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Honkai Impact: The Eroge Chapter 1 - The Captain
🕑 Added 2023-12-25 16:08:51 +0000 UTCYou know, being an Isekai Protagonist is a lot more stressful than one might think. I can guarantee that much from personal experience.
In hindsight, that should've been pretty obvious if you thought about it realistically for a bit, but I digress.
Getting sent to another world in the first place already destroys any chance you have of maintaining the side character status that you possessed on Earth, meaning you get involved in... adventures, whether you like it or not. Sometimes you'll get summoned with a responsibility, such as to save the world from a demon lord or to help a country wage war against another one. In any case, not only will you be forced to put your life on the line over and over again for people you don't even know, but you also need to be vigilant and watch the people around you in order to make sure that you aren't actually helping the bad guys, which is a definite possibility. More often than not, being an Isekai Protagonist means that it's you against the rest of the world, sometimes figuratively and sometimes literally. 'Rising of the Shield Hero', despite its flaws, is a perfect example of what a realistic Isekai scenario would look like- because it is fundamentally impossible for humans to do something such as summon a Hero from another world without thinking about how they could use said Hero for their own ends, in both a physical and political sense.
And this is only one type of Isekai; the Hero Summoning Scenario.
There were two other types with their own caveats as well- the Vagabond Scenario and the Fanfiction Scenario, as I liked to call them. The former was basically the kind seen in franchises like 'Black Summoner' or 'Reincarnated as a Sword' where the MC wasn't summoned as a Hero but instead just tossed into a random spot in the world without anything they really needed to do in particular. This was, in my opinion, probably the best type of Isekai because nobody would really know who you were unless you advertised it and it gave you an opportunity to study the world a little better and find out who's trustworthy and who isn't. The latter was where the main character is sent into a franchise that they already know through it existing as some form of media in their original world; I called this the Fanfiction Scenario mainly because you saw this in Self Insert fanfics more than anywhere else, but certain franchises like 'The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs' or 'My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom' are good examples of this type.
This Isekai Scenario was probably the most stressful one in my opinion- because unlike what Fanfiction would generally have you believe, knowledge of the past, present and future of the world you're going to is not always a good thing and it certainly doesn't make you omniscient. In the first type of Isekai, the only stress you have to deal with is whether the people who summoned you are actually your enemies, and once that's dealt with you can more or less find your own path. Taking the earlier example of 'Rising of the Shield Hero', Naofumi's journey became a lot smoother as soon as he dealt with the King and Malty, even if the enemies he faced down the line were insanely tough in their own right.
But that's not the case with the Fanfiction Scenario. Every action you take has to be carefully measured, and depending on the type of franchise you got Isekaid to as well as the position you're in after being transported, your plans needed to change and adapt. It was a true measure of intelligence to be able to eke out a happier ending than the 'canon' of the world you've been sent to, mainly because the more important things you changed, the less your knowledge of the future was worth.
For example, saving a person who was supposed to die could lead to an entire Arc in the future becoming something else entirely. Killing Dio in the first Part of 'Jojo's Bizarre Adventure' would basically throw the plot off the rails, as basically every event to take place in the future would be radically warped beyond recognition due to Dio's influence being gone. However, while killing Dio might save a lot of people, it could also kill a lot more because Diavolo would still discover the Stand Arrows and sell most of them to Enyaba while no longer having to deal with Giorno coming along to ruin his plans- in other words, most of the villains of the later parts would still be around, and more disconcertingly, not follow their 'canon' scripts while the Heroes either wouldn't exist or would be terribly weakened. Foreknowledge was a double edged sword, and could make or break the fate of the entire world depending on how it was used.
Of course, I should provide a certain disclaimer; these stresses can be mitigated by various degrees provided the protagonist has a cheat power, such as a special skill or powerset that no one else has that's extremely broken. Usually in Isekai, it was some kind of Gamer System or a special add-on to a Gamer System if it was a part of the franchise's setting, which basically provided the potential for unparalleled growth. With this kind of ace up your sleeve, you could generally overcome any challenge in your path with an equal measure of intelligence, creativity, effort and a bit of time.
This was the reason why a good portion of Isekai stories were power fantasies. The utility of a cheat power should never be underestimated.
…
If only I had been lucky enough to get something convenient like that.
As is probably obvious at this point, I was the protagonist of the worst kind of Isekai Scenario; the Fanfiction type, and the "cheat power" I had was utterly worthless when it came to improving my chances of survival or helping me make a difference in the world I'd been sent to.
Though maybe I should start at the beginning.
My name is [REDACTED], though I now went by 'Nemo', and I used to be a simple college student that you could find just about anywhere. I had a gaming habit, used to write Fanfiction on the side, but was still a diligent student who scored pretty well on my exams due to my natural memory and slightly above average intelligence. I'd just completed my finals and wrapped up my MBBS after years of back-breaking work, and was just about to enjoy my well-deserved break before the start of my Internship when it happened.
