I Became an Academy Counselor

I smiled at the principal who seemed to be awkwardly seated.

“Is there anything you’d like, Veronica?”
“How do you know my name…?”
“The manager told me. I’ve heard all about you. That you’re a true leader who cares for the students…”
“Oh, is that so? That guy, telling such embarrassing things…”

It’s a lie.
I had never had that kind of conversation with the manager. 
So why do I know this story?
Because she was a character from the game I used to enjoy. 
The principal of the academy. The strongest character in the world setting, befitting her position.
The reason I added “In the world setting” is because she never actually showed such strength.

Users speculated it was because the story wouldn’t progress if she, who was on the protagonist’s side with her good nature, intervened. An NPC with unrivaled strength that existed in this world, was always away dealing with other incidents whenever something bad happened.
That’s Veronica, the small girl with a shy smile standing before my eyes.

“Is there a drink you’d like?”
“I don’t feel like getting too drunk today. I’ll have a gin and tonic, please.”
“Order received.”

Making cocktails wasn’t that difficult.
I had been making drinks here for months while waiting for her.
As I skillfully prepared the drink and served it, she thanked me and took the glass.

“By the way, I’m surprised. Are you a new employee?”
“Well… you could say that. I’m working here temporarily.”
“That guy, he said he had no plans to increase staff recently…”
“…”

I flinched.
I stared at her intently.
Did she figure it out?
I hadn’t thought the manager would go around saying such things.
She might be suspicious of the fact that someone who said they had no plans to increase staff suddenly hired a part-timer…

“Well, it doesn’t matter. That guy’s whims are quite common. How did you come to work here?”
“Ahaha, well… He took me in while I was wandering the back alleys.”
“That sounds like something he would do.”

When I spoke according to the hypnosis setting I had placed on the manager, just in case she asked him again, she nodded saying it sounded like something he would do.
…Manager, you didn’t need to be hypnotized to be that kind of person, huh?
Well.
That’s probably why he’s so close to Veronica. If he had a bad personality, there’s no way she would be friends with him.
I stared at Veronica.
I never thought I’d actually see a character from the game.
Although I had been hanging around here for months to meet her, it was so fascinating to actually see her in person.

“…Is there something on my face?”
“Ah, I’m sorry. I was just a bit amazed…”
“Amazed?”
“I’m just so moved to meet the famous Veronica in person.”
“Ah, ahem…!”

Even her personality is the same.
Look at how she pretends not to like it but she actually does.
The setting in which she’s weak to compliments is also intact.
…Wait, this isn’t right.

“Oh my, your glass is already empty. Would you like another?”
“Huh? …Well, yes. I’ll have another, please.”
“Okay.”

I’m not sure how I ended up in this world.
It wasn’t like the introduction of some web novel where I speed-ran, became stagnant, cursed a lot, or played it with bugs.
I had simply completed a famous game recommended by a friend and was immersed in the afterglow.
A game that even I, who didn’t particularly like games, played as if enchanted.
I was just too heartbroken by the tragedy of the characters in that game.

While the characters chosen by the player to play somehow achieve a happy ending, the other characters who weren’t chosen don’t.
As you progress through each character’s given story, it’s occasionally described.
Like how the Watcher was possessed by a demon, or how the princess lost the fight for the throne and fell from grace, or how some demon-possessed person turned a small village into ruins and is now wandering around as a wanted criminal.
The characters not chosen by the player appeared before the player in the form of rumors, allowing them to guess their endings.

…The problem is that they were all bad endings.
Maybe that’s why there were many requests to the game company to release a DLC where everyone could have a happy ending.
Well, considering it wasn’t available when I played, I can guess the result without saying it.

Anyway, I was playing the game as always…
When suddenly, a strange text message arrived.
What was it again?
It was a message saying something about a prank.
I thought someone had sent it by mistake, and then everything turned white before my eyes.
And when I opened my eyes, I was like this.

