The Dean's speech concluded with a thunderous roar of applause that filled the auditorium. I sat there, hands folded neatly on my lap, maintaining my glacial stare. I didn't clap. I wasn't about to waste my energy applauding an old man's attempt at intimidation. Besides, my palms were already a little sweaty from the sheer effort of not vibrating out of my seat.
"And now," the Dean's voice amplified, carrying a weight that demanded attention. "Please welcome the first year's first rank and your student representative: Jin Kang!"
The auditorium didn't just whisper; it rippled with it.
"Is that him? The one from the Kang family?"
"Look at the way he walks... he looks like he owns the place."
"I heard his mana output is already terrifying. Do you think he's actually as strong as they say?"
"Shh, he's coming up."
A young man climbed the steps onto the stage. He didn't do that performative, arrogant strut that most prodigies would the kind that screams 'look at me.' Instead, he climbed with a casual, effortless competence that somehow made him seem infinitely more dangerous. He was tall, with short brown hair that looked precisely maintained, and a face that wasn't just 'pretty boy' handsome it was competent handsome. The kind of face that made you trust him right before he destroyed you.
He gave a short, respectful bow to the Dean, then turned to face the crowd. His eyes bright green and unsettlingly clear swept over the audience with the easy confidence of someone who had never once had to wonder if he belonged in a room. He belonged everywhere.
"It is an honor to stand before you as your representative," Jin began. His voice was poised, carrying to the back rows without effort. When he offered a smile, it wasn't a practiced politician's grin; it was genuine.
"Whoa," a girl two rows ahead of me whispered to her friend. "Did you see that smile? My heart actually just skipped."
"Shut up, I'm trying to listen! But yeah... damn."
Internally, I was screaming.
Bastard.
Look at him. Standing there, bathed in spotlight, being charming, being competent, being recognized. He's the golden boy. The perfect protagonist. The guy who gets everything handed to him on a silver platter while I'm sitting here trying to not piss myself because a stranger looked at my cleavage.
I am jealous. Yes, I am! I'm a twenty year old man trapped in the body of a goddess, and I've never been more envious of a brown haired teenager in my entire life! He gets to be the hero, and I get to be the... the... whatever the fuck I am right now!
I felt a bitter smile threatening to crack my icy mask. I was beautiful now, yes. But it was a cursed beauty. A beauty that acted like a homing beacon for every predator in a five mile radius. I was a walking target.
The [Inspector Eye] flickered automatically as he spoke.
[Inspector Eye: Jin Kang | Rank: C | Beauty: B+ | Fetish: Netorare / NTR]
I stared at the text.
There it is. The core of the engine.
I already knew it, obviously it was the premise of the entire game but seeing it laid out in clinical data made it feel real. It made the abstract concept of 'plot' feel like a tangible mechanic I could manipulate. He wasn't just a boy; he was a system verified fetish magnet. He was the fuel that would power my SP gains.
Okay, Jin Kang. You do your thing. Be the perfect student, be the beloved prodigy, be the shining beacon of hope.
I leaned back slightly, my golden eyes narrowing almost imperceptibly.
While you're busy being a hero, I'll be busy preparing the stage. Because if you're going to be the engine of this world's corruption, I might as well be the one who makes sure you run at maximum efficiency.
***
I bolted.
The moment Jin's speech ended, I was out of my seat and moving like a woman who had just remembered her stove was on. The crowd was thick, the eyes were thick, and my skin was already filing complaints about ambient proximity. No. Nope. Time to go.
The main hall was calmer a vast space dominated by massive display screens where the names of every first year and their assigned class scrolled in neat columns. I found my name quickly and exhaled in genuine relief.
Jin Kang Class A
Ellen Frost Class B
"Not in the protagonist's class," I whispered, savoring the words like a prayer. "Thank you, universe. Thank you, transmigration lottery."
Because this was, legitimately, the greatest perk a transmigrator could ask for. In any story worth its salt, the protagonist's classroom was a black hole of plot. Every minor incident, every rival, every power play, every surprise dungeon alert it all funneled into that one room. And Genius Student NTR Story wasn't just porn. It had combat arcs, dungeon expeditions, classroom politics, minor villains, the whole buffet. Being in Class A meant being entangled in every single one of those events.
Class B? Class B was background. Peace. Quiet. Time to think, time to plan, time to build my SP empire without a spotlight on my head.
And honestly, there was one more reason. A petty, human, deeply shameful reason.
I really, really didn't want to be in his class. I'd die of jealousy. Actual, clinical jealousy. Watching Mr. Perfect Genius be Mr. Perfect Genius from two seats away, every day? My heart couldn't take it. My pride couldn't take it. I'd start a rivalry over nothing and get myself killed.
I was mid thought something smug, something like see, I'm already smarter than the average transmigrator when a finger tapped my shoulder.
"AHHH!"
The scream that erupted from me was loud, high, and completely undignified. I jumped a full step forward, spinning around with my heart hammering, only to find a girl with long brown hair and bright green eyes a white lab coat worn over her Academy uniform staring at me.
"AHHH!" she shrieked at the same time, stumbling backward, apparently startled by my own scream.