I used to play a number of Gacha games regularly, such as 'Fate: Grand Order' and 'Punishing: Gray Raven', but due to my finals being moved up by a couple months by the local medical board and other factors like that, I'd been forced to delete them. I still kept up with their stories online just to make sure I didn't fall behind, but I didn't have the opportunity to actually play in for around half a year.
Since I'd finally wrapped up said finals, the next step was obviously to redownload them. It was when I was about to redownload one of those games, 'Honkai Impact 3rd', that I noticed something odd. When I searched the game up in my browser to find a download link, I saw a search result that made my eyes widen with surprise.
It was titled 'Honkai Impact: The Eroge'.
The name alone nearly made me drop my phone in absolute shock, and I'm pretty sure I gaped for a good ten seconds. As someone who was reasonably intelligent, it took me a split-second to realize the implications of this title.
The first thought to cross my mind was 'It can't be!', and the second one was 'Must. Investigate- for Science!'
I knew that there was no way Hoyoverse, the company that created the game I'd been familiar with, had actually made something like this. It was absolutely, positively impossible. Sure, they'd done the 'Sweet Memories' Dating Sim Event in 2019, but that was a singular case that had only run for a limited time and had never come back. It was too big a departure from their usual MO to make a full-on Eroge, even if people would have thrown cash at it like nobody's business.
But that didn't mean that it couldn't be a fangame. I was a pretty big supporter of fangames, having really gotten into some of them through franchises like 'Pokémon' and 'Five Nights at Freddy's.' Games created by the fans, while they might be lower in quality than the actual, company-brand titles, usually made up for it with features, plot lines and other characteristics that the fandom actually wanted. For example, 'Pokémon Reborn', 'Pokémon Insurgence' and 'Pokémon Rejuvenation', my favorite fangames, gave everything a good number of Pokémon fans actually wanted; a difficult game, nearly all the Pokémon across the generations, and a compelling story that didn't stray from adult themes and character death. These things would never show up in the official series, which made them all the more valuable, especially since they were usually completely free to play. Unlike most games that came out these days, fangames were for the most part products of sheer passion and effort that could in some cases even outstrip the franchise they're based on.
It was because of this knowledge that I didn't think twice about clicking on the link and being led to another website, where there was more information that I quickly absorbed. If someone had actually made an expanded version of that Event, I was definitely going to give it my time. As I'd expected, it was a fan project that wasn't quite complete yet and was taking beta testers via application.
The synopsis, which presented the game as a "what-if" timeline where the Captain of the Hyperion (the Self-Insert Player Character of 'Honkai Impact') actually existed in the main story, giving you control of his actions. Apparently, the events that happened in the story could be changed by your actions and there were no events that were set in stone- and every Valkyrie could be romanced, along with a few "Bonus Heroines" depending on the choices made. Further reading showed that it was designed in a VN style format and didn't have any official Voice Acting (instead, they'd used software to replicate the voices of the original VAs), which was a pretty interesting method of production in my opinion. I could see this project becoming very popular, especially if it really gave you the option to save you-know-who from her fate.
While I wasn't that much of a Eroge/Dating Sim guy myself, leaning more towards strategy games and RPGs, a healthy dose of curiosity was born in me, mainly because I wanted to see how flexible the creators made the storyline. So, without really thinking about it too hard, I applied to join the Beta. I was going to be at home doing nothing for the next two months and had nothing but time, so this was about as idyllic as it could get for me to be involved with something like that. I got an email only an hour later to tell me that I'd gotten accepted, and an hour after that I'd fully downloaded the current Build of the Game.
After grabbing a snack and sitting down, I tapped the start button and went to Character Creation. The appearance of the Captain was already set- a mildly handsome red-haired guy with oddly silver-colored irises wearing a slightly modified white naval uniform with a matching hat, which is basically the closest we ever got to the Captain's "canon" appearance barring the eye color. There was an option to select between Male and Female, but I didn't bother checking what the female model looked like since I assumed it would just look like a younger Himeko.
Below that was the Name section, and I just went with "Captain Nemo", which was actually a small variation of the actual Username I usually used whenever I played a game. It did get a small chuckle out of me that the handle was actually thematically appropriate here.
Realizing that there was nothing more to fill in, I gave the rather sparse Character Creation screen a final once over to make sure I didn't accidentally misclick anything, I hit the enter key to move onto the next stage and actually play the game.
Before I could, though, a pink Window of text written in cutesy handwriting popped up with a final message. I hadn't noticed it at the time, but looking back on it, the pane of pink light was actually floating above my computer screen, but I hadn't noticed that at the time due to my angle of vision and the low distance between the screen of my computer and the Window.
[Would you like to begin the Game? Please note that once you proceed, your Character cannot be changed.]
"That it?" I muttered, moving my mouse. "No problem."
In response to my words, a flash of brilliant light exploded from my computer and before I knew it, my consciousness had faded.
That was how I got Isekaid into the world of Honkai Impact- sucked into a videogame that I was about to play after creating my Character. As far as methods of being transported to other worlds went, it was a bit on the more casual side; I didn't have to get run over by a truck or murdered by another person.
