In This World That Favors Men, I... ~Starting a Sweet School Life in a World With a 1:8 Gender Ratio~ - 127

Chapter 127: ◇ SNS◇ Prince Maker

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“Ta-dah! Onii-chan, look, look! I bought this app!”

With an excited cry, Yui thrust a game package toward me. Apparently, the app she had pre-ordered the other day after saying, “I just got a great idea!” during our trip to Seikyu Feet had arrived today.

“Prince Maker?”

“Yep! It’s what you’d call a dress-up app and it can even import VR personal data!”

“But cosplay in VR is kind of standard these days, right? I mean, it’s nothing unusual.”

Even I dressed up as a samurai in Battle Frontier. Since this app was called “Prince Maker,” I figured it probably had a lot of prince-like outfits, but to be honest, it didn’t seem all that new.

“This app is super popular for a reason, you know! It has an unbelievable number of male outfits, and you can coordinate them however you want. Tons of background scenarios, too. And best of all—you can output the completed images!”

“Huh.”

I could imagine girls would love this. But as a guy, “dress-up” didn’t really click with me. Plus, in a world where men were scarce, I was honestly puzzled. Why would a cosplay game with male costumes be so popular?

“‘Huh’ again? Geez! You don’t get it at all. A cool older girl can become a beautiful cross-dressing prince. So what happens when a guy like you wear them?”

“Uh… Just regular cosplay?”

“Bzzt! Wrong! You’re kind of right, but also totally wrong.”

Yui started flailing around in frustration. 

Um, okay. But seriously… What’s the difference?

When I asked Yui to explain in more detail, she told me that it was actually rare for girls to use the app to dress up themselves as guys. Normally, people use dCG male data to create their ideal prince or ideal Demon Lord and have fun with that. Apparently, popular characters from otome games and 3D anime—available only within this game—were being sold as optional add-ons, and people enjoyed dressing up their favorite characters and indulging in what they called “moe.”

Under the Male Protection Act, it was incredibly hard to obtain real VR data of actual men. So most people used fictional data. That was the standard in the VR industry, but… We had me. 

“All right! Time to start creating our prince!”

Yui, unusually fired up, squealed as she began churning out one cosplay photo of me after another. But what was she planning to do with all of them?

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Yuuko: Frilly Prince… So dreamy. Too dreamy. Those frills suit him way too well!

Kyoko: For me, Pirate Prince is the best. He’s just so wild! My heart’s pounding!

Shizu: The Demon Lord is it for me. Who’d have thought Yuusei-kun would look so perfect as a villain? He’s already good-looking, but now he’s got this villainous aura. The contrast is giving me major moe!

Mika: Hey, hey, what are you all talking about?

Hina: The Prince Squad is acting weird. Did the heat and all that studying finally fry your brains?

Yuuko: Ufufufufu. I wonder what scenario I should request next?

Shizu: Sleeping face… Wouldn’t a sleeping face scene be nice? A prince buried in a field of flowers, waiting for the princess’s awakening kiss.

Kyoko: Yes! That’s so good! I’m messaging Yui-chan about it right now.

Yuuko: A k-k-kiss… Just imagining it… I feel like I’m about to get a nosebleed… T-tissue… where’s the tissue!?

Hina: Yuuko, seriously. Plug your nose while you type. Also, what exactly are you all so excited about?

Ran: Frills? Pirate? Demon Lord? What the heck is this?!

Kyoko: So, Yui-chan bought Prince Maker. Apparently she bought it for us.

Chika: Say what?

Ran: That app’s trending right now. We’ve got it too… Wait, are you saying she used real Prince data for the dress-up game?

Shizu: Bingo! Yui-chan dressed up Yuusei-kun in all kinds of outfits and sent us the images. Look at this! She even wrote “Good luck on your exams” and gave us so many pictures!

Mika: I—I’m so jealous! And what a sweet girl she is!

Yuuko: I can’t stop the nosebleed. He looks just like the real thing—it’s like a photo book!

Ran: Well, yeah. This is Prince’s VR personal data, it’s practically him. So… Prince dressed like a prince, became a pirate, and even turned into a Demon Lord? Dang, I wanna see that too!

Saki: Real data, huh? Then there’s no way we’re getting Yuuki-kun’s data.

