Ahem. 

Just to let you all know, I'm a regular guy. 

I like fighting games, reading action manga and fantasy novels. 

Ah, I'm not saying it's weird to like romance: I just prefer to see relationships formed through blood. 

Anyways, I was playing the same fighting game I always did while drinking when I decided to experiment a little and boot up a game a friend made. 

[The Adventures of Something Someone Dating Something.]

I don't know, I forgot the title. 

My friend made it, that was the only reason I played it. 

He had asked me to try out all the different routes and report any bugs or typos I found. 

[You play as a Princess on her first year at an esteemed school full of nobles and can choose between five guys.]

[An aspiring knight, a flirty foreign Prince, a Noble in a declining family.... and a few others] 

Dammit, it's been too long since I played it.

I didn't do it for fun, it was out of a noble cause. 

It was mind-numbingly awful, the writing sucked and I'm not even a fan of romance. 

But I played it.  

'Goddamn, it sucks.’ was one of my last thoughts before I fell asleep at my desk and when I woke up, I was sober and inside a bedroom I had never seen before. 

A few minutes later, I was dragged out of bed, forced into a school uniform and thrown into an auditorium. 

And here I am.

“…man, what the hell is going on?”

After going through the events of my day so far, I frown. 

"How could you pull on my face like that?! My cheeks are red!" 

I push aside thoughts of curb stomping the God or Entity that placed me inside here and focused on my brother nagging me inside our home classroom. 

"...my bad."

"And fix your posture, you look like a thug!" 

"Ah?" 

"Eeek!" 

My brother flinches as I lean back in my seat to think. 

I should go find some thugs later to relieve some stress. 

Hopefully I'm not restricted by the game. 

The combat system my friend made was mostly minimal with there not being any animations for attacks and the reward being coins you could use to buy gifts for your romance option. 

It made sense at least but... 

Ahh, goddammit why wasn't I placed inside an RPG or something?? 

Leave me in 'Dragons Old Original' or 'Divinity's Copied Blessing'.

AHHH, FUCK! 

I curse whoever put me in here! 

SHIT! 

SHIT!!

SHIT!!!

"Why are you hitting your head on the desk?! Have you fixed your brain yet??" 

I glare at my brother and he flinches at my silent response. 

Topi Glennden. 

He's a...whatchamacallit? 

Shota. 

He's a shota and one of the four dating options. He was the 'fallen Noble' from the ones I could remember. 

And I am his older brother, thankfully I wasn't an option but I was a prominent character in Topi's arc. 

The story goes that 'I' am protective of my younger brother after our parents lost their fortune and work hard to help out my family. 

I didn't even get to be the rich foreign Prince or something in this shitty- AHHHHH! 

Ahem, sorry. 

The story goes that I'm protective of my happy and excitable younger brother. Who despite our family situation, continues to smile and treat everyone kindly. 

In his route, he ends up dating the stone-faced protagonist through persistent smiles, slowly melting the protagonist's heart and supposedly the player's as well. 

He was written and drawn to give off a 'childhood friend' vibe, if you understand what I'm saying.

I let out a sigh and my brother looks at me in concern. 

"Marcus... what's wrong?" 

Marcus Glennden. The older brother of Topi. 

Staring at 'my' younger brother's face for a minute I scowl before slamming my head into my desk to ease my achin' heart. 

"...it's nothin'."

I grimace as I rub my hurting forehead, it had been healed after being dragged to the nurse's office. 

Ah, I forgot to mention but magic is quite prominent in this world. 

Barely anything combat related though, just magically enchanted items and healing magic to be used in romance scenes.

Because, y'know, this is a dating simulator. 

"...I want to go home." 

"We've just arrived Brother!"

"I know. Don't care." 

The whispering around us only gets louder as we sit in the classroom waiting for the teacher. 

The door opens and the class collectively squeals at who it is while I remain calm. It was already established in the poorly made story after all. 

"Omigod it's the Princess Brother!! She's in our class!" 

I remain slumped over as my brother grabs my shoulder shakes me from side to side and slam my head into the desk again in lazy anger. 