We stood there. Two screaming idiots in an emptying hall.
"What is wrong with you?!" she demanded, pointing at me.
"What is wrong with YOU?!" I fired back, hand on my chest, trying to force my face back into its flat, glacial default while my pulse did laps. "Who taps a person like that?! Call my name! Use words! I have ears!"
"I DID call you! Twice! You were staring at the screen like it owed you money!"
"...I was reviewing strategic information."
"You were sighing in relief at a class list."
I knew exactly who this was, of course. The lab coat. The green eyes. The family resemblance to a certain brown haired golden boy standing on a stage fifty meters behind us.
"My name is Aya! Aya Kang!" she declared, jabbing a finger at me with zero reverence. "And I just wanted to greet privately the second seat of the Academy! I didn't expect the already famous Ellen Frost to be startled by a tap on the shoulder!"
The [Inspector Eye] flickered obligingly over her head.
[Aya Kang | Rank: D | Beauty: A+ | Rank Limit: S | Fetish: Monster / Pregnancy (Monster Mother deeply held, never previously acted on)]
Aya Kang, I thought, recovering my composure one frozen centimeter at a time. The protagonist's twin sister. Renowned young scientist. And one of the heroines.
And her fetish is... yeah. That. Deeply held. Never acted on. Well. 'Never' has an expiration date in this world, doesn't it, Aya. I know exactly how your story goes. I know what those monster biology studies of yours are really about.
Also, your brother's fetish is NTR and yours is monster pregnancy. Your family is WEIRD. I love it. Data confirmed. This game's writing team had no shame and I respect that enormously.
"Ellen Frost," I replied, extending a hand with aristocratic calm while internally reviewing the contact. She tapped my shoulder. My shoulder. A single, innocent, completely non threatening tap and my body reacted like it was a declaration of war. Third Rate Sensitivity, we need to TALK. A shoulder tap! I screamed like a haunted house prop!
"Pleasure," I said, voice flat and cool.
"Uh huh." Aya squinted at me. "You're exactly like the rumors say. Cold. Creepy calm. Beautiful in a way that's honestly kind of annoying."
"Thank you."
"It wasn't entirely a compliment."
"It entirely was."
She stared at me. I stared at her. And then, to my mild internal alarm, her expression shifted into something dangerously close to interest the look of a scientist who had found a fascinating specimen.
"So," she said, clasping her hands. "Your eyes. Gold irises. Statistically anomalous pigmentation. Question: does the altered iris structure affect your photon processing differently than standard pupil coloration? I've been dying to ask someone with that exact mutation."
...Oh no, I thought. She's going to be useful. She's going to be SO useful.
And she's the only person so far who wants to talk to me abouteyeballsinstead of my chest. Aya Kang, you may be the greatest person in this Academy.
"Actually," I said, in my flattest, most Ice Beauty voice, "yes. It does. Would you like the data?"
Aya's eyes lit up like a Gate opening.
Friends. I might have just made my first friend in this world. Over ocular physics. In an eroge.
"Actually, the photon absorption rate in the iris is approximately twelve percent higher than average due to the mineral concentration in the pigment..."
I stopped mid sentence, feeling like the world's biggest fraud. What was I even saying? How would I know anything about photon processing? I was a business major! My most advanced understanding of 'biological systems' involved supply chain logistics and market volatility!
But I didn't stop. I couldn't. If I stopped, she'd realize I was just making up plausible sounding scientific gibberish, and the Ice Beauty facade would shatter harder than a frozen lake under a sledgehammer. So I kept spouting technical sounding nonsense, nodding with appropriate gravity whenever she asked a follow up question.
But honestly? This is the smartest move I've made since I woke up in this body.
I wasn't just befriending a girl; I was securing a supply chain. Aya Kang wasn't just some cute classmate with a lab coat; she was a certified genius in monster biology. And in this world, monster biology wasn't just an academic curiosity it was the foundation of the entire economy.
Every potion in existence from basic mana regenerators to high grade paralysis toxins and rare antidotes was brewed from monster components. A dragon's scale here, a slime's core there. With Aya's intellect, her access to the Kang family's resources, and our new 'friendship,' I wouldn't just be another student struggling to buy supplies. I would be rich. Not in gold though that would be nice but rich in consumables. I could have a private stockpile of every potion I needed to survive the inevitable dungeon crawls and assassination attempts.
I'm not just making a friend; I'm building a pharmacy. God, I'm good at this.
"Ah." Aya said suddenly, pointing at the display screen behind us. "I'm Class B. Just like you. Wanna go to the classroom together?"
For a split second, a genuine smile threatened to break across my face. I suppressed it with the practiced ease of someone who had been pretending to be a robot for the last hour. Instead, I gave her a single, curt nod.
"Sure."
"Great!" Aya beamed, already turning to lead the way. "We can discuss your ocular data while we walk. I have some preliminary theories about whether the gold coloration could indicate a latent affinity for light based mana manipulation..."
Operation: Friend Exploitation... I thought as I fell into step beside her, maintaining my perfect, cold posture.
...SUCCESS! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
...This is the most normal interaction I've had in two lifetimes. I'm keeping her.