Prologue-Chapter 1 (1/2)

Prologue: Et tu, Brute!

Translator: Skythewood

Editor: Deus ex-Machina

［Ah, erm… Tosa-kun?］

The quiet voice stopped me. Friday, school was out. After putting my belongings into my locker along the corridor, I stood stiffly at the entrance of the cla.s.sroom I was heading into, and observed the girl before me in surprise. She was a female student who seemed really mature, with dark pupils, short black hair and porcelain skin. She was a little nerdy, but very cute. She wasn’t from my cla.s.s, and from the red sash on her uniform, she was in the second year like me. I didn’t know her, but, she did called for ‘Tosa-kun’. My name is Tosa Itsuki. This wasn’t a mistake or something like that, she was referring to me. —— A girl from a different cla.s.s was looking at a boy from another cla.s.s! And intentionally! Chatting me up. And doing so after school.

But I had no idea who she was at all.

This… This was definitely it!

I gulped due to excessive nervousness. After entering high school, I have seen this a few times already. That mouthwatering scene that I yearned for was finally happening to me…?

［“I-I-Is something the matter? I-I-I’m Tosa!］

I really hate myself for my inability to speak smoothly before a girl around my age. However, she didn’t mind this at all, and looked at me as if she was relieved. Seeing this reaction, my expectation gauge became even higher. In my second year of high school in autumn, finally, finally I…!

［Sorry for bothering you so suddenly.］

［I-I-It’s fine!］

My heart was already throbbing. When would she say the decisive words…! I am ready for it anytime. Come on!

［Erm,］

The female student said squeamishly:

［Do you know where Kazuya-kun is?］

［…… Kazu— ya?］

Speaking of Kazuya, that should be my friend in the same cla.s.s as me since first year of high school. He should be at the teacher’s office right now.

［Because we promised to go home together starting today.］

The female student said with a bashful but blissful expression.

［Tosa-kun, You are Kazuya-kun’s friend, right? That’s why I know your name… Because Kazuya-kun didn’t seem to be inside the cla.s.sroom… And as you know, Kazuya-kun don’t have a smartphone yet...］

［Nami-chan!］

I didn’t need to answer, and the subject Kazuya himself ran towards us with a shout.

—— chan? He used her name plus chan to address a girl?

It would be hard to do this unless they were close. He actually pulled off such a difficult move right in the face of an unpopular high school boy?

Nami-chan’s face turned energetic when she heard him.

［Kazuya-kun!］

［Sorry! I needed to visit the teacher’s office for something! It took longer than I expected!］

［Mm-hmm, that’s perfectly fine!］

He got close to her, and the two of them looked into each other’s eyes wordlessly. They were completely in their own world.

［I was wondering why was Kazuya running all of a sudden… He seemed distracted in the teacher’s office too, so he just didn’t want to make her wait.］

Tens of seconds later, my other friend Yamai Gonzaburou appeared. He was forced to do manual labour in the teacher’s office by our homeroom teacher along with Kazuya.

［Gon-chan…!］

［—— You said it didn’t you? You called me by that nickname!?］

His name was Gonzaburou, he felt the name was outdated and detested it, and want others to address him by his family name. But I didn’t have time for all that.

［C-Could this be...］

Following my gaze, Gon-chan,

［What—? Ohh, Kazuya?］

He muttered. Nein!

［Girlfriend!］

The one who reacted to my yell was Nami-chan.

［G-Girlfriend...］

Her face was flushed, and was completely affirming it.

［Ahh, Itsuki and Gon… No! Yamai.］

And Kazuya finally realized we were here. That’s how deeply they had immersed themselves into their own world!

Kazuya introduced us to each other. Her name was Nami, Kazuya’s girlfriend, they started dating yesterday. And they were actually neighbours, and knew each other since kindergarten. It’s that thing right, how they would visit each other’s rooms through the window? It happens in Manga all the time.

［Childhood, friends.］

I muttered blankly while Kazuya scratched his head with a giggle.

