are you?"
A voice called out to him, it was probably the leading lady.
He turned around and before walking down the stairs he said.
"This, have a nice day. And, may I know your name?"
My name? Are you planning to report me? I won't allow it!
I gave him a false name so he wouldn't bother me anymore.
"Esther."
He quietly said my fake name and then turned to me.
"See you, Ester."
"...Sure."
I hope we don't go through this again.
◇
Something just as weird happened today as yesterday.
I ran into another one of the capture targets again. It was the last of them and the most indifferent.
Fritz was his name.
He was a handsome boy with brown hair and sapphire green eyes.
The reason for this was because we were assigned pairs for the adventure class in the academy dungeon.
Since I am the daughter of a baron, I have no titles or land, so I must be looking to be part of someone's entourage.
The problem is that I didn't find anyone.
Everyone had groups, only I was in trouble.
The teacher in charge told me to get together with the one who also had no group, he was a scholarship commoner.
There is no event involving this when the 5 characters are not together.
But for some reason I feel weird.
"Hey."
Fritz unexpectedly spoke to me.
"Try not to get in my way."
I was annoyed that he treated me like that, but that was his role that many girls liked him for.
Since he was a very hard shell to break out of, it took the protagonist quite a while to win him over.
In the end he gave in.
But since it's none of my business, I'm not really interested.
◇
"H-hey, don't you think we split up from each other?"
Fritz and I were at the back of the line, but some monsters attacked us and we took care of them, and after eliminating them we went out to look for the others, but we didn't find them.
I'm scared, I don't like being in a dungeon.
Damn Ixion, I wanted him to accompany me, but he said it was impossible as the shallow depths affect his systems.
Fritz was walking in front of me, he didn't seem to be protecting me, he wanted to eliminate as many monsters as he can.
He being a commoner doesn't have much of a chance to stand out. So after graduating and showing his skills he can be recruited as a soldier for the personal army of some noble or the palace.
In the game, Fritz managed to become a captain commander of the kingdom's army once the heroine manages to become a saint.
While I was lost in my thoughts, I stumbled against her back.
Before asking why she stopped, I observed the reason.
"Holy shit, giant wolves!"
A dozen very large gray wolves surrounded us, looking like they came out of some subway route.
I drew my sword and turned my back against Fritz.
"Any plans in mind?"
I asked him very worried, but he answered me.
"Yes. Try not to get bitten."
"Huh?"
I didn't understand why he said that until I realized that the bastard left me alone and went to fight them.
"You... leaving a helpless girl to deal with these things is the worst thing you could do!"
Two wolves were approaching, I circled one and thrust my sword against its abdomen, it was very tough both because of its fur and skin.
After fleeing in circles for a while, it was chasing me just as I wanted it to.
As I stood against the wall, I reached out my hand and did what any adventurer who is a noble would do.
Teach it not to mess with one!
"Swallow this: rising fireball!"
A magic circle materialized in my right hand and a large fireball shot out in front of the wolf.
The idiot didn't realize that's what I wanted, he opened his mouth to eat me, but the fireball entered his body making him explode.
A big cloud of smoke surrounded the place.
So I ran to the center to look for Fritz. Apparently a wolf attacked him from behind, there was a lot of blood. We'll deal with that later.
After taking his hand, we ran to the direction where he was. Then, I pointed my hand at the ceiling and shouted at the top of my lungs.
"Fire magic: big fireball!"
A magic circle of great intensity materialized from my hand and from there a fireball the size of a truck tire was shot at the ceiling.
Shards of debris fell as the wolves were confused. In less than a blink of an eye it was all over.
I watched as black clouds appeared from the dead monsters.
Now it's time to heal this guy.
He didn't possess healing magic like the protagonist, but there were potions that took care of it.
"Hang in there!"
I took a few from my bag and made him drink them.
In a matter of seconds his back was healing, I was glad.
"Are you feeling okay, you're not in any pain?"
Fritz was breathing heavy, it was from blood loss.
He looked at me and said. "I'm so sorry."
In response I said. "There's nothing to be thankful for, things like this happen even to the best of us.
Actually, it happened because you wanted to do it all by yourself you idiot.
Well, it's not like we'll see each other again anyway.
◇
Again I'm where I shouldn't be.
It was boot camp for the boys.
It reeks of sweat and male hormones.
I would be happy to see handsome shirtless men normally, but they all disowned me as these were just as fake as the girls.
One teacher put me in charge of picking up the wooden swords that the students left behind.
That's because a few minutes ago an event occurred where the heroine was in danger and one of the capture targets was fighting for her.
She handed him a towel to wipe off the sweat from the fight and he smiled at her.
That person was Chlust, who was in front of me.
