Betas: Stephanie, Jeannette

 

A/N: This chapter transitions into the next arc since I didn’t want to end the chapter too short haha. As a result, both Stephanie and Jeannette betaed it. 

 

“Alright, initializing the memory fragment from the world ‘Capturing that Tsundere CEO with my Voice’ in 30, 29, 28…”

 

Before Ezekiel Backert ever formed a contract with Jun Teruya, they had met once.

 

In a large open space, there were many booths set up, each one with banners displaying a person’s name, company, or otherwise. It was a convention for podcasts and podcasters to meet and greet with fans, sell merchandise and have interactive events.

 

For a small-time vocal broadcaster like Jun Teruya, his booth didn’t have a long line of fans but it was the most diverse; from teenagers to adults, to both men and women. The reason for that was because he specialized in story narration, and many people enjoyed listening to his unique alto voice. It had a soft, airy, and dreamy quality to it, making it very soothing.

 

At the front of the line was a teenage girl who was excitedly bouncing on her toes as she handed him a poster with the name of his podcast ‘Dark Star’ for a signature. When Jun passed it back, she squealed.

 

“Thank you! I love your podcast, Jun! And you’re so much better looking than I expected!”

 

“Thank you. Please keep listening to my podcast.” Jun said with a genuine smile.

 

“Of course!” She responded with a bright blush, then skipped away.

 

Next to Jun sat Theodore with a sour face, his arms crossed and his legs on the signing table. “You should just join my band.”

 

“But I like what I do.”

 

“Join my band, please,” Theodore begged with a pout.

 

“Why do you want me to join so badly?”

 

“Because I’ll be graduating soon and won’t be able to see you as often anymore…”

 

Jun laughed it off and refocused on his fan meet. Next in line was a tall, muscular man, wearing sunglasses and a baseball cap, the tips of his platinum blond hair sticking out. Without a doubt, it could only be Ezekiel.

 

“I’ve been listening to your podcast since the beginning and I love it, so please don’t quit.” He said, his body tense and his expression severe.

 

“Thank you, I don’t plan to quit. Now, what would you like?” Jun smiled at him and held out his hand for something to sign on. When the man didn’t pass anything over, he tilted his head. “Nothing? Then do you want me to sign your hand?”

 

“Ok.” Ezekiel held out his hand.

 

“What would you like written?”

 

“To my biggest fan Zeke, with love.” 

 

Unbothered, Jun signed it as requested. When he finished, he tilted his head again. “Are you sure that’s good enough? Do you want anything else?”

 

“I…” 

 

Theodore saw what was going on and put an arm around Jun’s shoulders. “If you’re finished, please move on. Others are waiting in line.”

 

“Theo!” Jun shoved the other away and smiled at Ezekiel apologetically. “Thank you for coming to see me.”

 

Ezekiel nodded and walked away, the signed hand clutched within his other hand.

 

The scene faded away and Jun was back to the Limbo space. 

 

“Host?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Would you like to proceed to the next world?”

 

“No, I need a break.”

 

“Only half an hour is allowed, dearest Host. During that time, this system will be undergoing an upgrade.”

 

“Upgrade?”

 

“Yes, this system also received rewards when you completed missions and earned enough for an upgrade.”

 

“Good for you.”

 

“Are you ok, Host?”

 

“Just a little tired.”

 

“... Rest well.”

 

Jun closed his eyes, not really sleeping but deep in thought. Those memory fragments were meant to be clues to his real memory, and the only similarity was that they were significant moments for the Juns of those worlds involving those two men. He didn’t know how to feel about that. 

 

Half an hour later, System 00 returned and Jun opened his eyes to the brilliant stars and space. 

 

“Hello, dearest Host! Did you miss me?” System 00 did some flips and twirls in the air to show off. Jun noticed that from the size of a baseball, the system had doubled. It had even grown a set of red horns and appeared more ugly cute.

 

“Did you get fatter?” 

 

“Uwu, this is my upgraded body! Now I can do so much more for Host!”

 

“Ok.”

 

“You don’t sound very enthused, Host.”

 

“I’m still going to take on the role of a cannon fodder, regardless.”

 

“… Fine! The next world it is! Ready or not, now transferring to the world ‘All the Beastmen Want Me’ in 30, 29, 28…”

 

“Wait!” There was still something bothering Jun.

 

“What, my Host?”

 

“The previous world…” Jun hesitated. “What happened to it?”

 

“Because you failed, it disappeared.”

 

“… Disappeared? But I’m just an insignificant cannon fodder…”

 

“Host, you…” System 00 did a few circles. His programming wouldn’t allow him to say more even if he wanted to.

 

“No, it’s fine… Just move onto the next world then.”

 

“Ok… Now transferring to the world ‘All the Beastmen Want Me’ in 30, 29, 28…”

 

This time, instead of collapsing, the space swirled, making Jun dizzy. In this state of unclarity, he seemed to hear Ezekiel’s voice.

 

“Will I ever be the one? But I am not good enough…”

 

“Good enough? What are you talking about? You don’t even want me…”

 

—

 

Elsewhere, in an empty space, Ezekiel and Theodore were facing each other, one looking ready to throttle the other.

 

“What happened this time?” Theodore demanded.

 

“It was him again…”

 

“See what I mean? You really should have killed him.”

 

“I know that now.”

 

“It’s a little late for that! For sure this world was a fail—”

 

“No, it wasn't a complete failure. I can sense my memory fragment with him, and you should still feel yours.”

