My consciousness returned little by little, like someone slowly emerging from deep, dark water. There was no bright light. Only a dull ache in my head and a strange feeling as if I had just slept for a hundred years.
The first thing I noticed was the smell. Not the stale odor of my apartment or the hospital disinfectant smell. This was the smell of varnished wood, dust, and fresh morning air that seeped in from somewhere.
I opened my eyes slowly. My blurry vision gradually focused. I wasn't lying on the floor next to my computer chair. I was on a bed. The mattress was a bit firm, and the blanket felt slightly coarse. I turned to the side. Morning sunlight streamed through a large, curtain-less glass window, illuminating dust particles dancing in the air.
Outside the window, I could see the spires of Gothic stone towers and terracotta roofs. The sky was clear blue, without a single skyscraper piercing it.
'Where... am I?'
I tried to sit up. Strangely, my body felt incredibly light. The back pain and neck stiffness that had been my companions for years were simply gone. I raised my hand to rub my temple, and that's when I froze.
This hand... wasn't mine.
My hand was the hand of a 30-year-old man who spent most of his life typing on a keyboard. Slightly calloused on the middle finger, with a few small scars and skin that was beginning to show signs of aging.
The hand I was looking at now was the hand of a teenager. The skin was smooth, the fingers slender, and there wasn't a single scar.
My heart started pounding, this time not from a heart attack, but from sheer shock and utter confusion. Panicked, I threw off the blanket and jumped out of bed. I was only wearing thin, white cotton pajamas. My feet were bare, touching the cold wooden floor.
I looked around the room. It was a simple, cramped chamber. A dark wooden wardrobe stood in one corner, a worn-out study desk in the other, and a long, cracked mirror hung on one of the walls.
With hesitant steps, I approached the mirror, afraid of what I would see.
And my guess was correct.
The face staring back at me from the dusty mirror's surface was not Kenshin Tanaka's face.
This face... It was young. Maybe around 17 years old. The brown hair was slightly messy from sleeping, the eyes were an ordinary brown, and the facial features... completely average. Not handsome, not ugly. The type of face you'd instantly forget in a crowd.
I touched my cheek. The reflection in the mirror did the same. I opened my mouth. It opened its mouth too.
This was real. This wasn't a dream. I was in someone else's body.
"What the hell is this..." I whispered. The voice that came out of my mouth sounded younger, clearer, and utterly foreign.
My mind raced. Was I in a coma and hallucinating now? Or... don't tell me...
'No way.'
The concept was too absurd, too similar to the trashy novels I often read to escape reality. Reincarnation? Transmigration? Isekai?
My eyes scanned the room once more, searching for a clue. On the study desk, amidst several thick books whose covers I didn't recognize, was a thick paper identification card. I grabbed it with a slightly trembling hand.
There was a small portrait of this new face in the upper left corner. And underneath, elegantly written in black ink:
Name: Leon Richter
Affiliation: Valerius Grand Academy, First-Year Student
Deg.
My heart seemed to stop beating for a few seconds.
Valerius Grand Academy.
That name. The name of the most prestigious magic academy from the world of "Arcane Hearts."
I stumbled back a step, my back hitting the cold wall. My hand squeezed the ID card so hard that the edges slightly folded. So this was really happening. My embarrassing death somehow brought me to the world of my favorite game.
Then, the next question arose. Who is Leon Richter?
I replayed all my memories of the game. I had finished it three times, even unlocking the secret routes and all the adult scenes. I knew all the names of the important characters, from the main hero, the heroines, the rivals, to the teachers and even the minor antagonists.
None. Absolutely no character named Leon Richter.
'Wait... don't tell me...'
I was an NPC. An extra. One of the hundreds of nameless, faceless students who only served as background, filling the corridors and classrooms to make the academy feel alive.
A dry, bitter, and slightly insane laugh escaped my mouth.
"Hah... Hahahaha!"
Perfect. This was absolutely perfect. After living a meaningless life as an extra on Earth, I reincarnated into a fantasy world... only to become an extra again. It seems fate is truly a bastard with a cruel sense of humor.
I let myself slump onto the bed, staring at the cracked wooden ceiling. Strangely, after the initial shock subsided, I felt... calm. Even a little relieved.
'Well, being an extra isn't so bad either,' I thought. 'No responsibility to save the world from the Demon King. No need to get involved in the hero's romance drama and his harem. I can watch everything from the front row, enjoying the show quietly.'
I was ready to live out my peaceful and boring second life as Leon Richter the extra.
That's when, right in front of my eyes, a transparent blue panel suddenly popped up, humming with sound.
Ding!
[Synchronization with Host Soul Complete...]
[Detecting Above-Average Libido and Sexual Frustration Levels...]
[Calibrating Parameters... Complete.]
[Welcome, Host. Your Exclusive Support System has been activated: HENTAI SYSTEM.]
I froze, staring at the panel with my mouth agape.
...Damn it. It looks like my plan for a quiet life just got thrown out the window.
