I Reincarnated as a Mob in a Depressing Erotic Video Game World. When I Saved the Main Heroine That Fallen Into Despair, Her Overwhelming Obsessive Love for Me Wouldn’t Stop. - Chapter 1

I slipped out of the classroom with Ena and headed toward the courtyard on the first floor.

The clock had just struck nine. From the school building, the bell signaling the start of classes rang loudly. At this time, no one would come here. At least, that’s what I thought.

“Ah… u-um…”

A frightened voice came from behind me.

I slowly turned and met her gaze.

(…Ena Refine. I never thought I’d actually see her in person…)

The world I had been reincarnated into was exactly like the erotic video game I’d played in my previous life, “The Pledge Magia Academy.” No, more than that, it was the world of “Magiaka.”

And Ena is the main heroine of that video game. My absolute favorite character.

Of course, Ena ends up with the protagonist and lives a happy life in her route.

(But this ―This world is completely different. It’s a bad end world…)

“Magiaka” had multiple endings, including some tragic bad ends. The cruelest one was called the “Ena Abuse Route,” the ultimate depressing ending.

Through several choices, Ena becomes hated by everyone in the academy. She’s constantly bullied, emotionally and physically hurt countless times, and in the end, she’s violated by upperclassmen. She eventually jumped off the rooftop. It’s an ending worse than anything I could imagine.

Back when I played it, I was obsessed with happy endings, so I reluctantly went through that route just to get the trophy… but now I understood what brain destruction meant. I remember not being able to taste food for days afterward.

“H-hey… Shiruto-kun…”

Her trembling voice brought me back to reality.

Ena’s hollow eyes were drained of light as they glistened with tears.

“…Y-you… saved me…?”

Her slender shoulders shook nervously.

Only then did I realize I was still holding her hand. I had been so focused on getting her out of that awful situation that I hadn’t noticed I was being a little rough. No wonder she was scared.

I gently pulled my hand away from hers.

“I’m sorry… I acted on my own. But I couldn’t just stand there and watch. Before I knew it, my body just moved on its own.”

“I-I see… hehehe. You’re so kind, Shiruto-kun.”

Ena pressed her thin lips together tightly.

A clear autumn breeze blew, and that made her side-tail sway gently. She touched her silver hair with the light blue highlights softly with her fingertips.

“But… you can’t? You can’t do something like this… not anymore.”

Her long lashes lowered slightly as she spoke quietly.

“If you’re kind to me… then you’ll also become the target of bullying—”

“That won’t happen, I won’t let it.”

—The words had slipped out on their own.

Maybe, I had said them to myself as much as to her.

“…Huh?”

“I’ll put an end to it. All the stupid harassment aimed at you.”

I didn’t think about what kind of world this was, or why I had been reincarnated. None of that mattered anymore.

Right now, in front of me was my favorite heroine.

The beautiful girl who had saved my heart countless times during the miserable days of my past life… was suffering because of this cruel, unfair reality, just like I had back when I went to high school in Japan.

Then there was only one thing I could do.

Ena Refine. I would save this beautiful girl from the despair that filled this bad-end world.

That had to be the reason I was reincarnated. That was what I chose to believe.

“First, let’s treat the scrape on your knee. To the infirmary—”

—Startled, Ena’s shoulders twitched.

Was she reacting to the word infirmary? I stopped mid-sentence and carefully chose my words again.

Somewhere absolutely safe, where we wouldn’t meet anyone from the academy…,

“That’s right, maybe my room would be better? If you don’t mind, Ena-san.”

I suggested it, but Ena stayed quiet.

—Right, of course. A girl going to a classmate’s boy’s room would be scary.

I felt a pang of disappointment in my own hopeless lack of tact and hurried to find the next words.

But before I could speak, Ena quietly opened her lips.

“…Ena. Just Ena is fine…?”

She tightly pinched the hem of my uniform with her fingertips.

Could it be… a sign that she wanted me to take her there?

“Got it. Then, let’s go. Ena.”

“…! Y-Yeah…!”

With her still holding my uniform hem, I led her toward my room in the dorm.

Ena was walking a little behind me, step by step… or maybe I was imagining it. I felt like she kept her eyes on my back the whole time and never looked away.