By Yuyushita Sasuga and Tamago no Kimi. Released in Japan as “Jibun no Koto o Shujinkou da to Shinjite Yamanai Fumidai ga, Shujinkou o Fumidai da to Kanchigai Shite, Yuushou Shite Shimau Ohanashi desu” by TO Books. Released in North America by Hanashi Media. Translated by Harris Hayes.

Assuming that the average reader of this series gets past the title, which is a bit more ludicrous than usual, they’re going to run up against the lead. And assuming that they get past the lead’s tendency to talk about himself like he’s still a chuuni (which is half of the point of this series), we get to the other point of this series, which likely resonates with a lot of people. The idea that hard work will be rewarded is a good, idealistic one that unfortunately is not always true in the real world. As such, a lot of fiction, particularly shonen fiction, revolves around the fact that you can do absolutely anything provided that you do it often enough. Do you suck at something? Do it ten million times, and you will get better! (True.) And then all the good things in life will be yours (not necessarily true except in series like these).

Our nameless main character rescues a kid from the inevitable truck, dies, and ends up in front of a bored and amused Athena, the goddess currently in charge of reincarnating people. He grew up in Japan thinking he would be IMPORTANT, and idolizing shonen main characters. So she offers to put him in the world of Chronicle of the Round Table Heroes, a visual novel, as the Hero Fey. He immediately accepts! Unfortunately, she’s amusing herself. Not only is Fey the guy who bullies random people and gets the shit beaten out of him in the game itself (the real hero is named Tru), but the VN is also pretty damn dark, with most of the cast meeting Bad Ends. But that matters little to our guy. What is perhaps more concerning is that the game limits how much he’s able to change – the original Fey was an asshole, after all. So he has to train as hard as he can and join the Holy Knights… while still being kind of a jerk.

Clearly I finished this, so there were things I liked. It’s quite readable, as I’ve come to expect from TO Books, who usually do a good job selling their product. I really liked the main “heroine”, named Arthur (the names sometimes skew Arthurian due to the game’s title), who is incredibly beautiful and talented but has the social skills of a brick. Since Fey, as he is still very much “sullen asshole who simply trains constantly”, also has the social skills of a brick, they get on quite well. Other than that… while I did like the teacher’s backstory, and I appreciated that she was allowed to avoid her cruel and horrible fate (and I hope one days she avenges her family), describing her as the “busty loli” type and having her fall massively in love with Fey by the end made me sigh. Ah well, so goes life. the actual lead, Tru, also fades into the background as the series goes on. I’d have liked it more if he ended up an antagonist, but the author seems content to have him just be wary of Fey but still basically a hero. Which is nice, but duller.

So this wasn’t great, but wasn’t terrible. I might read another. Recommended for fans of the genre.