My name is Kitahara Akira. I'm 16 years old. I currently live in an apartment in Chiba Prefecture, and my current relationship status is single. My primary occupation at the moment is being a first-year student at Sobu High School.
I don't smoke or drink, and I only play video games occasionally to pass the time. Every night, I make sure to go to sleep before 10 PM. In my dreams, I usually spend several hours practicing swordsmanship with Igris without ever feeling tired. Even Igris himself has praised my discipline.
By the way, I'm a transmigrator. If I remember correctly, I died in a fire incident in my previous life. After that, I reincarnated into this combined fictional world of anime and manga. A few months ago, right during the summer break after graduating from middle school, I suddenly activated a system. My biggest dream right now is actually quite simple: to marry a beautiful 2D girl.
"Yawn..."
Akira let out a wide yawn on his way to school. His head was slightly lowered, his eyes still half-asleep.
[ Character Status ]
Name: Kitahara Akira
Gender: Walmart Shopping Cart (Optional)
Abilities: Swordsmanship, Shadow Manipulation, Browser Mastery
Special Item: Igris’s 3D Phone (Status: Missing)
Remaining Gacha Tickets: 2
Akira clicked his tongue quietly as he looked at the floating text inside his head. "Tch, this system is seriously a cheap, mass-produced piece of junk. It's so primitive, there isn't even a shop feature or anything."
When the system first activated, Akira had been thrilled out of his mind. Unfortunately, after handing over the starter gift pack, the useless piece of scrap metal instantly turned into a basic status panel and never made a sound again.
Even his current swordsmanship and shadow magic were taught to him directly by Igris!
Ever since waking up fifteen years ago in the body of a one-year-old infant abandoned at a hospital, Akira had always assumed he was just reborn in ordinary Japan. The uncle of the original body's owner had kindly adopted him. Akira only realized this world was messed up after watching a news broadcast detailing the profiles of the highly influential Shinomiya and Yukinoshita families in Chiba.
'Oh well, being a plagiarist of fictional works from my old world and living a 2D romance story doesn't sound like a bad idea,' Akira had thought at the time.
Regrettably, his sweet dream of living a peaceful life while writing novels was shattered during the summer break. Because the damn system bound him to a legendary knight, Akira was forced to become a makeshift hero who moved purely out of boredom.
And last night's rescue operation was his very first real battle in this world.
"Oh, right. Igris," Akira suddenly called out in his mind.
A deep, commanding voice instantly resonated within his consciousness. "I am listening, Your Majesty."
"Because of what happened last night, I just realized my combat capability in a real fight is still pretty pathetic. In the end, I made a mess of things and had to rely on you again." Akira let out a short sigh.
"You should not be discouraged, Your Majesty. You simply lack experience in life-or-death battles."
"I told you, stop calling me King. I'm not Sung Jin-Woo, I don't deserve that title at all." Akira glanced around warily, half-worried that a shadow soldier might suddenly pop out of his own shadow to kidnap him.
Akira cleared his throat, trying to pivot away from the topic that had been bothering him for months. "Actually, I'm curious. What is your relationship with the real Igris who serves under the actual Shadow Monarch?"
Silence enveloped Akira's mind for a few moments before the voice echoed back.
"You can think of us as originating from parallel universes. We possess the same form and capabilities, yet our personalities and destinies differ. Your Majesty, to meet you in this world, I had to cross various dimensional boundaries until my entire strength was depleted. Last night’s battle consumed the absolute last of my remaining energy. It seems I must go into a deep slumber for quite a long time. While I am asleep, please take good care of yourself." Igris’s voice gradually faded, sounding further and further away.
Akira balled his hands into fists inside his pockets. "...Don't worry, I'll find a way to wake you up as soon as possible."
"I shall await..."
"Sleep well, Igris," Akira murmured quietly.
"Akira-kun... what do you mean by 'sleep well'?" A soft, incredibly gentle female voice suddenly sounded right next to his ear.
Akira flinched in surprise, reflexively turning his head to the right. A girl with a cute bob haircut had somehow ended up walking right alongside him.
"Kato! Holy crap, you almost gave me a heart attack! Since when were you there?" Akira patted his chest, trying to calm his racing heart.
Kato Megumi stared at him with a completely blank expression. "I’ve been waving at you from behind for a while now, Akira-kun. But since you seemed completely spaced out, I just walked up next to you."
"Ah... sorry, sorry. I didn't sleep well last night, so my head is a bit foggy this morning." Akira looked at her face intently.
