I am dead.
I should be dead.
But right now I feel a warm feeling enveloping me. A feeling like being in water where the noise around me is submerged and I can still hear it.
The sound of crying.
I couldn't understand their conversation, but when I heard the baby crying, I realized I was in a maternity ward.
The sound of a baby crying echoing in my ears made me believe I was reborn.
The submerged voice soon faded away and was replaced by a clear voice that sounded like a whisper in my ear. I slowly opened my eyes and saw a nurse smiling kindly at me.
The way they speak is so mysterious that I feel as if I've stepped into a world of fantasy.
The nurse who was holding me immediately handed me to a man with long white hair and a white cloth over his eyes. The man picked me up and walked over to a woman with light brown waves who was lying on the bed looking very tired. It seemed that the woman was aware of our approaching presence, which made her open her eyes, revealing red eyes that were the color of blood.
Although the woman said something, I didn't understand a word until the last sentence. Suddenly, a screen appeared in front of me and wrote down the meaning of the woman's words.
[Eriu Grith.]
Ah, that must be my name.
My new name.
And they're my new parents.
After that, the screen gave a smiling emoticon and there was a mechanical voice speaking inside my head.
[I, 001, congratulate you on winning the life-and-death bet. I say again welcome to your new world, Eriu! (. ❛ ᴗ ❛.)]
And my new life...
.
.
.
"Is it because this child is a friend of the protagonist?" The boy looked at the mirror that reflected his face. Even though he had done it many times, this self did not get bored looking at that face all the time.
"Right... it must be a buff for being his friend and his first love." Wavy light brown hair and blood-red eyes. Every time he looked in the mirror, he liked to say the same thing over and over again, making his new parents think his behaviour was a little strange, which made them both worried about his behaviour.
Maybe it's because he still doesn't believe that he's been reborn.
His current name was Eriu Grith, an ordinary child of the Grith family.
His mother, Ariadne, was the village flower. His father, Louise Grith, was a retired historian enjoying his retirement with his family. Although it sounded like an ordinary family, he was quite surprised after he had learned a little bit about his parents' past from the 001.
The old organization Louise worked for was a very suspicious place where Louise had to sacrifice both his eyes to get out and start his family life. Meanwhile, Ariadne is a former nun who was unilaterally expelled so that Ariadne would not reveal the secret of the birth of twins who are one of the most important characters in this world.
The past is the past, they're in a different time now, and they don't seem to care about those things anymore, so their family life is very harmonious.
As long as no trouble comes his way.
As if.
Problems are defined by two categories: Simple and Difficult
Simple: The fact that 001, who accompanied him for 5 years, disappeared after saying that the protagonist would appear soon.
Difficult: Is what 001 says; The protagonist will appear soon.
To be clear, let me tell you something that explains this world.
The fantasy world where gods and goddesses are worshipped everywhere is no exception in the village where I live, the village of Te Amo.
A fantasy world that has a main character here.
And that main character is the protagonist who is about to appear. He's the source of my problems.
The protagonist of a love stimulation game where the protagonist can capture the hearts of all the capture targets. A BL game under the guise of romance, while the content in the game is full of absolute cruelty rather than a love story.
"Surely the protagonist is very beautiful, considering that many are crazy about him, and even I, who is only a supporting character, have a nice face." Eriu went to his bed. He picked up a book that was on the table next to the bed.
The book was a book with the routes in this game, and of course he hid it with his old language to avoid getting caught.
The first reason was so he wouldn't forget the story in the game, and the second reason was so he could remember his crush.
"Before anything happens, I will get rid of him." Eriu opened the book and tried to remember the important events that would happen, especially the first meeting between him and the protagonist.
[You're my Ramiel]
Like all other otome games, this one has the same plot. The protagonist, who comes from the lower class, is suddenly invited to a prestigious school where he will meet all the capture targets.
Statera Highschool, a prestigious magic school that only invites those who are chosen to be the incarnation of a God/Goddess. It doesn't matter if the god is corrupt or the goddess is cruel, because this school doesn't care. As long as you have been chosen as an incarnation, your path to the prestigious school has already been proven.
In this world, there are 14 Gods/Goddesses worshipped by almost the whole world.
In this way, the world distinguishes between small Gods/Goddesses and powerful Gods/Goddesses by calling the 14 Gods/Goddesses 'Deus'.
The 14 Gods/Goddesses are the 7 Virtues and the 7 Vices of the world.
But that's not the main point.
Every protagonist in a game always has a background that makes them interesting, and the same goes for this game. Of course, this is to make the story in the game go as desired by making the protagonist the main attention of the whole world.