Child… Childhood friends! The ambusher known as childhood friend was actually hiding amongst my friends? This wasn’t scientific.

［I want a girlfriend］［I really want one］, Kazuya who always converse with me this way was actually… After our friends started dating one after another, my brother in arms who decided to remain a bachelor with me to the end, the final bastion of defence, Kazuya had actually…!

［In conclusion, I’ill be going home with Nami! And sign up for a smartphone plan.］

Gon-chan and I both showed expressions of shock.

Smartphone, contract?

［Even though you were so stubborn when we talked about it, you actually…］

Kazuya was a high school boy who didn’t have a mobile phone or smartphone. His parents didn’t restrict him about that, this was sort of a matter of principle for him. He hate being tied down. It was troublesome to contact him, so we tried to convince him too. Hey, it’s better to have a phone with you anyways, right? Gon-chan and I tried to persuade him numerous times… But no matter how much we preached about its convenience factor, it was no use. The persuasion that made Kazuya waver the most was ［it would be easier to find a girlfriend］. However, he realized immediately...［Isn’t Itsuki a bachelor even though he has a smartphone? Which means a smartphone has nothing to do with girlfriends! So it’s not necessary!］

Why you…! Where did your principles go?

Kazuya said frankly:

［Ehh? If I want to exchange contacts with Nami, then a smartphone is necessary, right!? And also, what’s that app called again? Nami-chan will teach me how to use that too.］

［Yes, we will first start with 【Smile】.］

After taking his backpack from the cla.s.sroom deftly, Kazuya showed a cheerful smile, and left while holding Nami’s hand.

I already turned ashened as I watched them leave. I thought Nami would confess to me…

［Itsuki… Want to visit a ramen shop later? I don’t mind treating you.］

［Gon-chan…!］

Friends were important after all. So that’s friends.h.i.+p…!

And then, Gon-chan’s phone buzzed. It seemed to be a message.

After reading it, Gon-chan did a 180 and took back his words.

［Scratch that, Akari seemed to be feeling troubled, let’s leave the ramen til next time.］

Friends.h.i.+p was as thin as paper.

After patting my shoulder, Gon-chan headed towards cla.s.s four where Akari, or rather, Sonoda-san was in. Sonoda-san was Gon-chan’s girlfriend. They started dating during the golden week of our second year. And today, Kazuya got a girlfriend who was also his childhood friend.

And now, I was the only one among my friends that was still single.

—— Only I didn’t have a girlfriend!

［Things shouldn’t be like this…!］

I couldn’t help blurting that out!

During one’s lifetime, there were three period of times where you would be popular, and my time of youth would come when I enter high school! I had deep faith in this. That was why I stayed behind in j.a.pan! When I graduated from middle school, my parents decided to take a job transfer overseas. Back then, I thought that I had to stay in j.a.pan if I wanted my youth to come.

And so, I convinced my parents and grandfather—— And stayed in my grandfather’s place. My grandfather was lax about boy-girl relations.h.i.+ps, and would keep urging me to bring a girl back home.

But since April last year—— after finally stepping through the gates of Honami High School, in terms of love, my love haven’t come at all! To be honest, the female students were just an existence that was breathing inside the same cla.s.sroom as me! More importantly, even when I spoke to them on purely official matters, I would start to stutter from nervousness. After going up to the second year, things only turned worse.

—— Speaking of high school life, that would be youth. It’s the age when we become conscious of the opposite s.e.x, the time for love.

And so, it was the same for everyone. For example, the guys would believe firmly that a heroine would appear before them.

But that wasn’t reality…!

At least, if I had my attributes as a man was higher…!

Regrettably, my face wasn’t charming enough to attract girls without even saying a word…!

I clenched my fists. As the last single guy, I reevaluated myself.

Height… 173cm, I guess I barely made the grade!

Academics… average. I was quite good in middle school. Having a certain standard of results was one of the conditions for me to stay in j.a.pan, so I couldn’t afford to slack in my studies. Even if I worked hard, my studies were still average and not that impressive… If I stopped working hard, my grades would fall drastically.

Physical abilities… negligible.

