A letter to my dear friend back in my original world:
How have you been? Still remember the sorry sight of me getting flattened by that truck?
Heh heh. Just kidding.
This letter's really just to let you know I'm safe and sound.
It's now the fifth year since a dump truck launched me into the next world.
These days I'm in another world, reborn as a beautiful girl, and I've joined a Hero's Party as their healer, currently on the road to slay the Demon Lord.
This healer gig is a real gem.
The job's just standing behind everyone else, watching them beat up slimes and cut down goblins, and every so often waving a hand to toss out a buff or top off their HP. I don't even have to move.
Super easy.
Oh, and from what I've seen, everyone in the Hero's Party except the Hero himself is a gorgeous girl, the kind that turns every head on the street, each one prettier than the last.
So right now I'm drawing up my conquest plans, aiming to sweep every last one of them into my arms before we even reach the Demon Lord's Castle.
But still, in the dead of night, I find myself missing the old world, missing all those games I never got to finish...
Ah, speaking of games.
My dear friend, take a word of advice from me.
Don't use cheats when you game.
Especially not on the kind with a really thorough character-stat system.
And even if you already have, remember to set certain stats back down.
Otherwise...
...the day you kick the bucket and open your eyes again, you'll find yourself stuck with a body that has every stat maxed out, Sensitivity level included, so maxed that a single gust of wind sends you straight to heaven where you stand, AAAAAAAH!!!!
— From your friend who has no intention of ending up in someone else's harem, Ningning
***
"...I honestly can't tell whether this is bad luck or good, hnnngh ohhh..."
In the dim room, a girl with white hair and green eyes drew a deep breath and hurled the quill in her hand with all her might, her voice cracking high and low for no clear reason, strangely sweet and coquettish.
The quill she'd thrown cut a sharp whistle through the air and buried itself deep in the inn's wall.
That's right, she was Ningning.
Ningning, who'd had the good fortune of being launched into another world by a dump truck, and the misfortune of turning into a girl in the process.
Ningning, who'd had the good fortune of transmigrating into a perfectly wholesome game, and the misfortune of starting out with a fully maxed-stat body — open parenthesis, Sensitivity included, close parenthesis.
As for how she'd ended up in such a freak of a body...
Cast your mind back to that afternoon before it all happened. Ningning, unable for the life of her to beat the hidden boss stage of a certain eroge, had a brain-fart in her desperation to see the ending CG, and opened up that sinful little save-editor.
And then.
She cranked every one of her character's stats to the max.
With the godlike might of invincible numbers, she'd beaten the hidden boss using nothing but a blank-slate healer without a single piece of gear, and finally got to see the ending CG she'd been pining for.
So Ningning saved the game, perfectly satisfied, shut down the computer, and headed out to grab a bite with her dear friend.
And then, with a single cry of "Divine punishment!", a dump truck sent her flying.
And then, the moment Ningning opened her eyes, she found she'd become the max-level, gearless healer from her own save file, landing with a splat right in the royal palace gardens, in full view of Her Highness the Princess.
In that moment, Ningning gave heartfelt thanks, for the first time in her life, for this eroge's outrageous mechanic of force-equipping underwear.
After a spell of mortifying chaos she'd rather die than recall, a now-clothed Ningning was measured and found to possess absurd, everyone-crushing stats.
The outcome was easy to guess — she was recruited on the spot by special exception, and, face blank with bewilderment, found herself press-ganged aboard the Princess's personal-court-mage pirate ship.
In all fairness, Ningning had actually been looking forward to transmigrating.
Especially into an eroge otherworld like this one.
Magic, countless beautiful girls of every non-human race, and the chance to build a harem right out in the open...
She didn't even mind becoming a beautiful girl herself.
If anything, getting gender-swapped into a bishoujo made it all the more thrilling.
But, but still!
Sitting in her chair, gazing down at her frail, barren little body, Ningning was choked speechless.
Just as she'd geared up to show off in this new world and assemble her harem, Ningning suddenly realized a life-or-death problem —
This body did indeed have every stat maxed out. But not just the combat stats. Even its Sensitivity level was maxed!
Now she was in real trouble. Forget mowing down monsters and building a harem; even a normal life was a problem.
For instance: just now, the tiny motion of throwing that quill and tugging at her robe had made her legs go weak all on their own; she'd nearly crumpled to the floor with a helpless "hnnngh ohhh."
Time to change her panties again.
What kind of ultra-sensitive-skin constitution even was this?
Though it did feel really good, admittedly.
But still... this time she was truly done for.
With a body like hers now, one that spiraled explosively up to heaven at the lightest touch, forget building a harem; she'd be counting her blessings if the Hero didn't shove her down into his.
Still, even reborn as a dainty little loli healer, Ningning nursed within her breast an unyielding ambition that refused to sink into depravity —
She, Ningning!
Would only ever be a top!
Never a bottom!
And so, to make her dream of cuddling to her heart's content with beautiful girls come true!
A full five years after crossing into this other world, Ningning had finally seized her chance, joined the Hero's Party, and set out to subjugate the Demon Lord.
Because she remembered it clearly: the rewards for the Demon Lord fight included an ultra-rare respec item, one that could force a single character's stats back to their starting values.
If she could just reach that place, if she could just reach that place!
