Tori Transmigrated Chapter 1: Tickets Were Useless Now

Everyone was having fun except for her.

Her friends were already in Osaka and if it werent for the week-long eting in Tokyo, she would be there with them, eating crab ran and taking pictures in front of the famous signage in Dotonburi. Instead, she was still dressed in a black business suit and tired from her final eting that morning.

As soon as she said good-bye and gave her last bow to her Japanese colleagues, she took a taxi directly to her hotel, where her little olive colored spinner luggage was waiting for her in the lobby. Her heels were switched out for a pair of black and white sneakers that didnt go with her slacks and blazer, but she was forty-years-old and didnt care.

She had a bullet train to catch and it was comfort over fashion.

After a week of intense etings, afterwork events, and accompanying her co-workers around Tokyo to help them get souvenirs for their kids and spouses, Tori Felix, a project manager director at a tech company, was more than ready to shed her work clothes and wander a the park in jeans and frumpy sweater.

Her manicured fingers slid over the screen of her phone and texted to the group chat that she was now at Tokyo Station and would et up with them in ti for dinner.

That is, as long as she got on the correct train and didnt get lost.

Tori lifted her head and, for the tenth ti, checked the LED sign above the platform and compared it to the information on her little paper ticket.

She spent half her life traveling the globe whenever she had enough ti and money saved up. She had taken dozens of trains in dozens of countries multiple tis, yet she could never get rid of the fear that shed board the wrong train and end up only God knew where.

Nevermind that this wasnt her first ti on the shinkansen and she had taken it from Tokyo to Osaka a few years earlier, with the sa friends she was eting up with. The lingering worry of ssing up and delaying her plans stayed with her. Her cousin was right: they did always have to be in control of their situation.

Tori looked around the platform for soone to ask. There were a few other foreigners with their bags at their sides and phones in their hands. She saw a few parents with small children, but she always hesitated having to ask them, even if they were locals. She didnt want to distract parents from their small kids for even a mont.

Her eyes settled on a young woman, also with a small spinner luggage by her side and a phone in her hand. She didnt look too invested in whatever she was looking at and wasnt wearing any earbuds. Tori cautiously approached her.

Excuse , I am in the right place? While she couldnt have long, complex conversations in Japanese, she was fluent in asking for directions. Despite her poor Japanese, the young woman lifted her head. She looked quizzical for just a mont before taking out her own ticket.

Osaka? she asked in a tentative voice.

Yes, is this the platform for the 14:35 shinkansen? Tori presented her own ticket to confirm the ti and train number. The young woman looked it over and smiled before giving her a nod.

Yes. Youre in the right place.

Tori let out a breath of relief. It was always good to get confirmation. Thank you!

First ti in Osaka?

Tori blinked, a bit surprised that the young woman asked her a question. Usually, when she asked soone a question, non-Aricans tended to stop the conversation after they answered.

Tori looked at her luggage at her side and then nodded. No, not my first, but it will be my first ti at Universal Studios there.

The girls eyes went wide and she nodded enthusiastically. Oh! , too! She pointed to her luggage. She bead at Tori. I thought you were going for work. She giggled and Tori smiled.

I just finished my last eting. Tori made the now familiar motion of reaching into the pocket of her blazer and taking out a business card. With two hands, she extended it to the young woman.

The young woman gave her a bow and accepted the card. The logo of the company was emblazoned at the top corner and she let out an impressed oh. Thats a good company. Its very popular here. Tori chuckled: popular was an understatent. Nearly everywhere she looked, shed seen the company logo. The young woman then tilted her head to the side and a brief look of confusion flashed across her face. Are you from a different office?

She mustve seen the address. Tori nodded. I work in the North Arican headquarters and ca for work etings.

The young woman nodded. Bi-ku-to-ri-a Pi-ri-ku-su-san?

Tori grinned. Her colleagues there also struggled with her na. Tori is fine.

Tori-san, the young woman repeated. She brought the card to her chest. I am Yuka.

Yuka-san, nice to et you.

Your na is the sa as a character in a very popular app ga, Yuka said as she held up her phone. Tori could make out a pastel colored screen with so text boxes across it.

Really? What is it called?

The Romance of Soleil. Yukas face instantly lit up and Tori wanted to laugh. That was the sa look shed seen on friends when they were excited about sharing sothing they loved. Yuka mustve been a big fan of the ga.

Ill check it out. Tori took out her phone and pulled up the ga on her store app. She raised a brow. The Romance of Soleil had multiple titles pop-up, but the very first seed to be the original: a dating simulation ga. Shouldve seen that coming since romance was in the title.