"She's looking at us!" 

"No shit, I banged my head on the desk."

My brother frowns at me while puffing out one cheek, making me want to poke it. 

Stop acting cute you little- 

"Ahem. Can I ask you not to use such vulgar language? This is a school, not a bar."

The pair of us turn and find a blonde girl looking at us. 

"T-the Princess-!"

Yes, yes Topi. It's the Princess, stop blushing. 

Instead of my already blushing brother, her calm green eyes remain focused on me awaiting a response and after a few seconds, I give her one. 

"What's wrong with bars?" 

"Yes, it's oka- pardon?" 

Pfft!

"Bars. They are places of work filled with even more hardworking people. What's wrong with them?" 

"H-huh?" 

"And what's wrong with swearing ah~? You think freedom of speech is bad in a place where we decide our future ahhh~?" 

"Brother..." 

I turn and find Topi tugging at my jacket while looking like an abandoned puppy. 

You'd think I was making a bad impression on his crush or somethin- oh.  

"...my bad. I was just kidding."

The Princess was silent for a while and I glance up to find a dumbfounded expression on her usually cool face.

Her reaction caused me to smirk which caused Topi to kick my leg dealing zero damage but hurting me. On the inside. 

“.. sorry.”

"..I-it's fine." 

The black-haired teacher finally entered the classroom and everyone stood up to greet her.

Wearing a black suit, the woman wore a 'cool' expression as she stood at the front of the class. She raised a eyebrow as she spoke, 

"Is something wrong, Your Highness?" 

"...no. It's okay, Instructor. And please feel free to address me like any other student." 

"I see. Then sit down. Where you sit will be your seat for the rest of the year."

Various eyes shoot towards the Princess: including my little brother's. 

After a few seconds of quiet contemplation, he turns from her back to me, then moves to sit down next to me instead of the still standing Princess. 

I snort, feeling a little nostalgic from his behavior and open my mouth to use the cool line Marcus spoke in game. 

....

What was it again? 

Shit, it's been too long since I played his route. 

I was recommended to try Topi's route first by my friend but he looked disappointed when I said I didn't notice anything. 

'Don't worry ------, you will someday!' 

My ass.

..That goddamned idiot. 

I let out a sigh as I turned to Topi, 

"Sit where you want, Topi. I won't cry over it." 

"Thanks Brother!" 

He then gets up and runs towards where the crowd of students are surrounding the Princess. 

I made eye contact with the teacher and shrugged. 

"It's cuz he'll be annoying otherwise."

Beautiful black hair was tied into a ponytail and yellow eyes were focused on me in amusement. 

The woman was in her mid-twenties and a minor character in the first half of the game, then became more prominent in the second half thanks to her medical skills.

She smirked probably hearing my conversation with my brother and then cleared her throat before speaking in a cold tone.  

"All students, find a seat. Now."

'Marie Antoin' was a foreigner of this made-up country from the Eastern Continent and was currently a teacher. 

Pfft, she thinks she's sooo cool. 

...she is pretty cool. 

Most of the students panic, not wanting to anger the teacher but still wanting to sit next to the Princess and that's when the Royal sat down next to me: the only student actually sitting down. 

Seats around the Princess are quickly filled and a dejected Topi slowly trudges back to me, sitting down to my right next to the wall. 

I stare at his dejected face and when he notices he instantly smiles. 

Ignoring the fact the teacher was introducing us, the sound of my chair scraping against the floor rings out inside the classroom. 

Fuck. 

I inwardly swear before standing up and walking over to my brother, 

"Get up."

"W-what?" 

My sensitive ears hear someone quietly get up and I turn back to my seat to find a blue haired student staring back at me awkwardly. If it wasn't obvious, he was trying to take my seat. 

"Try it."

Tension filled the classroom and I turn back to my brother, not hiding my annoyance. "Get. Up." 

My brother turns to the teacher before turning back to me and got up. I push past him and sit down, with nowhere else to go: he sits down in the only free seat. 

