In the sweltering heat of early May and June, Tokyo's weather grew even hotter, and the girls dressed more scantily than ever.
Beneath the nearly barren cherry blossom trees, Haruto Seishu suppressed the restlessness in his heart as he calmly addressed the girl in black thigh-highs and a miniskirt before him. "Classmate, my goal is to get into Tokyo University. I'm not considering relationships right now, so… I'm sorry."
The alluring blonde beauty wore an expression of practiced indifference. "Mmm… Sorry for troubling you, Haruto-kun. But… I'll be back."
Her long, stocking-clad legs swayed beneath the miniskirt as she disappeared down the field.
Haruto exhaled in relief, leaning against the tree trunk with a conflicted expression.
"That's the eighth time this month… Damn it, why won't it work…?"
Due to an accident, Haruto had arrived in this parallel-world Japan.
Fittingly, he was still named Haruto—just with a different surname.
His full name was Haruto Seishu, a 16-year-old first-year student at the private Kuoh Academy.
At first, Haruto had been ecstatic about his transmigration. But as he assimilated his predecessor's memories and learned more about this world, his excitement turned into despair.
First, this was an incredibly chaotic anime world—a mix of both mainstream and ecchi anime, where humans, gods, devils, and monsters all coexisted.
The classmate who stood beside you during detention by day might be a bloodthirsty monster by night.
Second, this world leaned heavily toward the ecchi side of anime.
Even the supposedly "wholesome" characters he'd encountered so far weren't exactly pure.
Being stuck in this messed-up world was bad enough, but Haruto's predecessor also had the quintessential "protagonist" template—
Jet-black tousled hair, delicate and handsome features, a slender frame, black-rimmed glasses, a gentle personality, polite and helpful to everyone, with girls throwing themselves at him…
In a normal anime world, he'd be the classic harem protagonist. But in this world?
He was definitely the "cuckold" type.
After realizing this, Haruto had tried countless times to change his fate.
He worked out relentlessly, refused girls' offers of help, swapped his glasses for contacts, dyed his hair blonde, joined a delinquent gang…
He tried everything he could think of, but nothing worked.
Not only did his cheat powers fail to manifest, but his efforts barely made a difference.
No matter how much he exercised, his body remained frail.
The hair dye faded within days, the delinquents wouldn't accept him, and the girls' affection for him only grew stronger—even when he did nothing, they kept self-shipping.
Worse, as time passed, the "cuckold" destiny loomed ever closer.
At first, he'd only get confessed to once a month. Now, it was twice a week.
Not only was the quantity increasing, but the quality was improving as well.
From innocent and cute classmates to curvaceous older sisters, and even angel-faced, devil-bodied senior girls in black stockings...
Haruto also noticed that ever since someone confessed to him, all sorts of trouble had been coming his way.
Deliberate provocations, extortion, bullying—it was all commonplace.
For now, he could still manage with the experience and tricks from his two lifetimes. But if he got too close to these beauties and his "cuckold protagonist template" fully activated, he might not live to see the next sunrise.
So, Haruto forcefully suppressed the desires and impulses in his heart.
Compared to getting intimate with beautiful girls, his life was far more important.
What made Haruto even more helpless and despairing was that his predecessor seemed to have offended a certain delinquent devil from the hidden academy.
Kuoh Academy had two divisions: ordinary students and those with supernatural abilities.
Among the supernatural students, the most typical were devils and their familiars.
But ordinary students would never know this—Haruto only knew the truth because he had watched High School DxD in his previous life.
It had been a long time, so his memories of Kuoh Academy were hazy, but the name Rias Gremory was etched firmly in his mind.
After catching a distant glimpse of that buxom beauty with blood-red hair—no, that pure-blooded devil beauty—Haruto immediately recalled the details about Kuoh Academy.
The academy had its rules. Students from the hidden academy weren't allowed to harm ordinary students on campus. The delinquent's earlier actions were already pushing the limits.
But even if he were reported, the punishment wouldn't be too severe—just a few days of suspension at most.
In other words, once outside the school, if anything happened, the academy wouldn't interfere much. At best, they'd seek justice for you after the fact.
After all, if there were no measures at all, the ordinary students in the academy would eventually vanish without a trace.
