Chapter Text
When I was eight years old, I tripped, fell headfirst onto a rock, and remembered three very important things: I was a reincarnated soul from another world, this world was going to be destroyed unless someone fell in love with Maria Campbell, and I could be the one who was going to begin the apocalypse.
Am I getting ahead of myself? I think I’m getting ahead of myself.
My name (as it is in this world right now, at least) is Catarina Claes. I thought I was just the spoiled and pampered 8-year-old daughter of a noble house here in the kingdom of Sorcier. Now, I realize this world was the same as the setting of my favorite Visual Novel/Turn-Based RPG:
Fortune Lover
I’d spent countless hours playing it, trying to capture all of the targets, see all the CG’s, and unlock every last bit of dialog, through meticulous mapping of dialog choices and events during the school/camping sections and trying to beat the many bosses and quests during the combat sections.
Back then, I had played as Maria Campbell, a sweet, mild-mannered commoner who was blessed with the extremely rare light element, which allowed her to study in the kingdom’s highly exclusive Magic Academy with the nobles.
But now? Now I wasn’t even just a generic student—no, I was the villainess!
I'd be the main character’s worst nightmare if she tried to pursue two of the four capture targets. I was going to be a recurring boss character for her regardless of whatever route she went down on thanks to school’s tournaments and combat classes. And if I ended up completely losing my marbles, I could even end up as the monster who was going to bring about the end of the world.
The thought was enough to make me wish for yet another quick and untimely death, like what had happened in my previous life. But then, a voice in my head shouted:
“UNACCEPTABLE!”
It was said by a tiny me as she shot out of her chair and slammed her palms on a meeting table, her judge’s robes and mustache billowing from invisible wind—let’s call her Chairman Catarina.
A second Catarina yelped in fear and shrank in her seat—let’s call her Spineless Catarina.
“Indeed it is,” said a third Catarina as she adjusted her glasses—let’s call her Studious Catarina.
“Isn’t it?!” said a fourth, angry-looking me—let’s call her Fearless Catarina. “I mean come on, we’ve been given another life! Most people would kill—ah, wait, no, that came out wrong—most people would give everything they have for the chance we’ve gotten, so are we just going to waste it?!”
“No, we won’t!” said fifth, cheerful-looking me—let’s call her Happy Catarina. “We can finally try out all of those delicious looking sweets and foods in the game!”
“So we are close to complete agreement,” Chairman Catarina said. “Unless I wrongly assumed your opposition?” she asked as she looked at Spineless Catarina.
“… Scary…” Spineless Catarina whimpered as she slowly came out of her ball. “This world is so scary! It’s got monsters, and bandits, and evil wizards, and we’re supposed to be fighting all of them when we get to the Academy—and maybe for years after that, too!”
“I say bring ‘em on!” Fearless Catarina cried, raising her fist as she slapped her other hand on her bicep. “We crushed them and the dungeons they were in back when this was all just a game, we’ll do it again now that it’s our reality!”
“I really must advise you to reign back your enthusiasm,” Studious Catarina said. “We are not Maria, and thus we do not have access to light magic to heal or resurrect ourselves and others should things go…” she looked to the side “… sideways.”
“Ah, I completely forgot about that!” Spineless Catarina cried. “Now this world is even scarier!”
“Oh come on, we got a TON of broken bones, cuts, and scrapes in our previous life, and that never stopped us from doing fun things like climb trees, didn’t it?” Fearless Catarina said.
“Nope!” Happy Catarina chirped.
“There is the issue of such injuries leaving us vulnerable to monsters, violent criminals, and infections, however,” Studious Catarina said. “The lack of modern healthcare and emergency services may be a serious problem.”
Bang! Bang! Chairman Catarina struck a wooden block with her gavel. “Order, order, everyone!” she called out. “All of you, back in your seats.”
Reluctantly or not, the other four Catarinas sat back down.
“Thank you,” Chairman Catarina said. “Now, it is clear that this is an incredibly distressing time for all of us—which is why it’s all the more important that we act in a calm, reasonable, and responsible manner.
“We have just suffered from the traumatic return of our former life’s memories and all the problems that entails; coupled with the fever we’re suffering from, I suggest that we all conserve our energy, rest, and only put long-term plans into action after we have recovered.
“Are there any objections?”
The other Catarinas said “Nay.” or shook their heads.
“Then it is decided!” Chairman Catarina said with another bang of her gavel. “Barring any sort of dire emergency that requires us to use all our limited resources, we will stay in bed and relax.”
Spineless Catarina sighed. “Phew, I’m glad that’s all over...”
“Glad to see that reason wins out again,” Studious Catarina said as she adjusted her glasses.
“We’re going on an adventure one of these days for sure, though!” Fearless Catarina said.
“And we’ll have tons of fun on it!” Happy Catarina said.
And so I spent almost all of the next few days in bed resting, getting out to stretch, get some sun by the window, or attend to other needs. The rest was spent drafting in my head the document that was going to become the key to saving the world:
Catarina’s Top - Secret Plan to Save the World
I don’t intend on becoming the heroine—that role still belonged to Maria Campbell. But neither did I intend to become a full-on villainess. No matter what challenges come my way, I intend to save myself and this world both!
“Miss Catarina, pardon me for asking, but why do you suddenly seem so happy?” my maid Anne said.
I realized I was victory laughing and stopped. “Ah, nothing!” I said, frantically waving my arms in front of me. “Just… thinking about all the fun things I’ll be able to do once I’m all better, is all!”
“I… see...” Anna said. “Please excuse me, I do believe we might need to call for the doctor again.”
“Okay!”