Before she could open her mouth to ask Yuka if she had found the correct app, there was a ding sound overhead. Tori looked up and saw the LED screen above the platform flash to announce the train arrival. Down the track, she could see the nose of the shinkansen slowing as it reached the station.

Thats the train! Yuka said. She looked at Tori curiously. Do you know what carriage?

Seven?

Oh, sa as ! Youre in the right place! Yuka seed pleased with this and she gathered her things to wait to board. Tori pushed aside the ga for a mont and shoved her phone in her pocket so she could move and wait for people to exit before boarding.

The process was, as usual, swift and efficient. While Tori only had a small spinner luggage and a well worn laptop bag with her, she also had a large piece of luggage she sent ahead to their hotel in Osaka. It shouldve already arrived.

Toris little spinner easily fit in the overhead compartnt above a row of seats. She kept her ticket up as she checked to make sure she found the correct seat before sitting down.

Ah! A voice gasped in front of her and she looked down at the window seat next to her aisle seat, which was already taken. Yuka gave her a bright smile. Tori-san! This is fate!

Tori laughed and took her seat. So it is, she said as she took a seat and put her bag at her feet. I can ask you now. Is this the right ga? She took out her phone and swiped the screen to bring up the app on the storefront.

Yuka leaned forward and smiled. Yes; that is the original. Soleil has many other gas.

Tori nodded. She didnt have the heart to tell Yuka that she wasnt interested in dating sims and didnt plan on downloading the ga. Instead, she pulled up Wikipedia and searched for the ga information.

The train began to move and beside her, Yuka fished out a cute cat eye mask from her bag. Tori-san, Im going to sleep. I just finished my finals.

Youve worked hard, Tori said. Do you want to wake you when we arrive?

No need; I always wake up in ti, Yuka said, grinning beneath her eye mask. She snuggled against the side of the train and the next ti Tori glanced over, Yuka was asleep.

The travel ti from Tokyo Station to Shin Osaka was roughly two and a half hours. That would be more than enough ti to kill scrolling through the gas wiki article. Tori leaned back against the comfortable seat and skimd her phone.

The Romance of Soleil was first released seven years ago and, as Yuka said, was originally a dating sim. However, the characters and the world of Soleil were so popular that they made a sequel and then it spiraled into an entire multi-genre franchise. The original took place during the teenage school years of the characters. The subsequent sequel took place in a university setting.

The world of Soleil itself seed like a generic fantasy European setting with royalty, nobles, knights, and so forth.

The player played as Alessa Hart, a poor Barons daughter who scored well on an empire-wide test that got her into the Lyce du Soleil, the premiere secondary school in the empire that was located in the capital city, Horizon.

Alessa encounters seven possible love interests in classic male lead archetypes: a peerless knight, a proud and silent young nobleman, a gifted magician of the church, the charismatic Pri Ministers son, a clever entrepreneur, her childhood friend, and last but not least, a prince of Soleil.

As the ga progresses, she has encounters with these seven possible love interests. The player must interact and rack up romance points with each love interest once school starts. The encounters can vary from just class greetings to being paired together for field trips and projects.

The player plays through four ga years at Lyce and before Alessa graduates, the player must hit 100% on at least one of the love interests to win a romantic happily ever after with that love interest.

It sounded pretty standard.

What was noted as standing out was that there was a possibility of getting 100% on more than one love interest without clashing with the others. In ga, it is encouraged to raise the romance points of the other love interests as doing so will get the player additional buffs. This could help with projects, grade boosts, and even an increase at chance encounters with other love interests.

How the hell did that even work? Was there a harem ending?

In the event that 100% was not achieved by the end of the four ga years, there were still happy endings for different point levels. They werent romantic endings, but for friendships, business partners, and adventure buddies; each with a different ending. The prospect of seeing all the endings would make many players play multiple tis. It was a clever trick.

What was even more clever was that the university sequel could act as an upgraded extension of the ga or as a stand alone ga. This ant that if the player didnt reach 100% in the original dating sim, the points could be carried over to the sequel and the ga continued for another four ga years until they graduated from the university.

Tori silently gave props to those who designed, coded, and planned the ga as this was a pretty impressive undertaking.

However, the ga itself was a love story and no love story was complete without so antagonist getting in the way of the protagonist - Alessas - happiness. In so stories, the antagonist wasnt a person, but it was societal. It could be a class difference or clashing beliefs. Sotis, it was the protagonist against the world, against nature, or their own deep-seated trauma.

In the case of a romance, the antagonist was more often than naught a third party: a love rival. The villainess.

In The Romance of Soleil, the villainess was nad Victoria.