Even though Akira knew her characteristics from his past life's memories, Kato’s incredibly thin presence frequently slipped past his awareness. This girl was practically on par with a legendary Grand Assassin!
Because of that, a month ago during the first day of school, Akira had casually greeted Kato, who sat at the desk to his right. He had been shocked out of his mind when Kato responded with, "Eh, you can see me?". At that moment, Akira genuinely thought he had wandered into the plot of a horror anime filled with ghosts.
Kato narrowed her eyes, staring straight into Akira's. "I get the feeling Akira-kun is thinking about something incredibly rude right now."
"Ehem... of course not! I was just thinking that you look really cute today, Kato. I was a bit spellbound." Akira quickly shifted his gaze forward, trying to look as natural as possible.
"Eh? Even if Akira-kun praises me like that, I'm not going to blush, you know." Kato turned her gaze forward as well. But at an angle hidden from Akira, a faint arc of a smile formed on her lips.
The two teenagers continued their casual banter for the rest of the walk until they finally arrived at the classroom.
*SLIDE!*
Akira slid the classroom door open with a solid thud.
"Hehe~ The Shadow Monarch! Instead of running away, you walk right toward me. Are you finally ready to accept the challenge of my *Eye of the Wicked Lord*?!" A chuunibyou girl wearing an eyepatch over her right eye instantly blocked Akira's path. One hand rested on her hip while the other pointed dramatically at him.
*PAKK!*
A light chop landed squarely on top of the girl's head, making a remarkably crisp sound.
"Stop bothering Akira, Rikka. He’s already rejected your ridiculous challenge a million times!" A boy behind her pulled her collar with a helpless sigh, then turned his gaze toward Akira. "Morning, Akira."
"Morning, Yuta," Akira replied with a faint smile.
"Ughuu~ Yuta is mean~" Rikka turned around while clutching her head, staring at Togashi Yuta with teary eyes.
Kato Megumi stepped past them from the side. "Um... we should probably get inside. Standing right in front of the door blocks the way for everyone else."
Rikka flinched, instantly dropping into a defensive stance with her arms crossed. "Hah?! A hidden assassin?! Since when were you there?!"
*PAKK!*
Another chop landed on Rikka's head before Yuta dragged the eyepatch-wearing girl away from the doorway.
In a dimly lit corner of the room, Hikigaya Hachiman rested his chin on his hands at his desk. His dead, fish-like eyes moved slowly, observing the popular group's interaction with pure envy. 'Damn normies... I hope they all just explode.'
***
Akira walked into the classroom. As he passed the row of desks by the window, his eyes caught Kageno Minoru. The black-haired boy was pretending to admire the view outside, but his body was secretly drenched in cold sweat.
'Nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-eight... nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine...'
Akira chose to ignore the shadow-obsessed lunatic who was busy pushing his physical limits to the absolute extreme. He kept walking toward the very back row—the row often dubbed the throne of fictional main characters.
"Morning, Miyuki," Akira greeted Shirogane Miyuki, who was busy reading a textbook at his seat. Akira pulled out the chair next to him and sat down.
"Morning, Akira." Shirogane Miyuki closed his book, quickly glancing toward Kato Megumi to make sure she had walked away and wasn't paying attention. He then threw a knowing smile at his friend. "So, you walked to school with Kato again this morning?"
Akira leaned back against his chair, letting out a defeated sigh. "Don't start. We just happened to run into each other at the intersection."
"Really? Because based on my observations, Kato is the one you’re closest to and spend the most time with lately." Miyuki kept teasing.
'That's because her presence is so thin that barely anyone else even notices she exists in this class...' Akira thought to himself.
Akira cleared his throat loudly to cut off the conversation. "Ehem! My relationship with Kato is purely platonic. We're just regular friends. Instead of worrying about me, how's your progress with Shinomiya? Don't tell me you still haven't confessed to her?"
Shirogane Miyuki’s handsome face instantly flushed bright red at the mention of the girl's name. He turned his embarrassed face away. "Not yet... besides, I don't think the timing is right."
"Then you better hurry up. Considering the internal situation of the Shinomiya family lately... Shinomiya could be forced into a business marriage arrangement at any moment." Akira leaned forward, staring at Shirogane Miyuki with a serious expression. "Miyuki, you definitely don't want to see Shinomiya ending up married to some fifty or sixty-year-old old man, right?"
Miyuki instantly slammed his fist onto the table. "Yeah! I'll definitely give it everything I've got!"
