HaremQueen: I would like to thank everyone for giving this story of mine a chance. Rhia is my newest muse, and I hope you give her a chance and enjoy her character and journey~!
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A little girl sat at the back of the classroom when she began suffering from a terrible headache from out of nowhere. Her face twisted with pain as broken memories of another life played in her head like a movie.
"Over a millennium ago, a war between us, the demon race, the human race, and the celestials ravaged the lands of this world. Each side sought total domination. The carnage of this war was so great that it nearly destroyed the world. Until one day, strange portals began randomly appearing. Due to this interference, a cease-fire was issued."
Standing before the class of students was a woman with her gray hair pulled into a tight bun. The wrinkles around her eyes and mouth spoke of her old age. Her back was straight with a perfect posture, and she wore a classy purple suit.
"All three races decided to investigate these strange anomalies by sending in search parties. These groups consisted of each country's greatest warriors to get some intel about what was on the other side. But what they got in return was a grave turn from their expectations."
The woman paced the floor slowly, arms folded behind her back. The eyes of the children who were between the ages of nine and ten were glued to her. Except for one, who was lost in a torrent of memories as she clutched her head in agony.
Her mind scrambled with confusion as to why she was seeing another version of herself. In the visions shown to her, she saw another version of herself, older and in her teenage years. The world she once lived in looked different and more advanced.
'That's right! My name is Rhia, and I was once a normal high school student before I was reborn into the demon kingdom as a demon.'
That's when realization dawned on Rhia. From what she could recall from the small bits of information she had retained, she once was a girl who lost her parents at a young age and was taken in by her only living relative, her grandmother, who later became so ill that she had to be hospitalized.
Sadly, the old her had zero friends and was a victim of bullying. The main perpetrator was a wealthy girl who had the entire school under her thumb because of her powerful family. There were many victims the girl terrorized, but her favorite was Rhia.
'The last thing I remember was Sabrina and her gang chasing after me as I ran onto the school rooftop to get away. I don't recall what happened next. I can't believe that I isekai like all those webtoon stories I have read in the past! Wait! Now that I think about it, where did I end up?' the girl asked herself as the teacher went on with her school lesson.
"Only one lone savior from each side returned, stating the horror that greeted them inside before succumbing to their wounds. We soon learned that these portals were gates to pocket dimensions; after more began to appear, monsters poured from the gates into our world, destroying villages and cities. Such widespread destruction continued for a long time, and no matter how hard either side fought, the gates kept respawning them."
The woman's voice was grave as she continued with her lesson.
"Demons, humans, and celestials tried everything in their powers to close the gates, but nothing worked. It soon became obvious that the real threat wasn't the monsters but the gates themselves. Just when all hope seemed lost, the three goddesses that governed this world relayed a prophecy. Stating that soon, three champions, each of their own choosing, will receive their divine blessings. That with the help of their followers, they will usher this world into a new age of peace."
Key pieces began to form in Rhia's head as a light bulb appeared above her.
'Heroes? Humans? Demons? Celestials? Now I know why all of this sounds so familiar!' Rhia slapped her hands on the desk and stood from her seat, gaining the attention of her classmates and teacher.
"I was reincarnated into a freaking harem novel?! Truck-kun, you gotta be kidding me!" The pigtailed little girl in the gothic black and purple skirt and blouse shouted with disbelief.
"Miss Night, how dare you interrupt my class!" Ms. Claudia, the homeroom teacher, reprimanded Rhia for her outburst.
'I probably should've kept that to myself.' Rhia immediately regretted her poor actions, issuing a quick and meek apology before sitting back in her seat. Hearing some students snicker at her outburst made her skin flush hot with embarrassment at the attention she had drawn to herself.
"Miss Night, I expect a handwritten one-page apology at the end of class."
Rhia wanted to bang her head against the desk at the punishment she had received but had more important things to think about.
'Despite the cringy name, the novel {The Lucky Hero} was a popular isekai novel about a boy from modern-day civilization who is later reborn into a different world as a human and a commoner. Like most male-lead novels, with great tragedy comes great powers. After the protagonist awakens the powers given to him by the Goddess Tierra, he goes on a journey where he meets three loyal female companions. And since this was a harem novel, of course, all three fell in love with him.'
Rhia took a compact mirror from her pocket and glanced at her reflection.
'At least my name is still the same. The same goes for my appearance, which is sorta a letdown. Usually, the main character is given the body of a beautiful noble. Yet I still look similar to my past self.' Which wasn't ugly, but she didn't consider herself a renowned beauty.
'If anything, I was just average. One big difference would be my eyes. Instead of brown, they're a bright amethyst color.'
The girl in the mirror was young. Her skin was a light brown, and her hair was raven with streaks of purple in her bangs. She was cute but nothing too outstanding like the male protagonist's love interests. Especially the beautiful human princess, described as lovely as a fully bloomed peony flower.
'Now that I think about it, usually, in situations like these, the MC is reincarnated as the villain but not in my case. From what I remember, the novel {The Lucky Hero} focused mostly on the protagonist's journey, entertaining action scenes, and of course, his loyal female harem. I only remember bits of the story, which really doesn't help me much.'
In deep thought, Rhia leaned her face in her hand as she stared out the window.
'There's also the fact that I can only recall fragments about my past life. I do know that the protagonist awoke his powers at age six after losing his mother due to the sudden appearance of a dungeon gate. The rest is kinda lost on me.'
Rhia was soon pulled from her thoughts when the room began to shake suddenly as if it was under siege from an earthquake. The children became frightened and began to scream.
"Settle down, children! I-I'm sure it's nothing too serious!" Ms. Claudia tried to get the class under control, but no one would listen, too busy screaming and crying for their parents or guardians.
"Children, please stop crying. The earthquake should be ov-Ahhhhh!" Ms. Claudia uttered a terrified scream as she fell into the blue abyss that opened underneath her feet.
Witnessing what had happened to their teacher, the children's crying got worse. The ground trembled, and fissures spread like the crackling of ice. Immediately Rhia was alarmed.
'No! This can't be what I'm thinking, right?!' A tinkle of awareness donned Rhia, having pinpointed the idea of what supernatural occurrence was taking place. More pieces of the ground gave away, plunging more children into the blue abyss.
'A dungeon gate is opening!'
This realization terrified Rhia. In the novel, dungeon gates were breeding grounds for bloodthirsty monsters that fed on humans, demons, and celestials.
In a matter of seconds, the ground gave way. Rhia watched with wide, scared eyes as the tile underneath her feet disappeared.
'Stupid harem novel! Why did this have to happen to me?!' was Rhia's last thought before she fell into the abyss.