Chapter 29 – Extra Story — A Starry Dream  

Hmm, I, what was I trying to do now? It’s like waking up after a dream and momentarily losing track of reality.

Surrounded by the well kept garden… right, this is the school’s courtyard. I’ve seen it many times in the background of stills.

And there in front of me… is a beautiful, hard-faced woman with an anxious look on her face. She was a villain in the game, but in this world she is a jerk who uses her power and position to get men to serve her. Ahh, this person made me remember how many times I had game overs and had to spend charged items to retry.

The other day, when I, the Star Maiden, met her, she glared at Will and the others in annoyance when they were being friendly with me. It’s very bad character to abuse the knowledge of the original story, mess up the story so badly, and then resent it when the Star Maiden come out. I could tell that she’s not the real Remilia, but I’m a fuck-up enough, too. Well, it’s better that way because I don’t have to feel guilty when I kill her in the future.

So I called her up today to declare war on her, saying,「I’m not going to do what you want anymore.」The other students at the school were pampering her at first, but after that day, they stopped coming by at all… I’m sure that’s her direction too. She has a really bad character.

I thought I could have a super good time because the face of the Star Maiden is indeed the main character and much prettier than my previous life’s face, but because of this person’s interference, it’s just mob-like people talking to me a little.

Right, that’s why, I… As the real heroine of this work, I called this woman here to tell her emphatically, “I will not give anyone to you.”

「You’re a reincarnated, aren’t you?」

「…」

I wanted to yell at her, but for some reason my words didn’t come out the way I wanted to speak. I was about to taunt her, saying that it was disgusting that she would use her knowledge of the game to create a reverse Harem just because she was the first to meet them.

I lost my momentum when she just asked me.

「Y–Yes… that’s right. Uhh, Pina-san has memories of her past life, too, right? The Star Maiden and the Knight of Salvation…」

「So what, you’re disappointed that you’re not the only one?」

「No, uhh… that’s not what I mean… I just wasn’t expecting you to talk about your past life, so I was a little surprised.」

Remilia, the woman I called to complain, had a good girl look on her face that annoyed me. Deep down, she doesn’t think that at all. She’s the type of person I hate the most. You just wanted to avoid the condemnation flag, why do you have a reverse harem then? What the hell do you think you can talk to me, a woman, and pretend to be something you’re not?

「Ah, That kind of thing is fine. It’s painful to act like an insensitive heroine in real life, isn’t it?」

I’m still getting annoyed by the obvious excuses that「we didn’t have that kind of relationship」and「I didn’t think of it that way.」I didn’t want to deal with her, so I forced the conversation to end and got down to business.

「That’s enough. Hey, who was your character of choice?」

「Eh? …My character of choice is Remilia, though…」

「Yourself? That mean you’re narcissistic? Uwaah.」

「I–It’s not! I loved Remilia, the villainess in the game!」

「Hah…? Did you like that female character? That female character? Are you lesbian? Yuck…」

Oh no, I’m cute too and she might do something weird to me. She took a step back and said,「No,」「I was just cheering for her to be happy,」and other such jibberish. Then she’s the one who says,「It’s an Otome game, but I don’t pay attention to the good-looking guys and fall in love with the girl characters, and I love my sensibilities that are different from those of the people around me.」Either way, she’s definitely not the type of person I want to be friends with. And she also says that she fell in love with Will while she was his fiancée, which is funny, because she’s not at all single-minded. My number one is always Angel, so my seriousness is totally different from hers.

「Then you should help me. Your family is rich, right?」

「Eh, that’s…」

It was hard to make ends meet in the early days, and this girl had a good time, so I deserve to have a little fun for that. I remember all the options to increase likability, so that’s not a problem, but I’d like to have cute outfits and items. He said that the government would protect me, but he only gave me a small amount of money, saying that it was an appropriate amount for a student, that shitty king.

When I said that, Remilia was very reluctant. Hah? Why are you talking like I’m the one who wants the money?

「What are you talking about when you stole the likability that I was supposed to get? I thought I didn’t care for Williard because he’s a gritty guy you like but he’s not interesting, but I can go for it, can’t I? I think I’ll make him fall for me!」

Remilia was visibly upset when I said this. It seems that she really likes Williard. Yes, yes, you should have listened to me from the beginning.

From then on, everything went my way.

No, it didn’t for a bit at first. For some reason, I didn’t get along with the characters at all, even though I was supposed to be following the strategy.

