SH – Chapter 1 – I Reincarnated as a Mob Who Gets Killed by a Slime

…Where am I?

When I woke up, I found myself in an unfamiliar room.

The room was spacious but extremely shabby. The ceiling beams were eaten by bugs, but there were signs of repairs here and there.

It seemed like it was raining, as there were dripping sounds from the leaking roof.

“Louis! Summer vacation will be over tomorrow! What are you doing?” (?)

While lost in thought, I heard a voice from downstairs.

It was a woman’s voice.

However… summer vacation?

I’m already thirty-four years old and have been in the workforce for a long time now.

My days consist of a monotonous routine of traveling to and from the company office.

Of course, for a corporate slave like me, there is no such thing as summer vacation.

And my name isn’t Louis. My name is Ruigi, although people often call me Luigi instead.

…By the way, I’m not a green plumber, just so you know.

I feel like I have heard of the name Louis somewhere before, but it’s a common name, so I shouldn’t think too hard about it. Although, I don’t understand why I’m being called Louis.

Being nicknamed after a green man is one thing, but being called Louis is something else entirely. Isn’t that stretching the nickname a bit too far?

I left the room with a feeling of unease regarding the unfamiliar room and name.

The hallway was quite long and unfamiliar to me. It had a design reminiscent of medieval Europe.

…Could it be that I have been reincarnated?

I often read light novels and web novels, so this was the first thought that came to my mind.

But what kind of world did I reincarnate into?

It feels somewhat similar to the world of the game I used to play, [The Heroines’ Fall to Darkness and The Hero of Salvation].

…But did a character called Louis appear in that game?

As I walked down the hallway and descended the stairs, I pondered.

And then, it finally hit me.

Louis… he was there.

He was one of the protagonist’s classmate at school.

Louis huh… even though I played that game around twenty times, he was a background character I couldn’t quite remember.

He was a mob character without any talent for swords or magic, somehow in the same class as the protagonist.

He would spend all his time sleeping during classes, not putting in any effort, not studying, just not doing anything at all.

At first, he appeared quite frequently for no apparent reason, but he was abruptly killed by a monster halfway through.

Moreover, he was killed by a mere slime.

…No, that’s just too weak.

The development team probably added this character for fun but then wrote him out because he was unnecessary.

Why did I end up as such an unimpressive and easily disposable mob character…

You could have reincarnated me as the hero, you know?

The concept of this game was “Save the Fallen Heroines from Darkness”.

It’s a story about saving heroines burdened with darkness in their hearts using the strongest abilities and being rewarded for it.

Of course, I want to save those troubled girls and be thanked for it.

But this character had nothing.

At most, I had some sales skills I had developed in my past life.

What was I supposed to do…?

Surviving in a dangerous world full of monsters and evil gods without any abilities.

I don’t want to die yet.

I don’t really have much unfinished business, but dying as a virgin is just a bit sad.

Instead of saving troubled heroines, I found myself in a situation where even my own life was in danger.

As I was thinking about these things, I arrived at the entrance.

There, a woman who seemed to be my mother was waiting by a carriage.

“You overslept again? Hahh... Louis, you really love sleeping, don’t you?” (Mother)

Before I could reply, she sighed again, assuming my silence was an agreement.

“Come on, get on the carriage. You better attend your classes properly this time.” (Mother)

Sorry, I was asleep during most of the classes.

I got on the carriage while apologizing in my mind.

I think this guy’s real name is Louis von Armstrong. 

He’s the son of a baron knight who governs a small territory near the royal capital.

I think he’s around sixteen years old…?

My father, Ren von Armstrong, earned some notable achievements in the First War against the Evil God twenty years ago, which led to him receiving a territory and a knighthood.

That’s the setting, if I remember correctly.

During the war, they couldn’t completely defeat the Evil God; they could only drive it away.

Well, anyways, it’s unbearable for the son of such a hero to be like this.

Maybe I should start to seriously study and work hard in school.

After all, I’m curious about this world, and of course, I might be able to avoid dying if I do that.

Oh right, it’s the end of summer vacation, isn’t it?

The game started right after summer vacation, so the timeline might align.

If that’s the case…

The first one to be sacrificed to the Evil God should be Irina.

The protagonist will have to persuade Irina who has fallen into darkness.

[Your talent is nothing compared to mine! In other words, I can do everything you need to do! So you don’t have to be perfect!]¹

Or something like that.

Phew, it was quite intense.

…Well, I don’t have the ability to say such things.

I’ll leave saving her to the protagonist.

For now, I should focus on getting enough strength to not be killed by a slime.

As I rode in the carriage, I continued to contemplate such matters.

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[Irina von Luccaria’s PoV]

Being the daughter of a duke, I have always been forced to carry the burden of high expectations from people around me.

My main goal has always been striving to be the perfect daughter of a duke.

To achieve that goal, I put my entire life into it, working hard everyday.

However…

—— “Isn’t it nice to be her? Irina-sama is the duke’s daughter after all.”

—— “She has natural talent and a high status, I’m really envious.”

Such gossips are often heard from those around me.

They don’t understand how much effort I have put into this.

But I’m not thick-skinned enough to say it myself.

I can’t reveal my efforts to the public; my pride won’t allow it.

As a result, I gradually became more and more isolated.

I couldn’t even bring myself to confide in others about my worries due to my pride.

Not that there is anyone I can confide with in the first place.

It feels like I reached a dead end.

My current mental state is likely hanging by a thread.

If the Evil God were to speak kind words to me, I might easily fall.

Whenever I work hard, my efforts will be denied as having natural talent. However, when I don’t work as hard, I will be criticized for being lazy.

Given these circumstances, I am doing my best to maintain my sanity.

But if the crack were to be exploited, my stability would crumble easily.

“Ah… I don’t want to go to school…” (Irina)

While inside the carriage heading towards the royal capital, I couldn’t help but let out a sigh.

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TL notes:

Thanks for reading!

Honestly, I’m a sucker for these kinds of stories where the MC reincarnates into a game world and has to save the heroines.

I don’t know why the heroines are called villainous in the synopsis when they seem to be just normal heroines. Idk that could change down the road.

I could have just missed something when reading ahead, but the “falling into darkness” thing isn’t exactly well described. Well, there is only 10 chapters out so maybe it’s too early to judge.

P.S. I just finished a oneshot. Feel free to check it out, it’s called:
How to make a childhood friend! ~If you don’t have a childhood friend, you can just make one!?~

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Footnote:

1. This line by the protagonist sounds so dumb that I can’t help but comment on it. This game sounds really outdated lol.