The chirping of the sparrows was deafening.
The glaring sunlight also penetrated through my eyelids, disrupting my sleep.
That's strange… I always sleep with blackout curtains.
Also, my blanket feels different…
Mine were soft and thick, but this one felt rough like burlap.
Even the mattress felt different… like I was sleeping on the floor.
"What…?"
I opened my eyes and looked around.
It was a spacious room with several green rugs lining the floor.
Are these rugs tatami mats? It certainly smelled like the time when I stayed at a Japanese ryokan.
I picked up my body from the floor mattress with a grunt.
Everything seemed unfamiliar: the interior, furniture, and room structure.
It was like I was in someone else's home.
"What the hell?"
Thinking I was in a lucid dream, I simply stepped out the open sliding door.
A small, poorly managed garden drew my attention as I stepped out.
Dead plants abound, their dead petals and leaves brown and desiccated.
Looking around, there were several houses that looked like traditional Japanese houses similar to the one I was in now.
A headache ran across my forehead.
What is going on?
Where am I?
While I was trying to come to my senses somehow, I watched a young man run past me.
With a piece of bread stuffed into his mouth and his bag behind his shoulder, he sprinted.
A basic school cliché that brought a smile to my face.
But, then, my head snapped back to that man in surprise.
Because… that man's face was very familiar.
"That…That guy…!?"
I recognized him. I definitely recognized him.
"Isn't that Tetsuya…?!"
Tetsuya Miura, the frustrating protagonist of Doki-Doki Academy, just passed by me…
Tall yet skinny with shaggy but suffocating hair…
Just looking at his back, I knew. That guy was definitely Miura Tetsuya.
Shocked, I hurriedly ran out barefoot and climbed over the house's fence.
But, my clothing got caught by the fence.
Thud-!
With a sickening noise, I slammed into the ground.
Fuck, it hurts so badly that I can see stars in my eyes.
I'm in a dream, why do I feel the pain?
Was it a lie that you can't feel pain in your dreams?
"Ha…Ha…"
My breathing became rough.
What's going on???
Swallowing dry saliva, I turned around and saw the firmly closed front door of the house I had just left.
The nameplate stuck next to the door caught my eye.
On it, Kanji was carved in beautiful handwriting and right next to it was Kana, a syllabary used in Japan, in small letters.
I didn't know Japanese at all, but strangely, I was able to easily read the nameplate.
"Matsuda Ken…?"
I knew this name.
Matsuda Ken tried to do something to the main heroine, Miyuki, but failed because of Tetsuya, who received the "My Woman Is In A Crisis" Buff.
As a result, his short-lived role ended.
He was a minor antagonist meant to strengthen the relationship between Tetsuya Miura and Miyuki.
Because he was an orphan without any parents like me, I felt a strange sense of kinship.
Then, am I experiencing Doki-Doki Academy from Matsuda's point of view?
The moment I had this thought, an excruciating pain swept through my head.
"Keugh…! Aagh!"
And then, the memories of Matsuda Ken naturally flowed into my head.
"Fuck… Oh my God…"
I was breathing heavily and trying to calm myself down somehow when a middle-aged woman walking down the street recognized me and asked:
"Matsuda-kun? Are you okay?"
Having no strength to answer her, I stumbled back into my new home.
Fortunately, the pain soon subsided.
I finally absorbed all the new memories.
Thanks to this, I had now become truly a part of this world and looked at the bathroom mirror in a calm state.
My head: short hair, a normal-sized head, and prominent facial features.
My body: broad shoulders, moderately muscular body, and slightly tanned skin.
After digesting my appearance, my mouth hung open in surprise.
"This is me…?"
The person in front of the mirror was me.
Not Doki-Doki Academy's Matsuda Ken, but the real me.
My muscles felt a little tighter than before, but I was sure.
"Hello."
My voice sounded the same as in reality.
I was clearly me.
But, the aunt clearly called out to me as "Matsuda-kun," I was in the house belonging to Ken Matsuda, and I had all of Matsuda Ken's memories and knowledge.
To put it all together, I had perfectly replaced Doki-Doki Academy's Matsuda Ken.