Next to the Princess. 

I made eye contact with the woman standing at the front of the class looking at me with an amused grin and lower my head in a respectful bow. 

"Apologies Instructor. I felt it was better to do it now before the seating plan stuck."

Her face returns back to calm as the attention is moved to her. 

"..Don't do it again. I'll let you off just this once."

"Understood, thank you Instructor." 

Clearing her throat, she dissipated the tension and continued on with her speech. 

It was a generic introduction to our school along with the instruction to return here after Lunch. 

RINGGG!

With the introduction lecture finished, I stretch up and quickly find my brother stealing glances at the Princess who's getting swarmed. 

I wait a few seconds before approaching my brother. 

If the Princess was on Topi's route then she would've invited Topi herself, I guess I have a new objective for now then. 

Get the Princess to date ‘my’ brother. But first…

"..Hey, Topi. Where's the cafeteria I'm fuckin' starvin'."

"Brother..."

"... fuckin' hungry?" 

My brother let out a sigh before getting up and grabbing my sleeve. 

I'm soon dragged out of the class and into the cafeteria. 

•  

 

•  

 

•  

"Isn't that the guy who was banging his head during the assembly?" 

"Yeah I think so." 

Ignoring some of the few whispering about me, I frown as I look at the strands of red hair falling into my field of vision. Glancing around, there were dozens of students with weirdly coloured hair but it was the norm in a dating sim. 

Letting out a sigh at the lack of conspicuity I stabbed a roasted potato with my fork and enjoy my food. 

It tasted nice.

Even the cheaper sets.

From what I can remember about the game, I know a few things. 

1. 'My' family is poor. 

2. Going to this school is expensive as hell. 

My parents had sold off various properties and businesses to pay enough tuition for the two of us to enter this school. 

3. The world seems to be following the plot of the game. 

The Princess's speech and her meeting Topi. If I was correct, she should meet all the RO's by the end of the week. 

...I think. 

God, still can't remember most of the details of the plot to save my life. What would happen if I tried leaving the Capital? 

"...brother, is the food not good?" 

"Hm?" I look up and realize Topi's looking at me funny. "What do ya mean?" 

"Your brows are furrowed."

"Oh. Hey, why do you like the Princess?" 

Clink 

Glancing down, I find my brother's spoon on the table where he dropped it and back up to find a flushed expression on his little face. 

"Wha-!? H-how did you know??" 

Goddammit, even his personality was the same.

I could swear I've seen this exact frame later on in his route if you confess during breakfast. 

"It's obvious, dumbass."

"Dumb-! Brother, stop with the swearing! You'll get in trouble." 

"No. I'll call a dumbass a dumbass if he is one."

"B-but how did you kno-"

"Hah? Why would I want to hang out with a parasite like you?" 

An irritated voice booms out through the cafeteria and the students all turn to the source of said voice. 

Curly navy blue hair sways in the sunlight as a girl with her arms crossed scowls at another girl with green hair. 

'Greenie' looks around clearly embarrassed and promptly walks off, followed by two girls who were standing behind her. 

Christ, everyone in this world has weirdly coloured hair. 

"And what are you all looking at?" 

The girl with dark blue hair glared at everyone, causing everyone to flinch away. 

Wait, why does she look familiar? 

"...holy shit."

It was the villainess of the game. 

"What is it brothe-! W-wait, do you like her?" 

"..Hah?” 

Are you stupid? 

The Villainess of the game? 

The crazy lady who harassed the Princess and main character of the game over and over again? 

Granted, she did have a sad backstory but overall she was a bitch through and through. 

"I-I'm guess that's a no..." 

Topi gave me an awkward smile and I stopped frowning at him. 

“You guessed right. I’m not into psychos.”

"It's not nice to be rude brother." 

"....."

Closing my eyes, I think about my brother's unbalanced meal and decide on something. 

"Hey, can you take me to the Passage?"

Topi's face scrunches in confusion, "Why do you want to go there?"

I feel both ends of my mouth rise as I smile, causing Topi to flinch. 

"Money."