"Son of a bitch!" Reiji gritted his teeth in anger as he walked along the sidewalk. The colorful wheel spinning on his phone gradually slowed before finally stopping.
[Bad Luck. Try Again Later!]
His eye twitched.
This was the seventh time today. Six months' worth of allowance.
Gone.
Not a single SSR. Not even a pity reward.
"This damn game is definitely rigged."
Reiji cursed under his breath, yet his thumb still hovered over the glowing 'Last Spin' button.
Just one more. He could feel it. This time would definitely be different.
"Kurosawa! Kurosawa!"
A familiar, cheerful female voice suddenly called out.
Reiji paused and casually glanced over his shoulder.
There she was.
Morikawa Hina.
She ran toward him, cheeks flushed, long black hair streaming behind her. Her doll-like face and the way her body moved under her clothes turned every head on the street.
Single guys stared.
Guys with girlfriends got elbowed almost immediately.
She was still waving as she hurried across the road.
The aura surrounding Reiji, one that screamed 'I've made countless terrible decisions in life, but fuck it, I'll keep making more,' softened ever so slightly.
The frustration from seven consecutive bad pulls eased a little.
He raised his hand.
"Hin–"
HONK!
A deafening horn exploded through the street.
Reiji instinctively turned his head.
His pupils instantly constricted.
He realized he was still in the fucking road!
And for the first time in his life, he saw the magnificent headlights of Truck-kun up close.
His brain completely stopped functioning.
"Wait! Wait! Wait! Truck-kun, just one more pull!"
He screamed with everything he had.
To everyone else, it sounded like the desperate cry of someone begging for his life.
If they knew he wasn't begging to survive but begging for one final gacha spin, they would probably cough up blood on the spot.
BOOM!
Truck-kun clearly had no interest in negotiating.
It rammed straight into him with enough force to make heaven's tribulation look gentle.
Reiji's body shot high into the air.
As the wind howled past him and his consciousness slowly began fading, his instincts as a seasoned degenerate kicked in.
His trembling fingers swiftly unlocked his phone.
Without the slightest hesitation, he opened his custom emergency application and slammed the massive red button displayed on the screen.
[WIPE MY ASS CLEAN]
The app existed for one reason.
Deleting every trace of his browser history, saved tabs, downloads and private bookmarks with a single tap.
There was absolutely no way he was letting his family discover the horrifying depths of his digital sins after his death.
Mission accomplished.
Reiji accepted his fate.
A second later, gravity reclaimed ownership of his body.
SPLAT!
He crashed onto the pavement with all the elegance of a shut-in NEET attempting to throw out trash after staying indoors for six months.
Needless to say, the landing was a complete disaster.
Hina's excited smile instantly disappeared.
"Reiji!!!"
She screamed as she sprinted toward him in panic.
Blood slowly spread beneath his body.
His arms and legs bent at horrifying angles no human body should ever bend.
His vision gradually darkened.
His final regret echoed quietly inside his fading consciousness.
'Truck-kun you bastard. Just one more pull, I know I would've gotten the grand prize. I could feel it.'
If he had known he'd be flattened before using his final spin, he would've chosen the double-spin option instead.
"Reiji!!!"
He could still hear Hina's desperate cries.
Her voice trembled.
She sounded like she was crying.
Soon the distant wail of an ambulance echoed through the streets, slowly drowning everything else.
Even Reiji couldn't help feeling a little sorry for her.
Despite being the one dying.
It had been a long time since she had called him by his first name.
At least...
It proved he meant something to her.
A few moments later everything went dark.
***
When Reiji opened his eyes again, he wasn't standing before a goddess or floating in some fantasy realm.
Instead, he found himself lying on the floor of a modern two-level loft apartment.
His apartment?
He slowly sat up.
Only a single dim lamp illuminated the room while every window remained tightly shut, making the place feel strangely suffocating.
Reiji rubbed his aching head.
'Did I... regress?'
The thought sounded reasonable.
He immediately looked down at himself.
Same skinny body. Same disappointing muscles. Still no six-pack.
"Tch."
For a brief moment, he felt cheated.
'Maybe getting hit by Truck-kun was just one hell of a realistic dream.'
