Chapter 1: Where... am I? And... who am I?”

The weather was perfectly clear that day. But my heart was clouded and gloomy. Maybe to others it wouldn’t seem like a big deal—but to me, it was.

“I got rejected again...”

I’d joined the university cricket club, and there I’d fallen for a girl at first sight. After working up the courage, I finally confessed to her. The result? A spectacular crash and burn.

I looked in the mirror. I wouldn’t say I’m bad-looking. I style my hair with wax every day, and I keep my eyebrows neatly trimmed. My body’s not muscular, but I keep it in decent shape.

“Guess it’s... my personality, huh?”

I love games, anime, and manga, and sometimes I can’t help bringing them up. Not that I ever go full nerd or anything—I keep things casual. Or at least, I try.

But maybe it still shows somehow. People say being an otaku is more accepted these days, but that’s only if you land a girl with the same niche tastes. None of the girls I’ve liked ever understood mine.

I was in a slump. Tomorrow, people were definitely going to tease me. And facing her would be brutal. If I’d known it’d end like this, I should’ve waited until just before graduation. Dreaming of a fun campus life with her—yeah, that was dumb.

“This is what I get for being greedy...”

Letting out my umpteenth sigh for the day, I made my way to my usual bar. It’s my go-to when I want to drink alone. It’s a small place, but it puts me at ease.

“Welcome, Sato-chan.”

The old lady who owns the place greeted me with a warm smile. Living alone away from my family, this place honestly feels more like home than my apartment.

“I’ll have a beer and some edamame.”

“You got it.”

Golden liquid poured into a frosty glass. One big gulp—and just like magic, I started to feel better. I reached for the edamame to wash out the bitterness, then went for another drink.

“You’re drinking a lot today, huh?”

Granny gave me some stewed meat on the house. It’s always incredible here. I sprinkled some shichimi pepper on top and dug in.

Grumbling about getting rejected, I flipped through the channels on the bar’s TV. Granny never bats an eye when I settle on anime—she’s an understanding woman.

If she were a few decades younger, I probably wouldn’t hesitate to ask her out.

“You really like this anime, don’t you, Sato-chan?”

It’s not like I love it or anything. It just happens to be on a lot whenever I come here.

“...Is liking anime really such a bad thing?”

By the time I finished my third drink, my face was bright red, and Granny gave me a wry smile.

“Young folks always care a lot about image. They imagine how others see them, so they end up setting all sorts of conditions for their boyfriend.”

“Even you, Granny...?”

“When you get to my age, none of that matters anymore. But for a young girl, it’s important. If you want a girl to like you, you’ve got to be the kind of guy she wants to be with—the kind of guy she wants to be seen with.”

“...That’s hard.”

I paid the bill and stepped out into the night. Girls are seriously complicated.

From a guy’s perspective, even if a girl’s into otaku stuff or has weird hobbies, as long as she’s cute, she’s usually a yes.

“Maybe I should just go for guys instead...”

Maybe it was the alcohol talking, but such ridiculous thoughts were floating through my mind. I decided to head home and watch some anime DVDs. That’d help me forget this crap.

I got back to the rundown apartment I rented for the cheap rent, popped in an anime DVD, and hit play.

“Anime girls really are the best...”

Even if the protagonist has a weird personality, they still fall for him. They’re usually honest and straightforward. Even the ones with a snarky personality—deep down, they’re pretty transparent too.

They’re always devoted to the main guy...

“Waifu material... no, but if I actually reach that point, I’m in trouble...”

The fact that I was mumbling all this alone meant I was already halfway there.

“Why are main characters always so popular, huh? Is this the era of indecisive guys? No... it’s not just that. Most of them are pretty straightforward people, at least.”

I don’t think there are many protagonists who confess just because they like a girl’s face. But then again, nothing starts unless you confess...

“So maybe it all comes down to meeting the right person?”

In anime and movies, the protagonist and heroine always meet in some dramatic way. Or it turns out they’ve got some deep connection from the past that only gets revealed later.

But in reality, I’m not gonna run into a girl muttering to herself at the top of a hill, or one who pops out of a magic circle, or get wrapped up in some mysterious battle out of nowhere.

“Ugh... my head’s starting to hurt...”

I may have drunk too much. I rummaged through the fridge, but it was empty.

“Crap... I’m out of drinks...”

Sighing, I stuffed my wallet in my pocket and left the room. There should’ve been a convenience store nearby.

“Chug a hangover drink and knock out...”

As I staggered down the road, a loud noise suddenly rang out ahead.

I was too drunk—my head was hazy. But in that instant, I snapped to my senses.

A giant truck was barreling straight toward me.

The driver seemed to hit the brakes, but it looked like he wasn’t gonna make it in time.

When I was hit, it was strange—there was barely any pain. Probably because the shock was so strong, my body went numb. I shivered at the thought of the agony I’d feel once the sensation came back.

Am I going to die like this? That thought made me tear up. I mean, I’m going to die with zero dating experience—my age equaling my years single. I should’ve at least lost my virginity, even if it meant paying for it.

Luckily or unluckily, I started getting sleepy before the pain hit. If I just close my eyes now... then I...

“Maybe you really were the last one. But either way, it’s over now―――――”

I woke from a sleep I wasn’t supposed to.

That voice—it felt familiar, somehow.

I slowly opened my eyes. And there...

“Don’t screw with me! I—!”

A boy shouting, and a pervert in blue tights pointing a red spear at him.

Hold on a second. Even if I was waking up, this is not the kind of situation I was expecting.

Normally, you’d wake up in a white bed, startled by the IV in your arm or the breathing mask on your face.

