"Son of a bitch!" Reiji gritted his teeth in anger as he walked through the sidewalk of the road. The phone in his hands was displaying an online gacha pull on its screen and the pin now pointed on that damn 'Bad luck, try again later!' segment.
This was the seventh time today it has landed on that segment, meaning all of his six months allowance gone, poof, and no SSR or rewards as compensation from the game for spending so much!
"This damn game is definitely rigged." Reiji cursed under his breath, but his thumb still moved towards the 'last spin' button ready to tap on it, when suddenly, a cute, bright, familiar female voice that could make a guy's bad day turn a complete 180, called out to him.
"Kurosawa! Kurosawa!"
He paused then casually glanced over his shoulder.
And there she was – Morikawa Hina – running toward him with flushed cheeks and that long, silky black hair dancing gently in the wind. Her voluptuous figure, innocent doll-like face, and curves turned almost all the heads of some guys. Guys without girlfriends stared openly, while guys with a wife or girlfriend got elbowed in the ribs.
Her face was still flushed as she ran towards Reiji upfront, about to cross the road.
The young man's aura of 'I've made multiple bad choices in my life, but fuck it, I'll keep making them' shifted slightly to something warm.
The knot in his chest, the one that had been there since the last sixth 'Bad Luck' spin, eased a little.
He raised a hand and his lips slightly parted, about to say something when the blazing sound of Truck-kun's honk rang out!
*Honk!*
A big white truck was coming straight at him.
Reiji turned to his side and for a second the world seemed to slow down. For the first time in his life he saw the big headlights of Truck-kun up close.
His pupils suddenly constricted.
"Wait! Wait! Wait! Truck-kun just one more pulling!"
He begged desperately for one more spin on the game, but to everybody else, they thought he was screaming for his life. If they knew what the youth was screaming for, wasn't for his life but for another spin in the gacha game, they would definitely cough up blood.
BOOM!
Truck-kun obviously didn't seem to give a fuck as it slammed straight into him, like heaven's tribulation itself. The impact sent him flying straight into the air, but while he was in the air, just seconds before his consciousness faded–being a seasoned master prepared for unconventional situations like this–he swiped open his custom app and slammed the big red button on the screen.
'Wipe My Ass Clean'
The one and only purpose of that app was to erase his browser history in a single tap. No way was he letting his family discover the depths of his browser history and save tabs after he was gone.
With his digital sins, browser history and private tabs scrubbed off clean, Reiji accepted his fate and truck-kun's Isekai routine as he slammed straight into the pavement like a shut-in neet throwing away the trash into the dumpster. And you know how that would end–a total disaster.
*Splat!*
Hina's excited expression instantly twisted into shock, then pure horror. She froze for a split second before sprinting toward his broken body.
"Reiji!!!"
Blood gushed out from his head as his consciousness gradually faded. His limbs were all broken and bent in the most inhumane way.
Reiji's final regret rang out in his mind: 'Truck-kun... just one more pull and I would have won the grand prize. I could feel it at my fingertips.'
If he had known he'd get ploughed by Truck-kun before his last spin. He would have clicked the double spin option.
"Reiji!!!"
He could still faintly hear Hina yelling his name and her voice breaking between sobs, but it was drowned by the sound of an approaching ambulance.
Even Reiji had to admit he felt sorry for her, despite being the one dying, because it was the first time in a long while he had heard her call him by his first name.
It was proof, at least, that he had mattered to her.
After a few seconds the world went quiet.
***
When Reiji opened his eyes again, he wasn't in any otherworldly or mythical realm but a modern two-level loft apartment. His Home?
All the windows were shut tight, and only a single weak lamp lit the room. Reiji sat up slowly, his head spinning. He looked around in a daze.
'Did I regress back in time?'
The thought sounded plausible but something felt wrong. He glanced down, still the same scrawny figure and no six abs he had imagined. This left him somewhat disappointed.
'Maybe that was all just a damn dream.'
Just as he about to stand up and survey the place, a splitting headache assaulted him and knocked back down.
"Argh!"
He instinctively gripped his head in agony, as he felt a tide of burning pain in his head.
Then the memories came. A flood of images, emotions and knowledge that belonged to someone else poured into his brain. Reiji huffed as he felt the torrent of pain slow down. From the stream of information he was receiving, he was dumbstruck.
'This is not my body and I didn't regress... but transmigrated...?'
From the memories, he learned that the previous owner of this body had his exact name: Kurosawa Reiji Kage. Same face, same loser energy, but more convenient like a slightly better version.
There was no doubt in his mind that this must be an alternate timeline.
Beep!
A notification suddenly lit up the screen of the phone resting on the small table in front of him. Reiji picked up the phone with shaky hands.
The time was 12am while the date showed 'Friday, April 10', but the notification he saw on the screen left him stunned.
The headline boldly stated: 'After the global heat signature scan conducted yesterday, it is now confirmed: All males have vanished from the planet.'
Reiji blinked, he stared at it and read it again.
He had caught fragments of this from the memories. He didn't want to believe at first, but now seeing it in bold text on the phone screen made it real.
A wide grin spread across his face, only man, millions of women, no more awkward glances or "friendzone" bullshit.
Explicit images of him doing it with a dozen, no, a hundred women played in his head. All calling him a daddy, begging to carry his child.
His eyes gleamed with primal lust, face flushed crimson and his 'third leg' grew half hard from the erotic thoughts.
For a pathetic virgin like Reiji whose past life of dating was limited to awkward glances and anime waifus, this was paradise.
But what if they don't accept him. Being the only man left in the world doesn't mean all women would want you.
The thought echoed in his mind, but was quickly pushed the thought aside.
As long as he was the only man left, he wasn't just special but necessary.
Reiji slowly stood up. He needed to find the bathroom to perform a quick ritual.
*Click!*
He froze on the spot, his body stiffening. He was supposed to be alone right?
Tap, tap, tap
The sound of footsteps, and it was getting closer. He stared at the direction of the footsteps his heart hammering against his chest.
Then she came into view. For a split second, time seemed to stop moving between them.
'Hina...?'
Reiji's eyes widened in disbelief, his brain short-circuited.
*Shatter!*
The glass slipped from her hand and crashed against the floor, water splashing across her feet.
Her entire being trembled.
"How...?" She muttered, her voice breaking as she stared wide-eyed at Reiji.
"How is this possible...?"
She took a step back.
"You're supposed to be dead!"
The words didn't register at first. He just stared at her confused.
'Dead?'
A sudden pressure instantly slammed into his head. Then the memories came forward as if waiting.
A room, no, this room. Her voice. Her hands gripping his shirt in tears.
"I won't let anyone take you away from me."
His vision blurred.
Then more flooded in, late-night calls, walking home together, her leaning closer than she should.
"…They were… dating?"
The realization hit like a truck. It didn't make sense.
In his previous world, Morikawa Hina was the definition of a tsundere, sharp-tongued, easily annoyed, and never really saw him as a guy.
'So how the hell did it turn into this? And more importantly, why did every memory feel… off?'
His heartbeat quickened. Then one final fragment surfaced. This time, dark and cold.
"If you die… then you'll only belong to me forever, right?"
*Stab!*
Reiji's blood ran cold.
'…She killed him.'
Everything clicked. This wasn't a misunderstanding. This girl in front of him... was a crazy yandere.
"…Reiji?"
She spoke again, there was unmistakable fear and suspicion in her voice.
He snapped out of it instantly.
Think.
He knew that if he hesitated now, if he said the wrong thing, he might actually die again.
"I …I don't know either" He tried to keep a calm expression as he rubbed the back of his head, acting like he was just as confused as she was.
"Maybe it's because of that virus."
The words came out smoother than he expected. Even to himself.
"There's been a lot of strange things happening, right? Maybe the virus had to kill a man, rather than physical means..."
He swallowed, hoping she would buy the lie.
Silence...
Hina didn't respond immediately.
She just stared at him.
But to Reiji it felt like she was peeling him apart, layer by layer, searching for something hidden beneath the surface.
His throat went dry.
'Why isn't she saying anything?! Did she see though it? Is she thinking of a way to kill me?!!'
His thoughts spiraled into chaos, but suddenly stopped when he heard a faint muffled sound.
*Sobs*
"Eh...!"
Reiji immediately rushed to Hina's side and instinctively wrapped his arms around her. Before he realized what he was doing it was already too late.
'Fuck... I just hugged her without thinking, She's going to call me a creep.'
He waited to be shoved away or yelled at by her, but instead she continued sobbing, even louder than before.
Reiji instantly panicked and tried to pull away, but Hina's arms suddenly clamped firmly around him.
"...Reiji-kun"
She suddenly spoke in a soft, muffled tone that sounded just as angelic as Reiji remembered.
"Please forgive me, what I did was out of fear that they might take you away from me. I... I also wanted to come join you"
Reiji blinked, then his eyes settled on the broken glass and water on the floor.
'Wait… join me? Does that mean she was planning to...'
"Reiji-kun... Promise me you will not allow them to take you away from me... Promise..."
"I promise."
Reiji instantly replied. He knew if he hesitated even for a single second. This time it wouldn't be Truck-kun taking his life but the girl in his arms.
He knew it was because of that heat scan done in search of a surviving male that made her react that way, and killed the previous Reiji.
"I promise to be by your side and I promise I won't let anyone come between us."
—Yeah right.
Ding!
[Host has successfully awakened the Dominion Bond System.]
[A system that allows the host to grow stronger through emotional bonds and intimate connections with many spouse ;) ]
'You've got to be kidding me right?!!'
Reiji stared at the glowing screen wide-eyed. 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.