Transformed into Cosmic Horror in a Sci-Fi Universe

Transformed into Cosmic Horror in a Sci-Fi Universe

EP.88 Reincarnated as a Slave in the Academy

As per his wish, I erased his memories and sent him back to his original world.

As a bonus, I left him with the abilities he gained from the tower, so… well, the rest will unfold on its own.

Oh, by the way, that wish was quite unexpected.

Who would have thought he’d ask to know the truth of this world?

Honestly, I thought he’d ask for something like seeing the pinnacle of swordsmanship or something along those lines.

I guess it was a good thing he held back his curiosity and avoided spoilers.

It’s these little pleasures that make eternal life worth living, don’t you think?

[ Well, at least he’ll live happily without his memories. I’m glad it ended on a good note this time. ]

It seems even Idra is satisfied this time.

Well, it has been quite a while since I interfered outside the SF universe without killing or destroying anything.

Speaking of which, you say it ended well this time.

It’s a bit disheartening when you talk as if I always do bad things.

[ ……. ]

Well, I mean, I can’t exactly claim innocence with a straight face, but still.

B-but there are quite a few cases where things end well, like this tower climbing story!

In the SF universe, things have been going pretty well in the long term.

Of course, the seeds I’ve planted in Zone Z are starting to sprout, but… once they cross the wall, they’ll grow magnificently!

[ Honestly, you’ve got nothing to say for yourself. ]

Is that what you’re saying?

Well then, I’ve got a plan.

[ This time, let’s make it end with an absolute happy ending. No mental breakdowns from learning the truth and having memories erased or anything like that. A perfectly happy ending, you know. ]

Now I’m fired up.

How dare you challenge me, who still retains memories from my human days! Laughable!

Even if it never actually happened and it’s just implanted memories.

Well, anyway.

Let me show you.

What happens when I set my mind to creating a happy ending for a story.

First, let’s decide on the setting.

What would be good?

We’ve done fantasy, hunter stories, tower climbing, apocalypse…

What’s left? Wuxia or romance fantasy?

Or maybe an academy setting?

If we get into specifics, there are plenty of genres.

Yeah, let’s go with an academy setting.

It’s mostly light-hearted, and bad endings, world truths, or final bosses don’t usually interfere. Just make the protagonist happy and that’s the end of it.

Heh, who would have thought I’d end up playing the role of a goddess in an isekai story?

Well then, shall we see what I can do?

#

At the age of 30, with nothing accomplished, just scraping by with part-time jobs – a rock-bottom existence.

An orphan with no parents, let alone anything to inherit.

There’s no point in talking about my unfortunate background.

After all, I’m just one of countless life’s losers.

The kind of loser whose only joy in life is reading manga or novels.

Today is no different.

After finishing work, I returned to my run-down studio apartment and fell asleep while reading a recently completed academy novel.

The ending where the protagonist succeeds and lives a happy life.

A common ending, indeed.

“Boring.”

…I’m envious.

Though I say that, deep down I’m filled with envy.

A prosperous and happy life, thriving at the academy, surrounded by girls and countless connections.

Something I don’t have.

With these thoughts, I slowly drift off to sleep.

Hoping that even in my dreams, I could go to such a happy world.

……

“Ah, that dream again.”

I wake up.

Sigh, I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve had this dream.

It’s been about a year since I came to ‘this world’.

I still often dream of the times when I was in my previous world.

Where is this world, you ask?

Surprisingly, I’ve been transmigrated into the world of the novel I was reading last in my original world.

A novel called ‘The Academy Headmaster’s Youngest Son’.

A story where the protagonist, the son of the academy headmaster’s hidden mistress, enters the academy hiding his identity, eventually sheds his illegitimate status, and achieves great success, completely turning his life around.

That’s the world I’ve been transmigrated into.

How do I know this?

Well, because the place I’m in right now is the academy from that novel.

The ‘National Strath Academy’.

I was extremely confused at first, too.

It took quite a while to realize this fact.

To be honest, at first I hoped that maybe I had transmigrated as the protagonist.

But that wasn’t the case.

Because I am…

“Work time! Everyone to your positions!”

