On an utterly ordinary day, Japanese high school student Matsuda China received a birthday present from a rich heiress born into a fortune.
It was a lavishly remade, full-dive version of Touken Ranbu.
Unable to find her old account password, China decided to start a new account and grind from scratch.
She happily took on Hell difficulty.
Huh? The whole Honmaru is corrupted from the start, and everyone’s a wanderer? No problem, I’ll treat them with physical therapy!
Wait, why does everyone keep getting a health-draining debuff? Fine, so corrupted swords can’t be healed by conventional means. I’ll just use unconventional methods!
All in all, aside from the annoying censorship system that kept forcing the screen to fade to black at certain points, China had a pretty great gaming experience.
That is, until one day, after maxing out every sword, overflowing her Honmaru’s resources, and deciding she’d beaten the game, China got bored, closed it, and prepared to log off for good.
Her attendant blocked the door.
"Master, have you grown tired of us and decided to find new substitutes?" He caressed her cheek, his eyes dark. "Aren’t we enough to serve as your substitutes?"
China: ...?
China, horrified: When did I ever make you my substitutes?!
-
When Amuro Toru learned that a deceased colleague of his had a younger sister attending Teitan High School, he decided to honor their friendship by looking after the girl his colleague had left behind. By then, he was already undercover as a waiter.
At first, everything seemed normal: China got excellent grades and was well-behaved. Sure, she had a bad habit of skipping class because she was so absorbed in video games, and she had an online boyfriend, but kids that age were bound to have fun.
Until one day, after a Black Organization mission went wrong, Bourbon followed the trail of clues and saw the girl on the surveillance footage. Just a few hours earlier, she’d been carrying her schoolbag and politely said goodbye to him at the cafe.
And now, a circle of men knelt around her, all calling her "Master" in unison.
Amuro Toru: ...?
Amuro Toru, horrified: This can't be right?!!
#How could my sweet, well-behaved colleague's little sister possibly be a playgirl?!#
-
A corrupted Honmaru, long forgotten in a corner by the Time Government, was suddenly visited by a human with immense spiritual power.
She was lively and innocent, and supposedly had once owned a Honmaru of her own. After a disruption in time and space cost her the loyal swords who served her, she had ended up here.
The Saniwa who had lost her Honmaru poured her affection into them, seeking comfort from swords of the same type.
The Saniwa needed emotional support, and the corrupted swords needed a Saniwa to provide spiritual power.
The two sides hit it off at once.
At first, everything seemed normal. But as they spent more time with their Saniwa, the swords who had gained human forms began to crave more of the warmth they had never known before.
Master, when you lift your head from my arms, your eyes brimming with love...
Are you looking at me, or at the sword you lost long ago?
Much later, Matsuda China: ...Is it possible you’re jealous of yourself?
[Reading Guide]
1. Touken Ranbu is the main focus: a romance about fake replacements and being jealous of yourself.
2. The heroine is a rebellious younger sister who seems like a sweet, well-behaved girl on the surface.
3. The romantic pairings are with the sword boys; other relationships are familial.
4. A lighthearted, indulgent, sweet story. I ate the logic!
Theme: Love requires confidence and acceptance
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After I Stopped Being the Sweet Fool to the Dragon-Born Hero
A Guide to the Genji Clan’s Reverse Transmigration