So how the hell did I end up in a dusty, dim room where a boy is being attacked by a pervert?

“This is no time to be thinking about that!!”

I managed to scoop up the boy just before the pervert brought the spear down, putting some distance between us.

“A-Are you okay!? I mean, what happened!? You were being attacked by that pervert—Wait, we need to call the police! Wait, huh!?”

I reached for my phone—only to realize I didn’t have any pockets.

In fact, looking down, my entire outfit was absurd.

First off: a skirt. A blue skirt.

On top of that, silver gauntlets on my hands. Where my pockets should be—silver plating instead.

“...Cosplay?”

A jolt ran through me. I finally understood what was going on.

That guy brought me here—same as the boy—while I was unconscious. And changed me into this cosplay outfit while I was asleep.

My skin erupted in goosebumps. I never thought I was bad-looking, but still—no one’s ever mistaken me for a girl.

I glanced at the boy. He had a youthful face, but still looked unmistakably male.

No doubt about it. The guy’s into boys.

“Wait just a second...”

I was already in a cosplay outfit. Who’s to say he didn’t do anything else to me while I was out?

My backside didn’t feel weird or anything... but I was still terrified.

“W-We have to get out of here.”

Still holding the boy, I steeled myself.

We had to escape from that pervert. I didn’t know where we were, but as long as we could make it to the police, we’d be safe.

“Do you know the area around here?”

As I turned on my heel and started running, I asked the boy.

“Huh? Uh, yeah, I do, but... wait, who are you?”

“Sorry, but we need to run first—talk later!”

First, we had to get out of this spacious mansion.

The culprit had to be the truck driver who hit me. After the accident, he probably dragged me here to cover it up.

And then... Dammit. If I lost my virginity while unconscious and as a female knightcosplay, I swear I’ll cry.

“There! That must be the exit!!”

By the way, this boy was ridiculously light. Was he eating properly?

Maybe he’d been kept locked up for a long time.

That bastard—I’ll never forgive him.

“――――Where do you think you’re going?”

I froze. The voice didn’t come from behind, but from above.

The pervert in blue tights stood bathed in moonlight, his face now clearly visible. And—surprise—he was stunningly good-looking. A foreigner, even. His hair dyed blue, red contact lenses in his eyes—a full-on cosplayer.

His character was obvious: Lancer, from the game Fate/stay night. He pulled it off perfectly, but considering he was into kidnapping, confinement, and sexual assault, I couldn’t exactly compliment him.

“...Dammit.”

I set the boy down and grabbed a nearby wooden stick.

Looking closely, the kid was probably in middle or high school. I couldn’t just leave someone like that to this creep.

This would count as self-defense. No question.

“...What the hell is this supposed to be?”

“Shut up, pervert!! I won’t let you lay a hand on this kid!!”

“Haaah? Pervert? Are you seriously—”

“SEIYAAAH!!”

Don’t underestimate me! I was in the kendo club all through middle and high school!

Your head’s wide open!

“...Oh, come on.”

“...Eh?”

Just like that, he caught the stick—and I was lifted off the ground.

He kicked me in the gut. My body floated through the air like something out of an anime.

I hit the ground, rolled, and somehow managed to get back on my feet. Surprisingly, it didn’t hurt that much. Guess this cosplay outfit’s more durable than it looks.

It felt weird to be grateful for something I’d been dressed in while unconscious, but still... that guy—he’s seriously trained.

“Ugh!”

“H-Hey, what the hell are you doing!?”

What a monster. The man had kicked the boy away. I couldn’t believe anyone would do that to a kid.

I hurried to catch him, and he curled up in pain, his face twisted in agony.

“You can’t just kick a kid like that!!”

“A kid? Don’t be stupid. Once someone becomes a Master, age doesn’t matter.”

“M-Master…?”

This guy was seriously dangerous. He really thought he was a game character.

At this rate, we were both going to get assaulted—or worse, killed.

No way…

“S-Somebody…!”

Shielding the boy with my body, I cried out for help.

Of course, no one was going to come. Or so I thought—

“…Tch. So they followed me.”

Help had arrived.

“…Wait, huh?”

Or not.

The man who appeared between us and the pervert had dark skin—and he was also wearing cosplay.

And then the two perverts started sword-fighting like some kind of play-fight from a cheap stage show.

“…What is this?”

While I stood dumbfounded by the pervert-versus-pervert battle, a girl’s voice rang out.

“Emiya-kun!!”

I turned to see a black-haired girl running toward us. She looked to be about the same age as the boy I was holding.

A pretty cute girl, honestly. Her twin tails suited her well.

But still… that outfit was clearly cosplay. A game character. And she called him "Emiya-kun"…?

“Tou… saka?”

I instinctively stepped away from the boy.

This was bad. The girl might be in league with that pervert too.

“…I’m surprised. I didn’t think you would be the last Master.”

“Ma… Master?”

Yep. Confirmed. She’s one of them. Probably part of some weird cosplay club. They dressed me up while I was sleeping and dragged me into this insane live-action roleplay.

“So then, you’re Emiya-kun’s Servant?”

“U-Um, well…”

Two foreigners and two teenagers—one boy, one girl. In this huge mansion…

Wait. No way… Is this one of those things? Some kind of adult film shoot, using a game as the theme…?

As I struggled to process everything, my eyes happened to fall on one of the mansion windows—and I saw something that shattered everything.

“…Who’s that?”

Reflected in the window was a blonde girl.

“…Wait. Do you have memory issues too?”

The black-haired girl asked, her expression tightening. A bad chill ran down my spine.

“U-Um… where are we? And… who am I?”