Because, you know, there are conversations other than the stories and choices that are in the game, so I don’t know how to answer correctly there. It seems that if I make a slight mistake there, my likability goes down every time.

I’m the type of person that people like, so everything goes well at first, but as time goes by, I’m gone before I know it.

No, I was a little overzealous, and from the perspective of men who are not immune to this world, they might get nervous and overly conscious.

Remilia gave me some good-natured advice like,「I think people don’t want to hear so many bad things about other people.」What a rude bitch.

I just had a frank talk with her to see if we were getting to know each other, but she suddenly changed her attitude and now I’m the one who’s the worst!? It’s really terrible to be friends with someone after you’ve already made friends with them once. But if you don’t accept me for who I really am, I’m not going to accept you.

I thought so, but the more time passed, the more things started to go wrong and I became impatient. It would be just like in my previous life. So I decided to use a little of my gaming knowledge. It’s not a sneaky thing to do. Because charged items are created by the people who created this world because they wanted people to use them.

Remilia, still acting like a good girl, says things like,「This is not a game, it’s real life, so you can’t do that,」or「It’s not nice to manipulate people’s feelings.」And I’m not manipulating them! This is the world for me, the heroine, and this is the right form. You’re the one who ruined the storyline using your knowledge of the game, and now you’re saying that you’re good and I’m not, and that’s just bad character.

But you reacted differently from the game, which is a little weird. But I don’t mind because it’s fun to watch the guys who were saying bad things about me behind my back at first, but who eventually couldn’t take their eyes off me and became happy when I touched them. It was very pleasant to slowly drop these handsome guys who were confused about how their feelings were making them fall in love with me all on their own.

There’s nothing wrong with this, if I had done it right, I would have done it, but it was too much trouble to take it seriously, so I just took a shortcut.

Remilia often makes accusations against me to raise my favorability, but when I say,「Well, I’ll make Will mine, too,」she shuts up immediately, so there’s nothing to be afraid of. I have to deal with all the complaints from the girls at school who like guys who have fallen in love with me. You were born into an aristocratic family, you’ve had a good life, so it’s your duty to work this hard for the heroine, right?

In addition, I reported them to the high and mighty of the castle for the nasty women who tried to harm me, the Star Maiden. I was a bit scandalized when I exaggerated a little and said something like,「I felt my life was in danger,」and they were put under house arrest.

I let Remilia do the actual work of advancing the map and fighting demons instead of me doing all the tedious stuff. If she does it right, it can be done quickly, so why do I have to be the one to do it?

I let her cheat on internal affairs with the knowledge of the previous world by using her family’s money, but this was completely my achievement because I was the one who gave the orders for the chocolate and curry. I could have done it just as well if I had done it myself.

No, I would have done it better, aren’t I? I had a sense of style and design. Well, it’s a pain in the ass, so I won’t do it.

All the good-looking guys I was pining for like me now, and it’s great to hear them praise me for being so great. Remilia is also a good girl and sometimes annoying, but basically I feel good with her, so I don’t mind if we continue to be friends. I’ve had a lot of female friends who were annoying and always tried to avoid me, but Remilia is a pretty nice girl and I’m happy to be friends with her. I guess it’s just that I’ve never had a good girl around me, and I rather like her.

In this world where everything is exactly as I want it to be, I finally have the happiness I deserve, and for the first time in my life, I feel fulfilled.

And tomorrow I finally get to go to the Devil’s Kingdom! Now I can finally meet Angel…! Is his brother already dead? Then I should comfort him.

I definitely want to recreate the stills from the event. The one where he kisses me on the beach at dawn and says,「I swear on your love for saving me!」I guess I’ll have less time to take care of the other characters from now on, sorry. But I’ve always decided that if I’m going to marry someone, it’s going to be Angel. Because I love his face, his character design, his personality, his lines, there’s so much to choose from!

I smiled as I recalled the images I had seen through the grimoire. I was so excited to finally see the real thing that I went to sleep wondering if I would be able to sleep properly today.

『Nhn…』

I woke up on a hard bed with a lump on my back. The air was murky and smelled of mold in the dimly lit room.

『Why here, where am I… Ah…』 I couldn’t speak properly because of the discomfort in my throat, the air just leaked out and didn’t make a sound.