However, that was a small comfort in the face of what my actual situation was.
I was now trapped in the bleak world of Honkai Impact as the Captain of the Hyperion, a role I knew nothing about, and my only superpower was a Pseudo-Gamer ability in the form of a Dating Sim.
…
Let me reiterate: being an Isekai Protagonist was more stressful than one might think. I can guarantee as much from personal experience; because on that fateful day, I'd been tossed into the deep end of the Isekai pond without a life jacket.
And my life had changed forever from that point onwards, for better or worse.
The first thing I noticed when I came to was the fact that my surroundings seemed to actually be animated in a way that the VR technology I was used to couldn't even hope to recreate, as if it had been handcrafted by the likes of MAPPA.
Before I could even mentally process that, however, my eyes (whose vision was startlingly clear in a way I wasn't used to) flicked upwards to stare at the familiar pink 'screen' that was floating before my face in a way that made it near effortless for me to read what it said.
[Congratulations! You have become 'The Protagonist'! The time for Flags is nigh!]
The word that escaped my slightly parted lips were perhaps the perfect representation of the rationality I possessed.
"Fuck."
Even while I mentally struggled to accept what was happening to me, or rather, what had already happened to me, my hand moved up almost unconsciously in order to tap the Window, causing it to disappear with a cute little chiming sound. When I drew the limb back, I gazed at the tip of my outstretched finger, and recalled the physical sensation of touching the pane of light that I'd clearly felt.
"There's no doubt about it..." I whispered, clenching the foreign-looking hand attached to my alien-feeling body. The tan that I'd built and maintained from childhood, growing up in sun-scorched California and then moving to South India for college was gone, replaced with a pale shade that I probably only possessed once before as a baby. Not that it was the only change I immediately noticed; for whatever reason, I was wearing nothing but a pair of red boxers, so it wasn't that hard to see the various... alterations to my body. Of course, I already knew the most probably reason for my change and thus didn't even need to look in the nearby mirror to determine that I probably looked identical to the Character Model I'd just selected merely a minute prior.
'Boy, am I glad I didn't select Female back there...'
The thought was so random that it made me laugh out loud with the slightest hint of hysteria. Here I was, literally tossed into a foreign reality in my boxers, and my first clear thought was to appreciate the fact that I hadn't gotten my gender modified along with my body. Hah, I really needed to get my priorities straight.
Still letting out chuckles that sounded more like dry coughs, I mentally reigned in all my thoughts before taking a deep breath. Losing my head here would only do me more harm than good, and I'd dealt with curveballs in life before; I couldn't let this situation do me in now. At least, that's what I wanted to tell myself before realizing that I was... almost unnaturally calm at that moment, which was strange enough to make me suspect something else was at play...
A brief investigation of my surroundings merely confirmed what I'd already more or less figured out for myself; I had gotten transported to some version of the Honkai Impact world as a character who wasn't supposed to exist in the main timeline- the Captain of the Hyperion. In other words, the exact situation the fangame had promised me, although with the obvious difference that I was on the wrong side of the computer screen, so to speak.
Taking advantage of my erroneously stable mental state, I quickly began to think about what I needed to do next considering the given circumstances. After a few minutes, all I really got was the following:
- First, I needed to evaluate all the functions of whatever version of what I was tentatively calling "the Game" that I seemed to have in order to get a good measure of what I was working with.
- Second, I needed to do all this before too much time passed because I still needed to figure out what exactly I was supposed to do as the Captain.
It was that last thought on my tiny mental checklist that gave me pause.
Did I really need to act as the Captain? That was the scenario I'd been thrown into, but I could literally just resign and move somewhere safe, where I didn't need to worry about being put on the front lines against a malevolent force hellbent on destroying humanity. Sure, being a civilian in the world of 'Honkai Impact' was arguably more dangerous than being one of the main characters because of all the city-destroying events that would take place as well as the likes of Project STIGMA, but I knew which cities would come under fire and I could just avoid those in order to live safely. Even if STIGMA got me, the Valkyries would inevitably win the day and return the planet back to the way it used to be, meaning I'd still ultimately survive even if there was a minor hiccup along the way.
Unfortunately, things were never that easy.
Just as I was beginning to mentally celebrate the fact that I found a virtually foolproof way to survive the trap I'd been thrown into, there was a chime before a Window popped up just to burst my bubble.
[Warning! Losing or abdicating the position of Captain Hyperion by any means will result in an immediate Bad End.]
It was like a bucket of frigid water had been dumped down my back. A cold sweat broke out on my face, and on instinct I raised a hand to wipe it away, even while my mind was whirling at the implications. The Game was literally holding a gun to my head; if I did something to lose my captaincy, this thing would straight up kill me. Or maybe I was looking at it the wrong way and it was actually trying to warn me for my own benefit that my situation would only become worse somehow if I wasn't the Captain. Anyhow, fact of the matter was that I was locked into the position of Captain and anything I decided to do from here on out needed to take this into account because it couldn't be changed without putting my life in even more danger.
