Finn didn't understand love.
Not even a little bit.
He had spent his whole life just trying to survive.
Born into a dirt-poor family, he scavenged leftovers from the trash, worked like a slave day and night, and earned just enough to buy a single miserable meal each day.
His life wasn't really a life—it was more like a never-ending punishment.
So, obviously, there was no space for love in his life.
But then, somehow, things got a tiny bit better.
Curious about the mysterious concept of romance, Finn decided to buy a dating sim.
Not find a girlfriend.
Not ask someone out.
Nope.
He bought a game.
(He wasn't the brightest star in the sky, clearly.)
The game was called Ecstasy and Madness.
It boasted many playable characters, hundreds of love interests, branching storylines, and even options for harems or same-sex relationships. You could pretty much date anything that moved.
Finn played the hell out of it.
Again and again.
Until he could practically recite every heroine's dialogue in his sleep. And yet, somehow, he still didn't understand love.
"What am I doing wrong?" he once asked himself.
Answer: everything.
Literally everything!
Before he ever figured it out, Finn dropped dead.
Cause of death? His unhealthy lifestyle.
But that wasn't the end.
In true isekai tradition, he got reincarnated…
…into the world of Ecstasy and Madness.
Only one problem:
He wasn't the protagonist.
He was just some random background NPC.
"I just want to live peacefully in this world," he said.
Ecstasy and Madness
Main Genre: Romance
Sub-genre: Action Fantasy
While the game was marketed as a sweet romance story, the world itself was anything but sweet. In reality, it was a nightmare.
Ninety percent of the world was crawling with mindless, man-eating monsters. Only ten percent was habitable for humans.
Humans?
They weren't at the top of the food chain.
They were snacks.
Humanity was on the brink of extinction, and after millions of years of struggling, they had barely managed to create one single nation that could hold the line.
Because of the constant threat of annihilation, culture here evolved differently.
Sex wasn't private.
It was seen as a duty—an act of survival.
Rejecting a chance to reproduce because "you don't feel in love"? That was selfish.
Even seeing your wife get impregnated by another man was celebrated—because it meant more human babies to fight another day.
Finn, being from Earth, naturally thought:
"This world is messed up."
But what could he do?
This was his reality now.
Sure, he had the advantage of knowing this world like the back of his hand—he had played the game to death, after all. But, Finn had no big ambitions.
He didn't want to be a hero, villain, or harem king.
He just wanted a peaceful life.
He had chased too many impossible dreams back on Earth: Getting rich, becoming a famous actor, becoming a professional footballer.
He worked himself to the bone...
And failed.
Over and over.
He was tired.
This time, he only wanted a simple, achievable goal:
"My dream is to become a content creator with a hundred million followers!"
...Yeah.
This guy is kinda dumb.
Maybe it was the malnutrition. Maybe.
[Fifteen Years Later]
Finn Ophis was now eighteen years old, in his second life.
A first-year student at an elite high school.
Still painfully single.
And Still dumb.
"Why?! Why didn't you choose me?!"
"...I'm sorry..."
"What does she have that I don't?!"
"You're amazing... really."
"Then why her?!"
"I'm sorry... I just think of you as a friend."
"You promised to marry me!"
"I know... and I'm sorry. But if I married you just to keep a promise, it wouldn't be real, right?"
Relax. Don't get the wrong idea.
This wasn't Finn's tragic love story.
Finn was just... passing by.
A background character, minding his own business.
It was Sunday. Finn had gone out to find a restaurant for content filming. On the way, he stumbled upon a live soap opera: a guy and a girl arguing in the rain.
Drama alert.
Finn squinted.
'Arnold and Ariel,' he thought. 'The first main character and the first losing heroine.'
In Ecstasy and Madness, there were several playable main characters. One of them was Arnold. If the player chose Arnold, they had three options:
Date Ariel, the childhood friend.
2. Date Elena, the noble girl.
3. Date both of them.
But canonically? Arnold always picked Elena.
"I see," Ariel whispered, crushed. "Thanks for being honest," she said, trying to smile.
Arnold looked guilty enough to die on the spot.
"Go after her," Ariel said. "Before Elena leaves city."
"Thank you… and I'm sorry."
Arnold bowed, then ran off like his life depended on it.
Left behind, Ariel clutched her face, tears pouring down like the sky itself felt sorry for her. Rain soaked her hair. She fell to her knees.
"What am I supposed to do now...?"
Finn stood there awkwardly.
'I'm just a background character…' he reminded himself.
He glanced around.
Empty streets.
Family restaurant across the road.
Yup. Perfect. Time to pretend he saw nothing.
He casually walked past Ariel and headed for the restaurant. 'I saw nothing. I heard nothing.'
But halfway across the street—
step step step
Someone was walking right next to him.
Finn froze.
'WHY? Why next to me?! Why not ahead or behind?!'
He clenched his jaw and kept moving, ignoring her.
Inside, he slipped into a corner booth and was about to call the waiter – when Ariel plopped down across from him.
'Why!? Again! Why!'
"Arnold and I were childhood friends,"
'She's trauma-dumping on a stranger!?'
"When we were little, he gave me a toy ring and promised to marry me." She sniffled. "But... that's all gone now."
Finn sat there, blinking. Annoyed. Confused.
And... a tiny bit sorry for her.
"So... what do you want me to do?"
First words he'd spoken all day.
"Nothing," Ariel said, wiping her eyes. "You just happened to be there. Please don't tell anyone I got dumped."
"Fine," Finn said.
Not like he had friends to gossip with anyway.
The waiter came. Finn ordered. Feeling half-heartedly guilty, he ordered food for her too.
Ariel blew her nose with a tissue and smiled weakly. "Didn't think you were such a nice guy."
"It's just one meal," Finn muttered.
Ariel smiled again, a little sadder.
"You're just like Arnold."
A vein popped on Finn's forehead.
Why did her sadness feel like a black hole sucking the happiness out of the room? He wanted to shove her out of his bubble—but didn't have the guts.
"In this world, even if you're not the first wife, you can still be the second," Finn tried. "So cheer up?"
"Arnold's a monogamist," she said, nose red.
"...Oh."
Well, that backfired.
As a player, Finn knew all about the heroines.
Main characters, not so much.
Players became the main characters, after all.
"If I remember right, your name's Fan Tropics?"
Finn stared at her.
"WHO THE HELL IS FAN TROPICS?! My name is Finn Ophis!! How can you dump your emotional baggage on me and not even know my name?!"
"Ehehe, sorry," Ariel giggled, scratching her head. "Your name's kinda hard to remember."
"FINN. It's FOUR LETTERS. HOW IS THAT HARD?!"
"But we're from the same school, right?"
"Yeah. And we're in the same class, genius."
Ariel's face turned red. "Wait, seriously?!"
Finn slammed the table. "You didn't even know that?!"
"Ehehe... sorry. No wonder you looked familiar."
Finn slumped, defeated.
"Hahh... it's fine. I'm just a background character anyway."
Then Ariel leaned in close, her breath warm against his ear—
"By the way... wanna have sex after this?"