Tori pursed her lips and looked up from her phone and towards the sleeping Yuka with so side eye. Yuka was so excited to et soone with the sa na as a villain? Tori wasnt sure how to feel.

What the fuck, Yuka-san....?

Tori clicked on the highlighted link to the villainess character information.

Victoria Antonia de Sophia de Guevera is the arrogant and spoiled daughter of Marquis Guevera, the head marquis family for the southern part of the empire.

The wiki article on the character was surprisingly lengthy. Tori assud Victoria was just the villainess in the original ga.

Victoria is a classic self-proclaid love rival of the protagonist. She is jealous of Alessa, a Barons daughter, who gains the favor of the second prince. Despite having never t him until they start school, Victoria is in love with the second prince and feels that the daughter of a Baron, who is lower ranked than her, the daughter of a Marquis, is not fit to be with the second prince.

In the second year of the ga, Victorias animosity grows when both she and Alessa are included on a list of possible fiance for the second prince. As a result, Victorias bullying escalates to not just isolating and talking down to Alessa, but spreading rumors about her and sabotaging her classwork and encounters. The player's points could be reduced because of this.

Of course, each ti, Alessa and her harem could outsmart Victoria.

Though, reading through Victorias attempts at making Alessa look bad, it doesnt seem difficult to do so. First, as the villainess, Victoria doesnt stand a chance against the protagonists halo. Thats just heroine 101.

Second, in addition to Alessas protagonist halo, Victoria also has to deal with the overpowered resources that were Alessas harem of love interests. Of course Victorias attempts would fail.

At the end of the original ga, Victorias final ending was to be expelled from the school and doesnt graduate. This was an acceptable defeat for a teen rated ga and Tori thought that would be the last of Victoria.

She was wrong.

In the university sequel, Victoria shows up again, supposedly having bought her way in, and once more gets in the way of Alessas romances. Its just that the university sequel is rated mature. Victorias attacks escalate from bullying and sabotage to torture, attempted assault, and straight up trying to assassinate Alessa.

Victorias ending isnt nearly as ta as expulsion. In the sequel, the villainess is caught in a sex slave ring she tried to send Alessa to and dies at the hands of an abusive rich man.

That got dark quick.... Tori muttered under her breath as she scrolled down the article.

It wasnt the last of Victoria in the franchise, either.

In an adventuring RPG spin off, Sebastian, Victorias eldest brother, is so distraught at the loss of his beloved sister, that he used forbidden crystal magic to try to resurrect her. Instead, he unsealed an undead army. The player must adventure around Soleil with Alessa and her crew fighting zombies and kill the final boss with the power of friendship and weapons.

And the final boss? A hideously resurrected zombie Victoria.

The main villain of another spin off, an escape-room type puzzle ga, was also related to Victoria. Her second brother, Kasen, was once a brilliant scholar who tortures the capital in retaliation for the death of his sister by trapping them in a foggy maze. This ti, the player can play as Alessa and her harem to solve riddles, clues, and puzzles in order to free the capital and fight Kasen.

Tori continued to scroll down, her brows knitting together. The franchise was just not letting go of Victoria and her family as the big baddies in their gas.

Victoria was ntioned in at least another half dozen gas within the franchise, from vengeful spirit with clues to a minor boss to a simple portrait of her at the dilapidated estate of the fallen Guevera Marquis. This ant that Victorias envy and attacks on Alessa inadvertently ruined her entire family.

Tori couldnt help but have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, Victoria did deserve to be punished with a bad end for her actions against Alessa. However, the death by sex slavery is a bit extre. In addition, the Guevera Marquis wasnt explicitly ntioned as being evil in any way. At the very top of Victorias wiki article, it states that they are an old, noble, and respected house focused on protecting the empire.

Now Tori was sure she wasnt going to download that ga. Who wants to watch a character with the sa na get their virtual ass kicked and then killed?

She moved her finger across the screen to close the window when the phone flew out of her hand. Her eyes widened as pressure on her lower abdon by her seat belt held her body back against her seat and several voices scread in the narrow carriage. Sothing was wrong.

Tori was thrust forward, her breath shoved out of her. She snapped her head up as the screaming mixed with the creaking of twisting tal. The sight in front of her was surreal. Through the small windows at the front of the carriage, she could see the carriage in front of them turning clockwise.

She sucked in a sharp breath. The train was going off the tracks.

They were going overa hundred kiloters an hour and the train was derailing.

Luggage was falling.

Soone lay unmoving on the floor.

Yuka cried out beside her.

Tori curled her body forward and she lifted her arms.

I need to cover my hea-