Cannon Fodder 001A | Watashi Wa Sugoi Desu

Story of a Cannon Fodder who Firmly Believed He was the Protagonist, Misunderstood the Actual Protagonist as the Cannon Fodder, and Ended up Victorious

Translator: Tsukii

Editor: Derpy

Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!

First Arc – Temporary Enrollment

Chapter 001 – An Awakening Event is considered Common Sense [A]

I was a boy who longed to be a protagonist. From a young age, I learnt about courage, dreams, passion, importance of effort, and various other things from the protagonists of fictions. They were all cool people, so I wanted to become like that too.

I began to act at an early age. But my actions were too chuuni, so people around me were all repulsed. When we were on school trips, the girls often played games with the punishment being to sit beside me if they lost… Well, many things have happened since then, and I thought it couldn’t be helped, so I gave up on it… However, deep inside my heart, I was still drawn into it.　

Whether it be Harem or Fantasy, I wanted to be reincarnated in such a world.　

I was always thinking about such a thing.　

Then it happened. While I was on my way to attend my first year of high school, there was an elementary school kid who began crossing the road while ignoring the red light. I proceeded to jump in to protect the kid and died in the crash. I couldn’t remember why I did that. Perhaps it was out of my chuuni heart, that wanted to do something protagonist-like.

I felt my life end with the dull sound of the car hitting me. However, that wasn’t actually the end of it. A god told me I would be reincarnated.　

“Okay, I will reincarnate you as the protagonist of a novel game titled ‘Round Table Heroes’. (Actually, I will reincarnate you as the cannon fodder named Fay though.)”

“Re-really?!”

I had heard about the novel game called Round Table Heroes. My friend recommended it to me, but I never managed to play it. I knew the character that’s 1^st in popularity though. Even so, I don’t care as long as I get reincarnated as the protagonist! After all, most problems can be resolved eventually!　

“Indeed, my heart as a god was moved by how you protected that child.”　

“I did iiiiiit!! My next life is a winner!”

“Please enjoy the protagonist Role Play of your dreams. By the way, you will be reincarnated as a boy named Fay, your previous life’s memories will return when you reach 13 years old.”

“I-I see. If I’m not wrong, Fay is the most popular character, right? I’ve never played the game, but I’m aware of that character’s name.”

“Ah- that’s right.”

“Since he was the most popular character, that means-”

“Indeed, the character named Fay is the protagonist. He’s not the most popular character for nothing, after all!”

“Ooohhh!”

It seemed that my next life would be a success story. What a wonderful goddess I’ve gotten to meet! I was overwhelmed by the good fortune I got. And… my thoughts were dazzled at that moment…　

I am the Goddess, Athena. My duty was to observe the dead, guide them to the afterlife and grant them a new life, then watch over their actions in their next life to kill my boredom. And so, the next soul I have to guide… Fu-hn, so it’s a teenage high school boy who loved the idea of protagonists who appeared in fictions… then he got hit by a car and died. Fu-hn.

Well, I guess he could be considered a good person since he died to protect a random child.　

And then, the boy appeared in front of me. At that time, a certain thought came to my mind.　

[“Let’s deceive this guy into thinking he is reincarnated as a protagonist while I actually reincarnate him as cannon fodder (LOL)”]　

I was curious about how this guy would spend his life then. Me having this kind of thought couldn’t be helped. After all, gods were hungry for entertainment.　

“Okay then, I will reincarnate you as the protagonist of a novel game titled Round Table Heroes.”　

“Re-really?!”

Actually, I will reincarnate you as the cannon fodder named Fay. (LOL)

“Indeed, my heart as a god was moved by how you protected that child.”　

Well, although that’s not exactly a lie… my heart wasn’t actually moved that much (LOL). 　

“I did iiiiiit!! My next life is a winner!”

“Please enjoy the protagonist Role Play of your dreams. By the way, you will be reincarnated as a boy named Fay, your previous life’s memories will return when you reach 13 years old.”

“I-I see. If I’m not wrong, Fay is the most popular character, right? I’ve never played the game, but I’m aware of that character’s name.”

“Ah- that’s right.”

He sure only knew about weird stuff. Well, that ranking was made as a result of a collusion of people in a thread trying to make fans of the story cry though. (LOL)　

He sure was an interesting fellow (LOL) it seems I was right to deceive him!!　

“Since he was the most popular character, that means-”

“Indeed, the character named Fay is the protagonist. He’s not the most popular character for nothing, after all!”

“Ooohhh!”

I let a laugh escape me. I was sure this child would show me a wondeful dance in his next life.　

I was struck with a high fever. Indeed, just as the god told me, this was proof that I’ve possessed the character named Fay as he hit 13 years old. The boy had black hair, black eyes, the face was well… should I say it looked a little villainous despite being the protagonist? Or that he’s got a taunting gaze? Well, there were those types of protagonists anyway.　

