Lucien hated people.
They were loud. Stupid. Dramatic. And worst of all, unpredictable. Unlike games.
In games, there were rules. In games, people behaved the way they were programmed. In games, you could win.
Lucien leaned back in his worn-out chair, the faint blue light of his monitor casting shadows across the cluttered walls of his room. Empty cans, instant noodles, and a half-functioning PC setup surrounded him like the moat of a shut-in king.
He wiped the sweat off his brow and cracked his knuckles.
[Final Route: Evelyn - Forbidden Path Completed]
[Congratulations, you've achieved 100 percent completion]
[Initiating hidden ending]
A line of text flickered across the screen.
Lucien blinked.
[Thank you, Lucien.]
"…What?"
The screen went black.
Then white.
Then the world exploded.
It wasn't painful, just… sudden. Like blinking and realizing your body was no longer attached. There was no time to scream, no time to think, only a moment of floating through absolute silence.
And then came the fall.
Lucien gasped as he tumbled face-first onto something cold and wet. His eyes shot open. Stone tiles. The scent of incense. High ceilings. Murmurs.
"Another bastard child, huh? Pathetic."
The voice was unfamiliar, aristocratic, and laced with disdain.
Lucien turned his head.
He was in a grand hall. Gilded pillars lined the walls, and nobles in lavish clothing stood in semi-circles, staring at him like he was some kind of dirty animal. At the center of the hall stood a man with silver hair and sharp eyes—eyes Lucien recognized.
Duke Everhart.
[Loading Profile: Lucien von Everhart]
[Role: Illegitimate Son]
[Rank: Extra]
[Warning: Survival rate below 10 percent]
Lucien's stomach twisted. He wasn't just in the game. He was in the game. Inside the damn eroge he'd wasted hundreds of hours on. But not as the protagonist.
He was Lucien—the throwaway character. A background extra who existed solely for one bad ending and a forgettable funeral.
The bastard son of Duke Everhart, born of a maid, and despised by everyone.
"Take him to the west wing," the Duke said without looking at him. "See to it that he doesn't embarrass the family any further."
Lucien's mouth opened to respond, but the system beat him to it.
[New Trait Unlocked: Player Perspective]
[You may now view character profiles, flag statuses, and relationship meters]
[Note: You are NOT the protagonist. You are not bound by the original plot]
As two guards lifted him to his feet, Lucien's mind raced.
In the game, Lucien von Everhart was killed during the second arc. Poisoned by his jealous half-brother. No one cared. Not the Duke. Not the heroines. Not even the player.
He was nothing more than filler.
But that Lucien had no memories. That Lucien didn't have him inside his body.
And he wasn't going to die the same way.
Not this time.
—
The west wing of the Everhart estate was a joke. Dust coated the bookshelves. The bed creaked with every breath. There were holes in the curtains. The only servant assigned to him was a deaf, hunched old man who didn't speak a word.
Lucien didn't care.
He sat by the cracked mirror, watching the reflection of a boy with black hair, pale skin, and deep gray eyes. His new body was young—maybe fourteen at most. Thin. Weak. Untrained.
But it didn't matter.
He had knowledge. And in a world driven by choices, knowledge was power.
[Opening Character Index]
[Current World Arc: Noble Academy Intro]
Lucien scrolled through the tabs mentally. He remembered this part of the game. The noble academy arc was where the player met all the heroines. Where bonds were formed. Where secrets unraveled.
It was also where Lucien's death flag was planted.
If he could survive that arc, he could rewrite everything.
[Affinity Paths Unlocked: 0]
[Special Options: Corrupt Route, Redemption Route]
[Condition to Unlock: Influence key events or target characters]
Lucien smiled.
So this was the hidden ending. This was the true route—the one no beta tester ever saw. A route where the extra becomes the player.
But he would need allies. Power. Leverage. And most importantly… charm.
And this world didn't reward kindness. No. It rewarded boldness.
—
Days passed, and Lucien kept his head down, watching. Studying.
His half-siblings sneered at him. The servants ignored him. The Duke didn't acknowledge his existence. But Lucien didn't waste time on people who didn't matter.
He memorized the mansion's layout, the family's schedules, the rules of etiquette. Every dinner, he analyzed conversations like a chessboard. Every insult, every glance—it was all information.
Then the invitation arrived.
[A message from Royal Academy of Noble Arts]
[Lucien von Everhart is to enroll as a first-year student]
[Event Triggered: School Arc Begins]
Lucien grinned.
It was starting.
He was being thrown into the belly of the beast—the place where the heroines gathered. The place where the protagonist would make his mark. The place where extras like him were meant to fade into the background.
But not this extra.
Lucien tightened the collar of his tailored academy uniform. His gray eyes reflected in the mirror, filled with a quiet fire.
Let the world treat him like a nobody.
He would seduce the heroines, shatter the routes, and take the game apart piece by piece.
If this was an eroge, then fine.
He would play to win.