Unbelievable…
After taking in a deep breath, I came out into the living room and opened the refrigerator.
Then, I took out a chilled bottle of water and gulped all of it down.
I don't know why this happened to me.
Maybe, the developer of Doki-Doki Academy was a god, and he was angry at my criticisms, so he…
It's a crazy idea, but given that I was here, it wasn't impossible.
But, how does he have the audacity to be angry at me?
Doki-Doki Academy was truly a trash game.
Anyway, the thought of living as this guy from now on engendered strange emotions in me.
But, I was also very excited.
Tactless Tetsuya was extraordinarily frustrating to watch.
But, now that I was in the world of Doki-Doki Academy, I could meet the heroines and pursue them myself.
Just thinking about being with the beautiful and diverse heroines in the future excited me extremely.
I had no thoughts of returning back to reality.
I had no intentions of finding a way back.
I will live happily here.
With whom? With the heroines, of course.
To be honest, it'll definitely be better for the heroines to like someone like me than with a dull and tactless guy like Tetsuya.
The infuriating ending of Doki-Doki Academy brought me back to my senses.
Let's go to the academy.
Ken… No, me. I was a bully who was always late or absent.
His image was not good because he hung out with delinquents.
Of course, this bad image naturally spread to the heroines.
Fortunately, I replaced Matsuda Ken before he laid a hand on Miyuki.
This was as good a start as any.
As long as I'm not completely hated, I'll be able to build affinity with the heroines.
In every dating sim, there are events that increase favorability between the protagonist and heroine.
And, I know all the events that happen to Tetsuya and the heroines.
From now on, I will intervene in every event and exploit them.
And Miyuki, Renka, and Hiyori… I will make their hearts mine.
Of course, if I intervene, the future will change, and there is a high chance that new events will appear.
It didn't matter anyway, though, because the subject of those new events will be me.
After I finished changing and getting ready for school, I stepped out of my house.
Naturally, the path I needed to take to get to the academy appeared vividly in my mind.
Immediately, I knew where to take the bus and where to change subways.
"Hah…"
I burst out into a wide grin and walked down the street with light steps.
Even though it was summer, it felt cool.
I was born again into the best world.
In Doki-Doki Academy, it was compulsory to attend academies: institutions high school students entered right after graduating before going to university.
It was one level above high school and one level below university.
And, I was attending a prestigious academy called Yeboni Academy in Tokyo.
As I scoured through my memories, I immediately knew how I was able to enter this academy even though I couldn't study.
Unfortunately, I was only admitted due to chance…
Well, that doesn't matter, so let's move on.
On my path to Yeboni Academy, I seriously pondered how I should pursue the heroines.
I could gain their favor like how Tetsuya did in Doki-Doki Academy.
But… I didn't want to. It left a bitter taste in my mouth.
Why would I imitate an idiot who couldn't even hold hands with a girl?
I felt sorry for the heroines who liked Tetsuya.
Even so, I can't act like a playboy. That would definitely lose points for me.
After thinking about it deeply, I decided to continue to act like Matsuda Ken with a little bit of my own twist.
He would be an insincere guy but with a warm side…
He would gradually reform himself as he gets closer and closer to the heroines…
My goal is to act that way.
Of course, I'll have to act in different manners depending on the situation, but this will be my basic framework.
Class 1-A… Class 1-A…
I found the classroom I was supposed to be in already and opened the door without hesitation.
All eyes in the class turned to me as the wooden door's hinges creaked.
From the professor to the students, almost everyone was staring at me.
Among them, I saw people glaring at me and others too scared to reciprocate my gaze.
And… Of the former people, there was one who glared at me the most fiercely.
If looks could kill, I would definitely be dead.
She had long, straight, light-brown hair, light-brown eyes, a sculpted nose, and a chiseled jawline.
I felt the urge to touch her rage inside me, particularly her large E-cup chest and slender waist.
She was the model student sitting at the very front of the classroom.
She was Hanazawa Miyuki, the class president of Yeboni Academy's Class 1-A, Tetsuya's childhood friend, and the main heroine of Doki-Doki Academy.
