I Was Reincarnated as a Stepping-Stone Character in an Eroge, and by Breaking the Heroines’ NTR Flags in Place of the Protagonist, They Ended Up Falling for Me - Chapter 27 - The Fourth Heroine?

Chapter 27 – The Fourth Heroine?

Mob characters.

For some reason, their eyes are hidden, or their name is something like Female Student A… They’re just a crowd of people who appear in the background of games, anime, and manga.

Characters like that are not targets for conquest.

But some of them are pretty cute, and have the potential to be very popular if their eyes weren’t hidden.

I quite like mob characters like that.

In my class, there’s someone who feels just like one of those.

My favorite female student A, also known as Chiaki Shizuku, sits in front of me and is isolated in the class.

Chiaki has a plain appearance, long bangs, she wears glasses. She’s a shy girl with a small animal-like personality who’s not good at talking to people.

One of the fun things in the classroom is watching over Chiaki.

She’s late today. I wonder if she overslept?

“Good morning, everyone!”

The female student who entered the classroom with that cheerful voice had a delicate body, thin legs, and silky short hair that was a little longer than her shoulders, making her look like a doll.

That girl is cute. She’s cute. No, she’s incredibly cute. Easily on par with Reika, Mayu, or even Hinano.

Was there a girl like that in my class?

The classroom was buzzing, and the whole class’s attention was glued to the new girl, who was standing at the entrance.

The new girl checked the seating chart without caring about the gazes of those around her and sat in the seat in front of me.

“Hey. That’s Chiaki’s seat.”

The girl in front of me was taken aback by what I’d said without thinking, and chuckled.

“What are you talking about? I’m Chiaki, Ishibashi-kun.”

“Huh?”

Huh? Eh? She’s Chiaki? Eh? W-what on earth?

I was stunned, and the classroom was buzzing.

The gazes of the class were pleading with me. They wanted me to tell them the details right away.

“D-did you change your hairstyle?”

There were so many things I wanted to say, but these were the words that finally came out.

“Yeah. It was messy so I went to a hair salon and got a cut. I also had my bangs trimmed. Does it suit me…?”

“…I don’t think it looks bad.”

It was a smug answer, but it seemed natural for Ishibashi to say it. Still smug, though.

“Really? I’m happy.”

Wow, what a dazzling smile! She’s brimming with a cheerful aura…!

“W-what about your glasses?”

“Fufu, I tried contacts!”

“You’ve gotten a lot better at communicating… You used to be bad at talking to other people, weren’t you?”

“Eh, seriously? So that’s the kind of person this girl was…”

“Huh?”

“A-ah! I was thinking about changing my somewhat shy personality! And maybe it’s because Ishibashi-kun is easy to talk to…?”

What? Easy to talk to? Has she seen my face? This is the first time someone ever said that to me.

“Ishibashi-kun. Once again, please take care of the new Chiaki Shizuku!”

Shing! With a radiant smile, Chiaki beamed at me.

“Ah, yeah…”

As I answered, looking away from the brightness, the bell rang to announce the start of morning homeroom.

My brain couldn’t keep up with Chiaki’s sudden transformation, who was once an introverted girl, into a full-on party animal extrovert person.

But even so, why did she suddenly…?

“Chiaki-san has totally changed.”

“Right… Is this what they call a high school debut?”

While I was confused, I overheard a conversation between the girls.

“…Why did she suddenly change her image like that? Is she a guy after all?”

“Totally a guy. There’s no other explanation.”

Oh, a guy?!

“Yeah, but Chiaki used to be so plain, there wasn’t even a hint of a guy around her.”

“She probably got hit on by some guy and let herself get transformed.”

“Ahhh, makes sense.”

Makes sense…?

So you’re saying, my idol in class got a boyfriend after being hit on, and then she made her high school debut and became more sophisticated because of that boyfriend’s influence…?

I feel like my brain has been destroyed.

After that, Chiaki’s popularity with the boys skyrocketed.

In just a few days, she was the topic of conversation not only in our class but in our grade as well. Now she’s completely popular.

After class, she’s always surrounded by everyone in class.

Chiaki handled it so well that it made me wonder if she was really the same person.

Where on earth had Chiaki gone? She once would freeze up like a frightened raccoon even in front of a female student…

Gazing at her reborn self, I felt sentimental.

One day during lunch break. As the bell rang, I left the classroom as usual.

As I headed towards the student council room carrying a special lunch box made by Hinano, who has recently started doing her housework properly, I saw Chiaki looking somewhat flustered.

She went down the stairs while looking around anxiously.

Seeing her like that made me curious, so I decided to follow her.

After chasing her, I ended up at the emergency stairs landing.

This is… This is the place where Reika and I used to eat lunch together. Now we eat in the student council room, so I hardly ever come here.

People rarely come here so it’s the perfect place to be alone…

As I was watching her without being noticed, Chiaki sat down looking exhausted.

…I see.

Even Chiaki had made a dramatic before and after change, but she was tired from communicating with so many people, which she was not used to.

As a result, she came to this deserted place because she wanted to be alone.

If that’s the case, I should leave.

Thinking that, the moment I was about to go down the stairs,

“Ugh, so tiring. Seriously annoying… The boys are a hassle, and the jealous glares from the girls are unbearable. I really don’t want to go back to the classroom.”

Huh?

Was that… Chiaki? Her voice sounded unusually low, and the words were completely unlike her.

“Ugh, everything’s such a pain. Can’t the whole school just disappear already? Seriously.”

She’s saying something scary.

I-is this… Is this some sort of “hidden side” to Chiaki?

Well, they say people have a hidden side…yeah. I guess it’s just normal… I think.

Just as I was about to leave, thinking to myself that there are some things in this world that are better left unknown,

“I thought I was dead… But when I woke up, I was in this girl’s body. What the hell is going on…?”

The words she spoke stopped me in my tracks.

I thought I was dead? When I woke up?

I had considered it as one possibility. That there might be others like me.

Without thinking about that possibility, I ran up the stairs and appeared in front of Chiaki, and asked her just one question.

“Hey, are you also a reincarnated person like me?”

The moment Chiaki heard my question, she pointed at me with a look of surprise.

“Wait, you too? Does that mean… you’re the same as me?”

This person wasn’t Shizuku Chiaki.

Just like me, she was a reincarnator.

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T/N: Dem, another reincarnator, but she seems to be reincarnated a little late? Since we’re already 27 chapters in, dem…