Now, since that was more or less settled regardless of my consent or feelings on the matter, there was only one thing left to scope out.
In the bottom right corner of my vision was a pink heart symbol, which had been present since I'd woken up and had glowed when the Windows had appeared before me. Almost instinctively, I concentrated on the heart, which began to shine once more as what was clearly a Menu showed up on a pink screen inches away from my face.
[Stats]
[Heroine Status]
[Titles]
[Skills]
[Achievements]
[Gallery]
Maybe I should've felt hope at seeing classic RPG terms such as "Stats" and "Skills", but I was too pessimistic to believe it would actually be anything like Strength or Dexterity; which was proven right as soon as I tapped on the very first option.
[Dating Stats]
[Charisma: Rank 1 - Boring (3/50)]
[Charm: Rank 1 - Existent (1/50)]
[Wisdom: Rank 1 - Oblivious (37/50)]
They were basically a downgraded version of the Social Stats from Persona. There were Descriptions that helpfully popped up in smaller panes next to the Window in order to tell me exactly what each Stat did, not that it made me feel any better about them. "Charisma" was the ability to draw others to myself, "Charm" was the ability the physically make myself attractive and approachable to others, and "Wisdom" was the ability to understand others. Even though I'd more or less expected something like this, I couldn't help but feel a slight twinge of disappointment.
I tried all the other options in the Menu, after further realizing that this System had no Levelling mechanics, only to come up short at every turn probably because I hadn't actually done anything with my power yet. Heroine Status, Titles, Achievements and Gallery were all blank, while the Skills Menu had only a single entry;
[Skills]
[Eroge Protagonist: Your life can be played like a Dating Sim. Grants System the innate ability to differentiate between "Filler Characters" and "Heroines". Helps accept that one has become an Eroge Protagonist and mentally adapt to reality shifts.]
It looked like the source of my strange sense of calmness had revealed itself; basically, a Pseudo-Gamer's Mind function only designed to help me accept that this was apparently going to be my life now. If anything, I was at least grateful towards whoever had designed the Game for showing that much consideration because having to deal with rampant panic on top of everything else would've been adding insult to injury. I'd like to think that I was a rather composed person when I needed to be, but a situation like this was undeniably beyond my figurative pay grade so I appreciated the assist.
Closing the Menu with a swipe of my fingers, I fell back on the bed nearby with nary a sound, deep in thought. Everything I'd discovered in the last few minutes seemed to point towards one thing; I needed to stop thinking and start doing. Making plans was all well and good- in fact, I would say it was absolutely necessary considering I was now sharing a reality with the likes of Otto Apocalypse, but attempting to do so with paltry information could be even worse than having none to begin with.
I may have known about the events of the game this world mirrored, but that didn't mean shit when I had zero idea about how it was translated into reality. What I needed to do the most right now was experience for myself what I'd been thrown into, no matter how much the thought scared me. In fact, despite the Eroge Protagonist Skill's calming influence, I don't think I'd felt this much anxiety since my very first day of medical college. It was like going to write an exam and realizing that you studied the wrong subject in preparation. Outside my door lay not only a reality that was completely dissociated from the common sense of my old world, but also people who were once just fictional characters on a digital screen.
The power I'd been granted was wholly unsuitable for me, not only because an RPG would've been way more appropriate for this nigh-shonen world, but also because I wasn't a social person by nature- something my Stats very clearly reflected through my abysmal Charm and Charisma. I was a hermit through and through, with my reclusive nature only being reinforced by the COVID pandemic locking me indoors for over a year. Except for a small handful of friends, I never interacted with other human beings beyond a professional manner. Keeping that in mind, it was no wonder that the thought of actually interacting with real-life versions of characters I admired (in more ways than one) had me shaking in my boots.
But just like the exams I'd referenced earlier, the only thing I could do was bite the bullet because there was no way around it.
It was when I was trying to psych myself up for what was inevitably to come that I heard a buzzing noise from behind me, and saw a smartphone buzzing on the nearby desk. I reached for it curiously, only to blanch at the Reminder that had popped up on the screen.
Visit Headmistress Apocalypse at 8:30.
For reference, the time was currently 8:17.
As if liquid adrenaline had been injected into my veins, I shot up from the bed and ran over to the closet before throwing it open haphazardly and grabbing one of the white uniforms that was present and laying all of the components on the bed with practiced ease. The trauma from being forced to stand outside my classroom in college for 2 hours just because I was a minute late had overridden all of my other feelings and threw me into autopilot in order to avoid being tardy.
Approximately 10 minutes and 20 seconds later, I had taken a shower, dressed, and eaten a rudimentary breakfast of cup noodles I'd discovered in one of the drawers along the walls. Though I had never worn a uniform like the one that was I was required to don as the Captain, I at least knew how to wear the component parts and tie my tie, so at least that part went off without a hitch; probably the first thing to go right for me so far.
It was when I was getting my shoes on that I heard a pleasant chime as a Window popped up in front of me.
[An Event has been Triggered!]
