episode_0001

It wasn’t originally like this.

From a certain point, the narcolepsy I developed started interfering with my daily life.

I’d fall asleep while eating, while working, while walking, while showering.

I shut myself inside the house.

Dozens of times, I’d wander outside for no reason, only to collapse in the street from sudden drowsiness and get hurt.

Since I couldn’t control my drowsiness, I couldn’t even work properly, so I was fired from my job.

At this point, it felt like I had a disability, but the country didn’t grant me a disability status.

I went to the hospital, tried to get treatment in my own way, but not much changed.

As the results of my efforts didn’t appear, the lethargy caused by the drowsiness deepened further.

Since I couldn’t work due to lethargy and drowsiness, the money I had saved kept getting spent but couldn’t accumulate.

Today was the same.

“…Mm.”

Lying on the bed, I closed my eyes.

Now, lying down felt much more natural than standing up.

It seemed seriously wrong, but even so, there wasn’t any other alternative.

To the buzzing vibration sound, I reached out my hand and fumbled with my phone.

It was the notification sound that the broadcaster I watch had started streaming.

Rie.

A broadcaster whose viewer count hovers between 200 and 300.

She had a demand base due to her unique beautiful voice, but lacked the crucial entertainment factor as a broadcaster, preventing her from progressing beyond that.

That’s why I liked it.

Because it wasn’t entertaining, I fell asleep well, and because her voice was good, my ears weren’t bored.

[The game we’ll try today is—!]

Ah, the volume is a little loud.

As I moved my finger to lower the volume, I finally felt comfortable.

I closed my eyes and fell asleep while listening to Rie’s voice.

***

I don’t know what kind of situation this is.

I woke up after sleeping and became a woman.

…I managed to understand up to this point.

The part I absolutely cannot understand is why I am here.

“…It’s in the forest.”

What’s more, I walked straight in one direction for what felt like over 3 hours to get out of the forest, but for some reason, it seemed like I was just spinning around in place.

No, not “seemed like,” I *was* spinning around in place.

I started getting a strange feeling halfway through, so I made cross marks on a particularly large tree nearby, and they kept coming into sight.

“What the hell is this.”

To call it a simple nightmare, it was too vivid.

Suddenly, I was left alone as a girl in an unknown forest where the trees were so dense that even sunlight couldn’t properly enter.

Since I couldn’t understand the situation, absurdity felt stronger than fear.

No, more than that, I don’t know how long it’s been since I was dropped here, but it shouldn’t be that short a time.

Not even a single bug, let alone an animal, was visible.

Trees and grass, flowing water.

Flowers and vines, rocks and stones.

“…It’s bizarre.”

I had been quiet until now, wondering if I might attract the attention of beasts, but it seemed like I was the only one here from the start.

I sat down on a suitable rock.

The more I thought about it, the more full of strangeness it was.

I had walked the forest path for 3 hours but didn’t feel tired.

Moreover, I wasn’t hungry, and perhaps because my body had changed, the narcolepsy that always plagued me had disappeared, and my mind was clear.

I didn’t even have the urge to defecate.

I reached out my hand to the sky.

It was a long, slender arm.

I knew I had become a woman because my chest had disappeared, but it was long in many ways for a woman.

By feel, it seemed not much different from my original height.

My mind was so complex that it was full of thoughts, and my brain couldn’t properly process them.

The moment I sighed in frustration and lay down on the rock.

My vision inverted.

It felt like my body had floated into the air.

While panicking at the bewildering situation, I could see my body from above.

…My body is there, so how can I see my body?

[…What is this appearance? I’ll have to completely redo it.]

A voice coming from somewhere.

That voice seemed as if it were talking to someone, and it was also a voice that was more familiar than I expected.

“…Can you hear me? Hello!”

[First of all, it’s too tall? Right? Let’s reduce the height a bit… You pedos, you bastards! I just like cute things!]

It seemed my words weren’t reaching.

More than that, looking at the plural ‘들’ (implied ‘you all’), it seems like they are talking to several people.

Wait a minute… Reduce what?

When I looked back at my body with surprised eyes, my height had drastically shrunk just as someone said.

It wasn’t precise, but from around 170, it felt like almost around 140.

“…Isn’t this… too small?”

It’s surprising enough that they actually reduced it just by saying they would, but haven’t they reduced that too much?

Too young.

It’s almost an elementary school student’s height.

[First, this physique would be good… No, no… Shall I reduce it just a little more?]

It really did shrink a little more.

I instantly realized that the tastes of the person speaking right now were considerably twisted.

The actions and tone, treating a living person as if they were a game character, created a sense of incongruity, but that wasn’t what was important now.

“Can’t you hear me! There’s a person here!”

[Look at the appearance… It’s hard to say this, but doesn’t it look like a man? No, setting aside looking manly, it’s just ugly.]

I know it’s not an appearance that would attract favor, but saying that directly to my face hurts.

Besides, it’s strange because it looks like a man’s face attached to a woman’s body.

I don’t think my face objectively falls into the category of being that ugly.

[Hold on for a moment… It’s quite difficult to figure out where and how to fix it.]