I was put in a woman’s body.
My head was filled with basic knowledge about the world and about my abilities.
Honestly, at first, I was very confused and wandered a lot, but…
Suddenly, I had a thought.
If this really is the world inside the game, couldn’t I lead all those poor children to a happy ending?
That kind of thought.

“Here, have some more.”
“Mm, thank you… But…”
“Don’t worry about the money. It’s a personal gift for someone I respect.”
“If, if that’s the case…”

So I spent time here half in doubt.
I was thinking that if this really was the world inside the game, Veronica would come here someday.
Thinking that if she really came, I might be able to erase the misfortunes of those children.
The result was right in front of me.

Veronica, her face flushed red after drinking every glass I gave her without being able to refuse.
With her here, I could easily enter the academy.
Of course, I could have infiltrated the academy even without hypnotizing her.
Hypnosis is such a powerful ability, after all.

But Veronica in her normal state, not drunk like this, wouldn’t fall for such a shallow trick as hypnosis. If I was caught, who knows what would happen?
So I just needed to make her completely drunk and control her as I wished.
…I felt a bit guilty, but it couldn’t be helped.
This is all for the peace of the world, right?
If you think about the tragedies those children will cause, the world will become a mess.

“Ugh, my, my head…”
“Here, Veronica. This too…”
“I’m, I’m sorry. I can’t… anymore…”

Success.
To think I could control the strongest character in the world setting as I wished, even if she was completely off guard and drunk.
Feeling very tense in such a situation, I whispered to her.

“Veronica, you care about the students, right…?”
“…Yes.”

Veronica likes the students.
There’s a gap here.
She runs around for the students, but conversely, that’s why she can’t help the students.
Because she spends much more time outside the school than inside, trying to accommodate the students or invite prestigious professors.
When she was really needed, she was often out on business trips.

That’s why users would check for Veronica’s presence, and a superstition arose that if she wasn’t there, something would happen.
Even though that wasn’t always the case.
I whispered to her as she stared blankly into space.

“But Veronica, have you ever thought about the students’ mental health…?”
“Mental health…?”
“Yes, mental health. Small things like academic stress, family discord, relationship issues, conflicts between friends…”

She gently shook her head.
I had expected this. Even in the game, there were school nurses and teachers who conducted classes, but no teachers specializing in counseling.

“These things pile up, and the students struggle…”
“That, that’s not good…”
“Yes. With that in mind, you thought that you should invite a counselor to the academy…”
“…”
“And by chance, the bartender you met for the first time at your regular bar happened to be an expert in psychological counseling, majoring in psychiatry… That’s certainly the case…”

It’s a lie.
I had never even thought about becoming a psychiatrist, let alone a psychological counselor.
But I had the power to turn this lie into reality, so maybe saying I was an expert in psychological counseling wasn’t wrong.

“You were persistently asking the bartender in front of you to become a teacher until you fell asleep…”

So me entering the academy wouldn’t be such a bad choice for her either.

“…nica, Veronica!”
“…Huh? Oh, oh?!”
“I’m sorry, Veronica. I think I gave you too much to drink. Are you tired?”

***

When I suddenly opened my eyes, the bartender I had been talking to until just now was looking at me with concern.

“Huh? Was, was I sleeping?”
“Yes. Very soundly.”
“I, I’m sorry about that.”

This is strange, did I pass out after just a few drinks?

That can’t be right.

Sure, the pace was a bit faster than usual, but just from this much…?
Hmm, was I really that tired?
And we were having such an important conversation.

“I’m sorry. Um, it might be a bit awkward to ask again in this situation… But would you consider it once more? It’s for the children.”
“…”
“Don’t worry! I’ll provide as much support as you want! If it’s for the student’s mental health, I’ll give you as much money as you need!”
“I guess I have no choice…”

Seeing the bartender sigh as if she had no choice, I was delighted.
Finally, I found a counselor for the academy students.
She also smiled at me as if she was happy.