Reincarnated as a failed hero?! Watch me Defy Fate!

I had just finished telling Envi a bit of my past.

A slow breath escaped me as I leaned back, staring up at the star-filled sky above. free𝑤ebnovel.com

"That’s why... I can’t betray Serena’s feelings," I said quietly. My voice was calm now. All the emotion had already bled out of me.

"...Hey, Envi. You listening?"

He hadn’t said a word since I finished talking, and his silence was starting to feel heavy.

I turned to my left. He was lying on the ground beside me, staring up at the sky.

His eyes were watery. He was crying.

"Wait, what the hell—why you crying?" I asked, caught off guard and more than a little embarrassed.

"Hic... Tch, who wouldn’t cry after hearing something like that?!" he snapped, angrily wiping his eyes. "Even when I was stuck in the system realm, every time you thought about that dark part of your life—I saw it too, okay?! And every damn time, I cried like a fool!"

I blinked. "Pffft. I didn’t expect you to be this soft. Weren’t you the rude, cocky, flirtatious jerk who never shut up?"

I grinned. "Annoying. Arrogant. Perverted. You know, you."

"Oh, thanks so much for the glowing praise, asshole," Envi growled, clearly flustered.

Then, his tone suddenly shifted. "But now... I get it. I understand why you can’t accept my harem idea."

His eyes were serious now.

"I can’t change your values," he said. "And I respect that."

I stayed silent for a second, then spoke up.

"But, Envi... you were right about one thing."

"...?"

"I am a hypocrite."

He looked at me, surprised, but I continued.

"You were right. I’m surrounded by girls who like me—girls with real feelings. And what do I do? I can’t return them. I avoid giving a clear answer. I act like I don’t see it, like it’s not there. I just... run."

I stared up at the stars, my heart heavier than before.

"I don’t want to hurt them. But I’m already hurting them by doing nothing."

Envi chuckled quietly.

"You really are a hypocrite, Nao," he said. "But you’re the kind of hypocrite who’s too kind for his own good. You don’t reject them because you don’t want to see them cry. You want to protect them from heartbreak."

He looked up, a wistful smile on his face.

"And I bet... even if you did say no, Amelia, Lyra, and Freya would still love you."

"Hahaha there’s no such thing as a kind hypocrite you dumb!" I muttered. "I’m just a coward. I’m scared. Scared that if I tell them the truth, they’ll leave me. That I’ll lose them."

Envi let out a long sigh, then said, "This is exactly why I hate naive virgins like you."

"WHAT?! Hey—don’t act like you’re not a virgin too! You’re a damn system, for crying out loud!"

He jabbed a finger at me. "Ugh! How the hell is a system supposed to have sex, idiot?!"

We both stared at each other for a beat before bursting into laughter.

Then he crossed his arms and said seriously, "But listen—since you’ve accepted that you’re a hypocrite, then stick with it. If being honest means breaking their hearts, then keep being a damn hypocrite."

He turned toward me, smiling.

"I’ll stay with you to the end, no matter what kind of fool you become."

I paused.

I didn’t expect those words from him.

"Thanks, Envi..." I said quietly, before laughing again. "Damn. I didn’t think you had it in you."

We both laughed again for a moment. The night air felt lighter.

Then—of course—Envi had to ruin it.

"Hey, Nao... ah, what if I use this magic body of mine to finally have sex?! HAH! GENIUS IDEA!!" he shouted, his eyes sparkling with dangerous excitement.

I glared at him. "You’re a dumb perverted system. You know I can cancel that spell anytime I want, right? Poof—you’re gone."

"Aww, come on! Don’t be so stingy! I just wanna do it with Amelia once!"

"Over my dead body!" I yelled, and smacked him on the head.

"OW! The hell was that for?!" he shouted, clutching his now-growing bump. "I just said I wanted to do it! Can’t I say anything anymore?!"

"That’s not something you just casually say! Wait—do you even know what sex is?"

He scoffed. "Of course I do, you moron! I’m not a virgin like you! Sex is when you sleep with your girl and kiss her all night long, right? Heh, bet you didn’t know that, virgin boy!"

He said it with way too much confidence.

I squinted at him.

Yeah, that confirms it. He has no idea what he’s talking about.

I guess a system can’t really understand sex. And clearly, he’s just bluffing to tease me.

Still... maybe I should let him keep believing that. If he doesn’t understand what it really is, he won’t try anything reckless. I really don’t want to wake up one day to find out he hijacked my body and snuck into Amelia’s room. Or worse, used "Second Body" to pull something insane.

Better to let him stay stupid for now.

