I stared at the screen, shocked, confused. What the hell was happening? Why was I seeing a holographic screen in front of me? I looked around, wanting to know if someone else also saw this screen with me. But no, it was me alone; no one paid attention to me at all.
I looked at the screen again; the message remained there: Save the heroines. I stretched out my hand and tried to touch the screen, but it went through.
I looked around again, trying to be sure no one had noticed me flailing at thin air like some lunatic. But the crowd was busy listening to the speech, eyes fixed on the man in the arena. No one paid me the slightest attention.
I let out a breath of relief and turned back to the glowing words before me.
[Core Mission: Save the Heroines]
As I focused on it, the screen shifted on its own. With nothing more than a thought, the letters expanded into a larger display. Lines of text unfolded, sharp and clear.
[Objective: Seven Heroines]
[Each heroine is destined to attract calamity and meet inevitable death]
[Player's task: Prevent each from falling to their fated end]
My throat went dry. Seven heroines. Seven lives I had once tried, and failed, to save through the game. Now the system was telling me the same thing I had sworn to myself for years: save them.
Confusion knotted in my chest. Was this just another cruel joke? Another way to trap me in failure? But even as doubt clawed at me, I couldn't deny the strange fire burning inside.
If there was truly a way to save them this time, if this wasn't just a scripted tragedy… then who else could do it but me?
I clenched my fist lightly. "Fine," I muttered under my breath. "If someone has to save them, it'll be me. It'll always be me."
The glowing screen pulsed once, as if acknowledging my resolve, then faded from sight.
I straightened just in time to hear the voice of the man in the arena rise again.
"Now, we move to the top students of this year's entrance examination," Legion announced, his voice magnified by magic and echoing across the colosseum. The crowd hushed, all eyes turning toward him.
The doors at the side of the arena opened, and the first figure walked into the light.
Blonde hair that could've been in a shampoo commercial, piercing blue eyes, tall, broad shoulders, the whole package. The crowd practically sighed as one. Ah, of course. The golden boy. Perfect face, perfect height, perfect posture. If this was a manga, he'd already have the protagonist aura glowing around him.
He was one of the stunning male protagonists of the game, but I never really cared about them.
"Lance Everhart," Legion announced, and the colosseum buzzed. He was the definition of talent, looks, and a very cocky attitude, the guy you either want to be or want to punch.
Then came the second in, another stuck-up ass. A slimmer frame, but his walk had razor edges. Black hair, dark eyes that cut like knives, every step precise. And that expression, not smug, not cocky, just… absolute disdain.
Great. Mr. Too-Cool-To-Breathe. If looks could kill, half this arena would be on the floor already.
"Damian Kain," Legion declared, and the crowd gasped like they'd just seen royalty. Right, the Kain family, the "once-in-a-century prodigies." Born, trained, and raised to remind everyone else that they were peasants, tsk.
The third was impossible to miss. Taller than most grown men, built like a fortress, reddish hair cropped short. His muscles had muscles. The arena floor actually seemed to rumble when he walked.
"Robert Steelhart," Legion said, and the cheers exploded. Of course, the Steelharts, a family of warriors. He looked like he could crush a boulder with his bare hands, or at least my skull if I made a bad joke about his haircut.
Then came a girl. White hair so silky it almost glowed, drifting in the breeze. Her face calm, serene, like she was meditating while thousands of people stared at her. She didn't look at anyone, didn't even blink, but somehow the air felt heavier just because she was standing there.
"Lily Ardent," Legion introduced. Whispers spread like wildfire. Calm face, terrifying aura… yeah, that tracks. Definitely not the kind of person you want as an enemy. She was one of the protagonists I gave my life to try and keep alive.
And then… her.
Crimson hair that spilled down her shoulders, eyes dark and unyielding. Every step was measured, her presence icy enough to freeze the air around her. Calm, calculated, unreadable, the arena went dead silent when she appeared, and then erupted with voices.
"Angela Vanceloth," Legion announced, and I felt my stomach twist.
Angela. The heroine who had haunted me through every playthrough. The one whose death hurt more than anything else, the one who suffered the most of all the heroines.
…damn.
I'm actually seeing her in real life. If this really is real life, then I've never been happier to be alive.
The five stood together, a line of prodigies shining under the sunlight. The arena buzzed with whispers:
"That's Lance Everhart, he's already broken records."
"Damian Kain, they say he learned advanced sword forms before ten."
"Robert Steelhart could wrestle a troll!"
"Angela Vanceloth… she's as cold as they say."
"And Lily Ardent… doesn't she feel dangerous?"
The excitement swelled, the stands alive with chatter. But me? I just sat there, trying to keep my face straight, while my brain screamed the same words over and over.
That's them. That's the heroines. The people I have to save. Yes, yes, I'm a bit too eager to save them, but listen, I spent two years trying to do it; of course I'm obsessed with saving them this time.