I Became the Male Lead who was Clinging onto the Female Leads

TL/Editor: Raei

Schedule: N/A

Illustrations: Posted in discord.

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I entered the world of the game, but ironically, in this world, I couldn't visually verify the game's system.

'What about my health, strength, mana, and intelligence!'

It took Eugene a while to come to terms with the shock of losing the status window, which had been as familiar to Eugene as his own limbs and had previously informed him of his situation.

"Yeah. Maybe there's no status window."

After some time, once he had accepted the reality, Eugene regained his composure.

It was due to the foreign sensation he felt from his body.

"Is this mana?"

An intangible energy, starting from his core, flowed gently within him.

Eugene hadn't expected to feel this sensation so vividly.

Under the current circumstances, he believed he could alter the flow of mana inside him if he focused.

This capability stemmed from his unique Talent.

Due to this Talent that set him apart from others, Eugene, even though newly incarnated in this world, was intuitively understanding the way to use mana on his own.

"Like this?"

He gently guided the mana inside him,

"Or like this?"

And by accelerating its movement slightly, he became adept at controlling it.

Then an understanding dawned on him.

"So, this part, I should disconnect it?"

He sought a method to cut the delicate magic threads linked to Tina, Celine, and Yerina – the Enlightenment Sharing.

"Let's see, focus."

Eugene began to identify the three areas in his body from which a trace of mana was seeping out.

It was a demanding task.

While it wasn't difficult to identify the general region, pinpointing the exact location of the mana leak was challenging.

‘This too will be a form of training, I guess.’

Eugene considered it an exercise in mana control, losing track of time as he focused intently.

By the moment the gentle light of dawn graced him,

“Whew! Whew! Finally.”

He had successfully located all of them.

Drawing a deep breath, Eugene pinpointed all three locations.

He channeled his magic like a thread and severed those points.

Subsequently, he was soaked through with sweat.

It even seemed that his sensitivity to mana had intensified.

Unexpectedly, he had practiced the circulation of mana within his body.

"This feels like the 'meditation' they talk about in the game?"

He might have been overly zealous since he wasn't familiar with the technique.

Without knowledge of the correct technique, Eugene seemed to have replicated an in-game training method named ‘meditation’ – channeling and accumulating the mana within.

"I’ll need to set aside some time to learn the proper method, but…"

Nonetheless, the outcome was outstanding.

Upon inhabiting his current body, Eugene found fragments of memories from the body’s original owner swirling in his mind.

By going over these memories slowly, it seemed that he could easily master something like meditation techniques.

Eugene determined his first task.

"First, let’s take a bath. Ugh."

To wash away the sweat drenching his entire body, Eugene left the room and took a bath.

When he returned to the room and looked at the clock, it was time to go to school.

"I don’t want to go."

Given Eugene's recent incarnation, he had a mountain of things to figure out.

The sword techniques and magic he had currently mastered, the sword techniques and magic he could learn later on, and based on that, how powerful he could become in the future...

He had to figure everything out.

“I already skipped class yesterday.”

Would missing another day make much of a difference?

Eugene, who didn't want to go to the Royal Academy, decided to take the day just for himself.

The previous owner of his body barely had any presence in the academy and had only been obsessed with the three heroines, so he didn't have friends.

So, no one knew that Eugene was staying in this inn, and there was no reason for anyone to come looking for him.

“First, let's understand the sword techniques I possess.”

Eugene sat on the floor and concentrated.

Memories of the life that the body's original owner had built up appeared.

“There’s nothing useful in the recent half year’s memories.”

All memories after enrolling in the Royal Academy were just embarrassing moments related to the female leads.

It was only when he delved into the past that he found memories of value.

Born as the eldest son of the fallen noble house, the Barony of Grace, 'Eugene' learned meditation and swordsmanship from his father from a young age.

At the tender age of 10, he was already dueling with the family's soldiers.

He discovered the flow of magic on his own while reading old magical theories in the family library, even conjuring a small flame from his fingertips.

“How did such a promising child end up like this?”

Eugene von Lennon Grace was undoubtedly talented.

As the eldest son of the house, he maintained a proper lifestyle, intending to restore his fallen family's honor.

Heeding his father's advice to not overtrain from a young age, he showcased his skill when he easily passed the entrance exam of the prestigious Royal Academy of Lucia at the age of 16.

"This child is our family’s hope!"

His father, upon hearing the news of his admission to the reputed Royal Academy, urged him to enroll without worrying about the tuition fees, despite the family's financial struggles.

But everything went downhill upon enrollment...

Eugene couldn’t forget the shattered expression on his father's face when he returned home for the holidays after the first semester.

'In any case, my proficiency in swordsmanship and magic is exceptional. Confirmed.'

Eugene slowly reviewed and recalled that knowledge, making it his own.

He didn't neglect the life and upbringing of 'Eugene von Lennon Grace', merging everything as his own.

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Raei Translations

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Hours passed by.

“That's enough knowledge.”

Now, it was time to put it into practice.

With enough knowledge accumulated, it was time to see if he could apply it in real-world situations.

After a quick lunch, Eugene headed to an empty lot on the outskirts of the city.

"Is this how I should do it? Fire?"

With a whoosh, he began to try each magic he knew.

"Do I really need to chant? It's tedious."