As punishment for doing something he shouldn't have, the teacher had him clean the whole arena. Me for slacking off, he told me to pick up all the trash and scattered equipment.
For no apparent reason, Chlust was talking to me.
"Why would a girl slack off in class, that's weird isn't it?"
I had no reason to answer him, but I was bored in part.
"Is that weird? I mean, girls are human too aren't they? We can burp and giggle idiotically like men."
"Even if it's like you say, it's still weird."
"Is it? Truth be told, I don't think it really matters, if we're talking about getting to know someone, I'd rather know what that person is really like. Having flaws or something that makes you human is better than believing that person is perfect. That's how I see myself."
As I turned to look at him because he was no longer sweeping, I found him staring in my direction.
Did I have something on my face?
◇
Again... why in the world does the world bother me like this?
Yesterday, the etiquette class teacher told me that my grades are low, that, if I don't want to repeat, I must learn manners.
I thought she or another teacher or student was going to teach me. In the end, it was the least unexpected person.
"Did you understand what I said, Miss Bradford?"
The one speaking to me in such a polite manner was none other than another capture target, Frey, an attractive green-haired boy. He reminds me of the boogers I pull out or a seaweed his hair.
At the request of the teacher who seems to be a vassal of his house, he is teaching me various things of etiquette, personally, I am very bored to be here.
I want to play.
"Yes~ yes~ I understood very well."
He was looking at me with a face that he was hesitant to believe me.
So I replied in a non-sarcastic way to end this.
"Mr. Nightray, I appreciate you taking your time off on someone like me. I deeply appreciate what you do for me. I hope to have another opportunity again so you can teach me more modeling to behave like a fine lady of nobility."
I lifted my face to see his expression and it seemed odd, but he was smiling strangely. As if he had found something interesting.
"If that's all right with you. I'd like the chance to teach you more about etiquette another day."
When I heard that, my head thought only one thing.
(Ehh, again I must come! Nooo~)
◇
Don't fuck with me.
It can't be possible.
Once again, my life as a background character gets mixed up with another one of the capture characters, and to top it off, it's the most unpleasant one.
Klein, the prince's best friend. A womanizing boy worse than Frey.
The reason I was saying that was because we both ran into each other in the library. I wanted to take a book on magical creatures, so did he.
Since I wouldn't budge and neither would he... we decided to read it together.
I don't like being with this guy.
Without warning I turned the page.
"Hey, I was still reading that!"
"I'm sorry, but your reading is too slow."
"That's because I read and analyze everything, surely you just keep an eye on it and say you read it."
She was clearly annoyed, he was also annoyed in his look.
"Is that so? Well, how about a competition to see who finishes it first, or are you afraid?"
"Sounds good to me!"
In the end, we both couldn't finish it as our heads hurt from straining our eyes too much.
We agreed to read it the next day.
◇
For some reason, I was meeting with the prince. I don't know the reason, but this guy apparently sent for me through a maid.
Before I asked him, what he wanted, he said to me.
"You, your name isn't Esther, is it?"
(He got me, he knows it's a lie! Sorry, I didn't mean to mislead you, but I didn't really care, I must apologize quickly).
I quickly bent down to apologize.
"I'm so sorry really! I didn't mean to deceive you, I just didn't think it really didn't matter that you remembered my name."
I heard a small laugh coming from him.
"I figured as much, I just wanted to check, I asked around the school and there were no girls with your description with that name."
"If you already knew that, why did you send for me?"
He closed his eyes as he said to me.
"For nothing in particular, I just wanted to know a little more about you."
(If that's all it is...)
I reacted to that line.
"I wanted to know more about you." No doubt that was a line he was saying to the protagonist after finding her to be a rarity.
Why was he saying it with me?
It must be a fluke nothing more, don't think weird things.
◇
Lately I feel that things around me are quite weird.
I say that since I've been running into capture targets more times than I can remember.
Yesterday Frey personally invited me to a tea party.
Klein wanted to have a competition of who read a book the most, the weird thing is that the book was romantic poetry.
Chlust asked me to come and cheer him on at his training sessions.
Fritz wanted to be my partner when we went into the dungeon, but when there were other people, he only asked me to do that.
The strangest thing of all. Is that the prince personally invited me to dinner in the capital.
You're supposed to have the heroine as your partner by now. Or unless she's going the reverse harem route and everyone wants to be with her.
In that case, you shouldn't waste your time hanging out with me.
Today I got an invitation to meet me in the backyard of the school.
It wasn't just one, it was five.
I really don't understand why they sent me this.
The remnants were coincidentally those five.
Once I arrived, no one was there.
I sat down on a bench nearby to wait.
After several minutes, I heard footsteps.
