Chapter 2

A girl wakes up in the school nurse's office in a bed with an ice pack on her head. She doesn't remember how she got there.

"Huh? Huh??"

"… Oh. You're awake. That's good to see. You had quite the bump on your head, I didn't think you'd wake up."

"Eh???"

She looks to see who was speaking to her to find Lusafana sitting in a chair by her side cross legged staring at her and playing with her phone.

"N-n-no way. What??"

The girl sits up and instantly becomes dizzy.

Lusafana

"Ah. You should be careful. You had a real nasty fall you know."

The girl looks at him completely dumbfounded and confused.

"But… I… I thought I died… what???"

Lusafana

"… Mmm~... I'd say more of an out of body experience for all of twenty minutes. There's still club activities going on right now so it should be fine to sit here a bit longer."

"Huh?? Hold on! I was you for fifteen years just now! It's only been twenty minutes!?"

Lusafana

"Ah. You mean this right?"

Lusafana shows the girl her phone displaying the game, Misery's song. It was still on the sticker screen for the first chapter.

Lusafana

"I do remember this moment. But when I next woke up I was lying next to you. Not knowing what to do, I decided to take you here."

"… Uh… I have questions!"

Lusafana

"I do too. So we're in the same boat with the same predicament. So tell me, how was it living my miserable life?"

Lusafana's expression becomes a bit devious but with sad eyes.

"Uh… I actually decided to change that since I thought I was stuck there for the rest of our lives."

Lusafana

"… huh??"

"Ah! Tell you what! Why don't you try to summon a familiar right now! Maybe my changes worked on you too!"

Lusafana hesitates and glares at the girl for a moment, then decides to attempt it. A teacup grey fox with red eyes appears in his hand and starts to stretch then sits in his palm. Lusafana stares aghast at the cute little thing in his hand not knowing what to do with it at all.

"Yay! It worked!! Hi, Mikki."

The little fox looks to the girl in response to the name and yawls at her. Lusafana continues to stare at it completely confused and awe struck.

"Yes! That means my flag killer tactic worked!"

Lusafana

"… flag killer tactic???"

"I made sure your family actually gave you some kind of attention. Your brother admires you, mother finds you cunning and a sweet brother, and I just got father interested in your actions. I did exactly what the boys in the game told me about how you all met since I found nothing wrong with it."

Lusafana

"… huh. I suppose you took the time to practice magic on your own then?"

"Yeah. It took up until five years old to get it though. But now you have affinities. Three of them to be exact."

Lusafana

"What are they?"

"Uh… the colors that showed up were black, red, and blue. The three that father has, so you got acknowledged as the next heir to the paladin family. He was so proud that he even pat my head… your head??"

Lusafana touches his head and looks to the girl in awe.

Lusafana

"… I see… thank you. So what fate were you trying to get me if not these four 'tragedy' endings?"

"Ah. I was trying to make sure that if you don't end up with the player character, you'd still end up with a better ending that doesn't include your death or your banishment. All four of them mean you lose your friends one way or another without them even caring. I didn't find that fair at all? So during your secret missions I made sure to get as much of you out of them as I could since asking you wasn't an option in the game. That's so terrible and lazy of the dev's to just not make you a proper active character to interact with since they didn't make your personality that bad."

Lusafana

"Stop! Stop. I get it. Thank you. So this character is you then huh? The one jumping from end to end. You did all of that just to see what my 'good ending' was?"

"Uh huh! I was kind of an achievement junkie and I noticed I hadn't finished all of them until I noticed all the minigames were for your character whenever I found a secret challenge."

Lusafana

"… huh. Interesting."

"But man you were a pain in the ass to figure out, you know. Do you realize how long it took me to find you in that stairwell? A whole month and some! And you didn't have any stats to update! It was so freaking painful trying to find you and interact with you. It was like they made you so you didn't take interest in the player at all but the way you react to the player makes it seem like you want to be interacted with so I tried my hardest to get that good ending with you. Even if it means we just end up being good friends later. Ugh… to thinke that was just the first chapter of your story with the player. Geez."

