Chapter 2

In my past life, since I didn't have a family, I held three people as a family even though we weren't related.

The first was a guy who loved money so much that he would drool while counting it. That guy's name was Chris, the most ambitious among us.

There was also a guy who only thought about his muscles and never missed a chance to surpass his limits, Rudy. Even though he was an airhead, Rudy was a sports prodigy who secured a spot in the NBA. He will have played for a major team right after graduation.

Lastly, there was Nico, a programming genius. Unlike the other two, he wasn't troublesome and was a chill dude, but he had a serious problem with laziness. I remember he almost dropped out of school because he forgot to take the final exam.

The last one was me, the genius who would become a surgeon.

Anyhow, how did this happen? Shouldn't I be special in this world? Tch! If I knew this would happen—aaaaaaah! All my excitement about being 'transmigrated into another anime world' in the past two days is now gone!

"NOLAN!" Rudy grabbed my shoulder. "Hell, man! Why didn't you tell me earlier? I thought I wouldn't see you again brother, but here we are. HAHAHAHA!"

"Shut up."

"What's with that face? Don't tell me you're pissed off? I get it, man. Before we met again like this, you were probably stoked to get a second chance as your favorite character and thought you'd be the main dude with a harem. But now... you're probably thinking, 'This shouldn't be happening to me!' Oh! Look at that annoyed face, keke~! I knew I was right."

"Shut up."

The one who talked first and then laughed like a maniac was Rudy, now Yoshiteru, and the one who grinned and stated the facts about me was Chris, now Miyuki. Both of them kept laughing as I stood between them with an unamused face.

(Image)

I can't deny it. They know how my inner mind works.

They know I was so happy to become Hachiman, and I'd surely develop a god complex as a young master without realizing it. Their laughter is mocking me for being ridiculous. With that, I can't go through with my plan to gather all the girls like Pokémon when my brothers will just look at me and cringe. Fuck it!

For your information, my past name was Nolan.

"I'm back with the... coffee…" said Nico, now Ishigami Yu.

He stopped, looking at me with pity.

"Chris, Rudy… I think you guys shouldn't laugh at him that loud. Sorry, Nolan."

Despite being lazy, Nico's good point was that he was a polite gentleman.

"Shut it! Nolan Nolan Nolan! Who the hell is Nolan?! I don't know you all! You guys are scammers. Yeah, this situation is 'Hey, it's me! Do you remember me?' Unfortunately, I'm not the guy who falls for scammers."

I clicked my tongue at them in the end.

"That situation perfectly describes us, but we have the same system that just tells our past names, and this retard who only knows about lifting weights didn't lie that he was Rudy."

"There's nothing wrong with lifting heavy weights and never skipping leg day. But you're mistaken. I'm the person who never skips neck day. Unlike you, I'm not a man who succumbs to money."

"Shut up! All of you, just go back or live somewhere else. I should be special in this world! How… what the fuck is going on here?! You guys should just aim for another universe! Then, I remembered the last time. You all should be alive! Tell me?!"

Chris giggled, "Our plane crashed somewhere~ It's a scary coincidence…"

I looked at them flatly.

"That's why you shouldn't buy half-price tickets. Dammit, forget it…"

He had a point. Still, it's so annoying to have my homie here. Anyway, we're all here in another world.

"Alright, boys…" The blonde, Miyuki, said with a devilish smile. "Before that, let's throw away our past life names by introducing our new name. Starting with me, Miyuki. Shirogane Miyuki."

Then the guy with long black hair and black eyes said, "Ishigami Yu. Just call me Yu." He said in a calm tone.

"The fuck—" said the grey-haired guy with a fat belly, "Repeat your name…"

"Yu."

"Are you mocking us?!"

"No. Like I said, I'm Yu."

"Okay. Let me beat this annoying punk first."

"This retard—Hold up, man..."

I stopped him before he threw a punch, but Nico, I mean Yu, just stood there calmly.

"Move, or you'll be moved."

"Listen! At this point, you understand Japanese, right? His name is Yu and not YOU, dammit!"

"Hm…" Rudy hummed. "That makes sense. HAHAHA! Sorry, pal," he said, then laughed as if nothing happened.

I sighed, "Chris was right about our past life. Well then, my name is Hikigaya Hachiman. Hachiman is fine."

"Hachiman... hm... whatever. Well, my name is Zamokuza Yoshiteru. Rudy or Yoshiteru, call me whatever you want."

