Chapter 1: Bus Ride

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The dull hum of the road lulled the bus’s passengers into a lethargic state. I leaned my head against the window, watching the countryside drift past.

Across the aisle, a girl picked at the tape covering a hole in the seat’s canvas. She blew a bubble with her chewing gum and absentmindedly twirled her hair around her finger.

Behind me, another student had his feet propped up near my shoulder. He probably just wanted to keep his new sneakers off the grimy floor, but it was annoying nonetheless. It would only be another ten minutes until we arrived, so I decided to just suck it up and ignore it rather than make a fuss.

I couldn’t help but let out a sigh. This sort of atmosphere was so nostalgic. It reminded me of days long past. What a strange feeling it was to relive moments like these. Any minute now, we would lay eyes on Rosemont Boarding Academy and my second highschool life would begin. Something about the dreary morning weather encouraged introspection, and so I found myself musing on the circumstances that led me here.

Recently, my life changed in an unbelievable way. Even now, I couldn’t help but wonder if this was truly happening or if there was something wrong with me. Perhaps I wasn’t really here at all. I could be lying in a hospital bed somewhere stuck in a coma.

You couldn’t blame me for considering the possibility. Anyone would question their sanity in an event like this. For you see, someway, somehow, I’d been transported into another world. And on top of that, I’d become young again.

It sounded ridiculous, but it was the truth. If you asked me how such a thing was possible or why it occurred, I couldn’t give you an answer. My best guess was divine intervention from some cosmic horror.

I had always been the type of person to put my faith solely in science and reason. Or at least, I used to be that way. But this was something that spat in the face of conventional wisdom. Transmigration? That was something out of a novel or manga. A fun gimmick to make a story more interesting, if perhaps a bit overused in modern fiction. It couldn’t happen in reality.

That’s what I used to think. Alas, the universe didn’t care for my reservations. I was here now whether I accepted it or not. And as far as I knew, there was no way to return. Not that I was particularly eager to go back. My old life wasn’t horrible or anything, but I didn’t have many lingering attachments either.

Before coming to this world, I was just an average guy. Your typical shut-in otaku type. I worked from home and didn’t go out much. Most of my free time was spent either playing video games or reading light novels. It was something I never quite grew out of.

Most people would probably describe me as boring and I couldn’t deny it. Even my appearance was average. Brown hair, brown eyes, medium height. I was the real life equivalent of leaving the character creator on all middle sliders.

One week ago, everything changed. I stayed up late playing a newly released visual novel. That in itself wasn’t anything unusual for me, but this particular VN was a little special. I had been looking forward to it quite a bit. In fact, I had been following the dev blog for months.

The studio had released some great games in the past and early testers gave it good reviews. It combined traditional dating sim gameplay with some RPG mechanics to spice it up. The story was described as a school life adventure with a few twists.

Everything sounded great on paper, so I bought it without hesitation. I went in with high expectations thinking it would be something similar to Classroom of the Elite or maybe Persona. The result was a huge letdown. I barely made it through the prologue and half of Act I before I got fed up and went to sleep.

Despite all the hype online, it turned out to be nothing but a typical harem romcom. To call it disappointing was an understatement. The characters were all carbon copies of the familiar tropes of the genre. There was the childhood friend who hides her feelings, the tomboyish tsundere, the ojousama exchange student, the ice queen class idol. Those traits were exaggerated enough to turn each of those characters into a onenote stereotype.

There were romance events like you would expect, but they too were filled with tired clichés. I could guess the next story beat almost every time before it happened. Whoever wrote it didn’t seem to have a single original bone in their body.

Worst of all was undoubtedly the protagonist. Man, I know it’s a meme that all anime protagonists are dense, but Tatsuya, the player character, had to be the most egregious example I had seen in a long while. He was the stereotypical herbivore highschooler that stammered like an idiot and had blood shooting out his nose if a girl so much as touched his hand. Was someone like this really supposed to be relatable?

I’ve digressed somewhat from the main point…

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

I went to sleep after playing this game and when I awoke, I found myself in an unfamiliar place. I lived in the city. My apartment was small and a bit rundown. But I awoke in a teenage boy’s bedroom in some upper class suburban neighborhood.

On top of that, my body had changed. When I first saw my reflection in the mirror, I was startled beyond belief. I had the same dark hair, but it was cut more stylishly than the messy mop I remembered. My facial features were sharper and my eyes had changed to be a piercing green rather than their usual muddy brown. Most importantly, I was around a decade younger than I had been the night before. The dark circles under my eyes from many late nights working were gone, my skin was clearer, and I was more fit than I had been in years.

image [https://i.imgur.com/2fjakrb.png]

Something about my new appearance felt familiar, but I couldn’t place it right away. It wasn’t until after I talked to a few people and heard them call me by my new name that I understood the situation. My soul had somehow transmigrated into the body of ‘Isaac Hallson’.

