Chapter 1: I couldn’t help but admire

On Namuwiki, reincarnation is commonly explained as the belief that while the physical body perishes, the soul is immortal and is reborn into a new life after death.

This is also the explanation found in Buddhism.

A past life before being reborn is referred to as a “previous life.”

In most cases, when a person reincarnates, they lose all memories of their past life.

This is considered common knowledge—after all, not a single person exists who remembers their past life.

Reincarnation is something that cannot be explained scientifically, and since there is no one who remembers their previous existence, it remains a fantasy concept primarily found in religious beliefs.

In reality, it does not exist.

That’s what I always believed.

Or rather… that’s what I believed about my past life.

***

“How ridiculous.”

I lost everything.

My comrades, who were like friends.

My honor as a hero.

And even my own future.

No—it was stolen from me.

All because of damn misfortune and my own incompetence.

I sighed, no longer thinking of myself as Ain, the Unlucky Hero, but instead as Sung Yohan, an ordinary young man from modern-day South Korea.

Let me clarify something first.

I—**or rather, Sung Yohan—**didn’t do anything.

All I did was play a game that turned out to be surprisingly fun.

I didn’t rant about the developers, nor did I send emails pointing out flaws.

I just played the game.

That’s it.

And yet, somehow, I ended up possessing someone.

‘Or maybe I was reincarnated into them.’

“This is terrifying. How am I supposed to play games after this?”

‘Why me, of all people?’ I briefly pondered the unfairness of it all, but then I realized something.

‘Who knows? Maybe everyone who played the game has been reincarnated or possessed someone, all thinking the same thing.’

Thinking about it that way made it a little less frustrating.

But ultimately, none of that mattered.

What mattered was my current situation.

***

Let’s sum it up.

First, I—Sung Yohan—was an orphan who grew up in modern-day South Korea.

Now, however, I am also Ain, the Unlucky Hero.

In my past life as Yohan, I played an NTR genre game.

Yes, you heard me right.

A godforsaken NTR game.

Its title?

[This Hero Gets Stolen From Easily!]

…What a ridiculous name.

Even though the story was the kind of nightmare fuel I would never enjoy, the gameplay itself was fun.

So, I played it.

For a long time.

I completed every ending.

Collected every CG.

Gathered every item.

Then, satisfied, I shut the game off and went to sleep.

And when I woke up…

Somehow, Sung Yohan had possessed Ain, or maybe Ain had regained the memories of his past life as Yohan.

Either way, I found myself in a completely absurd situation.

Honestly, even I’m not sure whether this is possession or reincarnation.

That’s why my wording keeps switching—I have no idea if I’m Sung Yohan or Ain.

I mean, look at me.

I keep referring to myself as both Yohan and Ain.

That should tell you just how messed up my head is right now.

Ain’s personality and Yohan’s personality.

Ain’s memories and Yohan’s memories.

Everything is all tangled up.

Even I can’t figure out who I really am anymore.

‘But if we’re talking physically—’

‘Then I am Ain.’

That thought made me glance at the full-length mirror beside my bed.

There, I saw a young man with hair as dark as the night sky and cold, silver-gray eyes.

His delicate features gave him a slightly sickly appearance, yet there was an undeniable decadent charm to his beauty.

To Ain, this was a familiar reflection.

To Yohan, it was utterly alien.

‘…Am I insane? Or just dreaming?’

For a brief moment, I considered the possibility.

‘Maybe Sung Yohan’s memories, personality, and identity were nothing more than a delusion born from my madness.’

‘Maybe this was all just a dream.’

Of course, that thought didn’t last long.

After all, there was no sense of detachment or fogginess that usually accompanies dreams.

And if I really was hallucinating, my perception of the world seemed far too normal.

Everything I saw, I could touch.

Everything I heard, I could understand.

I wasn’t hearing voices, I wasn’t seeing things that weren’t there—

No, I was completely sane.

Or at least, sane enough to be sure that this was real.

And so, I reached a conclusion.

This situation—this is reality.

Sung Yohan has truly possessed the body of Ain.

And Ain has truly recalled his past life.

“How absurd.”

A laugh escaped my lips.

‘How was I supposed to process this?’

Up until moments ago, I was just Ain—the Unlucky Hero.

But now, I can’t even tell who I really am.

Am I Sung Yohan?

Or am I Ain?

…Honestly, I don’t know.

If I really were Ain, then shouldn’t I be feeling grief? Shouldn’t I be mourning the fact that all the suffering I endured was nothing more than a story for others to enjoy?

But I feel nothing.

No sadness.

No despair.

Just an overwhelming sense of irony.

If I were still Ain, I probably would have accepted this fate.

I would have despaired, sure.

Felt anger and shame.

But I would have done nothing about it.

Because that’s just the kind of person Ain was.

But me?

I have no intention of doing that.

My life has been nothing but misfortune.

And now, I’m supposed to just accept it?

To follow the game’s script and let the same tragedies unfold?

No.

Not a chance.

So, I take a deep breath.

And as my scattered memories settle, I begin to think.

To truly think.

‘What do I do next?’

‘I don’t remember if I mentioned this before, but the world that Ain lived in—the world I’m now trapped in— is the setting of the NTR game [This Hero Gets Stolen From Easily!].’

‘What does that mean?’

It means that, true to the NTR genre, the game is packed with countless bad endings.

There is a happy ending… but out of dozens of possible endings, there’s only one.

All the rest? Bad endings.

And just to clarify—bad endings don’t simply mean that the protagonist (me) gets NTR’d and then the game ends.

