“Hey did you hear…”
“I did I did! He left them to die, right? Cut people and…”
(…Why? What’s with this? How did it turn out like this!?)
Zenon was unable to accept the reality of his situation, as students looked at him and whispered to each other.
In the dormitory, in the dining hall, everywhere he went… Everyone was talking about him.
The topic was always what happened during that quest. What happened in the Yum-Yum Mountain.
No, to be more precise… The casualties, and what caused that to happen.
“Apparently Zenon has been telling everyone he had no choice, because it was an emergency. That he took the initiative to attack.”
“There’s probably some truth to that, but the idea that people actually died is kind of freaky…”
“And I heard he lost to the monster armor best without any resistance. People are saying all he can really do is bully the weak.”
“I liked him when he looked all cool beating Yuugo…! What a disappointment…”
“I feel bad for Claire now. Even Yuugo would be better than that.”
(Dammit! Dammit! Dammit! Dammit! Everyone’s turning their back on me. Why!? I lost to that crab, but all the people that were being controlled that I beat should have raised my favorability!)
The fact that something unexpected happened led Zenon to not perform the way he hoped, but something he expected even less happened after the incident was wrapped up.
Students of the Luminous Academy kept their distance from him, and seemed to look at him with disdain.
They held him up as a hero after he defeated Yuugo, but they completely turned around, and now spoke of him as a terrible guy.
The students who accepted the quest with him also kept their distance, furthering Zenon’s isolation.
This was strange. It should not be like this. Under the game’s system, that quest should have raised his favorability, not lower it.
So why was this happening to him? Why was he sinking lower and lower?
Zenon returned to his room, not understanding anything, but wanting to escape the scorn and contempt directed at him, and sank into his bed while punching his pillow.
And as he made a mess of his extravagant bedding, he desperately thought about how this could have happened to him.
(Strange. Everything’s strange. It all started when I couldn’t add Melt to my party. Then Rush turned into a monster armor beast, and then that quest’s boss changed. What’s going on? What’s the problem?)
He quickly reached a conclusion. Or rather, maybe he already knew, but pretended not to see it.
It all began… When he ignored the scenario and defeated Yuugo. He jumped the gun and challenged Yuugo to protect her first kiss.
It all changed from there. Yuugo lost his memory and his Garandil, but became stronger for some reason, and even got Melt as an ally.
Meanwhile, even though he beat him, Zenon kept sinking deeper, to the point where that glory from the start felt like a distant memory, and he was cornered into a miserable situation.
What was this? It was clearly weird.
Yuugo should be the one in that situation, and he should be where Yuugo was… And once Zenon reached that conclusion, his eyes opened wide with shock.
(Did we… Trade places? Our roles…! I took his position because I beat him…!?)
That made sense. His fall, that situation, everything could be explained in that way.
Basically, if a description was written about Zenon, it would read ‘someone who used his power as a shield to do as he pleased, and a dangerous boy who could end up hurting his lover’.
That was exactly what the boss of the prologue was like. He was basically his imitation.
On the other hand, after his amnesia, Yuugo changed into someone who was respected by people like his little brother and Melt.
He realized that he thought he was the main character, but he became a villain, and the opposite happened with Yuugo. His despair was further deepened by this critical situation, to the point where he started hyperventilating.
If the scenario continued like this, a main character would end up beating him instead of Yuugo.
Even if Yuugo did nothing, another reincarnated student would end up challenging him to a duel and taking Claire. As stated before, he was now seen as a dangerous boy who could end up hurting her, giving them a valid reason to take her from him.
If that happened, it was over. He would settle completely into Yuugo’s position, and he would follow the same fate.
He reincarnated into this world as a main character, but before he knew it, he was knocked from that position into being a villain. Once he realized this, Zenon wailed in despair.
“N-no! No! Noo! I was supposed to be a hero, build a harem, and lead my best life…! How did this happen!? Why do I have to die miserably instead of Yuugo!?”
He would end up ruined if he did not do something, but he had no idea what to do.
Even in Luminous History, Yuugo would always end up being destroyed. He had no idea how to change that scenario.
In the meantime, the fateful day drew closer and closer. The other reincarnated students gained power, and when one challenged him to a duel… It would all be over.
He had no friends. His knowledge was of no use to him. He was outmatched both in strength and charisma by the other reincarnated students. This was an impossibly hard game at this point.
“I’m… I’m the main character…! The strongest, invincible hero character…! A-a-a-aaaaah!!”
His first move was a huge mistake, he realized all too late.
He had plenty of chances to realize it, but he continued to blunder, as he never got over the fact that he was the main character.
And this was the result… Zenon reached the point of no return.
As he realized he could not escape his fate, the words he saw plenty of times when he was Seto Haino flashed in the back of his mind.
‘Game over.’
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A sad end for a (self-proclaimed) main character, went out with a whimper.
I’m surprised he seems to have admitted he became the villain. Usually characters like this would double and triple down on their delusions.
Good thing you noticed that, cause surprise surprise.
spoiler. ikr
from so far from what i read off machine tL raws.
in a way he has his own happy ending. start to aknowledge his bad sides and start fixing it. while still having his favorite girl devoted to him.
i also misunderstood how many self proclaimed protagonists were. i though only 4 with how they talked. but seems like there are a lot more. atleast 10 or so.
The idiot still not realize that all of this is not a game, it has nothing to do with their position got exchange but making stupid decisions that end up creating a chain of reaction and of course that Yuugo is also an reincarnatior make the events even more unpredictable, well Zenon Ash your day on the spot light has come to pass.
Even the assumption as to the change in his situation was so self centered. Not that Yuugo changed as a person but that he took his place by heating him too early