She looked perfect, especially in person.
Barely resisting my urge, I inwardly greeted Miyuki and avoided her gaze.
It's not easy resisting the urge, since it was Miyuki, whom I longed to meet in person, but… I had to endure it for the sake of the future.
"Matsuda-kun, you still came today."
I answered roughly to the old professor's words and went to the seat at the very back to sit down.
I glanced over to the side and saw Tetsuya, who was concentrating on class.
Come to think of it, this guy was in the same class.
Useless.
While looking at Miyuki's back, I tried calming my thumping heart.
Not long after I had arrived, the bell rang.
Once the professor left, I looked over to Tetsuya and saw him drawing.
It was known in the game that Tetsuya liked drawing in his spare time, but it was weird seeing it in reality.
"Hey, Miura. What are you doing?"
"Ah, this… It's nothing."
Tetsuya timidly covered his notebook with his arms.
I snorted.
I was about to get up and go tease Tetsuya, but before I could, Miyuki stood up, scooted back her chair, and began walking over to me.
The reason Miyuki hates me is probably not only because Matsuda Ken was a delinquent but also because Matsuda Ken liked to make fun of Tetsuya.
For example, Matsuda Ken sometimes took the pictures he was drawing and stuck them onto the blackboard for all to see.
Such childish pranks…
Every time that happened, Tetsuya would smile and move on, but he really hated Matsuda Ken on the inside.
In any case, Miyuki seemed to know that I was going to do something to Tetsuya again, and came to stop it.
As for the honorific suffix…
This was what I was most concerned with as Miyuki strode toward me.
Of course, there are standards, but the standards change depending on the situation and person.
In the case of Miyuki, the only one who calls her by just her name is her old childhood friend Tetsuya.
If it's her close friend, they could call her "Miyuki-chan," and if it's her friend or classmate, they can call her "Hanazawa."
And, for everyone else, it was "Hanazawa-chan" and "Hanazawa-san," maybe?
From her point of view, I'm a loser, so I should call her Hanazawa-san or chan, but…
"San" seems too unaffectionate, and "chan" is so fucking cheesy.
Let's just go with Hanazawa.
Matsuda Ken also called Miyuki that way, so there should be no problem.
I quickly shook my head and said to Miyuki, who was already at my desk.
"Why? Hanazawa."
As expected, Miyuki didn't bring up the honorific suffix matter.
However, her dislike was evident.
That look of contempt… It's surprisingly not bad.
"Matsuda-kun, if you're going to be late, you can come in once class ends. Why bother disturbing the students?"
Ahh… Her voice was so beautiful that I almost forgot she was scolding me for a moment.
Be patient. I have to be patient.
I calmed my throbbing heart and answered curtly.
"Because you lose more points for being absent compared to just being late, right? I also need to focus on my studies, too."
"You don't care about that. You gave up studying."
"It hurts me when you say that so openly…"
"I know you won't get it. Just don't do it again, please."
"Yes, ma'am. I won't do it again, ma'am."
"I wish you'd listen properly and didn't mock me."
"I got it."
In response to my slightly irritated answer, Miyuki glared at me like she did when I had entered the classroom then asked Tetsuya:
"Tetsuya-kun, I want to go to the cafeteria. Would you like to go with me?"
"Ah… Yes. Let's go."
Tetsuya, who was watching the situation unfold, quickly replied.
The two soon disappeared from the classroom.
Now, maybe, Miyuki will talk about me behind my back, and Tetsuya will accept it with a smile.
The road of our relationship was long and rough.
Although she was the class president who had to treat all of her classmates respectfully, she still had such an attitude with me.
I understood because I deserved it.
But, it's okay.
I know everything that'll happen to Miyuki.
I'm confident that I'll make us get closer quickly.
Today was July 10th, which was perfect.
Why? Because, tomorrow, the clichés of this love comedy begin.
Originally, it was an incident that made Miyuki's feelings for Tetsuya stronger…
But, I'll intervene and reap all the benefits.
From that point on, Miyuki's attitude will definitely start treating me better.
And, Tetsuya…Well, he won't be benefiting from any of the events anymore.