Interests… I was heavily influenced by my grandfather and love games. I was proficient in all sorts of games, but loses out to my grandfather in terms of FPS. My favourite genres were musical games and FPS! However, FPS wasn’t popular in j.a.pan at all, I completely don’t understand why that was so!

That was about all…

My parents named me Itsuki because they hope I could get first place. They definitely didn’t name me that because I was born in January. To be the greatest huh… It was the freedom of parents to put their hopes and dreams into their child’s name.

<tl: kanji=”” is=”” 一月=””>

I wouldn’t wish to be reincarnated into a handsome guy, but at least, I wish I wouldn’t be that nervous when I interact with girls…! No, I wasn’t completely a wreck all the time. If it was the girlfriend of my friend, or something else, basically girls where our relations.h.i.+p had no chance of progressing, I wouldn’t hold any expectations, and so, I wouldn’t be nervous...

If I was conscious that the other party had the possibility of becoming a lover, I would stutter all the way.

Which meant, if I went on like this, my youth wouldn’t come even when I graduate, what suffering…

Alone by myself, I lowered my head along the corridor and sighed.

［Tosa, you are in the way!］

I just happened to be standing at the entrance of the cla.s.sroom, and got shooed out of the way by the boys in the sports club who was leaving.

Chapter 1: Strange, Why Isn’t My Heroine Appearing?

As a loner dog, there was nothing more grieving then your friends showing off their love life. On weeknights before bedtime, I will roll around my bed in my room, and twiddle with my phone while showing a bitter face. Resting my cheek onto my left hand and propping myself up on my elbows, I slowly texted back with my right index finger.

My friend Kazuya who had just started using a smartphone was very irritating. First, he called my home line and asked for my 【Smile】ID.

The full name of 【Smile】 was 【Smile plus message】, so it’s 【Smile】 in short. It was a free app that first marketed in America. And now, it took pride for having an overwhelming number of users throughout the globe, including j.a.pan. So I told Kazuya my ID. After going back to my room on the second floor, Kazuya started showing off his girlfriend through 【Smile】.

It was infuriating. But if I also had a girlfriend…!

I lifted my head and looked into the distance. Now that I thought about it, it was the same for Gon-Chan… If I had to say what was different now… I got a girl’s 【Smile】 ID… Although it belonged to Nami-chan!

My gaze fell onto the phone… Wasn’t that enough? I had enough of Kazuya and Nami’s childhood friend stories…! And enough about your date today too!

I decided to end the conversation by using emoticons. I returned to the home page after sending it, and a mail came in a few seconds later. I mainly contacted my friends through 【Smile】now. My email was now basically used to receive notification from school. That took up the main bulk of my mails, and I received emails regarding the student elections a few days ago too. Next would be the delivery notice when I buy something online. But I didn’t buy anything… My parents? They would send me a long email about how they were doing overseas. Maybe that was it.

I tapped on the email app icon and checked the incoming mail.

My guess was wrong

【To our customer player,

Congratulations on being selected!

Our company is developing a game app geared towards men, 【There are no heroines in my youth】 and a game app geared towards women, 【There are no princes in my youth】 and is conducting an open beta to the public.

After a stringent selection process, you have been chosen to be a free* pioneer user.

(*No payment is required for usage in your region, but purchases made while starting or using the app would be categorized under other expenses. Please read the software instruction manual for further details.)

This standalone program is able to make a prediction on the future between the customer and the heroine by using cutting edge technology. It will provide hints, and guarantee your meeting with a 【heroine that only belongs to you】.

The reason is, the heroine in the application will be linked to reality.

However, the value of the life prediction meter (*Please refer to the Instruction Manual for the detailed explanations on the term) will vary from person to person, and experience may be different for each customer. For some customers, situations that are a little high in difficulty may appear.

In order to experience a better life, please enjoy your meeting with a heroine brought to you by this application.

The download code for you is 【3wen89ASZu8sxezgE2016】. User authentication will be done, so please ensure the application is downloaded and used by you personally.

