Chapter 1

A story about a foul-mouthed otaku female college student who, for now, is trying her best to survive in a different world. Probably.

The reality is so merciless.

Or rather, can this be considered reality? No, it’s not at all good. Not only is it not good, but I want to gather everything up and throw it away. Why did it end up like this?

"Are you the traveler who predicted the fall of our country?"

The one who grinned with a sinister smile was a man with a hybrid appearance of a human and a beast. He was a beastman, a race known for their robust physiques, and a lion man, the ruler of this country, the Galarian Empire. He was the brave lion king, Adalbert Gaeleos, who was even said to have achieved the conquest of the continent. You can think of him as a wild handsome man with red hair and a lion’s mane. His estimated age, based on my standards, was around his mid-20s, but that’s just my guess, so don’t take it seriously.

"…No, I didn’t predict the fall of your country. It was just a slip of the tongue, a mere delusion. Please forgive me and let me go."

"Would you like me to discard you, then?"

"Please don’t?!"

Don’t say such terrifying things so casually, you beastman! Ahhhh! This is why I hate brainless people whose heads are filled with combat instincts and fighting spirit! Well, you’re not really brainless, right, Your Majesty Adalbert? You’re laughing so happily, but you’re licking your lips, thinking about how to dispose of me, aren’t you?

Besides, the people behind Adalbert are looking at me with such scary faces. That’s what scares me the most. I’m so scared my heart hurts. Stop it. I’m not a warrior. I’m a weak human. If I get hit, I’ll die instantly. I don’t want to die.

Actually, I want to go back to my hometown.

While sweating profusely, I thought my face probably didn’t show any emotion. It’s a sad trait of otakus that when their emotions exceed a certain level, they become expressionless. This was a skill I developed to survive in the real world, but in this situation, it’s not good at all.

Because, no matter how you look at it, it looks like I’m glaring at the king defiantly! No, that’s not it! I just want to run away right now!

"But you did predict the fall of our country, didn’t you? And you even specified the exact time."

"…It’s just the delusion and nonsense of a lowly person."

I said it firmly, but he didn’t believe me at all. Stop it. Stop making that scary face. I want to run away. Why did it end up like this? I have no ill intentions towards you or the Galarian Empire. I’m not a spy from another country, and I’m not a hermit with some great hidden talent!

I’m just a female college student who found herself in the world of a game!

Even if I shouted that, I know no one would understand. I’ve tried it many times before. In the city, people looked at me like I was crazy! Damn it!

Yes, this world is the world of the RPG game "Brave Fantasia" that I used to play. This game has about five series, all set in the same world, with the timeline progressing from the first to the latest. In the latest, the fifth, the once-prosperous beastman country, the Galarian Empire, falls.

I gathered information about the state of the city and the rulers, and I accidentally blurted out the truth.

—What? This is the Galarian Empire in the 10th year of King Adalbert’s reign? …It will fall in five years?

I really slipped up. I’m reflecting on it. Who would have thought that a lowly person’s delusion, muttered quietly on a street corner, would be reported all the way to the king? I didn’t think so! And that’s how I ended up in this situation.

Instead of dismissing it as a lowly person’s nonsense, the surprisingly agile King Adalbert came to interrogate me with his guards. The old man at the inn who kindly offered me a place to stay if I worked there, I’m sorry. I’ll try my best to make sure you’re not harmed. And I’ll try my best to get myself off the hook too!

"You don’t look like a fool. Are you… a girl? Who are you?"

"…I’ve been a girl since I was born, so please don’t put a question mark on that. And why did you start to say ‘boy’?"

Indeed, I’m still wearing my tracksuit (because I don’t have any money to buy new clothes. I’ve only been in this world for three days, you know?), but my hair is long enough to tie at the back of my neck, and I do have some curves, and my face is often described as childlike! And you’re a beastman, so you should be able to tell the gender by smell.

"……"

…Oops, I let out a rude comment. What should I do? I’m scared. The silence is terrifying. Will I be killed? No, I don’t want to die. I just want to go back. Who summoned me? Or did I just fall here by accident? That’s not good either. Please, I want to go back. I want to play the new game.

"…Damn."

Ah, goodbye, my fleeting 20-year-old life. Damn it. I wanted to play more games. I wanted to go to otaku conventions. I wanted to share my fangirling with my rotten friends. I just wanted to have fun. Goodbye, everyone.

I had resigned myself to this. I had resigned myself. After all, I had just picked a fight with a tyrant who seemed to be in a terrible mood. No matter how much I tried, I thought it was over.

But then,

Why are you laughing so hard, holding your stomach, Your Majesty Adalbert?

The guards are also laughing so hard that they’re pulling back. If there was a table, they’d be banging on it. What’s so funny? Is it that the sensibilities of a tyrant are different from those of ordinary people? At least, I can’t see any reason for such a big laugh from our conversation!

