Succeeding as a Knight in a Gender-Reversal Game

2 – Gender Reversal

Carnia Chronicles

It’s a game I enjoyed during training, and even before the match.

I was so attached to it that I invested all my time outside of exercising in this game.

Although it has only been open for about a year and not many people play it, I was strangely attracted to this game.

It was not made by a major game company, so it wasn’t promoted, and there were definite problems like a slightly uncomfortable interface,

But the charm of the characters and the peculiar settings led me to this game.

Before I knew it, I had been playing this game for a little over a year. Since my friend joined this company, I felt more attached to it.

A game that has a deep connection.

In such a game, I was actually possessed, which I only saw in novels.

Not just feeling it with graphics, but really in 3D, or even more.

“Johan is eating like he finds it fascinating today. Do you like my food that much?”

“I’ve always enjoyed eating it.”

“Oh, oh my…! Johan said such a wonderful thing…! He’s usually so curt, it’s hard to hear him talk, I didn’t expect to hear such a grateful word.”

“…Johan, are you okay? People say that if you do something you don’t usually do, you will die soon…”

I didn’t expect to hear a similar phrase from a strange beauty.

Why is she saying something similar to the prospective creator… it’s just a thought.

It’s strange to see the two beauties showing a warm response and worrying about me.

It’s definitely people who I only saw as illustrations drawn by my friend, and those who I haven’t even seen as illustrations, are moving alive in front of me.

I don’t feel any unnaturalness from them like game characters.

Rather, the most unnatural thing here may have been me.

“Johan, are you really okay? If you’re really struggling, how about taking a day off and going to church? It’s not like work won’t get done or anything without you, so don’t worry.”

“Yeah. Our house won’t be in trouble just because one man doesn’t work. Don’t pretend to be strong like a woman, take a rest when you can.”

Listening to their words, I am reminded once again of what kind of world I am in.

A world of gender reversal.

A world where not only the gender roles of men and women have changed, but women also show superior physical abilities and the use of magic.

I know it’s a setting created for the basis of beautiful girls appearing to eliminate monsters in a beautiful-girl gacha game and playing an active role in wars between countries.

Instead of men, women go to war, women live social lives based on their strong power and protect weak men and maintain their homes.

I didn’t feel any malice from their words of consideration based on such thoughts.

But despite that,

Since the day I vowed not to show my weaknesses, such consideration only served to provoke me.

“It’s okay. I just got a little distracted. Let’s finish eating and get to work.”

-Crunch!!

As I took a big bite of the apple left out for me, I prepared myself mentally.

“Oh, Yohan is acting more feminine today. Our daughter Lena, should you try harder?”

“What’s with the man… tsk.”

Lena, didn’t I tell you not to say things like that?

The words from the two beauties that stir the manliness within me, make me tear into the bread with more force.

I don’t know what’s going on, but let’s give it a try! I’m not going to give up easily!!

* * *

-Zip!!

“Everyone worked hard! Today, thanks to Yohan’s overflowing energy, we finished early.”

As the village chief of the flower field claps to announce the end of today’s work, I wipe the sweat off my forehead.

“Weren’t you sick? It seems like you worked harder than me… Of course, you were clumsy at first.”

“…It’s nothing, hahahaha…”

Despite Lena’s concern, I pretended it was nothing, but in reality, I was dying from doing unfamiliar farm work… gasp, gasp…

If I didn’t have the experience of helping with farm work before moving to Seoul when I was young, I would have been in big trouble.

Fortunately, it was a medieval setting when time travel was possible, so I could use iron farming tools, which was helpful.

Of course, I was totally clueless at first, but I watched what the people around me were doing and followed along, so there was no problem.

“You’re overflowing with energy today. Your muscles seem to have gotten stronger… or is it just my imagination?”

“Is, is that so? Thanks for the compliment, hahahaha…!”

“…Even if you’re a little weak, I can protect you as much as I want…”

As Lena said, my body was strong and overflowing with energy.

In terms of feeling, I was much more so than when I was professionally exercising.

It’s too robust and big for a body that’s been worked out by farming. This isn’t to belittle the difficulty of farming—it’s a comparison to the other people around me.

Other men I see around me have heads that are at least one size smaller and much less muscular.

Is this a setting created to weaken men in a gender-reversing world? Even so, my body exudes more masculinity than my previous one.

-Gulp…!

As I wiped the sweat off my chest, Lena suddenly opened the chest part of my clothes.

“Yohan, what are you doing? Are you going to keep showing your bare skin like that? What are you going to do if the women get the wrong idea?”

“The wrong idea? What?”

“Ah, it’s nothing! After all, who would take Yohan, who’s much taller than women! Unless it’s a woman like me…”

… It’s not bad to hear such words from the prettiest person I’ve ever seen in my life.

Sure enough, as she said, the gazes around me are unusual.

“Was Yohan always so s*xy…? He was definitely handsome before, but he was too gloomy, so it wasn’t tasty…”

“Look at his arms… They’re completely different from the thin other guys.”

