Side Character Who Became the Pseudo-Protagonist

Chapter 2: The Protagonist Is Dead

"Hey..."

"Hey—kid! What the hell are you doing?! Are you gonna get out or not?!"

"Huh?"

I woke up from my stupor, only to find myself sitting in the back of a taxi.

There was a cracked leather seat in front of me, a glowing meter on the dashboard, and an extremely angry driver glaring at me through the rearview mirror.

Ah.

A taxi.

More importantly—

Do I even have money to pay him? No, wait. If he was telling me to get out, then I must have paid already.

Probably.

"Ahh, sorry. I’m getting out now."

Closing the taxi door, my attention immediately went to the face reflected in the car window.

It was obviously not my own.

How did I know that?

Because I’m handsome!

Tousled dark-blue hair with navy highlights fell over my face, a bit too long for my liking, but honestly, that hardly mattered.

Combined with the steel-blue eyes staring back at me, the black polo, and the matching steel-blue sweater, this face could have easily belonged to a supermodel.

So jealous...

But before I could admire my borrowed face any longer, the driver drove off hurriedly, probably trying to get away from the narcissistic creep staring at his car window.

Only then did I finally look at where I was.

In front of me stood a massive building far more technologically advanced than anything I had seen before. Well, it wasn’t exactly too different from something like a corporate tower.

Though what managed to catch my attention was the holographic sign outside.

[Operator Testing Center]

’Right...the game was set in the near future after all. Well, it’s much better than being transmigrated into a medieval fantasy setting with no phones or flushing toilets...’

But damn...have I really transmigrated into the body of Nolan Midgard?

He was a character that I was familiar with, a side character introduced early and was honestly pretty decent at the start of the game.

However, most never cared for him and left him to collect dust on their party select screen.

Even I was guilty of this.

Why?

Because who the hell plays a dating sim to have another dude in their party?!

I want mine to all be beauties!

’Regardless, a Testing Center for Operators, huh?’

I looked up at the massive building in front of me and felt my stomach sink in real time. I was in the prologue of the story.

Nolan Midgard was an Operator cadet, someone training to earn a license to operate Logos inside Gates. The same as the protagonist, Leon, was.

But if I’m at the prologue...Oh, that’s right. That route was going to happen...

No...! I’m freakin’ terrified! Why the hell would I walk into this testing center if I knew what was going to happen?!

In the midst of my panic, I finally noticed the paper clenched in my hand.

It was Nolan’s registration file.

Name: Nolan Midgard.

Purpose of visit: Operator Licensing Evaluation.

Scheduled location: Alfine Testing Center.

Note: Please make sure to show up on time. Cancellation without prior heads-up will result in a penalty for following bookings.

’...I guess I’ll just follow the main story for now. Nolan survives this incident and is relevant later on in the story. So I guess I can’t die here...right?’

After managing to hype myself up with the weakest logic known to mankind, I stepped toward the entrance. The glass double doors slid open, and I stepped inside.

Immediately, my eyes flicked left and right, trying to find any trace of the protagonist’s signature white hair.

’Damn...maybe he already registered? Tch...I need to find him soon.’

Strolling up to the front desk, I placed my paper and slid it easily across the counter. The receptionist took one good look at my face before flinching.

"A—Are you here for the Operator Licensing Evaluation?"

’Huh? Why the hell is she avoiding me like the plague?’

But that was when I remembered Nolan’s setting.

He had a resting scowling face, not to mention the fact that he was one of the children of the Midgard family, who owned the Midgard district—

There was only one word to describe Nolan as a character: a chaebol.

So with my best impression of an edgy and oh-so-important teenager, I gave her a reply.

"Tch...get on with it, don’t waste my time."

"Ah—ahh, right away!"

Within a minute or two, I was handed my files back along with a little ticket that had my testing order.

I made my way to the elevator, but there was still no protagonist in sight.

’Where the hell is this guy? Is he hiding from me or something? Ahh, the conflict is going to happen at any time soon...’

But before the doors could close fully, someone had stuck their arm right in-between, causing me to flinch and hold the doors open.

A girl wearing glasses, a soft sweater and carrying a few books stepped in a few seconds later. But what caught my eye was her distinctive pinkish-red hair...the signature color of—

"Ha...thank you so much for holding the door! I was sure I was going to be late for testing..."

’...Ruby Lane!’

She was supposed to be a villainess? At least that’s what the developers said during their livestream. Since she was introduced in the latest patch of the game, nobody really knew anything about her at all.

’So she was here as well? Strange...’

The doors closed and a soft elevator music chimed in the background. For a few seconds, we both stood there awkwardly, glancing at each other but neither of us daring to speak.

’Hmm...I guess it wouldn’t hurt to make acquaintance with her now?’

"You here to get a Provisional License as well?"

The girl flinched, clearly not expecting for someone like Nolan to talk to her. It took her a while to compose herself before finally responding.

"Ah! Yes...I hope I get a really good score. I’m planning to apply to Asgard Academy... Oh, I’m Ruby by the way...and you are?"

"Oh, really? I’m Nolan."

I replied out of habit, but obviously, I already knew that.

"I’m not too confident in my Control. During the mock test, I only managed to maintain the thread for 3.4 seconds. I’m sure it’ll be even worse when I’m nervous..."

She hugged her book a little closer.

