Volume 1

Chapter 1: Reincarnated as the Best Friend Character in a Dating Sim World

I realized I had been reincarnated into a dating sim world pretty early on.

Before my reincarnation, I was just a humble salaryman—a virgin, to be precise. I had never been popular with the opposite sex, let alone pampered by them. Needless to say, I was still a virgin. 

How many times had I thought about questioning the divine forces that set me on this path?

Then, on a certain day, as if my passionate cries had reached the heavens, I woke up as someone else.

What reflected in the mirror was a blonde and handsome guy. Had God finally responded to my desperate pleas? Or was this a gracious gift meant to share in my pitiful existence? Either way, I was thrilled.

But wait… just a minute.

The person in the mirror (a slender but well-built hottie)—haven’t I seen him somewhere before?

That’s when I realized—I was in the world of my favorite dating sim, “No Doubt, My Childhood Friend is This Cute,” commonly known as “Orenaji.”

Don’t be fooled by the title; it’s a harem game. It drew so many complaints that the development team must have had their hands full. I was also one of those who sent in a slew of feedback.

The main heroine of Orenaji, as the title suggests, is the protagonist’s childhood friend. However, there’s a wide range of heroines to choose from.

In this game, the player (the protagonist) selects one heroine, including his childhood friend, and then arrives at an individual ending or, alternatively, a harem ending.

So here I was.

I had reincarnated into the world of Orenaji, and though I tasted heaven for a fleeting moment, I soon realized it was actually hell.

The reason for my grim realization was that I had reincarnated as the best friend character, “Shibuya Charao,” who gives love advice to the protagonist in Orenaji.

…Seriously, developers? What kind of name is that? It’s way too casual. What even is “Charao”? Is there any effort here? No, clearly there isn’t.

The main purpose of a dating sim, after all, is for the player to overlay themselves onto the protagonist and enjoy wonderful experiences with various girls.

In essence, the role of the best friend character is merely to be an information terminal that helps you become closer to the girls and extract information about them. It’s a harsh way to put it, but side characters are often just that.

Now, even after reincarnating as Charao, I had no particular desire to change the future.

I have a younger stepsister, a childhood friend, an elder step-sister, and a stepmother.

To elaborate, Charao has a backstory where he lost his parents in an accident at a young age and was then taken in by the neighboring family. This isn’t mentioned in the main story; it was written on the developers’ blog. While playing the game, I really felt like no one cared about Charao.

Sadly, my stepsisters, childhood friend and stepmother all become the protagonist’s heroines. Of course, there are other heroines as well.

My stepmother is a teacher at the school, my elder step-sister is a senior, and both my younger stepsister and childhood friend are in the same class as the protagonist.

The protagonist, for no particular reason, ends up being adored by these heroines (who are my family) and enjoys a pampered life.

And, unfortunately, the moment these heroines became involved with the protagonist, they began to treat me with indifference.

Well, it’s only natural when you think about it. They are in love with him—the protagonist. They wouldn’t want to get close to another man—that is, me—and create misunderstandings.

Ever since the protagonist transferred to the school, my stepsisters, childhood friend, and even my stepmother began distancing themselves from me.

I really want to commend myself for not becoming bitter in this situation…!

Despite all this, I could endure it because I genuinely loved this game. If I hadn’t, I probably would have gone mad and bid this world a final goodbye by now.

As the main story progressed, the protagonist built up his harem. Not just my family, but he indiscriminately attracted women both inside and outside of the school.

For a moment, I felt like killing the creators since most of these women had some sort of connection to me.

Probably, the game’s developers wanted to justify why I, as the best friend character, had information about the girls who were conquest targets. Even so, they’ve been way too cold to Charao. What did Charao ever do to them, kill their families?

Though I had my grievances, I still loved the characters. So, I supported their relationships. I fulfilled my role by providing information to the protagonist and playing the charming friend.

Eventually, the protagonist successfully ended up with his childhood friend. Good for him, really good for him. Happy ending. They shared a joyful kiss, and the game concluded…

…Now, here comes the real issue.

In Orenaji, once you’ve secured a route with a target character, the game ends. In other words, the protagonist successfully navigated the childhood friend route, and the game should have concluded there.

But here’s the catch: this is reality. Life doesn’t neatly wrap up like a game. It goes on until you die. Yes, it just keeps going.

…Now, let’s sort out the situation. The protagonist was shamelessly charming to all the women, and as a result, all the heroines fell for him and were working hard to end up with him. They all genuinely loved him, without exception.

In the midst of all this, the protagonist chose one woman. So, what happens to the rest? What becomes of the so-called ‘losing heroines’?

…The result? They all broke down.

It was inevitable. These women, who thought of nothing but the protagonist whether they were awake or asleep, suddenly found themselves pushed away.

The shock of unrequited love must have been significant. In fact, the day after the protagonist achieved the ‘childhood friend ending,’ the mental states of the other potential love interests were quite unstable. Some even considered taking their own lives.

I loved these characters, so I did my best to encourage them desperately. I didn’t want to see the characters I loved suffer so much or, worse, die.

And so, half a month after the protagonist reached his ending, a storm erupted.

Around me.

Why? Why is this happening?