The boy's spirit suddenly caught fire, and he even began chugging the broth from his lunch box in massive gulps to vent his sudden surge of determination.
***
Class time arrived soon enough.
A math teacher with a completely bald head walked into the classroom, clutching several thick textbooks, and immediately began his lecture at the blackboard.
As the saying goes: when humans are pushed to their absolute limits, they can achieve just about anything—except solving math problems.
Having returned all his academic knowledge to his past-life math teachers, Akira stared at the messy cluster of complicated numbers and symbols on the board with resignation. His best option right now was only one.
The textbook was promptly shut. His head dropped onto the desk, and his consciousness drifted into dreamland within seconds.
"Akira-kun, Akira-kun." Kato Megumi, sitting at the desk to his right, leaned forward slightly, whispering quietly while nudging Akira’s arm to wake him up. However, her efforts bore no fruit whatsoever.
The math teacher at the podium glanced toward Akira’s seat a few times. Fortunately, he chose not to make a fuss and simply went back to scribbling complicated equations on the board.
Seeing that the coast was clear, Kato finally gave up on taking any bigger risks to wake the boy up.
***
"Akira-kun, wake up. It’s lunchtime."
Akira, who had slept like a log until the bell rang, finally woke up after feeling a gentle tap on his shoulder from Kato.
"Yawn... Kato? Is it noon already?" Akira rubbed his bleary eyes.
"Yes, it’s recess." Kato placed her cloth lunchbox on the desk.
"Ah, sorry, sorry." Akira quickly reached into his desk drawer to pull out his own lunchbox.
Miyuki, Yuta, and Rikka immediately joined them. The small group began pushing their desks together, getting ready to enjoy lunch together.
Rikka stared at the row of green bell peppers inside her lunchbox with a dreary expression. "Curse it... the Holy Priest has smuggled forbidden poison into my logistical supplies again to seal away my magical powers."
The girl's fingers began picking out the green pepper slices one by one with her chopsticks to discard them.
*PAKK!*
Yuta instantly gifted the top of Rikka's head with a light chop. "Don't be a picky eater!"
"Ughuu~ Yuta is cruel~" Rikka turned, staring at Yuta with a pleading, hopeful gaze.
Yuta let out a long sigh, clearly giving up against his partner's antics. "Haaah... I really can't leave you alone, can I? Here, swap with me."
In an instant, Rikka's eyes sparkled with joy. "Hehe..."
***
Kato, sitting directly across the table, observed their interaction while scooping her rice. "Takanashi-san and Togashi-kun really seem to get along well, Akira-kun."
"Pretty much. But unfortunately, those two are equally clueless about their own feelings." Akira scooped his food. Ever since becoming friends with Yuta and Rikka a month ago, Akira had been playing matchmaker like crazy, and their relationship was practically just one step away from becoming official.
Kato's gaze then shifted to the neatly arranged side dishes inside Akira's lunchbox. "By the way, Akira-kun brought a homemade lunch today? Usually, I see you just eating convenience store bread during lunch."
"I used to be too lazy to wake up early and cook. But once in a while, I also want to treat my taste buds to something better."
"Eh? Akira-kun can actually cook? I assumed the lunch was prepared by your mother."
Akira swung his chopsticks casually. "Ah... I'm an orphan and I live alone in an apartment now. So, I have to know at least a bit of cooking to survive."
Kato’s hand instantly froze mid-air. Her face, which usually always looked calm and flat, was now painted with a clearly visible flash of panic. "I'm sorry! I really didn't know about that..."
Akira chuckled at the reaction of the girl across from him. "It's fine, I stopped thinking about that kind of stuff a long time ago."
The parents of this body had passed away before he even opened his eyes in this world. For Akira, his emotional bond with them was much thinner compared to the uncle who had raised and adopted him.
To clear up the suddenly awkward atmosphere, Akira picked up a piece of rolled omelet from his lunch and placed it in Kato's container. "Here, try my cooking."
Seeing this, Kato quickly picked up a piece of fried shrimp from her own box and transferred it to Akira's. "In that case, Akira-kun should try mine too."
***
Shirogane Miyuki, who had just opened his own lunchbox, instantly froze at his seat. His gaze shifted from his plain rice box toward the four people around him who were busy swapping side dishes in pairs.
Miyuki let out a heavy sigh, feeling completely full before he could even take a single bite of rice, entirely stuffed by the overwhelming amount of sweet romance happening right in front of him.