Lusafana

"… first chapter?? … what kind of shit character am I to have to take that long for one chapter without interacting properly!?"

"That's exactly what I said!!"

Lusafana

"Pfft… heh heh heh. You're really interesting… well, I think I'll ask anyway. Why did you bother going through my story to this extent when no one else was willing to?"

"… huh? You know what, I don't really know. I just thought it wasn't fair to have you live such a redundant life without having much to accomplish. Like there wouldn't be a point in you being in the game in the first place."

Lusafana

"… well then. With that being said, maybe I'll just live here in your world."

"Eh??? H-hold on a minute. You have a really good start now. Wouldn't it be better to just try and go back and continue to relax?"

Lusafana

"Simply because one part of my fate was changed doesn't necessarily mean my world will be turned for the better. If anything I could still end up with a shit ending. And, honestly, I simply just don't want to go back."

"… why?? There's nothing interesting here like in Misery's song. you can use magic without needing to hide it and you can have more adventures."

Lusafana

"At the same time there are far more corrupted personalities there with the addition of more dangers and no peace of mind when I have to worry about thinking who will next want my head. There's also the possibility of me being made the outcast again simply because you gave me this adoring thing and affinity to black magic. This just gave me a completely new path to not just become the next Shadowmonger rather than the next Paladin lord. I could also become the next demon lord if one thing doesn't go well for my ending."

"Ah… right. All of your affinities are darker versions of your fathers. That alone could give you a death flag… so wait. Either way you need to hide most of your magic anyways! Aaaah! I messed up! No!!! I'm so sorry!"

Lusafana

"What for? I'm not against this. It could actually make my life a bit more interesting… the memories you made for me have just started to settle in and I've noticed that no one is thinking much of the shade of any of the colors except for father. Who only took note of the purity of balance I have. If you don't mind I would like to observe more of this."

"Um… so… what are you saying right now??"

Lusafana

"I've decided. The next time you wake and you end up in my memories again through this game, you will change any and everything that may cause my despair. Understood?"

"What!? Why me?! Fix it yourself!!"

Lusafana

"Not an option."

"Why!??"

Lusafana

"I will stay here and learn all I can about this world of yours."

"How the heck are you gonna do that?"

Lusafana

"… by staying with you of course."

"As if."

Lusafana

"…"

"… I'm not sorry."

Lusafana

"… so you know how to send me back, then?"

"Geh!"

Lusafana

"Thought so."

"You're dealing with your own financial situation and housing. I'm not caring for you."

Lusafana

"… hmm~... What is currency like in this world?"

"… ugh…"

The girl takes a glance at the clock on the wall and panics.

"Oh crud! I'm gonna be late home!"

The girl hopes out of the bed and stumbles. Lusafana reacts quickly and catches her. He notices that she was fairly bigger than he was in every sense of the word. She was a little plump in her better assets and a few inches taller than him in height.

"Eek!! I- I'm so sorry!! Ahh!! I'm late! I'm late!"

The girls rushed out the door and down the hall, leaving Lusafana in the nurse's office.

Lusafana

"… late for what exactly??"

He looked at her phone which he still had noticing she forgot to take it. Not like he was going to give it to her without finishing his negotiation. He takes the opportunity to fiddle with it for a while and figure it out as he walks out himself.

Lusafana

"… oh right. She said I had more than one summons. I wonder what it is."

He looks to the little fox that had hopped on his shoulder and pats its head as it yawls in delight. He makes a summon again and his shadow suddenly starts moving and startles him. A small naga, with a body of a boy on a black snake body as its lower half with small nubs on its head and blue eyes. It started at him curiously.

Lusafana

"… I am definitely going to need to hide you..."

The girl makes it home and rushes through the door out of breath.

"Haah~! I made it… dad! I'm home! Sorry I'm late."

Dad

"Misao! There's my little girl! What took you so long?!"

"S-sorry. I had a bit of an accident and had to sit in the nurse's office for a bit. But I'm okay."

Dad

"You better be! These dishes can't sell themselves, girl!"

"Yes, sir!"