He placed both hands on the floor and slowly stood up.
The instant he did a violent headache exploded inside his skull.
"Argh!"
His knees buckled.
He grabbed his head as burning pain tore through his mind.
Then...
The memories came.
Countless scenes. Countless emotions. Countless experiences.
None of them belonged to him.
The flood nearly overwhelmed his consciousness before gradually settling down.
Reiji remained frozen. His breathing became uneven.
'I didn't regress... I transmigrated?'
From the memories, he quickly discovered something unbelievable.
The owner of this body had the exact same name.
Kurosawa Reiji Kage.
Even their faces were practically identical.
The only difference...
This version somehow looked like a slightly upgraded edition of himself and was a year older.
But it was still the Ssame face. Slightly better physique. Still gave off loser energy.
"There has to be some kind of connection..."
Reiji muttered. There was no doubt. This had to be another timeline.
Beep!
A notification suddenly lit up the phone resting on the coffee table.
Reiji instinctively picked it up.
12:00 A.M.
Friday, April 10.
Nothing unusual. Then his eyes landed on the headline.
[After the global heat signature scan conducted yesterday, it has now been officially confirmed that every male on Earth has vanished.]
Reiji blinked. He read it again. Then again.
His inherited memories had already hinted at this impossible reality.
But seeing those words displayed boldly on the screen made everything real.
A slow grin spread across his face.
One man. Billions of women.
No more getting friend-zoned. No more romance anime giving him false hope. No more watching other guys steal every heroine.
Images immediately flooded his mind.
Women surrounding him from every direction.
Calling him handsome. Calling him daddy. Fighting over who would carry his child first.
His face gradually turned red. His imagination continued running wild. His third leg immediately saluted the nation.
For a lifelong virgin whose romantic experience consisted of awkward eye contact, missed opportunities and anime waifus...
This was paradise.
Then another thought suddenly interrupted everything.
'...What if none of them actually likes me?'
His smile froze.
Just because he was the only man alive didn't automatically mean every woman would fall in love with him.
For all he knew...
They might simply lock him inside some laboratory and milk him like humanity's last breeding bull.
"...Yeah."
"That actually sounds possible."
The paradise inside his head instantly shattered.
"I should probably stop thinking with my lower body."
He sighed.
His immediate priority was finding the bathroom before his current problem became even more embarrassing.
Click!
Reiji froze.
His body stiffened instinctively.
He was supposed to be alone.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Soft footsteps echoed through the apartment.
Each one grew closer.
His heartbeat quickened.
Then she appeared.
'...Hina?'
She stood in the doorway wearing an oversized white shirt that reached her thighs, her long black hair still slightly damp as if she had just taken a shower. In one hand was a glass of water.
The moment her eyes landed on him...
She froze.
Completely.
Her beautiful eyes widened little by little until they trembled.
The glass slowly slipped from her fingers.
Crash!
Water splashed across the wooden floor.
Neither of them moved. Neither of them spoke.
The silence became suffocating.
Her lips parted slightly. "...How?"
The word barely escaped her lips.
"No..."
She took one shaky step backward.
"No..."
Her breathing became uneven.
"That's impossible..."
She stared at him as if she had just seen a ghost claw its way out of hell.
Her eyes quickly scanned his face...
His chest... His hands... Looking for something.
Anything.
"W-Why are you standing..."
She shook her head violently.
"No..."
"You're supposed to be dead."
Those words finally reached Reiji's ears.
Dead?
Before he could process them...
A violent headache exploded inside his skull.
"Gh..."
His vision blurred. Fragments. Broken memories. A hospital. This apartment.
Hina crying. Holding someone tightly.
"I thought... they would take you away from me when they discovered you..."
"They can't have you."
"I won't let anyone take you away from me."
More memories crashed into him.
Late-night conversations.
Shared meals.
Small arguments.
The previous Reiji sighing every time Hina acted recklessly.
"...They're dating?"
His pupils trembled.
This wasn't the relationship he remembered.
The Morikawa Hina from his previous life wasn't like this.
She was cold.
Tsundere.
Proud.
She would rather die than admit she liked someone.
