Loser?

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    –Looking back, I used to be like a protagonist.?

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    My childhood friend Yuzuki and I lived in the same neighborhood, and we had been together ever since we were little.?

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    In elementary school, I became very close with Kirari, who became my classmate, and we played together as if we were best friends of the same sex.?

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    When I became a junior high school student, my mother, who was a single parent, got married and I got a stepsister. For the next three years, I spent time with Azusa as if we were real siblings.?

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    So the three of them were very special to me.?

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    I had such …… special feelings for them that I was sure that one of them would be my life partner in the future and we would spend the rest of our lives together.?

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    I was close to three such attractive people.?

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    It’s an unusual fortune.?

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    I’m sure I could be mistaken for the protagonist–and I think I could be.?

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    It’s not that there was anything special about the three of them.?

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    Yuzuki just happened to live in my neighborhood, Kirari just happened to be my classmate, and Azusa just happened to be the child of someone my mother remarried.?

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    There was no fateful encounter, but that didn’t change the fact that the three of them were special. And I thought that the three of them must have seen me as special, too.?

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    But that was my mistake.?

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    (TLN: OMG FINALLY!???)?

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    It wasn’t “fate” that brought me together with these girls, it was just a coincidence.?

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    It seems that to them, I was just a stranger.?

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    In other words, I was the only one who had special feelings for them.?

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    At the entrance ceremony of the high school, the moment the story of Ryoma Ryuzaki, the harem protagonist, began, I realized my mistake.?

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    Congratulations, the three of them had been discovered by Ryoma Ryuzaki.?

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    They met him, and for the first time, they met the “real” protagonist.?

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    And at the same time, they realized.?

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    They realized that I was the first “protagonist”.?

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    “Onii-chan … Well, maybe Azusa’s real Onii-chan might be Ryoma Onii-chan.”?

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    That’s what my stepsister told me, and I lost the significance of being a brother.?

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    “Kotaro-san …… I think I may have met my destiny. For the first time, I’ve met someone I want to give my all to.”?

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    That’s what my childhood friend told me, and I was no longer even a good friend of hers. She became obsessed with Ryuzaki and eventually started to forget about me.?

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    “I’m sorry, Ko-kun. There’s someone I’ve fallen in love with. I’ll do whatever it takes to make him like me……. Even if it kills the me I’ve always been, I want to be the person he likes.”?

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    My best friend Kirari sacrificed even her own personality to be liked by Ryuzaki. She dyed her hair, put in colored contacts, changed her tone of voice, and twisted her personality.?

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    She was no longer Kirari Asakura, my best friend. She became Asakura-san, a complete stranger.?

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    In other words, I lost the three people who were special to me at the same time.?

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    It was an unbelievable fall for the protagonist.?

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    It’s a cruel ending, even for the sake of the story.?

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    …… I was not really in love with them.?

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    If I had to say whether I liked them or not, I liked them, but I didn’t have any ulterior motives for them or anything like that.?

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    I didn’t think of them as special because they were girls, because they were cute, or because I wanted to go out with them.?

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    It was just that they were important to me and I felt special.?

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    I wanted to get to know them better if I could.?

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    If I may be so bold as to say that it would be ideal if I could go out with any one of the three …… people.?

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    However, in the worst case scenario, if they marry someone who isn’t …… me, that’s fine, as long as they’re happy.?

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    However, even having such thoughts seemed to be a hindrance to the girls……, and my existence has been painted with the color of Ryuzaki.?

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    It’s not possible to be the protagonist like this.?

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    That’s why I thought of myself like this.?

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    I’m like a mob character.?

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    When I thought about it that way, I felt a lot better.?

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    I was hurt because I had mistakenly thought I was the protagonist, but once I accepted that I was a mob character, I was able to relax.?

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    Even if I was betrayed, disappointed, or had my expectations lowered, it was all inevitable.?

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    Because I’m a mob character, it’s only natural.?

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    That’s how I came to recognize myself as a mob character.?

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    I’ve come to think of everything from a meta perspective, and I’ve forced myself to accept my lack of rewards.?

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    But if I’m being honest, …… I wanted to be a protagonist, too.?

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    I didn’t become a mob character because I wanted to.?

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    Ryuzaki……, so you’re not a loser.?

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    The loser is me.?

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    The pathetic mob character who mistook himself for the protagonist, if not a loser?