Magical Explorer: Reborn as a Side Character in a Fantasy Dating Sim (マジカル★エクスプローラー エロゲの友人キャラに転生 したけど、ゲーム知識使って自由に生きる) is a Japanese light novel series written by Iris. The series originated on the Shōsetsuka ni Narō website in February 2018, before being published in print with illustrations by Noboru Kannatsuki by Kadokawa Shoten beginning in November 2019. A manga adaptation, illustrated by Yukari Higa, began serialization on the Young Ace Up website in August 2020. An anime television series adaptation produced by White Fox is set to premiere in Q4 2026.
Premise
There is a legendary game that has become popular among Japanese gentlemen, named "Magical Explorer" or Magiweo for short. The game's protagonist has a cheat-like power with twelve different beautiful heroines to flower with, including additional twelve heroines from the DLC, a harem of twenty-four beauties. Kousuke has become that protagonist, actually not. Instead, he has become the third-wheel character who always laughing like an idiot next to the protagonist. There is no heroine that would lay their eyes on him.
But now he could not care less about the protagonist and his heroines, because he discovered magic. While he was using it, he has become interested in it. He wants to master it and become the strongest. Thus he has decided. He would abandon half his role as a protagonist's friend to train his magic and then he would beat the hell out of that cheat who can solo the demon king. He was training with that thought in mind, but somehow he keeps getting closer to the heroines and furthermore, he does not know why he keeps encountering events like he is some eroge protagonist.