“To your positions!”

One of the public slaves, a kind of ‘government-owned slave’, belonging to the National Academy.

“Hey, Number 15! Stop daydreaming and get to your position!”

“…Yes, understood.”

I don’t even have a name.

Number 15.

That’s what I’m called here.

My age seems to have decreased significantly, probably around 16 or 17 years old.

I’m not sure of my exact age.

After all, I suddenly transmigrated into this body a year ago.

Isn’t it quite tragic?

I thought I had a rock-bottom life as an orphan in my previous life, but who would have thought there was an even lower bottom than that?

A public slave without even a name, allowed nothing but to work at set times.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Well, what can I do?

I have to think that this is my fate.

At least if I work, I get food and a place to sleep…

If there’s one complaint, it’s that I can’t read manga or novels even during break time.

There is hope.

Based on the year and date I’ve figured out, there’s about a year and a half left until the protagonist’s enrollment.

In a year and a half, the protagonist will enroll and work with the crown prince to abolish the public slave system, so everyone working with me is scheduled to be liberated.

It’s best to think ahead about what to do from that point on.

Sticking with the protagonist would be the best option.

That’s probably the easiest way to live comfortably in this world.

After all, the protagonist is an incredible person who conquers the academy, becomes friends with the crown prince who later ascends to emperor, and even subdues dragons.

I’ve already laid some groundwork.

Of course, there are women among the public slaves, and one of them is one of the ‘heroines’ who becomes the main reason the protagonist moves to abolish the public slave system.

I’ve been trying my best to become friends with her.

She didn’t open up easily, just like in the original story with the protagonist, but it seems my half-year of effort has paid off, and nowadays we can at least have some conversation.

Though it’s only during the short breaks, lunch time, and dinner time we’re given.

Even then, I tried my best to approach her and become friends.

“Hello, the weather’s nice today, isn’t it?”

“…Number 15.”

Though matted and dirty from not being able to wash properly, her hair is still a beautiful dark blue color.

Unlike the other slaves, her blue eyes haven’t lost their luster.

Though now stained black with dirt, the description says she has skin as fair and white as white jade.

She’s quite pretty even in her dirty state.

At the young age of 16, she looks a bit worn out, having gone through so much hardship.

Well, I suppose being a public slave is a bit better off.

It’s far better than being sold as a sex slave to a perverted noble or being used as a tool in a brothel.

As public slaves, we’re quite thoroughly managed and well cared for.

Of course, that’s relative among slaves, and normally we’re strictly monitored to prevent any mischief, and even when we sleep, men and women are separated, so no one has suffered any foul play.

With her looks, if she were just called a slave, you’d think she’d be subjected to that kind of thing first.

That’s a small relief, at least.

“Has Number 47 eaten?”

“…I’ve finished eating.”

She still doesn’t have a name.

Like me, she’s called by a number, 47.

Later, the protagonist will give her the name ‘Erin’, which is more familiar to me, but I have to be careful not to suddenly call her by that name.

“So then I did this…”

Most of our conversations consist of me talking one-sidedly, with her just listening.

Still, I tried my best.

I need to become friends with her so that it’ll be easier to stick with the protagonist after we’re liberated from slavery.

Surely that sucker… I mean, that kind protagonist wouldn’t ignore or push me away if I’m friends with the heroine, right?

“…It’s strange.”

“Huh? What is?”

But today is different somehow.

She’s spoken up after quite a while.

“Everyone’s afraid of me. They say blue eyes are the mark of a demon. But you’re not like that.”

Ah, right.

There was that setting.

That’s why she was abandoned by her parents and has lived as a government-owned slave since childhood.

It was a setting that appeared so early on that I had completely forgotten about it.

Come to think of it, wasn’t the reason she developed feelings for the protagonist because he said her blue eyes were pretty?

“They’re not scary at all.”

If I say they’re pretty, it would be like stealing the protagonist’s line, so I just give a vague response.

She seems to like that quite a bit, as Erin… no, Number 47 smiles slightly and bows her head deeply.

That sight is quite cute.

Damn, you protagonist.

I’m envious.