I stared for a moment, not comprehending what I was reading, before I heard the doorbell (it was more of a buzzer, really) ring and scrambled to my feet, taking a single look in the mirror to make sure I was properly presentable before opening the door.
For the record, I'd like to state that it took every ounce of my willpower to keep my expression neutral when I saw who was on the other side.
A mane of red hair not too different a shade from my own framed the beautiful and all too familiar face of a woman wearing a crimson coat with a white and black shirt inside, black gloves, black shorts, gray thigh highs and black boots. She was actually shorter than me by around half a foot, but her mature figure and almost palpable aura of strength made her seem like she was towering over me. I don't think there was a 'Honkai Impact' player alive who didn't know who this woman was; Murata Himeko, the infamous alcoholic teacher whose Story Arc and death served the game's first dose of depression and truly kicked off the plot. While her attitude off the job may have been suspect, she was undeniably a hero to the very end and someone worthy of the highest level of respect.
The moment our eyes met, an old meme came to mind.
'You're as beautiful as the day I lost you.'
Fortunately, before my mind (and eyes) could wander, she spoke up with a lazy grin after giving me a once-over. Perhaps it was the lingering shock from actually seeing a fictional character quite literally come to life, but I couldn't help but put 110% of my brainpower into paying attention to her every word.
"You're a cute one, aren't you~? Well, no matter; I'm Murata Himeko, a Valkyrie of Schicksal Far East. Since it's your first day on the job and St. Freya is a pretty big place, the Headmistress sent me along to collect you, Captain."
I probably would've blushed at that first part if I didn't know she was just being polite. My Charm Stat was literally 1- there was no reality in which I could be called cute, at least at the current moment. Even so, I was momentarily rendered speechless just by listening to her words. It was one thing to hear her voice in-game, and another thing entirely to hear it in what was now my reality. The shift was jarring in a way I'd never experienced before.
Still, while my already abysmal social skills were rusty, I knew better than to remain silent in this situation since it would come off as rude and so opened my mouth- only for my words to be cut off before I could even speak them by the sight of my vision going monochrome as time froze around me.
Before I could even question what the hell was happening, the answer presented itself as a Window popped up and a series of options presented themselves to me.
[A - Well then, stop yapping and lead the way, won't you?]
[B - Um, hello there! My name's Captain Nemo and I've just been assigned as the Captain of the Hyperion!]
[C - Good Morning, Senpai. Thank you for coming all this way to help me, I really appreciate it.]
It didn't take a genius to figure out what these were and what the Game expected me to do; they were clearly Dialogue options, and I was expected to pick one in order to "proceed".
Without bothering to try and experiment with the time stop, I intently studied the options that were given to me. One conclusion I came to immediately was that there was no way in hell I was picking Option A. You couldn't pay me to pick that one. I may have been a social dumbass, but even I knew better than to start my very first interaction with a veritable stranger by insulting them.
Option B made me realize that I made a HUGE blunder, one that was already coming back to bite me in the ass. I'd used my standard Username when I had gone through the Character Creation process, and now it looked like that had translated to my first name literally being set to "Captain". I couldn't even use my old name, [REDACTED], because something seemed to have expunged that knowledge from my head. So for the duration of my life in this world, my name was now "Captain Nemo".
I could only be thankful that I hadn't set my name to BallsDeep69, because otherwise I might have just had to commit seppuku on the spot in order to deal with the shame. At least with this name I could just go by "Nemo" and pretend my first name didn't exist; which also meant Option B was off the table because it made me feel like a total dumbass just imagining myself speaking those words.
That left Option C, which was a little dull but was by far the safest choice I could go with. With nothing else left to contemplate by sheer virtue of Options A and B taking themselves out thanks to their major flaws of being rude and stupid respectively, I tapped my finger against the panel for Option C.
Time began moving forward again, but to my shock, I realized that my body was no longer under my control; it was as if someone had hit a Master Override Switch for my body and manually took charge of my words and movements. A small smile appeared on my face without my consent, and I dipped my head in a respectful bow with perfect posture that was more alien to me than the fact that my body was operating independent of my mental inputs.
"Good Morning, Senpai." I said, my tone friendly as I straightened up again and my smile widened. "Thank you for coming all this way to help me, I really appreciate it."
As soon as the last word left my lips, my body's controls were handed back to me, and I struggled not to let it show that someone or something else had been pulling the strings for the last couple moments. Thankfully, Himeko seemed to have been too bamboozled by what I had just said to notice the sudden tremor that racked my body as soon as my senses returned to me.
"Senpai?" She asked curiously, blinking in surprise and seemingly focusing on that part of the words I'd uttered, before her expression shifted to a mock glare. "You're not calling me old, are you~?"
I knew she was just pulling my leg, but I was in such a fluster after hearing that dangerous line (everyone knew age was a sensitive topic for women) that I tried to explain myself without realizing that I could've just played it off with a laugh or a joke. It was unfortunate, but I was never all that good with social interactions; and this was less like talking to a normal person and more like talking to a celebrity multiplied by a hundred.
