The Gacha Addict of the Academy

It’s cold… A dagger seems to have pierced my chest.

But it’s fine.

…

Actually, it’s not fine at all.

“… Was this really necessary?”

“Hm… Maybe it’s like a bonding thing for people in the same situation,” Hyeon-ah said with a smile. But I couldn’t agree with her at all.

I was an outsider before this, so sitting and eating in a group like this didn’t feel right.

Maybe that’s why, even though I already struggle with eating, I could barely touch my food. The pressure was overwhelming.

Heh… The truth is, I’m the weakest one here.

Someone, save me.

“Uh… well, since we’re all here, why don’t we introduce ourselves?” Hyeon-ah suggested, breaking the silence.

She introduced herself first, but the group was full of people who felt like “outsiders,” so the conversation didn’t go anywhere.

Actually, I might be the only one here who truly feels like an outsider. From what I can tell, everyone else seems confident.

Except for me.

“Well… I’m Kang Ji Hyuk. Nice to meet you,” he said in a calm, practiced tone.

Wow, even in an awkward situation like this, he manages to sound confident. Yesterday, he was already chatting with the other guys in class. Does that mean Hyeon-ah and Kang Ji Hyuk are the only ones here who aren’t outcasts?

Introducing yourself like that takes courage. Maybe they drank some kind of bravery potion beforehand.

I wish I had some of that potion too…

“… Just so you know, I’m not really interested in getting close to anyone.”

The elf—no, our elf princess—spoke up, making it clear she wanted to keep her distance.

In the story, she usually kept to herself but eventually warmed up to the protagonist. Once she liked him, she only opened up to him. Despite this, the writer seemed to adore her and gave her a character arc about wanting to make friends.

Even so, readers only saw her as “the elf” and didn’t care much about her other traits.

“… Hey… Luna?”

“Huh? Hic…!”

I hiccupped when someone suddenly called my name.

Wait, why are they calling me?

“Why…?”

“You haven’t been eating properly. Is something wrong?”

“Ah…”

There’s no real reason I can’t eat properly. I wanted to say, “It’s none of your business,” but I couldn’t bring myself to say it.

Sigh…

Do you know how it feels to want to eat but not be able to?

I can’t even eat half of what I usually would, and I’m trying to save what little I can.

… Not that I’m worried about gaining weight. I’m eating so little that gaining weight seems impossible. If anything, I might lose weight, which is a little concerning.

I could probably survive on a small rice ball and some milk. My body feels so weak, like I’m barely eating enough to keep going.

Honestly, I think I’m only about 150 cm tall, and my weight might be in the 40s—or less. When I checked my body while showering, it felt so fragile.

And yet, I’m still a guy.

Sure, I’ve seen all kinds of things online, but this frail body? There’s nothing attractive about it.

… Actually, if I found this body attractive, that’d be a whole different problem.

Still, my face is undeniably cute, like a doll’s.

But what’s the point of a cute face if the rest of me feels so… lacking?

I wish I had a scale to check my exact weight. There’s a health check-up coming up, so maybe I’ll find out then.

“… I just eat less,” I mumbled.

“Ah… I see.”

The atmosphere grew even more awkward. I didn’t like it at all.

As I quietly ate, a message suddenly popped up in front of me:

Get closer to Reina Spelled. – 40% x 10

Wait, what?

Ten times? Seriously?

For a moment, I almost lost it. I thought about talking to her, but I realized I hadn’t even introduced myself to her yet. That 40% must be a favorability meter… but why is it already so high?

If it were 0%, I’d have given up. But at 40%, maybe she doesn’t dislike me?

“Excuse me…”

Oh no, wait… I don’t even know what to say to her. I almost called out randomly. My voice was so soft it didn’t even reach her.

“Excuse me…!”

She finally turned to look at me.

Wait, is this really happening? She didn’t brush me off like in the story. She actually acknowledged me.

“So… um…”

I was so nervous I could barely form a sentence.

“What’s your name?” I finally asked.

I already knew her name, but it would’ve been weird if I acted like I did. Asking was just common sense.

She looked at me for a moment before turning away.

“… Reina.”

“Eh?”

“Reina. My name.”

Oh.

The favorability meter just went up by 10%.

Wait, what? Is this actually easy?

This doesn’t feel like the novel I remember. Maybe I’ve entered a parallel version of it.

I tried to continue the conversation, but Kang Ji Hyuk jumped in.

“Wait… You said you weren’t interested in getting close to anyone,” he said, teasing Reina.

“… It’s not exactly like that!” she shot back, blushing.

Her reaction surprised me. In the story, she was cold and distant, rarely showing emotion. But now she looked flustered.

Could it be because of how I look?

… No, that doesn’t make sense.

Still, it was kind of cute.