 

Theodore punched Ezekiel’s shoulder. “I swear, if in the next world…”

 

“It won’t happen again, Elior. His influence on me should have ended with this world.”

 

“Fine then, let’s hurry and go! I can’t let my baby be alone for so long!”

 

“Your baby? You should know that—”

 

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Hurry up, Azazel.” 

 

Much like before, their bodies disintegrated into thousands of tiny lights before vanishing completely.

 

—

 

|Welcome, dearest Host to the next world!|

 

The back of Jun’s neck ached, almost as if someone had struck it with a bat, and his head was throbbing, which the system's voice was not helping. Jun opened his eyes and was blinded by the bright sunlight, causing him to squint. He was lying on the ground and he was naked. Well, mostly naked, if that loincloth accounted for anything. Above his head were the tops of giant trees. 

 

‘Great, another forest.’

 

The last one was haunted, so based on the title of this world, this forest was undoubtedly dangerous and more than likely filled with creatures waiting to eat or kill him. Or was it to kill and eat him?

 

|System, this world’s plot?|

 

Jun was instantly mind slapped with the plot and his headache worsened. Like the name ‘All the Beastmen Want Me’ suggested, this world was that of a BL harem and beastmen, featuring a male—no wait, “female”—transmigrator as its protagonist, Sorrel Hill. This was a world where a “female” could be a man or woman, as long as they took human shape.

 

For males, they had a beast form and a human form, but their human form retained some of their beast characteristics, such as ears, tails, or horns. Females were the minority and seen as extremely precious. As for the protagonist, he was the “perfect” female, compatible with all beastmen, and had a high fertility rate.

 

In the original storyline, Sorrel came to the beastmen world from modern-day Earth and is saved by Leo of the Golden Lion tribe. He used his modern knowledge to improve the tribe’s life, introducing them to more intricate cooking techniques and “innovative” ideas. In that way, he managed to impress everyone and everything, recruiting many males to his harem, reaching a spectacular life in this world, and having many, many children.

 

‘Well, that doesn’t sound fun, to be honest.’ 

 

|I’d hate to break it to you dearest Host, but you are also a “female” albeit a “failed” one.|

 

|What!?|

 

That’s right. Jun’s identity this time was ‘Faye,’ a “failed female.” When females are born, they are born in human form and do not have a beast form. Males are born in their beast forms and cannot transform until they reach adulthood at the age of 3. When Faye was born, he was in human form, but he also had a set of black cat ears and a tail. No one was sure whether he was male or female.

 

As the “son” of the tribe leader of the Golden Lion tribe, he was an embarrassment and was never acknowledged. Even so, his mother raised him with much care and love, but he continued to be ostracized by the rest of the tribe except for a few open-minded people. Things only worsened with the arrival of the protagonist when Faye was about to reach adulthood by female standards at the age of 17.

 

As a pitiful cannon fodder, Faye wanted so much to be accepted by his father and the tribe that he did stupid villain-style things to the protagonist, such as trying to sabotage his ideas or claiming that he was trying to kill the tribe with his poisonous cooking. As a result, everyone became fed up with his behavior. Someone even poisoned him, causing him to lose his voice and he was cast out of his tribe, then abandoned in the middle of the forest. This was where Jun came in.

 

The plot was already a third of the way along. This was the first world where Jun didn’t start at the beginning or before the beginning of the plot, so he was at an even bigger disadvantage.

 

|What’s the mission, System?|

 

|The mission is Type B! Survive Misfortune and Disaster for five years! Isn’t that great, dearest Host? This is your first time having this kind of mission.|

 

|How do you determine what is surviving misfortune? Aren’t I already in misfortune right now?|

 

|Um… Then perhaps the Host should figure out how to get out of the situation? You just have to live well despite all the hardships and obstacles that come your way!|

 

|How is that different from the other type of mission?|

 

|Well, the plot isn’t going to try and kill you for five years—|

 

|Meaning I could still die after that.|

 

|Not as long as you unlock and complete the Hidden Mission, dearest Host~ v(｡･ω･｡)♪|

 

|…| 

 

|Also, because of the nature of the mission this time, even though the Host is still under 18, you are not under the protection period.|

 

|Et tu, System?| Jun rolled his eyes. At this point, he was starting to think he’d never be under the “protection period.”

 

(A/N: From the quote “et tu, Brute?” meaning “you too, Brutus?” when Caesar found out his friend Brutus was one of the assassins after him in the play Julius Caesar by Shakespeare.)

 

|What are you talking about, Host?|

 

|Nevermind.|

 

|Also, the rewards for completing missions have changed. No longer will you receive memory fragments, but you’ll be able to learn skills! Isn’t that super amazing, dearest Host?|

 

|No more memory fragments? Then how am I supposed to retrieve my original memory?|

 

|Because of my upgrade, just by going through these worlds, the Host should eventually remember things…|

 

|How many more worlds?|

 

|This System does not know. Will know when this system should know.|

 

|Now you’re just talking in riddles. And why are you more useless than before?|

 

|Uwu, dearest Host, you should trust this system only has your best interests in mind. I swear, I’ve become more useful. You’ll see it soon!|

 

|Right.|

 

—

 

A/N: This arc will be longer than the previous two haha… But it has a lot of smut (º﹃º )... This chapter’s title was again taken from the song “Never Let Me Go” by Ghostly Kisses. Some lyrics:

 

Will I ever be the one?
Who knows you more than anyone?
Like no one else has ever been before

 

As always with the start of a new arc, there will be a special three chapter release on Wednesday, 10/20! :D