The last thing I remembered was the soft plastic bite of a controller cable tightening around my throat.
I had been mid-boss fight in Magical Hearts Academy: Professor's Secret Route—the limited-edition rerelease with the extra CG packs.
My neck had somehow gotten tangled while I leaned forward for the final choice.
One stupid shift of weight, one wet snap of plastic, and the world went black.
When I opened my eyes again, the first thing I noticed was the ceiling.
It was high, vaulted, and painted with glowing constellations that slowly drifted across a soft blue-white surface.
Mana lights floated in little glass orbs, casting a gentle, expensive glow.
The air smelled like old books, polished wood, and something floral I couldn't name.
I sat up.
I had soft sheets in a four-poster bed with pale lavender curtains.
A uniform jacket draped over a chair, it was white with gold trim and a crest I recognized immediately.
My stomach dropped.
I knew that crest.
I scrambled out of bed and nearly face-planted when my legs refused to cooperate.
Everything felt lighter and smaller. I caught myself on the edge of a full-length mirror and froze.
The face staring back at me was not mine.
Black hair, a little messy from sleep. Sharp but still soft features. Clear blue eyes. A body that looked maybe seventeen or eighteen at most. And—most importantly—male.
I was a guy.
In the world of Magical Hearts Academy.
An all-girls magic academy dating sim where the player character was a professor and every single heroine eventually confessed to him.
I was not the professor.
I was standing in what looked like a student dorm room, wearing a sleep shirt that was definitely part of the female uniform line, and my reflection confirmed the worst possible truth.
"No," I whispered. "No, no, no, no—"
A soft knock interrupted my spiral.
"Will? Are you awake yet?" a girl's voice called through the door in a brigh, cheerful and familiar tone. "The morning assembly is in twenty minutes. If you're late again, the student council president will actually kill you this time."
I stared at the door like it had just declared war.
I knew that voice.
In the game it belonged to Lilia Redgar, the energetic second-year who specialized in wind magic and had the "sunshine kouhai" route. She was supposed to be one of the first girls the professor met.
Why was she calling me by name?
Why did she sound like she already knew me?
I opened my mouth to say something but nothing useful came out.
"Will?" The doorknob turned.
Suddenly panic hit me like a truck. I lunged for the chair, yanked the uniform jacket on over the sleep shirt, and barely managed to look semi-presentable before the door swung open.
Lilia stood there in the full academy uniform—white blouse, pleated skirt, gold-trimmed blazer, and a little wind-crystal pendant at her throat.
Her light brown hair was tied in a high ponytail that bounced when she moved.
She looked exactly like her in-game model, only more real and more detailed.
She blinked at me, then grinned.
"Finally! I was about to drag you out myself. You look like you slept through an earthquake again." She stepped inside without waiting for permission and started straightening my collar like it was the most normal thing in the world.
"Honestly, for someone who transferred in only two weeks ago, you sure act like you've lived here forever."
Transferred in.
Two weeks ago.
My brain short-circuited.
I had no memories of the past two weeks. No idea who this body belonged to. No explanation for why a boy existed in a game world that was supposed to contain exactly zero of them.
Lilia finished with my collar and stepped back while she placed her hands on her hips. "You okay? You're staring at me like I grew a second head."
"I…" My voice came out lower than I expected. "I'm fine. Just… weird dream."
She laughed. "Must've been a good one. You're all red."
I was not red. I was having an existential crisis while standing three feet away from a heroine whose route I had completed three separate times.
A soft chime echoed through the hallway outside which caused Llia's eyes to widen.
"Crap— that's the assembly bell! Come on!" She said hurriedly grabbing my wrist and pulling me. Her hand was warm and soft which caught me off guard.
I let myself be dragged into the corridor.
The dorm hallway was lined with identical doors and soft mana-lights.
Girls in the same uniform streamed past us, chatting, laughing, adjusting ribbons and crystal accessories.
Not a single male face in sight.
Every single one of them glanced at me as they passed.
Some with curiosity.
Some with open interest.
A few with the kind of focused attention that made the back of my neck prickle.
In the game, the academy was completely closed to male students.
The entire premise hinged on it.
The professor was the only man allowed on campus, and even he was treated as a special exception.
Yet here I was, walking through the dorms in a student uniform while Lilia chattered about today's schedule like nothing was wrong.
We stepped out into the morning sunlight.
The main courtyard of Magical Hearts Academy stretched out in front of me, it was designed with perfect white stone paths, floating gardens, crystal fountains, and the massive central tower that housed the higher magic lectures.
In the distance I could see the library dome and the training fields.
It was beautiful.
It was also completely, terrifyingly accurate to the game's opening cinematic.
Lilia finally let go of my wrist and bounced ahead a few steps. "Hurry up or we'll have to stand at the back again! The president always notices when we're late."
I followed silently while my mind raced in my head.
I was inside the game as a male character no less.
I was already enrolled.
And somehow, everyone acted like this was normal.
Which meant one of two things.
Either the game had always had a hidden male student character I never unlocked…
Or my presence was a glitch.
A group of first-years whispered as we passed. One of them actually pointed.
Lilia noticed and shot them a cheerful glare. "Ignore them. They're just not used to you yet. Give it another week and they'll stop staring."
I highly doubted that.
We reached the edge of the assembly field. Hundreds of girls in matching uniforms stood in neat rows.
At the front, on a raised platform, stood several faculty members—and one empty space where the new professor was supposed to appear in the original story.
Lilia tugged me into a spot near the middle of the second-year block.
"See? Made it." She grinned up at me. "You can thank me later. Preferably with those honey tarts from the cafeteria."
I opened my mouth to answer—
And then the student council president stepped up to the podium.
She had silver hair, ice-blue eyes and a perfect fect posture. The kind of beauty that made the game's official art look modest by comparison.
Andrella Vellaria.
In every route, she was the strict, untouchable council president who enforced the academy's rules with terrifying precision. Including the absolute ban on male students.
Her gaze swept across the assembled girls…
And stopped dead on me.
For one long, frozen second, the entire courtyard seemed to hold its breath.
Andrella's expression didn't change.
But the temperature around us dropped several degrees.
Lilia leaned in and whispered, "Uh-oh. She saw us. We're so dead."
I stared back at the most dangerous heroine in the entire game and felt a cold certainty settle in my chest.
I was not supposed to be here.
And from the look inbAndrella's eyes, she already knew it.