"Girl, you’re funny."

"…Thank you very much."

You’re calling me a girl, but I’m probably older than you think. From the way you talk, you must think I’m a girl in her mid-teens. I’m 20, you know. I’m probably only about 5 years younger than you. I won’t say it, though.

It’s a common thing for Japanese people to be seen as childlike when they go abroad! This is a different world, but it’s a game-like world!

"Are you not afraid of me?"

"I’m really, really scared. I’m just a weak human, and one hit from you would send me to the other world. I’m too scared."

But I know you’re not a tyrant, so if you can talk calmly, the fear will lessen a bit! I know about the great tyrant of Galaria. But if you interrogate me with a frowning face, of course I’ll be scared! You’re a beastman, and a lion, too!

"Let’s start with your name. What is it?"

"…For now, you can call me Anonymous."

"Anonymous? Don’t joke around. Tell me your real name."

"…Eshimamiyu."

"…Enyosha Miu? That’s an unusual name."

"It’s not. Enohima Miu. My name is Miu."

Don’t say it doesn’t suit me! I want to say that to my parents too. Besides, I thought it would be hard to pronounce, so I deliberately used a chuuni term, Anonymous, which means nameless, to make it sound cool! Why won’t you go along with it? What a terrible king.

King Adalbert, who was twisting his neck, of course. In this world, there are no people with Japanese-sounding names. Besides beastmen, there are also ordinary humans, elves, dwarves, spirits, and fairies, all living in a fantasy world. Japanese-style names don’t fit in the world of "Brave Fantasia."

That’s why it’s hard to pronounce. He probably can’t even hear it properly. It can’t be helped. I’ll have to make a compromise. Actually, I feel like the conversation won’t progress unless I compromise. Damn it.

"If it’s hard to say, Miu is fine."

Now, I feel like you’re asking who I am. I’ll just think of it as a username.

After muttering my name (or something he misunderstood) a few times, King Adalbert nodded slightly. He said he would call me Miu because it was easier to say. I expected that. I knew it.

In this world, the order of names is first name followed by last name. I’m Japanese, so I’m used to the last name first. Also, in this world, only people of a certain status have last names. It’s a Western-style fantasy world, after all. Well, in the past, ordinary people in Japan didn’t have last names either, so it’s the same.

"So, where are you from?"

"………"

He asked the one thing I didn’t want to be asked.

This king, who seems to have a well-functioning brain, is really pushing me on the things I don’t want to talk about. How am I supposed to explain this?

Ah, I can explain it.

"I seem to have been summoned."

I said it with a straight face. It’s fine. It’s not entirely wrong. After all, I was thrown from the real world into what seems to be a game world, so this is a proper summoning, right? I don’t know who called me or who’s responsible. If there is someone who did this, I’d sue them to send me back immediately.

"Hmm? A person from another world. You seem quite calm. Did you receive an explanation about the summoning?"

"I heard a bit from the people in the city. I didn’t see anyone who summoned me. So, the old man at the inn offered me a place to stay if I worked there, and I’m working hard. So, it would be very appreciated if you could let me go."

"You have a way with words. Your clothes make it clear that you’re from another world. But that doesn’t explain why you mentioned the fall of our country."

The lion man smiled pleasantly. Stop it. Stop that smile that looks like he’s about to pounce on his prey. It’s really scary. I feel like my throat will be torn out, and I really don’t want that.

It’s fine to see it on a game screen, but facing a beastman in real life is really scary. Dogs, cats, and rabbits are okay, but tigers and bears are scary, right? And here I am, facing a lion, the strongest tyrant. How much more of a bully can you be? I want to cry.

"…Please, just dismiss it as the nonsense of a commoner. I’m just a simple wanderer who doesn’t understand complicated things."

"…You’re funny."

"…Huh?"

"“Huh?”"

I made a dumbfounded face. But the guards had the same expression, so this reaction is normal. I get it. The one who’s not normal is this troubled king!

I looked at King Adalbert with the guards, wondering what he was going to say. Hey, Lion King. What are you trying to say?

A thick, log-like arm stretched out, grabbed the collar of my shirt, and lifted me up.

"…Huh?"

"I was just bored. Come with me."

"Why?!"

"“Your Majesty?!”"

I looked at the old man at the inn in a daze. He was frozen in shock. Before I knew it, I was being carried on the king’s shoulder like a log. …Yeah, to you, a lion, I’m probably light. But wait a minute. Don’t treat me like a bag of rice. I’m not a sack of rice!

"We’ll talk more at the castle. …Don’t even think you have a choice."

His grin was fitting for a fierce beast. …Of course, I don’t have a choice as a suspicious person. But is this not kidnapping?!

I’ll just go with the flow and do my best without thinking too much.

For now, it’s a story about a female college student using her game knowledge to survive in a game-like world. It will probably turn into a story of altering history. Probably.

King Adalbert is just going his own way. ←