Next, please tap on the below URL.】

It seemed to be an advertis.e.m.e.nt email for a new game. Was it sent in error?

In the past, I requested for a magazine mailer by mistake when I was playing a game app. I already undid it, but was this the reason? From the URL, it didn’t seem like I would be redirected to some p.o.r.n site.

However, I still have a strange feeling about this. Normally, I would ignore such mails. The content was written seriously, but there was some obviously wacky parts mixed in. Predict the future and providing hints… Yeah right. This wasn’t Science Fiction! Even with modern technology, the weather forecast would be wrong sometimes.

However, the key term that hooked me was in there too. A heroine that only belongs to you or something, and the heroine would be linked to reality or whatnots.

Heroine huh…

I then received a new message from 【Smile】. It was Kazuya. He seemed confused by the emoticons, and finally understood with the help of Nami-chan. He replied to me with an emoticon. I felt a chill as I answered with another emoticon.

d.a.m.n it, I want a girlfriend that would teach me how to use 【Smile】 gently too…!

But in real life, the number of girls I was close to was 0…

After all, I couldn’t converse well with them because of my stutter…

Thankfully, my friends that got attached introduced some girls to me.

But I was too nervous and didn’t know what to say. Even if I tried to make conversation, I would stutter all the way. I will stutter no matter what, so I stay silent which brought about the combo of  【boring】 【the conversation is going nowhere】 ! And then, that was the end of the interaction…!

［If it is a game...］

If it was a game, I won’t be nervous. And a suitable game app was right before me. The t.i.tle might be 【There are no heroines in my youth】, but a heroine would appear in this game right?

My interpretation of the wacky content was that by inputting details of a girl you like, a heroine similar to that girl would appear, and the game would simulate a love story.

That was it! Using this chance—— Even if it was a game, I want to quench my thirst! Please bestow me with a heroine!

Tapping on my phone, I went to that URL and was prompt to enter my download code. After entering it and downloading, what appeared wasn’t the t.i.tle screen of the game, but the words 【Creating your avatar now, please do not enter fict.i.tious information】.

［It means the main character, huh.］

My real name, birthday, height, weight and blood type was needed. It was a game, but the personal data it requested was a lot and surprised me. But it was for the sake of my heroine, so I will turn a blind eye this time!

Alright, I entered my real details for the main character settings. What’s next!?

【What is the type of girl you want to date? Please think about two girls around you. Please exclude celebrities and idols. Depending on your answer, things that occurred in the game might happen.】

Alright. It’s here, this was it. I would be able to create a heroine to my liking? It was time to enter the data for the heroine.

The field was different from the main character setting. Height, body shape, hair style, face and personality, five fields.

I couldn’t take any field lightly, and had to choose seriously. These choices would probably influence how my heroine was!

Because it was a game, I aimed for a girl around me that was out of my league and hard to approach in reality as the model for my heroine.

Out of my league—— What I thought of was the two girls in my high school.

One was in her third year. Mochizuki Rika who was one grade higher than me. A rich girl whose parents were capitalists. And she was called the Queen. This wasn’t a joke, some of the male students addressed her that way and wors.h.i.+pped her. She gave the impression of a queen, and her full figure and s.e.xy appearance resulted in many scandalous rumours about her. She was the type who didn’t like to talk, and usually act loftily. As expected of a daughter of a rich family. However, I really wish to interact with a cold beauty like her! She was a girl that was that appealing to me.

Everything I knew about her was hearsay, and I only saw her one-sidedly and never spoke to her before. But looking at her from afar, I could understand why she was said to have the looks and aura of a queen. Before I knew it, I started addressing her as Rika-sama. She was taller than the average girl too.

Rika-sama—— With Mochizuki Rika as the model, I entered the data for the first person.

Height, 165cm.

The body shape selection were a drop down list. There were boney, slim, average, thicc and gigantic. Next was breast size, flat, adequate and huge. There were endless combinations… Not. But were there people who would choose boney or gigantic? Slim and huge b.r.e.a.s.t.s! And so, the body shape was decided.