I Reincarnated into the World of Otome Game with a Cheat Ability - Chapter 1
Reincarnation
My name is Kenta Yamamoto. I'm a 20-year-old nice guy who works part-time at a home improvement center, and my "years without a girlfriend" currently equals my age.
Today, I finished up my shift at the store and headed back home.
When I arrived at our two-story house in a perfectly average residential neighborhood where I live with my parents, I heard my younger sister Akane’s voice echoing from upstairs.
"Welcome back, Onii-chan! I'm doing the usual, so come to my room in a bit, okay?"
She called out to me the second I walked through the door. I went up to my own room on the second floor, changed into comfortable lounge clothes, and headed over to her room.
Stepping inside, the walls were packed tight with otome game posters, and every spare bit of shelf space was crowded with character merchandise. In the center of the room sat a massive widescreen TV. My sister was currently playing her absolute favorite game, Isekai Gakko Monogatari (Another World School Story).
It’s your textbook otome game. The female protagonist raises her stats, triggers events based on those stats, locks onto individual routes for one of three romanceable targets, and clears the game to reach their ending.
"Alright, sit down next to me and watch."
Since it was my sister asking, I couldn't really say no. Day after day, coming home to watch her play had become my routine. Thanks to that, I had become an absolute expert on this game despite never having actually played it myself.
"Hmm, I think I'll go for the Prince's route today."
Akane began raising her various stats, aiming for the prince. Everything seemed to be going smoothly, but then the Villainess made her entrance, spiking the game's difficulty instantly.
"Ugh, she ruined it again! Josette is seriously so annoying."
Josette was the name of the Villainess. No matter which of the three romance routes you chose, she would inevitably pop up just like this and get in your way.
"Ahhh! I got a bad ending. Seriously, this sucks so much!"
The Prince's route was packed with events involving the Villainess, Josette. A lot of them relied heavily on RNG (random luck), meaning that even if you knew the game inside and out and played perfectly, you could still end up triggering a bad ending.
The next day, I had off from work, and my high-schooler sister Akane was off from school, too.
"You're coming with me today, just like you promised!"
With that, Akane dragged me out of the house. Our destination was an event venue hosting an Isekai Gakko Monogatari fan meetup. She had won a pair of tickets by sending in a survey that came with the game. Lacking anyone else to invite, my unfortunate sister had dragged her older brother along. The moment we entered, I realized the venue was packed entirely with women and instantly regretted stepping into a world where I clearly didn't belong.
The event consisted of a voice actor talk show followed by a handshake session. Once the handshake line opened, Akane immediately dashed over to line up for the voice actor playing the Prince. Naturally, I wasn't thrilled about the idea of shaking hands with a male voice actor, so I lined up for the only female voice actress at the event—the one who voiced the Villainess. Her villainous acting in the game was top-tier, but since she was a rookie with low name recognition, her line was practically empty.
My turn came in the blink of an eye, and suddenly I was standing right in front of the voice actress playing Josette.
"Thank you for waiting! It's quite rare to see a man at an event like this."
The voice actress smiled and spoke to me. True to her rookie status, she looked to be around my age, radiating a pure and adorable vibe. Totally different from her harsh, villainous performance in the game, her voice was clear and cute, causing my heart to skip a beat.
"Your acting in the game left a huge impression on me, and I really love your performance. I'm rooting for you. Please keep doing your best!" I blurted out, shaking her hand.
"Thank you so much! Please keep supporting me!"
After finishing the handshake, I went to wait for Akane in the lobby. After a while, she finally caught up with me.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, Onii-chan! He's the most popular character, so it took forever to get through the line."
"Good job surviving that. Alright, let's head home."
Akane and I started making our way back. On the way, as the two of us were crossing a crosswalk, a truck came barreling toward us, completely ignoring the red light.
"Akane! Watch out!"
Shouting, I threw myself over my sister to shield her. But we were both struck by the truck, and my consciousness faded to black.
"Kenta... To die like that, how pathetic."
"Wait... am I dead?"
"Indeed. Originally, only your sister was meant to die. Your shielding her was entirely unexpected. Due to certain circumstances, I cannot bring you back to life, so I shall reincarnate you into the same world as your sister. Since you weren't supposed to die yet, consider this a token of my apology."
"Uh, what is this?"
A tablet-like device was handed to me by a glowing figure that looked like a human silhouette.
"This is a convenient terminal that allows you to order products from the store where you used to work. However, procuring items requires a corresponding amount of money. The prices will be displayed on the screen, so you may check them later. In your new world, you shall be known as Kent. Now, go."
With those parting words, I was enveloped in a blinding light, and my consciousness drifted away once more.
When I opened my eyes, I was inside a classroom. However, the students around me were attending a lesson dressed in uniforms with bright, near-primary colors—a far cry from my common sense.
(Wait, these uniforms... they're the ones from Isekai Gakko Monogatari, aren't they?)
For some reason, everyone was wearing the school uniforms from the game. Looking around, a very familiar face caught my eye.
(Is that... the Villainess, Josette?)
As I stared at her distinct, long silver hair, she seemed to notice my gaze and sharply glared back at me. I didn't process a single word of the lecture, and the moment class ended, Josette marched straight up to my desk.
"You... you are Kent, correct? May I have a moment of your time?"
Before I knew it, I was led away by Josette to the secluded area behind the school building.
"Even though you are a commoner, why were you staring so intently at me, a Duke's daughter? Do you not realize how insolent that is?"
"I'm deeply sorry. If I made you uncomfortable, I offer my sincerest apologies."
In the game, Josette is the daughter of a Duke. If I really was just a commoner like she said, it was terrifying to imagine what kind of absurd punishment I might face.
"An apology alone will not suffice!"
She raised her hand to slap me across the face, but as she lunged forward, she somehow lost her footing and started to fall.
Panicking, I reached out to catch her, but the momentum threw me off balance too, and we both went tumbling to the ground. We landed in what could only be described as a tight embrace—and our lips were locked squarely against each other. To make matters worse, one of my hands had landed directly on Josette's chest. Reflexively, I gave it a squeeze, and a incredibly soft sensation transmitted through my hand.
For a few agonizing seconds, both of us froze completely in that position. Then, snapping back to reality, Josette violently scrambled away from me.
"W-What do you think you are d-doing?!" she stammered, biting her tongue slightly in her flustered panic.
"I don't even know what to say... I am so, so incredibly sorry!" I bowed frantically, offering a torrent of apologies.
"Enough! It seems it was my own fault for trying to slap you in the first place, so I shall pretend this incident never happened!"
"Thank you so much..."
Before I could even finish my sentence, Josette turned bright red, clamped her hand over her mouth, and dashed away at full speed.
"Uh... so, am I forgiven???"
When I finally wandered back to the classroom, Josette's seat was empty. It looked like she had gone home early for the day.
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