’Hmm...isn’t that good? I wasn’t sure of the exact stats, but in the game, there was a minigame to test that sort of thing.’

"I think you’ll do fine. It’s just—"

RUMBLE...!

The elevator stopped, and the lights went out.

KRRRKKK!

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The entire cabin plummeted back down, causing a metallic shriek to ring out. I managed to grab onto the railing, to avoid becoming a splat on the ceiling.

Damn it. It’s happening already?! Why the hell was the prologue starting before I even reached the testing floor?!

CRASH!

My entire body slammed into the floor, and for a second, I couldn’t breathe.

All the air had been knocked out of my lungs, my ears were ringing, and somewhere beside me, Ruby was curled up on the floor with both hands covering her head.

"Ough...urgh..."

Thank god she was alive. And I’m alive too, that’s even better.

The emergency red lights flickered above us, barely giving us enough light to crawl out of the ruined elevator. I managed to help Ruby out first and crawl out a second later.

"It...hurts..."

What? Why did she say that?

But upon closer inspection I managed to find out why.

A piece of metal had somehow found itself inside her leg, lodged just behind her calf so deep that only a tiny bit could be seen.

I forced myself to stay calm, throwing her arm over my shoulder and supporting her from underneath.

"Alright, don’t move too much. I’ve got you. We need to move out of here, right now."

"O-Okay..."

Ruby nodded, but her face had gone pale. Every time her injured leg shifted, her fingers dug into my sleeve.

Damn it. This was bad. No, actually, this was much worse than bad.

In ’Pink Flags’, the prologue event was supposed to be simple. Well, simple by dating sim standards.

The protagonist would arrive, take his evaluation, and then the controlled Gate used for testing would suddenly go berserk.

A few monsters would break out, kill some nameless NPCs, and almost get the first heroine. Then the protagonist would get a system and—

Once again, you get the deal. It was the classic tutorial starter.

The problem was...I’m not the protagonist!

Actually, where even is he?! How the hell am I supposed to get out of this with an injured person?!

Just a few steps out of the elevator, ruin was clear.

The bright futuristic reception hall from earlier had been torn apart. The holographic signs above the front desk were glitching in broken fragments.

And the floor was littered with glass and...corpses.

I forced myself from look at the floor.

"Don’t scream."

Ruby looked up at me, eyes trembling behind her glasses. Because behind the ruined reception desk, something was moving.

A wolf-like monster crouched over a body in a receptionist uniform. Its fur was dark and coarse, with steel-gray spikes running down its neck like a mane.

’That’s...the receptionist from earlier...No! Don’t think about that! We definitely can’t fight this thing. Ruby’s injured and there’s no equipment...’

Which meant there was only one correct answer:

Run away quietly. Very, very quietly.

I pointed toward the emergency corridor on the left side of the lobby.

In the game, that hallway connected to the staff-only stairwell. If we could reach it, we might be able to hide until security Operators arrived.

Assuming any security Operators were still alive.

’No. Don’t think about that either. Just move.’

But just before I could help Ruby move, a small drop of blood fell from her injured leg, straight onto the floor.

Ironmane Wolves were practically considered "sharks on four legs" from the description given in the game.

And the name was quite fitting, as the wolf immediately turned toward us, snarling before sprinting straight in our direction.

Ah. We’re doomed.

I managed to shove her sideways with everything I had, just in time as the wolf launched into my chest and knocked me over.

"Gghhk—!"

Its claws managed to rake across my chest, tearing up my shirt and causing shallow lines of red on skin.

Ruby yelled out from the side.

"Nolan!"

Using all my strength, I just barely managed to keep its jaws away from turning my head into mincemeat with one bite.

"Damn...get off me!"

Obviously, its jaws snapped closer, teeth scraping just inches away from my nose.

The smell of blood and rot filled my lungs, and my arms trembled as I struggled to keep its mouth away from my face.

But that’s when I noticed a little pink section just underneath its jaw.

’That’s right...! Ironmane wolves had a weak tissue, an Achilles’ heel!’

Ruby shouted again.

"Nolan!"

"I’m busy!"

My fingers scraped against the floor, searching desperately through broken glass and debris. A sharp pain cut across my palm, but I ignored it.

Until my hand found something cold, a jagged steel fragment probably from the broken reception counter.

Screw it, it’s gonna have to do!

I grabbed the steel fragment with my right hand and shoved upward with everything I had.

SHLK!

The wolf’s body spasmed and a choked growl bubbled from its throat as it fell on me. Blood poured down the steel and onto my hand. That’s when I knew it was dead.

’Urgh...gross.’

I just barely managed to push the corpse off, using the nearby debris to get on my feet as Ruby approached me.

"Hey! Are you okay?!"

But my brain had completely zoned her out already.

I was focused on only one thing.

Where the hell was the protagonist? At this point, shouldn’t he be down here already, cleaning things up?

But then, a blue window opened in front of my eyes, causing my hopes to go right down the drain.

[Prologue Scenario Error Detected.]

[Original Player signal has been lost.]

[Confirmed.]

[The Protagonist has been killed.]

What? That’s...that’s not possible right? How can the protagonist be dead?

He’s the protagonist, after all...

[Main Route continuation impossible.]

[Searching for compatible character to fill the vacant role.]

[...]

[...]

[Compatible character found.]

[Designation: Nolan Midgard]

[You have been granted the Pseudo-Player System]