Then she could finally be rid of this freakish body destined to be pinned on the bottom, and win back her confidence!
But alas, as the saying goes, dreams are full-figured, and reality is flat as a board.
More than a month after forming up, this Hero's Party was still loitering around the starter village, a hundred thousand miles from the Demon Lord's Castle.
And Ningning could see absolutely no future for the group.
Even setting herself aside, the squishy healer who ascended to heaven at the merest breeze, there was hardly a single normal person on the team.
In a word: every last one of them was off the rails.
"Haah... whether it's conquering the Demon Lord's Castle or conquering the girls, the road ahead is long and hard."
Ningning sighed, rising gingerly from the desk, and pulled the quill out of the wall to set it back down.
But in truth, she wasn't in any great rush to finish off the Demon Lord.
After all, the longer the journey dragged on, the more character entries she'd get to unlock, cuddling up to each one and making them blush.
In a sense, if she could get the Hero's Party to tour the whole world before going after the Demon Lord, that'd be even better.
As for the fact that every member of the party had a screw loose, that, to Ningning, was no problem at all.
Unhinged was the best. She loved winning over unhinged characters.
Going by the temperament of this eroge she'd fallen into, unhinged characters always turned out absurdly overpowered in some unexpected, no-win situation.
"So then, short-term goal: win over the Hero's Party's beautiful girls one by one, on the road to the Demon Lord's Castle."
"As for the long-term goal, that'll be to conquer the Demon Lord's Castle, get my hands on the respec item, and win back my freedom — and if the Demon Lord happens to be a beautiful girl, well, I could always bag her while I'm at it."
Mind made up, Ningning cast a few more glances at the letter she'd just poured her heart into, then decisively snatched up the pages and threw them into the fireplace to burn.
The letter was only something she'd scribbled for fun to vent the gloom in her chest.
If anyone ever actually read it, she'd never be able to show her face again.
Well, the letter was burned now anyway, so surely there'd be no trouble.
It wasn't as if the thing could cross the dimensional barrier like offerings burned for the dead.
Yeah. Surely not.
Once she'd confirmed the pages were burned to ash, Ningning carefully changed into clean clothes, then flopped onto the bed with a thud and kicked her slippers off every which way:
"This can't go on..."
"A lineup where everyone but the Hero is a girl, it's practically begging me to steal them right out of his hands."
"But this ultra-sensitive skin of mine drops the ball at every turn."
"Just today alone I burned through every last pair of panties; even diapers couldn't keep up at this rate... yawn... how am I supposed to be a top like this..."
"Maybe I should just stockpile a hundred, two hundred spares to rotate through..."
Muzzy-headed from all that ascending, Ningning mumbled on and off to herself and soon drifted into dreamland.
But she hadn't been asleep long before a burst of urgent knocking jolted her awake.
Rubbing her aching eyes, she sat up in bed and groped across the floor with her bare feet, yet couldn't find her slippers anywhere.
Groggy from sleep, Ningning had completely forgotten she'd just kicked them flying.
Meanwhile, the knocking grew heavier and more frantic by the second.
It had every air of being about to break the door down if she didn't answer soon.
"...Coming, coming!"
Rushed into a fluster, Ningning had no choice but to pitter-patter barefoot to the door, undo the lock-spell with a careless wave, crack the door open, and poke her little head out:
"Who is it, in such a hurry? This had better be something actually important..."
Before Ningning could finish, Baiye, the Hero's Party captain, who filled the Assassin role, braced the door open with force.
Moonlight slanted in through the corridor window, plating her in a cool, silvery sheen.
Her black hair, streaked with red highlights, lifted in the night breeze, baring a slender neck and sharply defined collarbones.
Her brows and eyes were sharp as blades, yet right now they brimmed with worry; the keep-your-distance chill she usually wore had vanished without a trace, leaving only an ordinary girl fretting over a teammate.
Baiye shouted at Ningning:
"It's bad, Ningning! The Hero's carried Little Leilei off to the red-light district!"
"Huh?"
The news left Ningning gaping, dumbstruck.
Hold on, the Hero's Party had only been together a few days, hadn't it?
They didn't even have each other's names down yet, and they'd already gotten together?
And to the red-light district, no less, going that big right out of the gate?
The Hero's protagonist halo was really kicking in, huh?
Seeing Ningning frozen in place, at a total loss, Baiye stamped her foot in exasperation, seized Ningning by the arm, and hauled her toward the door:
"What are you standing there for? Come help me save them, now!"
"Wait, I'm not even dressed... don't touch my armpit, my legs'll give out! Nngh, nngh, nnn..."
Ningning tried to struggle, but with her max-Sensitivity body, even the lightest touch was a hard stun plus true damage.
All she could do was go limp all over and get dragged along like a snail as Baiye ran her out of the inn and made straight for the red-light district to the rescue.
As for whether this outing was a rescue or a home delivery...
No need to even guess, it was definitely the latter.
The thought left Ningning more tearless with despair than ever.
And so, unable to resist, the girl silently wept her "tears" as Baiye dragged her through the inn corridor, through the city streets, through countless curious stares, flailing messily in the wind.
My dear friend from my past life, please, I'm begging you, save me.
If this kept up, she, Ningning, was going to be devoured clean in every sense of the word, and meet her end in the red-light district.