In his mind, he lazily pictured flames shooting out...

Whoosh.

"It actually works."

True to his genius in magic, his body, which had mastered the five elements of magic – water (水), fire (火), earth (土), wind (風), and lightning (雷) – could employ most of the magic he knew without the need for chanting.

"Chanting does amplify the effects."

But the simple fact that he could cast without it was proof of his genius.

The ability to bring an imagined reality to life without a specific process indicated Eugene was undoubtedly a genius.

Skipping chants was an advanced technique that even archmages from the guild couldn’t master.

In this manner, Eugene practiced magic in the order of water, fire, earth, wind, and lightning, seeking the attribute most compatible with his body.

He needed to find the main domain to focus most of his training.

'I've tried using wind attribute magic now.'

Is the last one the lightning attribute?

Eugene extended his hand and deployed the lightning attribute magic.

Zap!

At that moment, the magical power inside him resonated with the lightning, causing a tumult.

Unlike when using other magic, the mana seemed to spontaneously want to become lightning.

A spark bursting from his fingertips turned into a long streak that shot out.

“Look at this?”

A pleasantly chilling sensation enveloped his hand.

It felt more comfortable than when using magic of the other four attributes.

Its power was also higher.

This genius body of his seemed to have qualities specialized for lightning attribute magic.

"From now on, my main attribute will be lightning."

Having found the attribute to focus on, Eugene smiled joyfully.

Next was swordsmanship.

"How shall I understand my swordsmanship?"

Swordsmanship did not possess any particular magical attribute.

If one delved into it with classifications like 'Middle Path', 'Flowing Sword', 'Immovable', 'Swift', and 'Illusionary Sword', swordsmanship was so diverse that one could practically make magic out of it.

There was no way to know what kind he was good at.

"I guess I'll just have to swing it around."

Since there was no other way.

Without any particular thought, Eugene held the sword, took a stance, and swung it from top to bottom.

A simple downward slash without any trick.

At that moment, Eugene felt a strange sensation, as if he was seeing from a third person's perspective.

The sword descended vertically through the air.

The blade, swung with no force, moved not a single blade of grass.

Eugene could find no flaw in the graceful movement of that sword.

'I just thought of slashing it down and swung.'

Is it at this level?

He was mesmerized by the swing of his own sword. No, he had been entranced from the very start.

Desiring to see the beautiful trajectory of the sword once more, Eugene simply swung again and again.

Naturally, his body and sword became one.

This training continued until the sun set.

Eugene acclimated to the unfamiliar body and confirmed the level of his swordsmanship.

And he also realized how extraordinarily talented he was.

"Is it already night?"

After the constant sword training, sweat dripped from his soaked clothes.

Yet, a smile graced Eugene's lips.

How much will this sword that he wields grow?

How powerful will it become?

Merely picturing it, Eugene couldn't restrain his upward-curling lips.

"Hehe."

They say games are fun when you're winning.

Swinging a sword for the first time in his life, with genius talent, he never knew it could be this fun.

After several more hours devoted to the sword, an exhausted Eugene ambled back to the inn.

Along the way, he recalled the random thoughts he had while training with the sword.

No matter how he thought about it, if he hadn't done anything to the heroines and focused on swordsmanship, he could have at least gained Celine's favor.

Of course, that user was probably unaware of this and played abnormally, trying to win the hearts of the three leads simultaneously.

"But even so."

With this guy's body swinging the sword so perfectly, how could the heroines' affection scores be so disastrously low?

Eugene thought about it.

And after a not-so-lengthy contemplation, he found his answer.

“No matter how exceptional the swordsmanship, one must have discerning eyes to recognize it.”

Even if the students of the Royal Academy of Lucia hailed from all over the continent for their talents, they were essentially just 16-year-old novices when they were first-years.

Even when they witnessed the protagonist's swordsmanship during training, they probably only thought of it as slightly better than average.

They simply lacked the discerning eye.

However, Celine seemed to have noticed the protagonist's swordsmanship a few times.

“This fool hardly ever swung his sword properly during swordsmanship training.”

Being such a fool, the protagonist only swung his sword to the bare minimum required by the instructors, and was mostly occupied sneaking glances at Tina and Celine as they practiced.

There were a few instructors who sensed the unique talent from the protagonist's minimal sword demonstrations and approached him.

“But they must have been turned off by his consistently ridiculous behavior.”

Because he was obsessed with women.

People could be obsessed with gambling, or with alcohol, or with women.

However, being obsessed with women seemed the most pathetic of all.

The protagonist's repulsive aura, even with his impressive Sword Soul, was probably too much to bear.

And now, that protagonist was me.

“I'm going crazy, seriously.”

Just the thought of heading to the Royal Academy tomorrow made his back stiffen.

The way Tina and Celine looked at Eugene would, from tomorrow, undoubtedly become even colder and more indifferent.

Tina, probably drawing a line,

And Celine, genuinely disappointed.

‘Whether they act that way or not, honestly, I don't really care.’

But it was still unfair.

Thinking about a future where he'd endure cold looks for foolish actions he didn't even commit, Eugene trudged on.

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Note: Sorry! 'Middle Path', 'Flowing Sword', 'Immovable', 'Swift', and 'Illusionary Sword' are subject to change! I am not sure if these are correct without further context. I tried... but I am noob.