"Of course not!" I nearly cried out, my cheeks flushing in embarrassment at the thought that I might've just completely made a fool of myself in front of Murata freaking Himeko. "It's just that I heard you were the Captain of the Hyperion before me, Ma'am, and you've been with Schicksal for longer so I just..."
My execution was definitely off, probably because I had gone into Maximum Bluff Mode, but I wasn't really lying; Himeko canonically was the Captain of the Hyperion in the main story due to the fact that "I" hadn't actually existed in it. While I could've been completely wrong about this, I assumed the same held true here as well because I couldn't think of anyone who would've been qualified enough to actually take up the position otherwise. Though I assumed the situation was engineered to some degree by either the Game or whoever had sent me to this world, I couldn't help but wonder what had caused her to step down and leave her position to be taken up by yours truly.
A second later, my theory was at least partially proven right when Himeko didn't call me out on my bullshit.
Instead, the Valkyrie's fake expression of anger melted away when she saw my ungraceful fumbling, and she laughed out loud with genuine delight before leaning forward slightly with a strange glint in her orange eyes as she flashed me a teasing grin. "Oh, you really are a cute one~. Now don't you worry, Captain- this Senpai will take good care of you."
My full-force blush at her suggestive tone and posture was only halted by the fact that my attention had been diverted by the Notification from the Game that just popped up as soon as she finished talking, the contents of which had nearly made my eyes pop out of their sockets.
[Congratulations! You have unlocked the Achievement: "Best Case Scenario"! You have gained +1 in Wisdom!]
[Your charming dorkiness has endeared you to a Heroine! You have gained +2 in Charm! For successfully completing your first Event, an additional +1 Charm has been granted!]
[Himeko Route has been Unlocked! You can now see "Heroine Status" with Murata Himeko!]
[Your current Status with Himeko has changed to "Cute Kouhai"!]
[Congratulations! You have unlocked the achievement: "First of Many"! You have gained +1 in Charisma!]
No fucking way. I couldn't actually believe it, but according to the Game I'd somehow completed this interaction not only without completely botching it like I had assumed I would but also well enough to unlock Himeko's "Route", which I didn't even think was possible considering my horrible Stats and even more atrocious social abilities.
But if that was the case...
Then why were all my instincts screaming that I'd made a big mistake?
"Now let's get going, shall we?" said my newly christened Senpai, grabbing me by the arm and firmly pulling me into the hallway from the safety of my new room. "It isn't safe to keep the Headmistress waiting~."
Any words of protest I may have spoken perished in their infancy when I saw Himeko's grin, making me realize that she was having a bit of fun at my expense. Ordinarily, this would've annoyed me a lot, but I didn't feel any of that clawing irritation much to my own surprise. Maybe it was due to my brand-new Wisdom Stat, but I could tell that she wasn't being mean-spirited. In fact, it was the total opposite; she was teasing me because that first invisible barrier that marked us as strangers had been at the very least partially broken. To be frank, there was something about knowing that I was forming a positive relationship with someone who had once been a fictional character I'd admired that caused the edges of my own mouth to slightly curve upwards- especially when I'd expected this interaction to result in nothing short of total disaster.
But wait a minute, wasn't this all thanks to the Game, which I'd been totally dissing until now?
I didn't mock my own poor social skills out of a masochistic love for self-depreciation, after all. I had trouble talking to other people face to face, and even more trouble talking to strangers for the first time. What few friends I had used to laugh at the fact that I needed to psych myself up for a few minutes before putting an order in at a restaurant. It was probably my greatest flaw as a medical student too; though I was reasonably talented as far as the actual subject matter went, my skill at interacting with patients couldn't even be called passable at best.
Yet, I'd been able to actually not majorly fuck up my small exchange with Himeko, who I'd likened to a super-celebrity. Perhaps it was because on some subconscious level, I didn't really see her as a stranger despite my anxiety- it was hard to when I literally knew everything there was to know about her from all the media I'd partaken in, but there was more to it than that. The Dialogue that the Game had taken control of my body to utter had broken the ice, and in my own haste to cover up the unforeseen blunder it had caused in seeming like a jab at her age (something I suspected was intentional), I'd been able to not come off as a jackass, which was a definite first for me.
It seemed like my earlier assessment about the Game being unsuitable for me was something I needed to take back. Sure, it wasn't an RPG (something that still disappointed me) and it wouldn't increase my strength in any meaningful way; but on the flip side, it could help me plug my most glaring weakness.
Still, it wasn't wise to get ahead of myself when all is done was utter two sentences, one of those being scripted by the Game.
That was why, after mustering some of my meager reserves of courage, I spoke up without being prompted as I followed Himeko through the halls of the Hyperion. She'd let go of my arm after she confirmed I was following after her, though she slowed her walking speed so that we were nearly shoulder to shoulder.
"Senpai, if you don't mind me asking, why did you step down as the Captain?" I asked, trying to keep my awkwardness out of my voice.
