Bound to a Choice Simulator, I Was Forced to Become a Phantom Thief

[Comments are now open. Bookmark the story to leave a comment. Updates every night at 9. I also have other completed stories of this type: “The Research Nut Survives in a Manga by Relying on Tragic Beauty and Strength,” “The Scheming, Hated General Strives to Become the Game’s Most Popular Character,” and “A Background Character in a New Anime Keeps Dying to Save the Day.” Feel free to check them out. Thanks for all your support!] [My next male-lead, no-romance story is temporarily retitled “The Cannon Fodder Villain Chooses to Join the Protagonist Group.” It’s the same kind of no-romance, group-adored, battle-scarred story. A young villainous cannon-fodder character awakens to his fate and chooses to take up the plot strings left behind by his mentor, the beloved character who died unexpectedly. He becomes a morally ambiguous ally who moves between sides of the protagonist group. A passionate coming-of-age story about spirited young people.] Bai Ye, a second-year high school student, suddenly discovered that he could see things no one else could. For example… the beings who floated around him, took control of his body, and were called “players,” as well as the strange pop-up notifications those “players” called “quest progress bars.” There was also a forum, like a web in the night, brimming with Night City’s classified information. It turned out that the world of Night City was just a video game in a higher-dimensional world. And he was an unlucky character, the lead in a side-villain storyline controlled by players. He had been forced to go from an ordinary student to a background character caught up in the main plot: a phantom thief destined to be defeated by the protagonists, risking his life every day without getting paid. Under the influence of the choice simulator, Bai Ye could only watch as his life began to race in a bizarre direction. At the turn of the century, a mysterious phantom thief appeared in Night City’s underworld, capable of stealing anything. Whether it was the Night City mayor’s priceless necklace, the most precious demonic artifact in the Bureau of Law Enforcement’s headquarters, or the summer homework of the young detectives who protected the city, the thief known as “Starry Night Magician” Wonder could steal it all without a sound. At first, the forum was full of posts like: [Holy crap, everyone, have you seen the news?! Phantom Thief Wonder is a vicious criminal! He’s stolen countless priceless treasures, and I heard he caused several of the spatial quakes that recently hit the city! He even dared to interfere with the Reunion grand tournament!] Bai Ye: …I was just passing through to do a practical assignment, okay! And since when could I control natural disasters? [Seriously! So many people can’t think straight after meeting the phantom thief. I bet he can steal the hearts of everyone who’s ever seen him!] Bai Ye: …I’m innocent! That really has nothing to do with me! As the main plot progressed, the mood on the Night City forum gradually changed: [Wait, isn’t Wonder the enemy of the young detectives? Why did he save them from the demon?] [Right… If he wasn’t after the token for the Demon Game, then could his earlier actions have been…?] [Holy crap! I’ve figured it out! Wonder has been shouldering all the misunderstanding and abuse alone, protecting the world from the shadows. He’s a hero of the night!] [Exactly! Otherwise, he wouldn’t have needed to shield the detectives from such a terrifying Demon King-class demon!] Bai Ye, who was genuinely no match for the enemy and only acted tough because of the choice simulator: Why don’t you all just go back to insulting me? Even worse, the young detectives, the main protagonists who were supposed to be his sworn enemies, were looking at him as if they’d finally understood. Bai Ye: “No, seriously, why do you believe it too?!” [The whole internet is searching for the identity behind the great heart-stealing phantom thief!] Everyone online was trying to guess who the mysterious phantom thief really was. Little did they know that the heart-stealing thief they talked about was actually the “born delinquent” mocked and derided by everyone at Solomon Academy. Bai Ye, helping the idol detective group with their homework to earn his living expenses: Thanks for the invite, but don’t dox people. Please, I just want to be normal! Bai Ye: Oh, and don’t expose the secret identity of that talented fan artist who writes and draws! If they did, he really wouldn’t be able to go on living! The story of an unlucky high school student in a futuristic city who becomes a character controlled by the Fourth Calamity, gets bound to a choice simulator, and suffers one humiliating public disaster after another. Everyone mistakes him for a phantom thief hero who bears his burdens in silence, and along the way, he saves other people from their doomed fates. My take on an edgy, world-weary, broke, money-loving, outwardly arrogant and cool but actually mild-mannered fanboy protagonist who’s easy to bully. Pure chuunibyou fantasy, not an infinite-flow story, but a team competition among high schoolers, as they search for treasures around the world. Inspired by the Persona series, mistaken assumptions, and hot-blooded shonen anime. A story about the friendship between young people. Theme: Never, ever give in.