Transmigrated into a World of Reversed Roles
Chap Seven

"Woah? So Kratos is a woman here!?"

"...Hasn’t it always been that way?"

Yuri responded to my shock with confusion as she handed me her PSP.

I had been checking the games in her collection. Apparently, nothing much had changed. Many of the games from my old world still existed here. But if there’s one thing that's different, it's that some of the character genders had been swapped.

It made me wonder how Yuri would react if I told her that the original Kratos was a bald, half-naked man.

After I’d had my fill, I returned the console to her.

"Thanks, Yuri. Your game collection is huge. If I had this many games on my PSP, I’d have brought it to school too..."

"...I’ve been a fan of the PSP for a long time. I—It’s a collection I’ve built up ever since I bought the console."

"Oh? So you’ve been taking good care of it, huh? Do you have any other consoles at home? Or do you prefer gaming on PC?"

"If the game’s on Steam, I usually play on my computer. B—But I also have a Switch and some other consoles for exclusives."

"Then you must have tons of games on your PC. Digital games don’t take up room in your bedroom, after all~"

Our conversation continued smoothly, without any awkwardness or discomfort.

Especially since we shared the same hobby. It felt like we could keep talking forever.

I was even surprised at how much she understood everything I was saying. She might really be a gaming maniac.

But—that only made my heart ache more when I remembered that my own collection was gone. If I still had it, I’d be proudly showing it off to Yuri right now...

"Umm... Ren, you really like games, don’t you?"

"Isn’t that obvious?"

"I—I’m not trying to say it’s weird for a guy to play games or anything, it’s just... would you—"

"What is it?"

Yuri stopped mid-sentence. I looked at her. She had gone stiff, staring straight ahead.

It seemed we had reached the school gate—where two girls were standing, clearly waiting for someone.

They looked over at Yuri beside me. At first, they seemed surprised—then, upon noticing I was with her, their expressions turned sharp.

Yuri, clearly the target, was trembling.

Were they Yuri’s friends... or not? They were wearing the same first-year uniforms...

"...Sorry, Ren. I’ve got something to take care of. Let’s part ways here."

"Sure...?"

Waving goodbye, Yuri walked toward the two girls. As soon as she reached them, they immediately bombarded her with questions.

"Yuri! Why were you walking with a guy!? Since when did you get the skill to talk to them!? Don’t tell me you’ve betrayed us~?"

"I—I just happened to meet Ren on the train..."

"You even know his name!? Share some of your luck with me!"

Do they not realize they’re speaking way too loudly? I can still hear them, you know...

Thankfully, they did seem like real friends of hers.

But do girls in this world normally act like that? It reminded me of how me and my friends used to tease each other when we caught someone interacting with the opposite sex.

Just then, a hand tapped my shoulder.

"Morning, Ren. Glad to see you're out of the hospital. Feeling better now?"

Speak of the devil—and he appears.

"Morning, Kaito."

My best friend—his name is Kaito. Even though we don’t share the same hobbies, he’s a good guy to be around.

But now, I’m not so sure we can still be friends.

"Are you really Kaito?"

"What are you talking about? Did the hospital stay mess with your memory or something?"

From the way he talks and his voice—it was clearly Kaito. But why...

"Why are you wearing makeup?"

"Huh? Isn’t it normal for guys to wear makeup? Okay, maybe I went a bit overboard, but it’s still within the bounds of normal. Besides, it’s not against school rules, right?"

Hearing Kaito’s answer, I looked around at the other male students.

Just like he said, in this gender-swapped world, guys do wear makeup... but none were as intense as Kaito.

I put my hand on his shoulder.

"As your friend, I’m giving you honest advice: don’t wear makeup tomorrow. Seriously, it looks terrible on you."

"Aren’t you being a little too harsh on your friend who’s been with you since middle school!? If it looked that bad, why didn’t you say something sooner!?"

Crushed by my words, Kaito seemed to lose what little confidence he had left in his makeup. I watched him pull out a wet wipe—and begin wiping his face.

With his makeup gone, he looked more like the friend I used to know. Though... he still acted a bit “feminine.”

At least now—I felt like I could be friends with him again.

"Geez~ And you’re the same guy who told me I looked cute just a week ago. Were you just messing with me? What happened to that kind, gentle guy everyone talks about..."

"I don’t remember anyone calling me kind or gentle."

What I do remember is being labeled a geek in class for playing too many games.

But—this is an alternate world. I’ve apparently never gamed in this world, so what’s my reputation here? Was Kaito actually telling the truth?

Also, it felt like I’d been getting more attention lately. Girls I recognized from my grade would glance at me as they walked by.

I thought it was just casual glances, but don’t tell me... I’m actually popular here!?

While I was deep in thought, Kaito leaned in with a mischievous grin and whispered:

"By the way, it’s rare seeing you walk with a girl—especially an underclassman. Ren, don’t tell me you’ve finally taken interest in dating?"

"If getting a girlfriend were that easy, I would’ve been dating long ago and wouldn’t be hanging out with you."

Yona was the first person who came to mind when I thought about dating.

I still remembered her marriage proposal yesterday and how she confessed her feelings to me.

It’d be a lie to say I didn’t regret turning her down, but if I had accepted her while she was drowning in guilt, I’d always wonder if her feelings were genuine.

But if I tried dating someone else, I don’t know if I could. In this world, I’m infertile. If my future partner finds out, she’ll surely be disappointed.

"Too bad you’ve got a point... Besides, it’s hard to find a girl that matches our standards. Most girls in our class are immature, noisy, and pervy. Who could put up with that~"

Are you sure you’re not describing us when we hang out?

Kaito was definitely biased. Yona and Yuri weren’t that bad. I thought both of them were pretty decent.

Though the first caused me a lot of trouble, and the second was pretty shy.

We kept walking and talking as more students arrived.

The school building hadn’t changed. Our uniforms hadn't changed. Even the subjects we were going to study today hadn’t changed.

Eventually, we entered the classroom, and I saw all the familiar names of my classmates.

They were all the same.

I might be feeling a little sentimental here, but... I know that aside from all that, everything had changed.

And I’m the only one who realizes it.

"So then, what was the real reason I ended up in this world?"