Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/822139844414118669/episodes/822139844478406973
From the moment I was born, I felt a sense of déjà vu about the world.
For instance, I felt strangely familiar with and slightly repulsed by my own name, ‘Rai Arkberg’. And despite never being taught about it, I could wield all the unknown power known as magic that existed in this world.
Everyone around me praised me.
My parents, of course, my tutor, my personal maid—every single one of them recognized my talent.
But I couldn’t accept that praise wholeheartedly.
I had a feeling that if I got too cocky, something would break.
Then, one day during those days, as I turned sixteen and the transfer to the Royal Arcadian Magic Academy loomed the next day, I suddenly recalled memories from my past life.
“Kyaah!!”
The trigger was a scream and a loud thud behind me as I studied in my room.
Turning around, I saw my personal maid, ‘Leine’—my same age—lying sprawled on the floor, her backside thrust upward. Several books lay scattered where her outstretched hand had been, and the impact of her fall had lifted her skirt high.
And peeking out from beneath that lifted skirt was a pair of panties—white fabric adorned with a pale pink ribbon.
The moment I saw them, something snapped inside my head.
(Wh-what the hell is this…!?)
Unfamiliar scenes raced through my mind.
It was undoubtedly the Duke of Arkberg residence where I lived, specifically the room I currently occupied. There, Leine stood, her cheeks flushed crimson with shame, large tears glistening in her light brown eyes.
Watching her sat a man on the bed.
A slightly plump young man with dark eyes and black hair, featuring deep-set features and sharp, slanted eyes. He was dressed in an outfit bordering on near-nakedness, and through his half-open clothes, the excess fat he’d accumulated was unnecessarily visible.
[Hurry up, spread your legs and show me your panties. Don’t make me say it again.]
[O-Okay…]
Biting her lip, Leine gripped the hem of her skirt and slowly lifted it up.
Her expression was filled with shame and disgust. The man before her—Rai—smiled smugly. He moved closer to her exposed groin, caressing it, rubbing his cheek against it, and eventually reaching for her underwear—.
“Ra, Rai-sama!?”
“…!?”
When he came to, his consciousness had returned to his own room.
Before his eyes was Leine , her cheeks flushed crimson just as they had been in the earlier scene.
But unlike that scene, there wasn’t a trace of disgust. What she felt was concern, perhaps? No, there seemed to be some shame too. Well, of course—he’d just seen her panties.
“Th-that… Did you see…?”
“Ah, ah, yeah. Well, I think they’re cute panties?”
“U, uu… Please, Lord Rai! If possible, please forget about it!”
He stroked her head as she pleaded adorably, trying to defuse the situation.
Unfortunately, her panties were definitely going into permanent storage. The shock was too intense, in more ways than one.
(Still, that was… One of the early events in “CHOICE//MAZE”…?)
Stroking Line’s head, I drifted back to the image from earlier.
『CHOICE//MAZE – A Year in the Labyrinth with the Girls –』
It was an eroge I loved playing in my past life.
The setting was a medieval European-style world.
A dark fantasy where gifted young mages from an academy strive to conquer the ‘Primordial Labyrinth’—a calamity that awakens every hundred years.
As its tagline ‘Only one can be saved…’ suggests, it’s an action RPG where choosing one of the four main heroines inevitably leads to the deaths of all others for some reason, gaining popularity for its heavy, heart-wrenching scenario.
(I never imagined this place was the game world…)
Ah, yes. I remember now…
That was definitely a scene from within the game. A depiction of the daily life of the villainous noble son, ‘Rai Arkberg’. The tragedy of a girl unfolding behind the scenes while the protagonists were exploring the labyrinth.
An event of unreasonable humiliation by the eldest son of the villainous Arkberg Duke family.
While the protagonist displayed remarkable prowess in conquering the labyrinth, Rai, displeased by this, took out his frustrations by abusing the maid girl’s body.
Unable to defy her master’s orders, she can only submit to the abuse.
Watching her endure this relentless, unchecked torment without any help was utterly sickening.
(Attacking a girl out of jealousy… and that’s supposed to be my future self? Not funny at all…)
Born into a high-ranking house as the duke’s heir, he’s arrogant and self-centered, constantly trying to possess the heroine. A true eroge villain, he’s got that “increased libido” trope tacked on for good measure.
His only redeeming quality was probably having the highest magic power in the story…?
(Well, that trait never got put to good use before Rai died…)
Rai’s end is anticlimactic.
During an unexpected accident in the labyrinth that scattered the protagonists, he encountered the heroine. Just as he was about to have his way with her body, the protagonist arrived and easily defeated him. Left battered and bruised, he was abandoned within the labyrinth.
His frantic cries while cowering from approaching monsters are comical.
[No, I don’t wanna die!! Help me…!! Hey…!? You can hear me, right!? A-are you gonna abandon me!? Me!? Meeeee!?]
Watching that scene, all I could think was ‘serves him right’.
It’s a different story if I think that might be my own future, but luckily I’ve regained my memories. I have no intention of living like him.
That unease I felt whenever I started getting cocky was probably an unconscious restraint from my past self. Like, ‘Hey, doing that will destroy you, you know?’
Looking back now, good job, past me!
Thanks to that, I seem to have avoided ruin. Plus, I didn’t end up with useless flab either. You really did a great job.
Who in their right mind would aim to be a pathetic nobody with a miserable end?
If I’m going to become trash that deserves to die anyway, it’s infinitely better to challenge the game’s rules and aim for a ‘Heroine All Survive END’.
(That’s right, that’s it! Might as well save them all!)
Playing the game dozens of times. No matter how many times I replayed it, I remember the despair of never finding an ending where everyone was saved.
How many times did I see their tears through the screen?
How many times did I want to save them?
But sadly, the barrier of the screen remained insurmountable. My hands could never reach them as they were crushed by despair.
(But now it’s different! I’m alive in this world!)
Now I can reach them. I should be able to save their lives.
And that’s what I’ll aim for. The ultimate ‘All Heroines Survive END’…!!
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