Why am I here? For a moment I was seriously confused and panicked. No way, am I kidnapped!? I was about to think, “Today is the day I’m meeting Angel, and this is the worst thing that could happen to me…” And then I remembered. Everything… Every single thing…

『Ahhhhh… that’s a lie, stop…! No… Nooooooo!!!』

Dirty, cramped rooms, minimal food, daily headaches, and being forced to use my blessings to the point of exhaustion and not being able to move a finger. If I resist, they make it worse, so no matter how much you don’t like it, I have to put up with it.

The burnt throat cannot produce a proper voice, and the only sound is like a broken whistle, which does not sound like meaningful words.

I don’t even bathe well enough to get my bodies dirty, I’d rather kill myself than live like this, But they won’t allow me to die.

This is the reality… my reality…

『No, no, no, no more…! Aaaaaghhhh, no, noooooo, noooooo!!!』

Why did you have to show me that dream, it’s terrible, why!? You could have at least made me forget what the dream was about!

They brought me here, burned my face, and I’m in pain and suffering somewhere all the time… After a while, my head would start to feel fuzzy, and I wouldn’t have to think too much about how hard it was, it’s hard to remember if I’m only shown happy dreams like this…!

『Make me forget! Please make me forget…!』

Or I wanted to die like that. If I couldn’t stay awake from that happy dream, I wanted to die with the dream still in my mind.

Why this, this terrible thing? It’s so hard and I’m in so much pain and God won’t even do anything for me!

「Agh, aargh, urgh, awwwwwaaaggghhh!!!」

（Someone please kill meeeeeeeeee!!!）

I was in so much pain that I couldn’t help myself and sprawled out on the bed. The janitor man yelled,「Shut up!」while listening to the sound of his footsteps coming up the stairs, I screamed, scratching my head, trying to forget the happiness I had brought back from my dream.

A shabby looking woman is screaming like a madwoman in the magic of the water mirror, which has been modified to project distant views in real time.

Her once lovely appearance is now a shadow of its former self, and even those who knew her at the time would not recognize her, minus the burns on her face.

「Oh, thank goodness. You’ve been a little less responsive lately, but this will give you a fresh start and a new sense of despair.」

I smiled as I heard the screams. I could not suppress the joy that welled up from within my heart.

It was as if I was walking on a fresh field of snow with no footprints on it.

I’m glad I developed the magic of dream manipulation. It seems to work better than I imagined. Recently, I have tried various things, such as driving a wire into the marrow of a bone in a connected limb and shaving it from the inside, inserting a screw into a hole in the gum where a tooth had been pulled out and piercing the nerve directly, and making her unable to close her mouth so that she could「serve」the men. Of course, I didn’t do it directly, but I guided the people I entrusted with this guy’s management to do it.

I’d love to hear this woman’s screams of despair in many more ways, dozens or hundreds.

This time I showed Pina a very realistic dream that precisely simulates the real world and her own reactions, except for the contents, but next time I’ll show her a story-like dream in which only what is convenient for her happens. A dream where no matter what she did, all the men around her affirmed it, praising Pina with their mouths and whispering their love for her. I wish I could have a good looking guy fight over her in her dreams like that woman was asking for and say,「Don’t fight for my sake.」Oh, I wonder what she will look like when she wake up from that dream.

Because you know, it’s not much fun to beat up a woman who’s been in the ground for years, is it?

It would be much more painful and hard to lift them up to a high place and knock them down from there over and over and over and over again, wouldn’t it?

…Emi was trying to be your friend. Since you are the one who chose this future by shaking off the hand that was offered to you, you must do as I want you to do and suffer more than die with a firm regret. I will not allow her to take the easy road to madness, let alone death, and lose her ego. That’s why I allowed her to use expensive potions as much as she want so that she won’t lose her sanity.

「Oh, yes, I’ll even show you a dream based on my memory!」

The things Angel said he loved. I wish I could use in her dream the loving look in Angel’s eyes and the words he said to me… more passionate than the story.

What should we do about that person in the usual way? I wonder if Angel is Pina’s favorite, as she’s happy as a puppy when she begs for a lap pillow or pats his head and says,「Good job.」Gap moe was another word from Emi’s world, and I hope she’s pleased.

「I’m really looking forward to seeing you wake up from your dream and despair!」

After I show her Angel’s dream, I want to tell her that「all the happiness in the dream was what Remilia was getting,」 so I need to think of a good way to get it into her ears, naturally.

I came up with another wonderful schedule and continued to look at the water mirror in a good mood.