“He’s tall too. Then surely… that…”

“Even looking at his lower body… gulp…!”

Several women, who were attractive even by modern standards, were making lewd comments about me. It’s a world inside a beautiful girl gacha game. They all look good. Even in this flower field village.

While I had not entirely avoided such reactions in reality, it was quite a different sensation to receive such blatant s*xual appeals from a multitude of beauties.

But I wondered if I was the only one who heard it.

-Zap!!

Rena shot a sharp look at the other girls,

“Hey, be careful. If Rena catches you, it’s game over. I heard her mom was a knight.”

“Do we even have anyone who could beat her even if her mom wasn’t a knight? Remember the girl who tried to sneak off with Johan and got caught right away?”

“I don’t know about that, I heard she’s been waiting for this coming-of-age ceremony… Sigh.”

A few of the girls bowed their heads at just that look and disappeared into their own spaces.

While it was a bit disappointing, I didn’t mind that Rena was protecting me.

Especially since there seemed to be a few people glaring at me with bad intentions. As I still lacked information about this group, I thought it might not be a bad idea to rely on her for gathering information.

Since it didn’t feel like any kind of scheme or contrivance, I guess I don’t need to worry about it.

As Rena and I were preparing to leave after tidying up,

“Ha ha, Rena and Johan, you both worked hard today. Especially Johan, you seem to be full of energy today.”

“…Good evening, village chief.”

The village chief and his daughter, both with purple hair, approached Rena and me.

Rena, in response to the chief’s greeting, stepped behind me as if to protect me from the two.

“Rena, you didn’t have to come here. Like your mother, Lana, you’re playing a major role in the village’s security. It would have been fine if only Johan had been sent to do the farming work…”

“No, if we had left Johan alone, we would have been embarrassed if he made a mistake during farming.”

“Oh, nothing like that happened. We didn’t shun Johan or anything. Of course, if he makes a mistake, we might have to provide a little ‘education’.”

From the village chief, who emphasized the word “education” with a significant tone while smiling seductively, there was an odd atmosphere.

I could feel the same thing from the purple-haired girl who was smiling next to him.

Rena, with a slightly disgruntled expression, herded me behind her back and bid farewell to the two.

“Now that the work is done, we’ll take our leave. We’ll see you tomorrow at the coming-of-age ceremony, village chief.”

“Oh my, are you leaving so soon? We’ve prepared some drinks for Johan, who worked so hard today. What do you say?”

“That’s kind of you, village chief. But I’ll be going home with Rena.”

“Well then, goodbye.”

Was the village chief one of the characters set up by Hana to be one of the NTR characters? And quite an important one at that. I shouldn’t be alone with him just because he’s being kind to me.

Even if I didn’t have any prior information related to this, I probably wouldn’t have followed him because it felt strange.

“Johan, you’re not supposed to follow someone just because they’re offering you food, okay? We’re not exactly rich, but we’re not so poor that we can’t feed you.”

On the way home, Rena continued to admonish me as if I were a puppy.

To be honest, it’s not a bad feeling when pretty girls show their affection,

But the affection, something more than that in the gazes of the girls I’ve encountered in the world I’ve lived in so far, bothers me.

It feels like they’re looking at me as an object of desire, not as a person. This dark feeling makes me feel bad.

On the contrary, I felt a sense of genuine affection from Rena and her mother Lana, the same kind I had felt in the previous world.

That’s why I couldn’t help but feel more affectionate towards these people.

But I had a hunch that such things would continue to happen in this world.

So I, given the circumstances,

“Rena.”

“Hmm?”

“Do you think you could teach me swordsmanship?”

I decided to live more actively in this world.

After all, my last memory was clearly of being hit by a car and dying, so it wouldn’t be bad to live this new life to the fullest.

But

“Swordsmanship? A man? Isn’t it unnecessary? After all, men can help with farming, and later, um, anyway, it would be better to put more effort into other things…!”

Even Rena, who was kind to me, reacted this way when I said I wanted to learn swordsmanship.

We never had such a conversation, but I guess Aunt Lana would feel the same.

It’s not all good in a gender-reversed world. Women may have to live under such prejudice while trying to appeal more.

Therefore, I developed a desire to achieve more than just swordsmanship.

“I don’t know what will happen to me as a man in the future. Wouldn’t it be useful to learn swordsmanship?”

“Hmm… Let’s discuss this with my mother when I get back. It doesn’t seem like a decision I can make.”

I want to decide my own relationships.

If I really have reincarnated into a medieval fantasy world,

I don’t want to live just as a stepping stone, not only in a s*xual sense, but also in terms of fate.

The swordsmanship I learn in this world will be the foundation for that.

It was from that mindset that I, who had lost everything, learned martial arts and aspired to be a professional.

Even if it’s a game world, it won’t change in this world.

If you’re weak, you’ll live being used by others.

Even if the life of being a stepping stone is mixed with pleasure, I wanted to take the pleasure of being at a higher place into my own hands.

“Ugh…!”

On the way home with Rena, I clenched the sunlight in my hand and made a resolution while sorting out my thoughts.