From the same direction I was coming from, there was Prince Liam coming.
"Sorry I'm late, I had something to do!"
He was sweating and had something with him in his pockets.
I reassured him.
"It's okay, but what did you call me for?"
Just as he was about to say something, someone else came over.
"Sorry I'm late, I..."
It was Klein who came with something on his back.
Seeing him, Prince Liam made a strange expression.
Then another one came, and another.
"Sorry to summon you here and delay me, I had a little..." It was Frey who said that. Behind him was a group of well-dressed musicians.
Wait, what are you bringing them for?
Next to arrive was Chlust.
He had some tickets in his hand, despite how far away it was, I could see that it was from a wrestling event that there will be.
And finally, with something big wrapped up, it was Fritz who was running while wiping his sweat as he arrived.
The five of them for some strange reason were staring at each other.
(Why are they acting like that? They were supposed to know each other by now since the declaration event already?)
He had just remembered something of vital importance.
The confession of the reverse harem route.
In that event, the five of them were bringing things to propose to the heroine.
But... the heroine should be in the courtyard.
Moment... right now I am in the courtyard.
The five targets are with gifts for what looks like a confession.
Hey, don't scare me like that. Something like this is impossible.
First of all, I'm not the heroine. I'm a peasant girl.
Secondly, I'm not attractive, what the hell would they see in me?
Besides that I...
"Miss Bradford!"
The prince interrupted my thoughts to shout something.
He was kneeling down for some reason.
Hey, I don't think you're going to do what I really think you're going to do, are you?
"No. Ruth! I, the prince of Altfode. I want to ask you to be mine!"
Internally I screamed.
(EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!)
(This isn't how it should be in the first place! You've got the wrong person, besides.)
Klein was next to make a move.
"Even if it's you Liam, I won't give up. Ruth, I... I want to officially ask you to be my mate."
If the prince showed a ring, Klein showed a beautiful bouquet of flowers.
Hey, they're scaring me.
"I won't allow that!"
It was Frey who shouted.
"Even if it's His Highness and her best friend, I won't tolerate someone else taking away the most special woman I've ever known!"
The musicians began to play a beautiful and very romantic tune.
"Miss Ruth, I would like you to allow me to be by your side forever!"
I don't understand what's going on here anymore, someone please explain.
"Stop right there! She doesn't like such trivial, feminine things. She prefers more masculine things like wrestling. For that reason I got vip tickets for the next tournament which will be tonight at night."
Ixion, help me, I'm scared.
Things are getting very scary.
"Being a commoner, I don't have something I can offer that is monetary."
Fritz started saying things that scared me as he didn't seem like himself.
"For that reason, I made this gift with my own hands."
From his back he brought to the front a homemade steel sword.
The material was good, and it seemed to have been handmade.
But that's not the important thing, but the reason why they were behaving so strangely.
Hey, I'm not the heroine, you shouldn't be doing this.
Everyone was getting closer.
"So, Ruth, who do you choose?"
"I'm willing to fight for you with anyone."
"So am I. I'm not about to lose a fight as important as this."
"Even if my enemies are noble. I don't plan to back down."
"Ruth, please choose me, I promise there won't be a single day that I won't make you feel special."
Please, I'm not the lead anymore for something like this to happen.
Besides, I'm a man reincarnated in a girl's body!
I'm not interested in men even though my body is a girl's!
Ixion, save meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.
"Simulation complete."
Huh?
◇
I had just woken up, I had a strange helmet on my head, and it was my room in Aster.
After taking off my helmet, I found Ixion near a strange machine.
I asked him what the hell happened.
"Hey, what was that all about?"
In disinterested reply he said.
"It was a simulator based on what Erselica said. I was really curious about it so I tried to mimic what she said in programmed fragments to materialize it in your head."
"Huh?"
"...It was a fake dream to see what the world of that otome game would be like."
I was annoyed at what he did.
"Hey, why the hell are you using me as a guinea pig, I won't forgive you junk!"
"Never mind, I got what I wanted."
"What you wanted?"
"That's right, I wanted to know if the master had the ability to alter things and conquer the capture targets without any help or third parties. It seems that even without my intervention, you can do things that would not normally be possible."
"Congratulations. It's rarely an anomaly."
"Anyway, I don't understand anything. But get rid of that thing."
Ixion looked at me as if I had said something strange.
"...I'll do it after a few more projects."
"I told you to get rid of it!"
"Don't worry master. Next time it will be a very wonderful dream for you."
The red lens of this junk was looking at me with intensity. I really don't want to have to see anything with this again.
The end.
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
Siegburn
Siegburn What if Rudel was a girl and woke up in a world of games for girls? well, this is one of infinite possibilities that will never exist... or would it?
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone