Chapter 1: Awakening in the Game World

Song Ze was a twenty-year-old shut-in who had never even touched a girl’s hand. On his birthday, he bought a harem romance game from his favorite company.

The game allowed you to customize the protagonist’s name.

The protagonist’s background was complicated: his parents died in battle when he was three, and he was adopted by his father’s friend, the Duke. But ‘adopted’ was just a polite term—he was little more than a servant living in their home.

Within two years, the Duke sent him to the Templar Knights Training Academy as an apprentice knight—

The Templar Knights were sworn to celibacy, basically like monks. Song Ze suspected the Duke had it in for the protagonist’s father, trying to end his bloodline.

But as the protagonist of a harem game, how could he stay single? The romanceable characters included the holy temple maiden, the demon king’s princess daughter, the breathtakingly beautiful elf princess, and even the Duke’s daughter (the protagonist’s childhood friend). Every trope was covered.

And those were just the obvious ones. Rumor had it there was a hidden character, only unlockable after clearing all endings—completely different from the others! It was incredibly exciting.

The art style was Song Ze’s favorite, the character designs top-notch, dripping with style. Just looking at the cover made him giddy. Without hesitation, he entered his own name as the protagonist.

…But the game was brutally hard. He’d played over a dozen times and still got bad endings, sometimes without even touching a girl’s hand.

“How is this still a harem game?!” Song Ze raged. He started playing nonstop, refusing to look up guides online. He was determined to win his love interests on his own.

After an all-nighter, he finally got the hang of the game and achieved 1v1 endings with different characters. But the harem ending and true ending remained elusive.

Unwilling to admit defeat, he spent two days and nights grinding through the game. On the morning of the third day, he finally unlocked the harem ending. Overwhelmed with excitement, he dropped dead from exhaustion.

When Song Ze woke up, he realized he was no longer in his room, nor in front of his computer.

He was inside a crude tent. The design was exactly like one in the game, even down to the patch on the lower right.

“This… did I transmigrate?” Shocked, Song Ze instinctively cast a Water Mirror spell to check his reflection, though he had no idea how he’d used magic.

In the mirror was a young man with golden hair like sunlight, piercing blue eyes that could steal hearts, and flawless features.

…W-Wait, isn’t this the game’s protagonist?!

He’d often fantasized about becoming the protagonist while playing, but now it actually happened! Tears of joy welled up. Compared to those who transmigrated as cannon fodder, he had struck gold.

[Congratulations! Host has bonded with the Life Winner System. This system aims to help the shut-in host become a true life winner.]

A voice suddenly echoed in his mind.

Song Ze was startled. He hadn’t expected a system, and with such an awesome name. It seemed he was destined to be a life winner surrounded by beautiful women…!

[Our main quest is to unlock the game’s true ending. Of course, there are many thrilling side quests waiting for you as well.]

Hearing that the main quest was the game’s true ending, Song Ze brimmed with confidence. He was just one step away from the true harem ending! He’d played the main route countless times and cleared all other endings—this would be a breeze.

Harsh voices came from outside. Song Ze tidied up and stepped out. A crowd had gathered in the clearing.

This event was the academy’s final exam. The students had come to the Dark Forest to investigate the sudden appearance of monsters.

Since scores determined their status, resource allocation, and external evaluations for the coming year, everyone was eager to prove themselves.

After all, ranking in the top ten meant an audience with the Temple’s high officials, and the king would personally award a medal to the first place—such glory!

But when they looked at Song Ze, their provocative gazes turned to disdain and mockery.

“I wonder how he’ll manage this time.”

“He was always arrogant, but to offend Lord Aliel before departure—he’s asking for death.”

“But with the Duke backing him, even with the worst scores, he can still pull strings to enter the Temple.”

Song Ze: “…”

Right. Song Ze remembered. The game’s protagonist was a spoiled brat who, relying on the Duke’s support, had offended many. But others couldn’t be bothered to argue with him… If not for that, with his looks, he wouldn’t have ended up like this.

But just recently, he had provoked someone he shouldn’t have.