Even if the punishment afterward was severe, Haruto didn't believe this delinquent devil would spare him out of fear.
The guy would genuinely kill him over a woman—that was how much faith Haruto had in his cuckold protagonist template.
Speak of the devil, and he shall appear.
Under the bare cherry blossom tree, the delinquent—dressed in black with a cold, sinister expression—swaggered slowly toward Haruto.
The last rays of the setting sun were blocked, the golden-orange glow on Haruto's face replaced by deep shadows, mirroring his current mood.
"Kid, seems like last time's lesson wasn't enough for you!"
The delinquent's voice was rough, his eyes fierce, clearly pissed. "You're nothing but trash. I really don't get why Big Sis Reina and the others would take a liking to you."
Haruto suppressed his gloom and forced a smile, about to explain.
But the delinquent had no intention of listening.
BAM!!!
A gust of wind whipped past, stinging Haruto's cheeks as wood splinters flew. A deafening crash echoed in his ears.
"Listen up, kid."
Despite his scrawny appearance, the delinquent effortlessly lifted Haruto by the collar with one hand.
"Last warning. If I see you hanging around Big Sis Reina and the others again, you're dead!"
"If you don't do as I say, unless you never leave the school gates again... heh heh heh."
Haruto's face turned red from the choking grip, barely able to breathe. With all his strength, he managed a nod.
"Tch."
Looking at Haruto, who was powerless to resist, the little blond spat disdainfully, loosened his grip, and threw him to the ground before turning to leave.
Only after the other had gone far enough did Haruto stand up with a dark expression.
Just like the confessions, those who came to cause trouble were also growing stronger, and this blond was someone the original body had already offended.
Haruto even suspected that half the reason the original body had died suddenly was due to the blond's last beating.
The deep fist mark on the tree trunk and the fact that the other, who was less than 1.7 meters tall, could effortlessly lift him with one hand proved that the little blond was definitely no ordinary person.
"Damn it, those three girls are nothing but trouble."
Haruto brushed the dust off his pants, unable to hold back his curses. "And this blond—is he blind or just stupid? How many times have I rejected them? They still won't leave me alone. What the hell am I supposed to do?"
The "Big Sis Reina" the blond had mentioned were Haruto's classmates.
There were three of them—all curvaceous, top-tier beauties named Reina Hamazaki, Yukina Sasaki, and Ruri Kurumisaka.
Not long after the semester started, Haruto had been pestered by the trio. The original body, unable to resist temptation, had agreed—only to be immediately hunted down by the blond and beaten to a pulp.
Three days after being bedridden, the original body had inexplicably died, and when he woke up again, this Haruto was no longer the same person.
Now, until he found a way to resolve the "Cuckold Protagonist Template," there was no way he would sleep with any woman, let alone these three, who were straight out of an H-anime.
If he agreed, he'd probably end up with a head greener than a pasture before he even died.
But the three of them refused to give up.
The owner of those long, black-stockinged legs from earlier had been Reina Hamazaki, and now, the blond—who was likely a devil—had come after him again.
This time, the other definitely wouldn't stop at just a simple beating.
Frustrated but helpless, Haruto could only curse inwardly. Forget the pressure from the Cuckold Protagonist Template—as an ordinary person, he had no way to fight back against a special existence like the blond.
Even a low-ranking devil was an insurmountable mountain for a normal human.
"If it comes down to it... I might have to risk seeking help from the Occult Research Club."
Ever since meeting Rias Gremory, Haruto had considered reaching out to her more than once. Not only was she an incredibly popular beauty, but she was also a pure-blooded high-class devil—and the current underground ruler of Kuoh Academy, the hidden academy's sovereign.
With her help, the blond's threats would mean nothing.
But Haruto was just an ordinary person. There was no way for him to get close to Rias, who stood at the academy's peak.
There was also the fact that even if he did get her help, he'd inevitably be dragged into troublesome situations afterward.
As the main heroine, even a minor problem she faced could cost Haruto his life.
Overthinking wouldn't help. No matter what he chose, there was no perfect solution to his current predicament. Ultimately, it all came down to one thing—Haruto was too weak.
In a world crawling with monsters and devils, an ordinary human was, to put it bluntly, worth less than a dog.