So why another memory surfaced.
This one was much darker and cold.
Covered in blood.
"If they find you... They'll take you away forever. So if you die... you'll belong to me forever."
*Stab!*
Everything stopped.
Reiji's blood turned ice cold.
His mind instantly pieced everything together.
The previous Reiji hadn't died because of the virus.
He had been murdered.
By the girl standing right in front of him.
"...Reiji?"
Her voice pulled him back to reality.
There was fear in it.
Suspicion.
Confusion.
She was watching every tiny change in his expression.
Reiji immediately understood.
One wrong word. One strange reaction. One slip.
And he might join the previous owner of this body.
Think.
Think!
"I..."
He forced himself to stay calm.
"I honestly don't know what's going on either."
He scratched the back of his head, wearing the same helpless expression the previous Reiji often used whenever Hina became unreasonable.
"Can you stop looking at me like you've seen a ghost?"
His tone carried a trace of annoyance.
"If I were dead, then who exactly are you talking to?"
Hina froze. He frowned.
"And clean that up."
He glanced at the shattered glass.
"You'll cut yourself."
For several long seconds she simply stared at him.
Reiji's heart pounded so hard he thought she'd hear it.
Then...
Something in her expression slowly crumbled.
The suspicion. The fear. The doubt. All of it melted away.
Replaced by guilt.
"...Rei-kun..."
Her voice trembled.
"I..."
Tears gathered in the corners of her eyes before finally spilling over.
"I'm sorry..."
She covered her mouth as if trying to stop herself from crying.
"I thought..."
Her voice broke between sobs.
"I thought they would take you away from me when they discovered you."
Her shoulders shook violently.
"I couldn't let that happen. I couldn't..."
Before Reiji could even react, Hina stumbled forward and wrapped both arms tightly around him.
Her grip was surprisingly strong. Almost desperate.
"Rei-kun..."
She buried her face against his chest.
"I was so scared... I thought I had lost you forever."
"I... I wanted to follow you."
Reiji stiffened.
His brain stopped working for a moment.
'Follow me...?'
His eyes slowly drifted toward the broken glass lying on the floor.
The water.
The shattered pieces.
The memories he had just seen.
His pupils contracted.
'She wasn't getting water... She was about to kill herself.'
A chill crawled down his spine. His heartbeat accelerated.
'This girl... she's completely insane.'
He slowly raised one hand.
For a brief second he considered pushing her away.
But the moment that thought appeared another memory surfaced.
The previous Reiji gently patting her head whenever she became emotional.
Without thinking his hand landed on her head.
"It's alright." His own voice surprised him. "It turned out fine. I won't hold this against you. The good news is that I'm here and it's all that matters."
Hina's body trembled.
Then she hugged him even tighter.
"So promise me..."
Her voice became quiet.
"So quiet he almost didn't hear it.
"Promise me... You won't let anyone take you away from me."
Reiji swallowed. This was already too much.
His instincts screamed at him. Don't answer.
Run.
Get away from her.
Every survival instinct he possessed told him the girl in his arms was the most dangerous person in this world.
Unfortunately, he also knew refusing wasn't an option.
"I promise."
The words left his mouth almost immediately.
"I won't let anyone separate us."
"I'll stay by your side."
"I promise."
Hina slowly looked up.
The tears on her face hadn't stopped.
Yet the smile she wore was beautiful.
Beautiful enough to make someone forget every warning sign.
"Thank you..."
She whispered before resting her forehead against his chest once more.
Reiji forced a smile.
—Yeah right.
Ding!
A pleasant mechanical chime echoed inside his head. Also as if waiting.
And a translucent blue screen appeared before his eyes.
[Host has successfully awakened the Dominion Bond System.]
[A system that allows the Host to grow stronger through emotional bonds and intimate connections with multiple spouses ;) ]
Reiji stared blankly at the floating screen.
His smile slowly disappeared and his eyelid twitched.
'...Seriously?!'
If this was before, he would have jumped up and down in joy. But right now, it felt less like a cheat system and more like a trap set by fate or some god toying with him.
He looked down at Hina in his arms. An image of his own funeral flashed through his mind.
'Why?!'