The Villainous Noble Son Wants to Capture His Stepsister! - Chapter 00
“Can I always stay by your side?”
A delicate girl, her soft pink hair swaying in the wind, gazed up with teary eyes as she asked that question.
The boy simply smiled and gently embraced her slender frame.
They locked eyes, their emotions laid bare—
“Ahh, she really is perfect… The ideal little sister heroine… I’d die for her!”
As soon as the end credits finished rolling, I skipped straight to the title screen and stretched my arms with satisfaction.
On the screen, the dazzling logo of “Swords, Magic, and Flower Crowns” was displayed—the very game I had been obsessively playing.
Swords, Magic, and Flower Crowns was a male-oriented romance game packed with classic RPG elements.
The setting? A textbook medieval fantasy world. The story followed a protagonist, a commoner who awakens his magical talent and enrolls in a prestigious magic academy. From there, he meets princesses, noble daughters, saintesses, and other heroines, forging deep bonds as they overcome various challenges together. Classic, right?
The gameplay was RPG-based. The protagonist, depicted in a chibi-style sprite, roamed the map, triggering conversations and events whenever he met a heroine.
Come to think of it, the way he constantly ran around to meet different heroines kind of made him look like a playb— No, no, best not to dwell on that.
While traversing the map, he would also encounter thieves and monsters, initiating combat sequences.
Naturally, being a romance game, even battle sequences affected the heroines’ affection levels.
With the protagonist’s choices shaping the story’s progression, the game had an impressive amount of content.
Each heroine had at least three different endings, and completing the full CG collection took a ridiculous amount of time. Hats off to the devs—they put in serious work.
Some might call it predictable or cliché, but for someone like me—who loves traditional narratives and prioritizes characters—it was perfect. Every heroine was designed to cater exactly to my tastes.
As for the protagonist? …Yeah, he wasn’t bad, I guess.
Among all the heroines, though, the little sister-type heroine I had just finished romancing was hands down my favorite.
A pure, graceful, and reserved little sister character—people might scoff and say, “Wow, that’s such a typical otaku pick, lol,” but guess what? They’re absolutely right! You got a problem with that?!
I loved her so much that I replayed her route over ten times, so I can’t even argue.
It took me two weeks to see all of her endings, another week to complete the CG collection, and I even pulled two all-nighters just for bonus playthroughs. I’m an idiot.
If my university wasn’t on summer break, I’d be totally screwed. Thankfully, I only work part-time as a tutor once a week, and my tuition and living expenses are still mostly covered by my parents. I know, I know—I should be ashamed.
Being an otaku loner with no real-life friends or a girlfriend, I don’t even have anyone I could ask for class notes with a “Pretty please~ (･ω<)☆”.
But damn… As much as I adored that sister heroine, her older brother—the game’s villain—was the absolute worst.
As the heir of a ducal family, he saw the commoner protagonist as a threat and went out of his way to interfere at every opportunity. Total nuisance.
The most unforgivable thing? He had abused his younger sister since childhood. Laying a hand on such an adorable girl? He deserved a thousand deaths.
That said, no matter which heroine’s route you played, this dumbass brother always ended up as a mid-game boss… and died 100% of the time.
If you watched gameplay streams, the moment players entered his battle phase, the chat would flood with “Justice has been served!”. Even if the heavens spared him, the players wouldn’t. The sheer hatred was palpable.
After shutting down the console, I absentmindedly browsed message boards and social media.
I tweeted, “Just pulled an all-nighter gaming (does anyone even say that anymore?)”, and my followers immediately replied with, “What an idiot, lol” and “Go to sleep already.” Fair points.
Just as I was about to log off and crash, I noticed a postcard lying on my table.
Oh, right—I forgot to pay my electricity bill.
They wouldn’t cut it off immediately, but if I didn’t handle it now, I’d probably forget again. Guess I’d better deposit some money before bed.
An otaku without electricity is as helpless as a certain food-themed superhero when his face gets wet.
I changed into my outdoor tracksuit, stuffed my wallet and phone into my pockets, and ran a brush through my hair before stepping out of my apartment. Damn, the sun is blinding.
I made my way to the major convenience store across the road. It had juice, instant noodles, and an ATM—everything someone with an unhealthy lifestyle like mine could need.
The pedestrian signal turned red just as I reached the crosswalk, so I stopped to wait. This intersection had heavy traffic, and the light cycle took forever. Bad timing.
Summer was in full swing. Even though it was still morning, the cicadas were deafening, sweat dripped down my face, and the pavement shimmered in the heat.
This weather… is brutal on a sleep-deprived body—
“—Ah.”
My vision swam, and my balance slipped.
A blaring car horn rang in my ears—
Then, everything went dark.