"Well, Envi-sama, you’re incredible," I said, faking awe. "I had no idea that was what sex meant. I truly am a pitiful virgin."

"Haha, don’t worry, one day you’ll lose that V-card of yours," he said proudly, puffing out his chest like he was giving life advice.

God, he’s so annoying. But somehow, it’s hilarious.

He’s dancing right in the palm of my hand.

Dumb system.

I muttered under my breath and sat up as he did the same.

Then, more seriously this time, he looked at me and asked, "But Nao... what about Serena?"

His voice had lost its teasing edge.

"I know Amelia will probably forgive you. But Serena... she might be really hurt, even though she was smiling sincerely."

I nodded slowly.

"What’s done is done. But I’ve made my decision," I said.

"I’ll face Serena. I’ll be honest. And I’ll tell her how serious I am—this time, for real."

"That’s great... I hope it goes well."

"Yeah. I’m confident I can ease the worries in her heart. I just need a bit of private time with her. That’s why... I plan to sneak into her room tomorrow night," I said with a firm nod, full of confidence.

"Haha, that’s the spirit! I believe in you, Nao," Envi said with a thumbs-up. "I won’t bother you at all. I’ll put myself in offline mode, and I will order Runa to sleep in the grimoire all night. You’ll have the whole night to yourself, uninterrupted."

"Envi, you..."

This damn system... sometimes, he actually comes through when it counts.

"You get what I’m saying, right, Nao? That means you’re free to make sweet love to Serena from night ’til morning! Go wild! HAHAHA!" Envi burst out laughing like a maniac.

Hearing that made my face turn red. The image of Serena on her bed, and the two of us... doing that... popped into my mind almost instantly.

I could feel a nosebleed coming just from imagining it.

But then I remembered—Serena once said that if I ever tried to lay a hand on her, she’d freeze me on the spot.

There’s no way she’d actually want to do it, right? I mean... we’re not married yet. So that kind of thing... shouldn’t happen. But then again... maybe... just maybe...

Dark, perverted thoughts began swirling in my head—like a devil whispering temptations in my ear.

I immediately slapped my cheeks hard to snap out of it.

Envi looked at me, confused. "What the hell was that for?"

"N-nothing! Just, uh... getting pumped up! Haha!" I laughed nervously, trying to play it off.

"Weirdo," Envi muttered, chuckling.

We both laughed together for a while after that.

Eventually, Runa showed up and found us both bruised and battered from our fight. Her eyes widened in surprise.

But when she saw us laughing side by side, she couldn’t help but smile.

"Well, looks like it’s over. Geez... what a pair of idiots you two are," she said, letting out a soft laugh.

I helped Envi to his feet, and we both stood up shakily.

We’d taken equal damage. My HP had dropped by 7,000. Not surprising, considering we were brawling with raw physical strength—no magic, no weapons, no armor, not even items.

I was thinking I’d ask Mia to patch me up later. If Lilia, Milly, or Mark saw me like this, they’d probably panic.

Just as I was about to head back home, something strange happened.

A system notification popped up:

---

[Congratulations! The skill "Dark Magic Manifestation: Second Body" has leveled up to Level 2!]

You can now use [Dark Magic Manifestation: Second Body] for 6 hours every 5 days.

---

Seeing that made both Envi and me stop in our tracks. Envi, especially, jumped up and cheered.

"YES! I can wander around in this body for even longer now!"

The original limit was 3 hours once per week. Now it had doubled and then some.

It made me wonder—if this skill reached its max level, would Envi gain a permanent physical body?

That thought crossed my mind, but I quickly pushed it aside. It seemed impossible. No magic could create a perfect body. I remembered the chimeras Xir created, or the demons that stole human bodies...

I was afraid of accidentally creating something horrifying. So I kept that theory to myself.

Instead, I just smiled and celebrated with him. We walked back together toward the Blackmore family mansion.

...

When we arrived, I silently activated [Dark Magic: Shadow Steps] and snuck into my room without making a sound.

I drank an HP potion to restore my health. It helped, but the bruise on my cheek remained.

I thought about asking Mia to heal me with her [Heal] spell, but I didn’t want to wake her up.

I didn’t want to use one of the few remaining [Divine Healing Beans] either—those were for emergencies only.

So I decided to just sleep like this.

"Damn it, Envi... your punches really hurt," I muttered under my breath. But there was no response.

Runa had told me earlier that Envi went into offline mode and was now sleeping deeply. He must’ve been exhausted after our little brawl.

I let out a small laugh. "Such a troublesome system..."

As I lay there, I started thinking about tomorrow.

I couldn’t wait to see Serena again.

With those thoughts in my mind, I slowly drifted off to sleep.

...

..

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