Because the protagonist will soon become the Epitome of Hope, God Ramiel, who is the younger brother of Lucifer, The Demon Lord. Ramiel was ostracized and finally decided to disappear from the world until them forgot him completely. But one day, a beautiful boy appeared and surprised the world with his power.
It was there that the world realized that he was the incarnation of the God of Hope, Ramiel, who had disappeared for megaannum years.
But that whole story is not the point, but a side character named 'Eriu Grith'. A side character who will turn the whole story into a very cruel one.
And unfortunately I was that best friend, 'Eriu Grith'.
The end of the prologue will end with the death of 'Eriu Grith', the protagonist's first love. 'Eriu Grith' will be hanged before being burned alive while everyone watches.
This makes the death a hard blow for the protagonist.
If I may say, the prologue in this game is a bit unique.
Before 'Eriu Grith' died, the protagonist was summoned by the Headmaster and given a mission. As a player, you have only one choice: Accept the task.
On the way to fulfill his task, the protagonist would meet all the capture targets, and this way the protagonist can meet them and get to know each of them.
And when the mission is completed, the protagonist will return to the school with the capture targets. When the protagonist can't see the person who'll be waiting for him, he'll search for him desperately until he discovers the truth.
His death.
'Eriu Grith' was hung where sinners died. A high mountain that was said to make sinners never see heaven.
The stench of rotting and burning flesh spread. When the protagonist arrived, he already knew which one was his friend's corpse, even though his skin had melted and his face was unrecognizable.
The fire was still burning. The protagonist put out the fire and hugged the corpse, and there, the protagonist burst into tears. When the protagonist embraced 'Eriu Grith's' body, he made an oath sounding like a curse.
[I will kill them all.] He was repeating this sentence over and over again like a crazy person.
Honestly, I didn't want to die like that. That was because I knew the taste of being burned and did not like it.
I prefer to be put in the middle of the sea and die eaten by sharks.
If I can come back when I still do not know about this game, I will definitely tell my old self not to play this game, even if it is just to get closer to her.
She's so into this game that she even bought the merchandise and read a fanfic novel about the game. She tells me everything about the game, every ending she gets, and one of them is the secret route of the game.
And to get this route, players must collect all endings and be able to play this game from the beginning of the prologue.
As I said, the prologue of this game is very unique, once players have completed the prologue, it will be locked and cannot be opened.
In the secret route, the locked prologue will be reopened.
Every sentence is the same, except that there are two options: Accept or Stay.
If the player chooses to stay, the Headmaster will be disappointed, nothing strange will happen. All the activities performed were the same and were repeated until the 14th day. On that day, the protagonist would take a knife and go to meet 'Eriu Grith'.
'Eriu Grith' was not suspicious at all and waited for the protagonist in the peaceful garden, and his face even lit up as he waited for the protagonist!
When 'Eriu Grith' saw the arrival of the protagonist, 'Eriu Grith' immediately walked up to him so that he could be easily stabbed.
In panic, 'Eriu Grith' would rush to use healing magic, but unfortunately, the wound would still be open and blood would continue to flow, creating a pool of blood where 'Eriu Grith' would fall limp. The protagonist would approach him with a cute smile on his face that didn't fit the situation.
[Why-? Cough, why are you doing this?]
[Eri, didn't you say that we would always be together? That's why I'll always have you with me]
.... Haha, if protagonist finds out that I'm not his first love, there's a 99.9% chance that I'll die.
But I have a system, the number one cheat in the world! So I know the first meeting of them.
The protagonist will meet the Grith family (Ariadne and Louise) in a wooded area near the garden of the house. The dove came and disturbed them, making them think that this dove needed help. After the dove, they see a little child with golden hair lying in rags by the river.
That is why I insisted on having this garden as my birthday present. The garden has a door that leads to the wooded area. The door is not an ordinary door because it can prevent animals from coming, especially the protagonist. The door contained hallucination that made people unable to see the door and our house.
(001, master, zzt, master, zttt-)
"System?"
BOOM, BOOM!!!
The sudden sound of thunder made Eriu lose his concentration. The book he was holding fell immediately and Eriu got up from the bed to run to the window. Pink-colored lightning appeared in the forest, the sound of thunder seemed to shake the world, but no one was surprised.
What the heck -!?
How the heck does the protagonist appear after I think about it?
The pink thunder is the main symbol of the God of Hope, Ramiel.
BOOM-!!!
(001, zttt, run, run!!!, zttt-)
"System!?"
Immediately, his ears were ringing and red liquid was coming out of his ears.
The impact of the lightning seemed to have affected him.
Slowly, before he lost consciousness, Eriu heard a whisper coming from his ear.
[Like I said, we are truly meant to love each other.]