The reason my appearance felt familiar was that Isaac was a character from that very same visual novel, albeit a minor one. I had seen him before as a 2-dimensional CG, not a real flesh-and-blood person. That was why my new identity wasn’t immediately apparent.

Luckily, I managed to navigate those early days without raising much suspicion. You would think it would be obvious that ‘Isaac’ had become a totally different person, but no one noticed a thing. This was mostly due to his estranged family life.

Isaac was an only child and his parents were extreme workaholics. They held ridiculously high expectations for him and let their disappointment known whenever he failed to reach them. Their relationship did not have the typical warmth and familiarity you would expect.

After living his life for just a few days, I wondered if they were really his biological parents. There was a resemblance, but it was hard to imagine anyone treating their kid so coldly. His father worked in finance while his mother had a job at a big marketing firm. Both of them spent little time at home, and Isaac was largely left to be raised by nannies and babysitters his whole life.

These details were not mentioned in the game, but knowing them now explained some things about his character. The original Isaac was nothing but a throw-away villain, a prick that thought he was better than everyone because he came from a rich household. He was really only there to pick fights and make the protagonist look good. It was your typical ‘I stood up to the bully and then everybody clapped’ nonsense you see in these kinds of stories. In retrospect, Isaac was probably lashing out for attention at school since he didn’t get any at home.

With this kind of abrasive personality, it was little wonder why he didn’t have many close relationships. That made me feel a bit sorry for the kid, but it admittedly was very convenient for me. It made it easy to fit myself into his life without drawing attention.

Sorry dude. I feel bad about stealing your body and assuming your identity, but it’s not like I had much choice in the matter. For all I knew the original Isaac’s soul had already dissipated into the ether. Or perhaps he got swapped into my old body? In any case, this was the way things were now and I had no control over it. Touch luck. Them's the breaks. Blame whatever cosmic entity decided to send me here for shits and giggles.

So here I was. One week after suddenly becoming Isaac, I was shipped off to boarding school. Of course, it was the same Rosemont Academy that served as the setting of the game. A prestigious three-year program that was said to be a sure ticket to success later in life.

I thought I was supposed to inherit my processor’s memories in these kinds of situations, but apparently I had no such luck. I was simply thrown off the deep end with no guidance whatsoever. Hey Yog’sothoth or whoever, couldn’t you at least give me a golden finger? Maybe a superpower or something? I thought that was supposed to be standard fare for transmigrators these days. Great Old Ones my ass. What’s so great about you, huh?

Here I was griping, but it wasn’t as though the situation was bad for me. Actually, it was just the opposite. This world I was sent to might be the setting for a mediocre romantic comedy, but wasn’t this a chance to relive my youth? Who wouldn’t kill for such an opportunity?

This might shock you, but in my first go-around through highschool I wasn’t exactly a social butterfly. Nor was I an ace student or a star athlete. My mediocrity persisted all the way through university. Ultimately, I ended up with no social life, a boatload of student loans, and a dingy apartment. Wasn’t this a chance to change everything?

This time I even have a handsome face and rich parents. That’s basically life on easy mode! I already went through my education once, so it should be a breeze to ace most of the exams. My first time I attended a normal public school rather than a fancy private academy, but how hard could highschool possibly be?

Plus, I’m wiser and more experienced when it comes to social situations. All I needed was to not act like an arrogant dick and my golden youth was in the bag. Honestly, was it even possible to fuck this up?

That settled it. This time, I wouldn’t be a loner. This time, I would live a colorful life with lots of friends. I’d be at the top of my class, popular, and the envy of all my fellow nerds. Instead of locking myself in my room, I’d attend all the afterschool clubs and house parties. Instead of drifting aimlessly, I’d get a scholarship to a top university.

Maybe I’d even experience the young love I never had. This world was based on a dating sim after all, so why not? It doesn’t need to be that stressful harem bullshit the protagonist goes through. I wasn’t that greedy. A regular relationship with a normal girl was enough for me. We’d eat lunch together, go on dates after class, hang out in her dorm. All the stuff I never did in my first life.

A sudden jostling from the bus hitting a speed bump made me knock my head against the window. It startled me out of my thoughts and brought my attention back to the present. The other students around me let out grumbles of annoyance.

Glancing outside once more, I saw the rooftop of the academy peeking over the outer wall surrounding the campus. The bus stopped for a moment to let a wrought iron gate squeak open, then proceeded within.

A normal highschool life… I couldn’t wait.