Heroines of the Ages.
A visual novel RPG considered by many to have the worst story of all time, not because it was horrible, but because every heroine in the game died, and the players couldn't do anything about it.
The heroines were so beautiful and ethereal, yet the developers killed all of them, just like that!?
Unacceptable. Simply unacceptable, those bunch.
And it was ridiculously difficult! So difficult that no one had reached the ending — well, and the fact that all players quit before the final act because there were no heroines left… just all sweaty dudes hyping each other up to fight against the Great Witch.
In any case!
There was one person who decided to complete the ending to honor the beautiful lives lost.
That player's name was Eli, and currently, he was kicking his feet on a hospital bed while giggling intensely.
"O', noble Eli. You've finally completed the game!"
Eli was a sickly kid who had to spend most of his life in the hospital due to a rare condition. But his fervor for life never dimmed, just like any other normal teenagers.
Part of it was thanks to Heroines of the Ages, his favorite game of all time.
Self-insert hero, beautiful heroines fawning over you… before they all died anyway, a fantasy setting with jam-packed drama, stunning visuals… all in one! What was there not to like!?
"But this sucked. Killing everyone except the MC and his bros is just bullshit!"
Eli sighed, staring at the end screen with a sinister gaze.
"Honestly, you developers all should just hide your names because I'm coming for everyone here. Just you wait… Once I get out of this damn hospital!"
After his rant, he plopped himself down on the bed.
Every ending screen of a game had closing credits, so he planned to set up the biggest protest ever by cursing them out their names one by one! Maybe it would force them to make a new game where everyone lived happily ever after…
Eli clenched his fist.
"Slice of life is good too!"
He nodded to himself as his gaze returned to the screen.
But he noticed something was off.
"Huh?"
As the credits rolled, names that shouldn't be there appeared, one by one.
Franceline Lockhart.
Cerchesne Adenca.
Lena Brightwood.
Eli nervously laughed. They were the names of the dead heroines, just casually unravelling themselves before his eyes.
"This gotta be a joke… right?"
There was not one mention about the teams behind the game. Even the distribution company wasn't there!
Eli thought this might be a joke from the developers in order to enrage the audience even further — "ragebait" as the people called it.
Yet, he couldn't shake off this strange, ominous feeling. And so, his eyes were glued to the screen as the names kept coming.
Vivienne Ducanti.
Kirigan Maycille.
Nora Nachtnebel.
"Shit… This feels like a casualty list or something."
The joke was getting too far. His heart felt a pang of regret.
Eli loved every single one of the heroines — their stories, their personalities, every annoying and endearing thing about them. They were never just characters in a game to him. They felt real.
More real than most people he had actually met… but then again, he never really had anyone to begin with.
The scrolling grew slower with each name, and then it stopped entirely.
The screen went dark for a moment.
"Is that it?"
Eli leaned closer to the screen.
Just then, one name popped up from the center.
But the letters were so small he had to squint his eyes.
Soon enough, Eli realized he didn't have to do that.
The name suddenly grew bigger and bigger until it ate everything else whole, and the screen was nothing but its white letters.
ELISE MOREAU
Eli held his breath, staring intensely at the name.
"…I know that name."
But for some reason, he couldn't remember anything about this character.
"Who is—"
Suddenly, his phone screen cracked. But it didn't stop there.
The crack spread past the phone, past his hands, swallowing the walls and the ceiling and the floor beneath him whole.
"WHAT THE FUCK? HEL—"
Before Eli could get his last words out, the entire hospital room folded in on itself like a piece of paper, taking him with it.
His consciousness faded with the space, but before he passed out, a holographic blue screen popped up in front of him.
[Error.]
[The Hero of the World has fallen. Designating a new Hero.]
[Beginning the Succession of the Hero, Elise Moreau.]
[Error. Heroine Elise Moreau failed to sync.]
[Initiate GW Protocol. Force syncing.]
[Syncing with the abilities of Elise Moreau.]
[Complete!]
[Dear Elise, please lead your world towards the true ending.]
Eli's eyes finally shut.
