I Was Reincarnated As the Hated Scummy Best Friend in a Gal Game and the Protagonist Is Useless

1

Chapter 1: Awakening 1, “The Power to Command Others” Awakens

I was just an ordinary student.

My age equaled the number of years I’d been without a girlfriend, but I was blessed with friends and had a good relationship with my family.

I was supposed to be living a completely normal life.

I had recently gotten closer to a member of the opposite s*x, thinking that one more push might lead to a confession.

I was experiencing the bittersweet period of youth.

Saying goodbye to the gal games I loved, I entered the summer vacation excited about how real romance might change my life after school…

And then, quite abruptly, I died.

—

“Huh…!?”

Strange memories flood my brain.

Could this be my life flashing before my eyes?

Faint, old images appear in a momentary dream when I close my eyes.

But before I can be distracted by such thoughts, a pain shoots through my stomach.

“Hey, Hidetaka. Your belly’s in just the right spot for a kick, perfect for stress relief.”

My uncle, who took me in after both my parents died, leaving me alone, sneers as he retracts the foot he had raised.

Losing at pachinko and getting drunk, it had become a daily routine for him to abuse me, a child.

Even my aunt turned a blind eye in fear of this uncle.

My life was already a shade of grey.

I despised the world.

“Stop it… it hurts…”

I pleaded through tears.

But my uncle just looked at me and sneered.

“Can’t hear ya!”

“Ugh…”

Another blow sent pain coursing through my stomach.

I fought desperately to keep the bile from rising.

The memory of being beaten worse for dirtying the room when I threw up three days ago passed through my mind, and I swallowed back the bile.

“Stop it… please, stop!!”

A strange sensation coursed through me.

The power of a “commanding voice,” one that could compel others, seemed to ride on those words.

“…Alright, I’ll stop.”

“Huh…?”

Just like that, my uncle’s movements halted as if he’d lost interest in me.

Nothing like this had ever happened before.

I didn’t understand why, but it was a hundred times better than being hit.

Could it be that the “commanding voice” had stopped my uncle? The question arose, and I threw another command at him.

“Get out… of this room.”

I braced for another hit, expecting to be punished for my insolence, but no violence came.

Instead, I heard the sound of my uncle’s footsteps moving away from me.

“Uh… did I just get saved…?”

There was only one thing I could think of that might explain what had happened.

Could this be the “Gift” that people talk about?

A “Gift” is, broadly speaking, a term for a special ability.

It’s a name imbued with the meaning of a power given by God to humans.

It’s a rare ability that’s well-known, and in the public eye, it ranges from controlling a flame as small as a match to being able to sketch on paper a moment captured by the eye as if it were a photograph.

Perhaps I had manifested the ability to “command” others.

The awakening of this gift was the beginning of everything.

It was the moment when Akechi Hidetoyo, a scumbag and despicable human being, was born.

†

When Akechi Hidetoyo uses the gift to command others, it is denoted with 【】.