That person was the academy’s top student, Aliel. Not only was he incredibly talented and handsome, but his background was said to be terrifying. Even as a student, he was favored by many kingdom bigwigs and had a legion of followers. Apart from his extreme arrogance and terrible temper, he was perfect.

And the original owner had been foolish enough to say to the formidable Aliel, “You’re prettier than any girl. Your beauty slayed my soul.” (Of course, in the game’s setting, Aliel was actually a woman disguised as a man.)

That was like poking a hornet’s nest. Aliel had sneered, looking at him like he was already dead. He didn’t order his subordinates to beat him up on the spot, but from then on, the protagonist’s treatment plummeted. By now, during this team-based exam, no one was willing to be his teammate!

It was clear how disastrous the exam would be for the weakling protagonist.

“By the way, system, what level am I?” Song Ze suddenly asked.

After all, this world was originally a game. Without godly items, everything depended on level. If his level was too low, he’d definitely die at some point.

[Host is currently level 10.]

Song Ze: “???”

Level 10 in the Dark Forest was suicide! This was no beginner zone…

[No worries. If the host dies, we can load a save file.]

[Also, current main quest: Explore the Dark Forest and ensure you spend most of the time with the romance target, Aliel. Side quest: Kill ten monsters. Success grants massive experience; failure triggers a reload.]

Cold sweat dripped down Song Ze’s forehead. The only way to complete the quest was to rely on teammates! And it was the main quest… His desperate gaze instinctively turned to the most conspicuous person in the crowd—Aliel.

Aliel had long, smooth blonde hair that shone brilliantly in the sun. His emerald eyes seemed to radiate life force—just a glance made one feel the forest’s essence washing over them, purifying their soul.

Noticing Song Ze’s gaze, Aliel turned, his face full of arrogance and his beautiful eyes dripping with mockery. “What? Begging for mercy?” he sneered.

Despite the harsh tone, Song Ze’s eyes lit up as he recalled the game’s plot.

Aliel’s true identity was actually the Elf Princess Aili, disguised as a man to train in the Knight Academy. Her true beauty was ten times more stunning than her current appearance, hitting all of Song Ze’s weak spots (yes, he was a total looks-connoisseur).

In this world, elves weren’t reclusive creatures living in forests. They were prominent, with high status on the continent due to their powerful talents and long lifespans.

But the Elf Princess had a bad temper—extremely arrogant. In the early game, she loved mocking the protagonist. Even after getting together with him, she was super jealous, green with envy from morning to night, and harsh to other romance interests.

But she was tame compared to the Demon Princess, who would casually murder other girls. Several side quests in the game involved stopping her from killing those who had a crush on the protagonist.

All in all, the protagonist’s ability to achieve a harem ending without being beaten to death by his harem… was impressive in its own way.

Because she mocked the protagonist so much early on, many players disliked Aili, with some even deliberately getting her bad ending. But Song Ze actually liked the Elf Princess. Sure, she was tsundere to the point of being cruel, but she had high combat power (great for fighting monsters in the game) and genuinely loved the protagonist!

Of course, Song Ze knew one thing for sure right now… Aliel’s affection toward him was in the negatives.

Taking a deep breath, Song Ze walked up to Aliel under everyone’s gaze and greeted him warmly, “Good afternoon.”

Aliel had no idea what Song Ze was thinking—probably that the guy had lost his mind. “What do you want?” he sneered.

“Can I join your team for this exam?”

The moment Song Ze spoke, the murmuring stopped. Everyone stared in shock, especially Aliel’s followers, who looked at him like he was an idiot.

“You?” Aliel barely held back a laugh, his gaze cold. “Tell me, why should I let you join my team?”

Song Ze wouldn’t have said it without confidence. Under everyone’s gaze, he spoke boldly: “Because only someone as strong as you could still keep the whole team safe and effortlessly take first place while carrying a useless burden like me.”

As someone who had successfully farmed Aliel’s affection countless times in the game, Song Ze was brimming with confidence. After all, this was his wife!

System: […]