***
As soon as Eli's eyes saw light, he shot up from his bed with a sharp breath.
"W-What just happened—"
His eyes widened.
Why was his voice like that? Velvety, sensual, and… feminine.
But that wasn't even the biggest problem.
Eli blinked, then looked around the room. He immediately thought someone must have kidnapped him to a really luxurious palace… for some reason.
It was literally a fantasy palace: the high ornate ceiling, the carved floral trimming, the golden light spilling through the curtains that definitely cost more than his hospital fees.
Eli glanced at the vanity mirror across the room, the neatly folded maid uniform on the chair, the delicate little writing desk by the window… Did a freaking princess abduct him or something?
He looked down at his hands… his small, pale, dainty—
"THESE ARE NOT MY HANDS," he yelled, femininely.
Panicked, Eli scrambled out of bed and ran straight for the vanity mirror, nearly tripping over the hem of a skirt that had absolutely NO BUSINESS being on his body.
"If I ever find out who dressed me in this!"
Finally, he planted himself in front of the mirror and looked up.
Lo and behold, a girl stared back at him.
She was gorgeous… definitely the most gorgeous girl he had ever seen in real life. She had short teal hair, pink eyes with a little beauty mark beneath the left one, and she was dressed in a simple white nightgown that, even in its simplicity, was breathtaking.
"Oh, why hello there, gorgeous," Eli said out loud, femininely.
He saw his reflection's mouth moved, and the same honeyed, mellow voice from before came out of his own throat.
The realization hit him like a freight train.
"THIS IS THE BIGGEST PROBLEM. I'M A FREAKING TOMBOY MAID NOW!?"
Did he really just get transmigrated into a beautiful maid? But who was this?
He grabbed his own cheeks in the mirror and squished them as hard as he could, and they squished back with complete sincerity.
"Okay. Okay, okay, okay, calm down."
Eli let go and took a step back, running both his hands through short teal hair that was definitely not his.
"Let's think. Recall what happened."
Hospital. Then his favorite game. Credits rolling with names he adored, heroine after heroine, and then that last name.
"…Elise Moreau."
Screen crack, then the falling, and then—
His eyes went wide.
"The status window."
Suddenly, that window — the ones Eli had only ever seen in games and webtoons — appeared right before his eyes.
╭────────-·-ˋˏ-༻𖤓༺-ˎˊ·-────────╮
[────HERO STATUS────]
Name: Elise Moreau
Title: [Hero Successor], [Lady's Maid]
Class: None · Rank: I · Level: 1/20
EXP: 0/100
[────STATS────]
STR 28/120 (E)
AGI 34/120 (E)
END 19/120 (F)
MAG 5/120 (F)
AUR 5/120 (F)
[────ABILITIES────]
Passive: [The Hero] (EX-1), [Maid's Intuition] (S-1), [Maid's Dexterity] (B-1)
Active: [Rapid Step] (D-1)
Songs: —
╰────────-·-ˋˏ-༻𖤓༺-ˎˊ·-────────╯
"This window is the same as Heroines of the Ages…"
He had really been transmigrated into the game… as a maid. How?
"I have no damn clue!"
Eli was still panicking inside, but he had no choice but to accept the situation. Besides, if he could accept the fact that his entire life would be spent in a hospital, then being stuck in the game he loved was clearly a lighter punishment.
"Punishment? Nah. This is a reward! Heaven with my heroines!"
Optimism was the way to go, always!
Well… he hadn't come to terms that he was a woman, yet.
He laughed a little.
But Eli still had one question.
Who was Elise Moreau?
He recognized the name, yet he couldn't remember anything about her.
Eli pressed two fingers to his temple.
"Come on, come on… I played this game for hundreds of hours."
The harder he tried, the blanker his mind got, which was frankly offensive towards himself after all the hours he had poured in.
Besides, if Eli was really in HOTA, he needed to grasp the situation fast.
Every single heroine in this game was going to die, and unlike the players back home who could only watch helplessly through the screen, he was actually here.
He could save everyone.
"Elise… Just who are you?"