I was reincarnated as the protagonist of a novel game. It made my heart throb in excitement just simply knowing that. But to understand my current situation, I spent a few days normally. Then I learned about many things.　

First of all, the words I spoke, for some reason, weirdly converted into something provocative. When I said “Hey” it became “Oi”, or when I said “Good morning” it converted into “What are you doing?”, it felt like my words were being translated in that fashion. Why did it end up like this?　

Perhaps the character named Fay was supposed to be the Cool type of protagonist? Perhaps this kind of word translation was something like a protagonist’s correction. In that case, there was no problem. A cool guy usually spoke haughtily after all.　

And the place I live in seemed to be an orphanage. In other words, I was an orphan, and there were tons of children other than me. Well, having a protagonist as an orphan was often used in fiction too after all. There was also a sister called Maria, a blonde busty beauty who looked dangerously cute. She truly was cute. She seemed to be twenty five years old though. But she was still cute.

Well then, since the world I live in was based on a game, that meant there would come a point where the plot would begin. I didn’t know when that moment would come. But I already expected it would come eventually, so it was better to prepare to be able to fight moving forward.　

This world seemed to be set in a medieval kind of world with swords and magic. There were people known as paladins in this world, and their top priority was to protect the people of the Britannia Kingdom, of which the orphanage was part of, from the monsters called Abyss.　

And it seemed that people could take an entrance assessment into the knights brigade once they were fifteen years old. That was how I got my revelation! I, who had read many fictions, understood that I would enter the knights brigade once I hit fifteen years old!! Then I would show off my moves which would fascinate people, then eventually lead into a wonderful life surrounded by heroines!　

I was able to form a rough plan in my head. In that case, there was only one thing I should do. I was currently 13 years old, in other words, I have two years to up my skill with swords! Since there were wooden swords and secret manuals in this orphanage, I would make use of this and improve my expertise in swordsmanship from now on!　

With that in mind, I started to practice swordsmanship. It seemed Fay was already originally detached from others in the orphanage, so nobody came to talk to me. I could invest all my effort and time for my future to my heart’s content.　

“Fay, you shouldn’t overdo yourself.”　

“Aah, of course.”

My words turned into goading ones. This couldn’t be helped since most cool protagonists were basically haughty. Although I felt sorry for Maria who was simply worried for me, I couldn’t stop this part of me. After all, I was the protagonist, who would save the world if I was defeated? There was such a responsibility imposed on the protagonist after all.　

However, I would swing my swords and grow stronger. I swore to do so.　

After all, I was the protagonist!　

With that in mind, I practiced every day since my consciousness reincarnated into Fay’s body. Maria was staring at my figure. Perhaps Maria was… my heroine? Although I had my doubts —let’s leave the “Maria is the heroine” theory for later since I would find out eventually anyway. Rather than that…　

“Hey! What are you planning?!”　

“You want something from me?”

The person who interrupted my practice was Tlue, a handsome blond-haired, blue-eyed boy who happened to be the same age as me and also lived in the orphanage. He interrupted my practice every day and I didn’t understand why he would always do so without fail. According to my speculations, he must be the cannon fodder character. There was no doubt about it.　

“Don’t mess with me! There’s no way you will train seriously like this! Did you forget about what you’ve done all this time?!”　

My apologies, but I have no memories of before I possessed Fay’s body. I could only reply, “I see” to Tlue’s claim regardless of how many times he asked me. Also, I have something I cared more about: the things I ought to do as a protagonist. As I dealt with him coldly and ignored his words, Tlue pointed his wooden sword at me.　

“I challenge you to a duel. If I win, I’ll have you explain to me everything!”　

Even if you say that… It’s fine. Before the world would learn of me, I would teach you how amazing I was. He seemed to have trained in his own way before I began my training, but that wouldn’t be enough to match the innate talent of a protagonist.　

“I don’t mind. I’ll teach you how big the world can be.”　

“What did you say?!”

Tlue and I stood at a distance from each other. Then a single leaf danced in front of me. Both of us understood without needing words. The moment that leaf touc-

“Doraaa!”　

“—Gahaa!”

Tlue attacked me before the leaf fell to the ground, and it was a critical hit. I endured the slash that hit my abdomen. It was very painful… Moreover, he was way faster than I was…　

Want early access to Cannon Fodder, Melancholy of the Demon Army Officer, and I Was a Man Before Reincarnating, So I Refuse a Reverse Harem? Support the translator on Patreon!

Support Tsukii on Patreon!

Want to Read Ahead? Support Us on Patreon!

20 Comments

Newest

Oldest Most Voted

Inline Feedbacks

View all comments

Hungshue

1 year ago

Just find this one, beginning is funny

Alan

Chaqueta mental del protagonista xD

Dusty

Oh fuck, yes! Ever since the author of “My Deathflags shows no sing of Ending” got a massive writers block, I’ve been hungering for an MC with an arrogant mouth filter! I could never get enough of the contrast between a harsh mouthed MC but does kind and heroic acts! It’s just so cool!