I knew from our earlier interaction that Himeko had indeed been the Captain at one point; she wouldn't have accepted my explanation for calling her "Senpai" otherwise. And it was apparently no big secret either, because she didn't ask me how I knew her former position. But I asked this question despite having these things unintentionally confirmed for me because the euphoria of interacting with a living Murata Himeko hadn't made me forget the conclusion I'd come to earlier- that I needed more information in order to come up with a plan for my survival.
As previously stated, knowing Honkai's plot didn't make me omniscient by any means. When telling a story, authors rarely focus on general details and small quality-of-life snippets, instead focusing on things that were directly relevant to the tale being discussed. I may have known some of the events to take place in the future, but there were huge chronological gaps in that knowledge, to say nothing of the fact that there were certain things that were never mentioned because they weren't deemed important. While I couldn't really pick up any general information without looking like I was living under a rock my whole life, I personally thought it wouldn't seem strange for me to sate my curiosity in matters like this one.
"Hah, it's nothing like what you're probably thinking." said the red-haired woman, almost lazily. "Because I wasn't really the Captain in the first place, just a placeholder once no one else was qualified enough to take the job."
Just as she finished speaking, we reached the elevator and I reached out to press the button that would take us to the Ground Floor of the vessel. My mind was buzzing with confusion though. What did Himeko mean? And how was I of all people the only one qualified for the job apart from her?
Fortunately, I didn't have to ask her to clarify, since she spoke again when the elevator started moving downwards.
"You probably already know this, but Schicksal Captains have a bunch of duties to carry out. Those attached to Teams like Durandal have it easy, but the same isn't true for Captains assigned to ships like the Hyperion." she explained.
I most certainly did not know this, so I continued to pay careful attention to her words even though a sense of childish wonder compelled me to gaze out towards the flashes of the Hyperion's interior that I was able to glimpse through the partially see-through elevator door.
"Not only do you have to make sure the ship's in top condition and ready for flight at all times, but there's also the additional task of keeping the logistics in order and completing paperwork for basically anything related to the Hyperion. It isn't a job that can be given to just anyone. I was barely able to do that stuff thanks to Ai-Chan dealing with a good bit of it and I still got yelled at by the Headmistress almost daily. There's a reason they put you guys through the ringer for your Training Course."
Time froze as soon as she finished speaking, and I stifled a sigh before looking at the choices presented to me once more.
[A - What Training Course?]
[B - There were a lot of us taking the Captaincy Course, not to mention a lot of people who graduated before us, so why didn't anyone else take up the job?]
[C - I guess it makes sense that an A-Rank Valkyrie like yourself would be better at fighting than desk work.]
I had only one thing to say after reading those- was Option A cursed? It was batting 2 for 2 right now as far as horrible Dialogues went. There was no way I was even going to entertain the thought of selecting that one, even if I legitimately had no idea what Himeko was talking about.
The part about the Captain having to handle ship logistics and paperwork made complete sense, but the part about the Training Course was a baseball to the face because I literally got booted into this world half an hour ago, and had zero knowledge of any Training Course outside of the odd Medical Camp I had attended.
Even so, only a total idiot would admit their ignorance in my situation. If there was anything I'd learned from good old Ainz-sama, it was that letting people know you were totally clueless about something was a baaaad idea.
Option C was unfortunately not the right choice this time either. It sounded kind of condescending, and I refused to entertain that type of behavior towards anyone when I was literally pretending to be something I wasn't with zero knowledge of what that actually entailed.
So that only left…
"There were a lot of us taking the Captaincy Course, not to mention a lot of people who graduated before us, so why didn't anyone else take up the job?" I asked, my mouth operating under foreign control. Even though it was only the second time this had happened, I was slowly starting to get used to getting my body commandeered (which didn't really seem like a GOOD thing to me) and managed to catch myself near-instantly.
Just in time to see Himeko flash a grin at me.
[You have gained 1 Affection Point with Heroine Himeko!]
The hell? I didn't say anything that could be remotely counted as romantic!
"It takes a great deal of courage to go for this post, Captain~. The Hyperion is the flagship of Schicksal Far East, and the primarily vessel used by Valkyries in this region for missions. Since part of the Captain's duties is overseeing Valkyries on their missions and providing tactical support, sometimes even requiring them to be physically present on the battlefield, that means that whoever becomes the Hyperion's Captain…"
"…would be in a lot danger, especially if they weren't a Valkyrie." I finished, nodding seriously, though I was screaming on the inside.
Suddenly, it made sense how I'd been able to unlock her Route so easily- she already had a positive impression of me, thinking that I was this bona-fide badass who took up the job of being the Captain because I was a fearless patriot willing to do whatever I could to protect humanity even at the cost of my own life.
News flash; I wasn't.
Just as I was starting to feel like I was starting to get a grip on things, I had to be hit with a curve ball that dropped a boatload of pressure on my already burdened shoulders. I really wished I had a Luck Stat, because I desperately needed it and fast- living with fortune this bad was like walking around with a bomb strapped to my ankle. On top of everything else, now I needed to deal with having a reputation that I didn't deserve.
