After what seemed like an eternity, I woke up in my cozy bed.
I am conscious, but I feel a strange pressure on my chest. I opened my eyes at that moment to find myself in a rather strange situation: a very attractive woman was sleeping next to me, and a giant cross was placed on my chest.
Oh, I remembered now.
"I nearly died." I sighed while thinking about what happened and looked at the girl near me.
The young woman who had saved me had golden hair like early spring light. Her blue sapphire-shiny eyes were hidden by the closing of her long eyelashes. Her face was more beautiful and adorable than any person from my previous world.
She is Theresa Ludmila, the main character from "Love and Fantasy," an Otome game I have played many times to the point of obsession.
Putting my hand over her soft, floaty hair, I pat her head while feeling a sense of gratitude. Yes, I felt thankful, although my relationship with her was the main reason that guy nearly killed me.
"Renauld…don't die." And somehow, my slight affection made her cling to me harder, calling out my name—or, more accurately, the name of the man I had transmigrated to.
Renauld Gisil Kylian—an obscure, not even a side character from the main storyline. A memorial from Kylian's estate was the only reference to him; it said that he was a member of a side branch of the family and had died in the war.
Well, obviously since I was destined to die even before the story started, I tried to avoid my death while also trying to not alter the main storyline.
By using the justification of going overseas for school and then going to a dungeon to grind out my stats, I kind of avoided it. Probably because of the unfair advantage I have.
As much to my surprise, Renauld is strong from the start, stronger than most side characters of this game. But it was still hard to survive; the demons invaded every corner of this world, and they sure as hell didn't give me an easy time.
At least it was still manageable somehow.
That is, until I came back after the war had ended, met Theresa, and then proceeded to save her a few times.
And at that time, I also knew why Renaud had to be so strong for such a minor character.
"It's because I have to stay and defend my town."
In the original timeline, Renauld's family and his town survived; only he perished. I thought the developer made a strange decision; why in the world did this large town only lose one person?
But it was a grave lack of consideration on my part; it wasn't a plot hole.
"Oh man, I fucked up the main plot; I fucked it up so much." But can you blame me? The game description of the attack didn't give me that information. How could I know this would happen if I chose not to stay?
However, there is still no excuse for my part in this disregard.
Since there was no one to defend it, the whole town disappeared from the map. By choosing the easiest option, I doomed my whole town.
This is bad. Even though I only stayed there for a few months, I still felt so guilty. No wonder Roland wanted to kill me so badly; they were his relatives, and unlike me, who was just an outsider, he had known them for his entire life.
Shit, I have to do something to fix it. But how? I even made it worse by interacting with Theresa, who now hates Roland—a key character in the game—and loves me.
Roland is going to hunt me down and kill me for real. How could I resist him? Bowed down and kissed his foot?
"...Hm"
Wait…maybe that is the best option, actually.
Apologize and hope for the best. Yeah, that is my only choice right now.
I also have to break up with Theresa to restore the plot and ease the wrath of Roland.
But!
"Dammit, I don't want to see him again."
In the game, Roland is a very chill guy, chill in a sense of bone-chilling and cold as Antarctica. He mercilessly massacred all of his enemies, and if you choose him to be your partner, your playthrough will be a walk in the park; you don't even have to level up to win the game.
But of course that comes with a price. He will die in all routes, no matter what you choose. And you will end up with lots of bad endings if you choose him as your partner.
It was probably because he tried to be cool and all, harbored all responsibility and died as a result. Such a stupid man.
Basically, he was modeled after those edgy stereotypes that women like: cold, violent, super toxic, and cringe-worthy.
"I just want a quiet life. How is it so hard?" I ranted and put the hand over my face.
I thought my life here would somehow be better than the salaryman I was; thought I would have a harem of beautiful girls. But so far it has been shit; the only saving grace was Theresa; she is very kind and cute to me.
To think that I had to break up with her made me feel such bitterness in my mouth. I don't want that to happen, but I also don't want to die.
"God, if only I had thought of a different way." Now I can only cry and regret every single choice I made.
Man, this world is rough!
***
===Menu===
Name: Renauld Gisil Kylian
Class: [Sword Master]
Level: 50
Stats:
-> Rating: A+
-> Strength : S
-> Agility : A
-> Endurance : A+
-> Magic Power: C-
-> Charisma : A
-> Mana : B
Trait:
-> Bane of demons: Your stats increase when there are demons nearby.
-> Resilient: Your mental and physical endurance is increased; your mana regeneration rate is also increased and scales with the amount of damage you receive.
-> Natural learner: You learn and understand things fast.
-> Blessed: You are blessed by God; as long as you believe in life, it will never fail you.
===
After breakfast and a conversation with Theresa about what we were going to do, I checked on my status, a system of the game, but I was the only one having it.
A cheat of some sort.
Seeing the stat, I understood why the original Renault could defend the whole town by himself; he is practically a one-man army with insane stats. Well, to be fair, he is the cousin of Roland and a Kylian—the strongest family of warriors in the game. Being that strong is a guarantee.
Or not, because I didn't have any of his memory and only his emotions. That is why I couldn't hate Roland that much, even though he just sliced my gut open.
'Man, I really should have stayed.'
I bet the original Renauld was a gigachad who tried his best to protect everyone he loved and fought till the very end. They could have had a hero and survived, but instead, they got me, a coward.
At that time, I should have used the knowledge from the game and tried to defend the town instead of running away from the trouble.
Even though I was not sure if it would make a difference, I should have at least tried like the original did. At least it wouldn't be such a mess like this.
Why do I keep messing up my life? Even when I got the second chance and the strength to do what I wanted, I still messed it up. I'm such a failure.
But I can still try to fix it; it is not too late. I could still steer the story back, on course, it has only just begun.
Yes, I could; I should have the power to do it, and I will not mess it up again… right?
Yeah… I shouldn't be afraid that much. I could do it. I could do it.
So, with a tight gripping hand and a resolved heart, I decided to go to the academy today.
Why today? Because this is the game's starting point, all of the romantic possibilities will be present today, including Roland, who recently completed all of his business and started going back to school.
"Renauld, are you sure about it?" But that uncertainty reflected so clearly on my face that Theresa noticed it. Holding my hand tightly, she asked me.
"Yeah… I think so." I can't say that I'm afraid right now, so I lied to her. But of course, Theresa could see right through it.
She then shook her head and said to me: "We can just run away; he won't bother to chase us!"
Right, Roland spared us once and did not kill us. But if Theresa ran away and didn't choose the path of the grand priestess, the world would end in a horrible fashion.
The abyss will invade and consume all life forms.
[Bad End No.01: Abandon]
Not to mention the countless deaths that will happen later on in the story without Theresa's healing capability. I simply couldn't let that happen just because of my selfishness and cowardice. One time is enough; I don't want anyone to die because of me the second time.
I therefore resolutely stated, "No, Theresa, this is the only way," while maintaining a straight face.
That is it—the face of a true Kylian—I can just fake it till I make it!