As expected, my friends also transmigrated as characters from anime. 

It was then that Miyuki cleared his throat.

"While we're busy mocking—I mean, celebrating our reunion—what do you think this 'Lobby' means by the system?"

Miyuki got straight to the point, knowing we didn't need to figure out that we all had the same system that led us here by previous quests.

[To explain the system please enter the Lobby. If you intend to enter the lobby, the keyword is 'Lobby'] 

[Would you like to see the Lobby?]

"What the heck is this Lobby all about?" Yoshiteru said, raising his brow.

"Doesn't it sound like something from a game?" Yu said, humming, then I asked him.

"What do you mean?"

"Uh... I don't play games that much. What I know is that a lobby is usually a place in the game for recharging magic or something. I think it's more like the starting point. You can also talk to other players or buy something in the lobby. Shortly, it's the menu." Yu explained.

"Shortly, our case is something like a base? This smells fishy."

Yu shrugged, "Maybe..."

"Then why don't we see for ourselves?" I said, and the three looked at me as if to say, are you crazy?

Yu sighed and said, "Even with a floating window in front of me, no one in their right mind would blindly follow what the system says without questioning it first. Either that's true, or I'm just starting to lose it."

Miyuki laughed, "Well, except if they have some issue with their brain. Being skeptical at first is important. For the retards, I could say, if others have the same situation as us, they'll follow the system like donkey. Just look at this fatso now. Even this guy, doesn't believe it that much."

Yoshiteru just nodded, "I've got common sense."

I giggled, "Well, I understand that clearly."

I'm lying as smooth as breathing the air.

These fuckers just roasted fanfiction protagonists in 69 ways—I mean for real, the fact that it was literally... me.

I got a system, and then reincarnated in an anime crossover world turned my brain into sleeping mode. That's how excited I was. For now, let's just be hypocritical and pretend that I'm a super-collected dude.

"So, what now?"

My question made them hum loudly.

"I couldn't tell about that—oh?" 

Miyuki was cut off as the ringing bell signaled that lunch break was over.

"Ah, shit!"

I looked at the tower clock and cursed since I hadn't yet visited the school cafeteria. After all, the cafeteria is commonplace to see all the students in this school, and I wanted to see them!

"Uh, guys, it seems—"

When I looked back at them, they were all smiling.

"Since this is LITERALLY our first day at school, boys, you know the drill," Miyuki said with a devilish smile.

Yoshiteru laughed, "Aye, sir!"

"Skipping class on the first day is inevitable. Besides, we're still adapting to this world." Yu offered more justification.

"Definitely..." Miyuki chuckled. "We don't want to get caught by the teachers. Plus, unlike us, our buddy Yu-chi is still a third-year in middle school. So, finding a spot to hang out together is a bit tricky. This means we have to trust the system a bit because, right now, the best place to skip class and not get caught by the teachers is, without a doubt, the Lobby."

Miyuki finished as Yoshiteru and Yu nodded in agreement.

"Wait, guys! I mean, we don't have to do that again, right? Being delinquent was in the past, right? I mean, we all have families now, right? We need to be responsible teenagers and excel in everything to make them proud, right?!"

They paused for a moment.

"Nah, we're still adapt." x3

Are these dudes, for real?

"How about the girls? I mean, sometimes… we watch anime together, right? You guys aren't interested in—"

They cringed at me.

"No." x3

Their expressions told me so.

"It seems we still have a disagreement. Thankfully… democracy solves almost everything." Miyuki said, then continued, "Alright, raise your hand if you want to go back to class?"

Of course, I raised my hand, but I was alone.

"Just one vote? Alright, raise your hand if you know what I mean."

Miyuki, Yoshiteru, and Yu raised their hands.

"Alright, boys. On my mark. I'll count to three, then we'll say the keyword together!"

"Aye, sir!"

Haaaaa….

"Three… two… one…"

"Lobby/ Lobby/ Lobby."

With a flash of blue light, they vanished without a trace.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!" I knelt, hammering the floor a few times. "Why... whyyyyyyy?! Why can't I just be like that one random dude in fanfiction who goes solo, gets lucky, becomes overpowered, and collects girls like Pokémon?! That should be me! Aaaaaa, fuck it." 

I sat on the floor and then breathed calmly. Nothing was going according to plan. What is this feeling? Now, it somehow felt annoyingly more realistic compared to when I woke up as Hachiman two days ago.

"Son of a bitch… Lobby."

After my tantrum, I vanished.