Is it that my voice isn’t reaching?

Or are they completely ignoring it?

I didn’t understand anything about what was happening, but watching my face arbitrarily being molded and changed was quite grotesque and painful.

After a long time passed like that, as I looked at the completed appearance and felt a displeased emotion, the voice that had been quiet for a while resounded.

[…Okay, I think this is enough, right?]

Just what level is the ‘this level’ that that person is talking about?

I became a completely different person.

Looking at my body, which had become a cute little girl with a height in the early 140s, or late 130s, I couldn’t even grasp how I should react.

[Still, ending it like this would be a bit disappointing, so how about odd eyes as a special point? It looks chuunibyou-like…? Is it bad? Then instead of odd eyes, how about purple eyes?]

My eyes were dyed purple just as the voice said.

If I were to state my personal impression, rather than feeling mysterious, it felt slightly eerie.

[Okay, I’ve finished decorating… And let me tell you in advance, I’m not going to skip the story. I’ll choose from the upcoming options as I please, so don’t get cut off by giving unsolicited advice.]

Story skip?

Options?

The way they talked, each thing like a game, felt bizarre, but the voice didn’t stop there.

[First… let’s make her an orphan! Starting with everything like a noble isn’t fun.]

“What the hell?”

To suddenly declare me an orphan.

I couldn’t properly understand what that meant, but there was no doubt it was a very unpleasant thing to say, so I let out an expletive.

[The name is… ‘Rie’. First, my nickname needs to be included for me to immerse myself comfortably.]

……Rie?

For a moment, my thoughts stopped.

And the thoughts that were completely blocked began to flow.

Slowly at first, but then faster and faster.

Rie, the broadcaster I used to enjoy watching.

Her broadcasts weren’t particularly entertaining, but I liked them because my ears weren’t bored when I put them on before sleeping.

However, even though the mystery of whose voice it was had been solved, it didn’t mean other questions were answered either.

However, I could at least make inferences.

Things like story skip, options, nickname.

Those are usually only in games.

Furthermore, if it’s a feature that allows decorating my body so haphazardly like that, it must be a customization feature commonly provided in games.

Then, if I gather everything and think about it…

Inside a game?

Could it be, that I’ve become a character in the game Rie is playing?

Then, could it be that the place I am in now is the character creation screen?

I tried to change the direction of my thoughts in my head to something more ‘rational’, telling myself that such an absurd thing couldn’t possibly happen, but I felt that this absurd thing was real.

Thinking and inferring in a rational direction here was merely an escape from reality, I thought, and sighed.

[First, since it’s the Ultimate Eternal Package, it gives one B-grade perk, what should I get?]

[Talent for Swords, Composure, Charm, Bloodlust, Nobility, Charisma, Eloquence… No, not useful things like that! Originally, games aren’t fun if they’re easy! That’s why I decided on an orphan origin instead of a noble start.]

Is that person setting my direction right now?

And yet they say ‘not useful things’.

It was clear they weren’t recognizing me.

[Something that isn’t useful but just looks reasonably impressive, what could there be?]

If such a thing as conscience existed after making my body like this, it would be insufficient even if they gave me an overpowered perk, so the fact that they were worrying about something like that was absurd, making my head pound.

[Shall I go with this?]

I didn’t even know what it was, but I felt something seeping into my body.

[Let’s start! Look, all the viewers left because I spent 2 hours just on character customization….]

Starting with those words, my vision went dark.

And when I opened my eyes, it wasn’t in the forest, but in some village.

“…Ugh.”

My head is dizzy.

An foul odor hangs in the air.

My vision is blurry and the ground feels like it’s undulating.

I tried to put my hand on the floor and get up, but something sticky and squishy was caught on my fingertips.

“……Shit.”

It’s excrement.

Having no choice, I wiped it on the wall, then raised my head to scan my surroundings.

It was a shantytown that looked like it was drawn.

They said I’d start as an orphan, but it’s been a mess from the starting point.

“Hey!”

At the loud voice, I instinctively flinched.

When I turned around, a greasy pig-like man, about two heads taller than me, was looking down at me.

“If you can’t meet the tribute this time too, I’ll just sell you off as a sex slave, so be aware of that.”

Biting my lip at the words spat out like a threat and the overbearing gaze, I fiddled with my collar while bowing my head.

What the hell is this.

It’s baffling.

And unreasonable.

I wanted to question what all of this was, so suddenly.

But I was afraid to open my mouth and say anything.

I could instinctively tell.

That guy, though flabby with no muscle, I could never stand up to him with this weak body.

That’s when it happened.

The world stopped.

And several options appeared before my eyes.

Talk.

Agree.

Argue.

Negotiate.

Attack.

…What is this?

[That guy’s annoying, shouldn’t we just attack?]

Uh oh… don’t do it.

5. Attack. <

The time that had stopped began to flow again.

Regardless of my will, I picked up a sharp stone, followed the guy who had threatened me and was leaving, and struck him on the head.

He staggered, then turned around and glared at me.

"Wow, I'm screwed… Just…"

I'm truly ruined.