I stared at the transparent blue panel for a full ten seconds. My brain, which had just begun to accept the crazy reality of reincarnation, now had to face a new, far more absurd anomaly. I reread the last word, spelling it out slowly in my mind to make sure I hadn't misread it.
H. E. N. T. A. I. System.
Not [Legendary Hero System]. Not [Demon King System]. Not even [Super Farmer System]. Of all the infinite possibilities in the universe, I got a system named after an anime porn genre.
"You've got to be kidding me," I muttered to the empty room.
As if responding to my muttering, new text appeared on the panel with an arrogant typing speed.
[Do I look like I'm cracking a joke, Host? I am a marvel of technology and magic, the embodiment of your deepest desires. To regard me as a joke is an insult to your own potential.]
I jumped in surprise. "You bastard, you can hear me? And answer?"
[I can not only hear you, I am directly connected to your pathetic thought process. I know you just died in the most humiliating way recorded in human history. Jerking off. Truly a feat.]
My face burned. Not only could this bastard read my mind, he also knew how I died. My shame was greater than when I got caught hiding a porn magazine under my bed in middle school.
'Fuck you!' I thought angrily. 'What the hell are you, anyway? Some kind of virus? Magic? Or a curse?'
[I am neither a virus nor a curse. Think of me as... your personal guide. Your previous life's purpose was a total failure. No achievements, no legacy, and not even a satisfying final orgasm. My task is to ensure this second life of yours is far more... productive.]
"Productive how?" I asked suspiciously, my eyes still fixed on the blue panel.
[Simple. In this world, Aethelgard, power is everything. Magic, swordsmanship, social status... all are determined by strength. You, in this body of Leon Richter, are starting from zero. You are weak, poor, and have no connections. Without my help, you will remain an extra until you die (again), perhaps by choking on bread at lunch.]
This system really didn't pull its punches. Every sentence felt like a slap to my already tattered pride.
[But, with me, you can become the strongest. You can surpass the main hero, conquer the nobles, and even etch your name in history. All you need to do is... follow my directions.]
"What kind of directions?"
The panel blinked, showing a new interface. There were several tabs: [Status], [Missions], [Shop], [Inventory]. The [Missions] tab shone the brightest.
[I will give you missions. Complete them, and you will receive rewards: Points, Skills, Items, and even basic stat increases. The harder the mission, the greater the reward.]
This sounded like a typical RPG game system. Too good to be true. There had to be a catch.
'Okay, what do I have to do?' I asked mentally. 'What kind of missions will you give? Defeating monsters? Collecting herbs?'
The text on the panel seemed to mock me with a smile.
[Oh, my naive Host. Do you think I'm named [Hentai System] for no reason? Our missions won't be that boring. Our missions are far more... extraordinary.]
The panel blinked again. The [Missions] tab opened automatically.
[Tutorial Mission Issued!]
Title: The First Step of a True Peeping Tom
Description: Knowledge is power. And knowledge of women's undergarments is the highest form of knowledge. In your wardrobe, there is a new uniform from Valerius Grand Academy.
Your Task: Leave your room, find a female student, and identify the color and type of underwear she is wearing without being caught.
Time Limit: 1 Hour.
Reward: 50 Hentai Points (HP), Passive Skill [Eagle Eye (Lv. 1)].
Failure Penalty: 12 hours of explosive diarrhea.
I read the mission description three times. Then I read the penalty four times.
Identifying the color of underwear? Explosive diarrhea?
"You... you want me to become a perverted peeping tom?" I exclaimed in disbelief.
[I don't want you to "become" a peeping tom. I want you to "become the best" at it. Consider this basic training to sharpen your senses. After all, wasn't this a skill you always coveted in your old life?]
Again, the system hit me with a shameful fact. I couldn't deny it. How many times had I fantasized about having x-ray vision on a crowded train?
"This is insane. This is absolutely insane," I muttered, clutching my head.
I walked toward the wooden wardrobe and opened it. Sure enough, hanging inside was a brand new uniform set. A white shirt, a black tie, gray trousers, and a black blazer with the Valerius Grand Academy emblem a shield with crossed sword and magic staff embroidered on the left chest.
I could just ignore this mission. I could try to live a normal life. But... that failure penalty. Explosive diarrhea. I couldn't even begin to imagine how humiliating that would be on my first day at the academy.
And the reward... Passive Skill [Eagle Eye (Lv. 1)]. It sounded so... useful.
I looked at the uniform, then back at the mission panel floating in the air. What choice did I have? Be stuck as a weak extra forever, or take the first step down this lewd, crazy path?
With a long, resigned sigh, I took the hanging uniform.
'Alright, you bastard,' I thought, addressing the system. 'You win this time. Let's see what kind of damned underwear exists in this fantasy world.'
In the corner of the panel, a smiling emoji (:)) briefly popped up before disappearing. I had a feeling this second life of mine was going to be a very long and very strange journey.