But I let none of my internal thoughts show on my face. I may have been bad at talking to others, but if there was one skill that I'd honed after years of medical college, it was the ability to maintain a poker face no matter how much turmoil I was in.
Still, Himeko wasn't a seasoned Valkyrie for nothing. Even if she couldn't pick up on the depth of my panic, she could tell that I was at the very least nervous because of what we'd just discussed.
A firm hand squeezed my shoulder as the elevator ground to a halt, and I instinctively turned towards her only to freeze as my eyes widened.
The ill-fated Valkyrie had an expression on her face that was completely unlike the laid-back or teasing countenance she had borne until now. Instead, the look on her face was undeniably that of a warrior, even though she was still smiling. For a moment, I caught a glimpse of the woman who had inspired this world's Protagonist to keep pushing onwards no matter the adversity that lay in her path.
"Don't you worry, Captain. Just as it's your duty to plan for operations and command us, it's the job of us Valkyries to listen and above all else, ensure your safety. So don't mind depending on us, okay~?"
Her words affected me in a way I'd never felt before. I could almost feel some of my newly born stress melting away at the confidence they inspired in me. It was the last sentence that especially got to me though.
When I'd been agonizing over how I could possibly survive this world's horrors, the thought of relying on others had never crossed my mind. That was a luxury I'd never had, growing up in the suburbs of California as the sole son of a dirt poor household. The only people I had ever been able to depend on were myself and my family; no one else had ever helped me when I needed it. And my family had perished many years ago, leaving only a single person on that list- me.
My lone-wolf nature wasn't the only reason I hadn't considered the option of relying on others, however. It was also because I was terrible at making friends, and under no circumstances did I think I could actually get someone to care about me enough to help me out since I never had been able to before.
But… that wasn't actually true anymore, right?
I thought back to the Game, the power that had allowed me to have a cordial conversation and develop something resembling friendship with the woman standing right next to me, a nigh-mythical figure who had almost quite literally walked out of the pages of a story I had loved to bits.
I was a Gamer now, not one who operated by the rules of an RPG, but rather by those of a Dating Sim. My strengths as a Gamer quite literally revolved around endearing myself to others and worming my way into their hearts.
The main characters of this world; Kiana, Mei, Bronya, Fu Hua and so on- were all undeniably people who would do anything to protect their friends. If I could get their power on my side, to be used to protect me, then I might actually have a shot of surviving this "adventure" I'd been thrust into. As the Captain of the Hyperion, and armed with this specific variation of the Gamer System, I was in a perfect position to accomplish this.
This was a completely logical course of action. Nobody would have the right to judge me for this. I hadn't asked to become an Isekai Protagonist and get sent to this world, where stories rarely had happy endings and innocent souls expired before their time. I was well within my rights to use the powers I'd been gifted with to ensure my safety by any means necessary.
There was one problem though; my morality wouldn't allow it. I, a fiercely independent person by nature, couldn't help but recoil in utter disgust at the thought of essentially becoming a parasite leeching off of the goodwill of others even if it was the only rational path for survival.
However, I could reach a compromise between what my brain desired and what my heart called for.
In the world of adults, relationships were founded on the basis of give-and-take; symbiosis, for lack of a better term. Providing a service in return for a service. It was basically what Himeko had just told me when she said that my job as the Captain to draft their battle plans and provide support was mirrored by the responsibility of the Valkyries to protect me and make sure I get back alive.
I would apply the same concept here. I knew the stories that were about to unfold, and the challenges that the Honkai Heroines would face in their journeys. Unnecessary sorrows and pain drafted by a rather sadistic development company. And with that knowledge of the future, even if it didn't make me all-knowing, was the capacity to change it.
So that's what I decided to do.
In return for their protection, I would make sure that they lived happier lives than the fates that were laid out for them dictated.
Starting with a certain Valkyrie whose acquaintance I'd just made, the one who was saddled with the most tragic fate of them all.
As we walked out of the elevator and I caught sight of the platform that connected one of the open doors of the Hyperion to St. Freya, I turned towards Himeko.
"I'll be in your care then, Senpai." I said, flashing the best smile I had in my arsenal. Probably for the first time today, I was speaking completely from the heart- and without any prompts from the Game.
Evidently, that had been the right thing to say, as a Window popped up at the same time the sound of a camera shutter went off in the background, inaudible to anyone other than myself.
[You have gained 5 Affection Points with Heroine Himeko!]
[A New Picture has been added to the Gallery! "The Way Forward", Unlocked! You have gained +2 Charm!]
I was treated to the sight of Himeko's eyes widening in shock before she laughed out and hugged me close enough to nearly elicit a blush before she mercilessly ground her knuckles into my service cap in the first noogie I'd experienced since High School.
"That's the spirit, Captain~."
If there was an odd inflection in her tone, I certainly didn't notice it because I was too busy crying uncle as the woman's superior strength ground into my skull.
Yet for some reason, as I extricated myself from her grasp and took what were most certainly the first steps into an entirely new life, I felt lighter than I had in a long time.