Mika: Right? We’re not close enough to ask the older girls for that, and more importantly, he’d never agree to it. I want to see it too, but it’s impossible. Ugh.

Chika: Wait, there’s a way!

Ran: What way?

Chika: Uesugi-kun is weak to pressure. If we get that trio involved, we might actually get it…

Ran: I see. Getting personal data might be a stretch, but can’t hurt to ask. And it could be a chance to get closer to them.

Hina: Hmm. With the Male Protection Act, it’s tough to ask for real data. I do want to see cosplay photos, though. Ah…  I’m torn…

Mika: Oh well. Let’s just edit some 2D pics of Yuuki-kun instead.

Saki: Yeah, let’s have Sanae do it. She’s got free time, and she still owes us from the other day.

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Yuuko: That pretty girl from St.Catherine who joined midway through prep school is oddly friendly.

Kyoko: What do you mean?

Yuuko: She’s a good person. Gorgeous, smart, and super friendly. She invited me to lunch, and we’ve been chatting a lot.

Shizu: So it’s not that she’s like that with everyone—she’s locked onto you?

Yuuko: No, not like that. Our class is small, and until now, everyone was kind of doing their own thing. But she suddenly brought everyone together like, “Let’s work hard for exams!” and now there’s a really nice vibe forming in the class.

Hina: I see. That’s a classic St.Catherine student—she knows how to win hearts. What’s her full name? I’ll check with my cousin who goes to St. Catherine.

Saki: Wait—could she be one of those elegant older girls everyone admires? Eek! ♡

Yuuko: Yeah, maybe. She’s totally the type who’d be popular in a yuri story. Her last name’s Yamagata, and her first name is Maya-san.

Shizu: A beautiful, capable, charismatic girl like her is taking external exams? Hmm…

Kyoko: I wonder what made her look outside of her comfort zone?

Ran: Probably the exchange meet. This is St.Catherine we’re talking about, right? I remember our school was collaborating with St.Catherine for the exchange program.

Mika: Totally plausible. Our boys are pretty top tier, after all.

Ran: Do you think Yamagata-san knows Yuuko is from Eika Shuuei?

Yuuko: Not sure. I’ve been going to prep school in regular clothes during the summer, so she might not have noticed.

Mika: Do you two ever talk about each other’s schools?

Yuuko: Nope. Not so far.

Mika: Hmm. Then maybe it’s better if you keep it a secret that you’re Prince’s girlfriend.

Yuuko: G-girlfriend. His girlfriend… Just thinking about that… Another nosebleed incoming…

Hina: Still?! You really need to get used to this.

Chika: Well, that innocence is part of your charm. But you’ve gotta stop the bleeding eventually.

Yuuko: I’ll try my best not to let it out.

Mika: Do your best. Imagine—if you finally get into university and start dating on campus, but then you suddenly start bleeding—that’d kill the mood.

Yuuko: GAAAH! Kill it?! My love is gonna die?! Noooo!

Shizu: Whoa, whoa! Calm down. Yuusei-kun is kind, so you’ll be fine. Let’s work on your tolerance little by little.

Kyoko: Yeah! Just stare at the photos Yui-chan gave us for training.

Yuuko: I’ll do that. But the more I look, the more it feels like he’s watching me, and that makes my heart race even more…

Hina: I got a reply. Maya Yamagata-san used to be on the student council—she was the vice president. A close friend of the White Rose, and she’s basically admired by everyone as their  “Onee-sama.”

Ran: Whoa. Wasn’t the student council at that school chosen by popularity vote? She might actually be really famous.

Mika: No wonder she’s got that charisma…It’s going to be a problem if that kind of high-spec girl comes to a co-ed school, it’s a problem. The competition rate shoots up like crazy.

Saki: As someone who hasn’t gotten confirmation from any boys in high school, it really makes you panic.

Kyoko: She’s supposed to be super beautiful, right? Even if you have gotten one, you might still panic.

Hina: Please, let her apply to a different school than mine!

Ran: It’s going to be tough if powerful rivals keep increasing.

Chika: Well then. Let’s wrap up the small talk and get back to studying. Fall is right around the corner!

Shizu: The pressure is unreal. Time flies by in the blink of an eye. Alright, let’s switch gears and do our best together!

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