No, the game doesn’t stop just because Ain is forced to watch his lovers be taken away.

The game continues.

The story progresses.

It just gets increasingly messed up.

Of course, without reaching the happy ending, it just means Ain is forced into suffering.

The real issue?

Every single bad ending, without exception, ends with my death.

In other words, these aren’t just NTR endings.

They’re Dead Endings.

And the moment I, Sung Yohan, possessed Ain’s body?

I was already deep in the middle of a bad ending.

A bad ending that had already started unfolding.

“…Well. I’m screwed.”

I muttered one of the most famous lines from a well-known novel and movie back on Earth.

“That’s the careful, well-thought-out conclusion I’ve arrived at. I’m completely and utterly screwed.”

Bad Ending #19 – The Queen’s Plaything.

That’s the name of the bad ending I’m currently in.

Ain—me—had already lost his companions, his comrades, his friends.

Then, at his lowest point, one of the major bosses of the game, the Succubus Queen Serentia, approached him.

She comforted me.

She eased my pain.

And in the process, she buried my mind under waves of unimaginable pleasure, claiming me as her prisoner.

Now, I am in her domain—the Succubus Queen’s castle.

No. Calling it a castle isn’t quite right.

This is a prison.

A kidnapping.

A hostage situation.

And unfortunately, I remember every second of how it happened.

Serentia’s power forced my body to release dopamine in amounts no human should ever experience.

The overwhelming pleasure completely broke me.

And for the original Ain—the one before I, Sung Yohan, took over—her comfort was simply too warm to resist.

A fool, desperate for affection after suffering loss, clung to the one hand that reached out to him.

And in doing so, he fell.

Before I came into the picture, Ain had already succumbed to Serentia’s control.

He was nothing but a slave to pleasure, his mind too weak to resist.

He yearned for her.

He ached for her affection.

He suffered from severe separation anxiety, just like a dog waiting for its master.

‘But now?’

‘Now that I was here?’

I felt… nothing.

My mind was completely empty.

‘Did my soul get purified when I possessed this body or something?’

‘Or maybe…’

‘Maybe it’s just that now—now that I’m on the brink of death—this idiot finally snapped out of it.’

Either way, the original Ain had already fallen.

He became Serentia’s plaything, a pet for the Succubus Queen’s amusement.

And in the end, she drained all his power.

All his life force.

And finally—his soul.

That’s how Bad Ending #19: The Queen’s Plaything plays out.

Of course, among the bad endings, this one is relatively well-received by players.

Serentia’s alluring design, her captivating atmosphere, and, well… let’s just say her “service scenes” made it quite popular.

But that doesn’t change the fact that I die at the end.

And I have absolutely no intention of dying.

Even if life is miserable, it’s still better than death.

I haven’t even properly enjoyed this second life yet.

There’s no way in hell I’m going down like this.

“But the problem is… how do I escape?”

That’s the real issue.

I don’t have the strength to escape on my own.

The Queen’s Plaything ending happens early in the game.

And in the early game, Ain—and all other characters—are still weak.

Which means… I, too, am weak.

‘Not to mention… my growth rate is slower than other heroes.’

Yes, I’m not the only Hero in this world.

The Goddess has chosen several warriors, not just me.

After all, if there were only one Hero, who would the heroines be stolen by?

There have to be other heroes.

Otherwise, there’d be no one to take them away from me.

So, compared to those other heroes, my growth is even slower.

And right now, in the early stages of the game, my stats are nowhere near high enough to escape on my own.

Even if I did manage to get out…

‘The real problem is that Serentia is incredibly possessive.’

The Succubus Queen, Serentia.

She acts gentle.

She acts kind.

But in reality?

She is the embodiment of obsession and possessiveness.

Once something is in her hands, she never lets it go.

And if something does manage to slip away?

She destroys it so no one else can have it.

It doesn’t matter if it’s an object or a person.

And I…

I am no exception.

Even in the game, when she absorbed my soul, she whispered:

“From now on, you are mine. Forever.”

That line alone sent shivers down players’ spines.

‘So, I’ve become the target of the Succubus Queen’s obsession, huh? Guess I’ve really made it big.’

Once, I was mocked as the Unlucky Hero.

And now?

Now, I’m the man the embodiment of beauty refuses to let go of.

Some guys would kill to be in my position.

Of course, if they really wanted it, I’d gladly trade places.

“Anyway, I need to escape.”

No matter what, I have to get out of here.

Serentia’s obsession is something to worry about later.

Right now, my immediate problem is staying alive.

So I need to think.

“How do I escape… from a castle guarded by Serentia and an army of succubi?”

The answer?

I had no clue.

If I did, I’d be a genius, not an unlucky gamer trapped in hell.

If this were still just a game, I could pull off some kind of speedrun exploit…

But this isn’t a game.

This is reality.

Sure, I knew the castle’s layout from playing the game, but that didn’t mean I could actually escape.

‘Maybe I should cause a distraction?’

‘No. I didn’t have the power for that.’

‘Maybe I could seduce a succubus?’

‘No. All succubi here were completely loyal to Serentia. Even if I tried, she’d find out. Maybe I should just wait for someone to save me?’

‘No. In the game, no one ever came. They didn’t arrive until it was too late.’

‘Damn it…’

I stared at the ceiling, counting the ornaments.

‘Wasn’t I supposed to get something from this reincarnation?’

‘Maybe… a status window?’

And then—

Ping!

[Player’s request has been recognized. Would you like to view your status window?]

“…?”

A glowing blue window appeared before me.

‘…Wow. So now you decide to show up?’

What a convenient system.

I let out a quiet laugh.