Prologue Everything was perfect. I didn't mind that the one-bedroom basement apartment was only the size of a bathroom in my previous home. And the fact I would have to get a job to support myself sometime soon was also not an issue. Everything was perfect because I had finally escaped from that hellish house I used to call "home." I had finally gained my freedom. I could've been perfectly happy for the rest of my life with just that alone. But it wouldn't last. “I'm pretty sure I told you to live quietly, like a mouse, without making any fuss; so quiet not even your breathing could be heard," he spoke. His glare, filled with hatred, was focused on me as if he was looking at some hideous bug. I kept my head down, "They say you made a scene and acted like a mad dog at the banquet celebrating the crown prince's return." The icy, deadly glare that promised violence and death was familiar to me. It was the kind of gaze I often received at that house. Even though it was familiar to me, that didn’t mean I was comfortable experiencing it again, “What were you thinking?" The man continued. His aura was so oppressive I could barely breathe. My lips trembled from fear. It was then, in that moment, a white text box appeared in front of me. I could see the words as they were written line by line 1. How do I know? 2. Ididn't have a purpose, 3. (With a pitiful tone of voice) Well... Um, that's. What is this... a dream? I thought. I nearly voiced the words out loud but could not. I can't speak. It was as if something was stuck in my throat. I couldn't let out a sound! "You had better speak." The man in front of me threatened as I stood there in silence. His deadly aura ‘was so strong I could feel it on my skin. Where am I? Who is this person? I just woke up after falling asleep! I don't know what this is, but if T don't choose an answer I might dié! Without much consideration I selected option number 3 in the white box. “Well... Um, that's..." The same words from the box left my lips automatically; I had no control over my What the? What's this?! I thought. My jaw dropped, baffled at my own actions and words. I couldn't wrap my mind around the current situation. I was in an unfamiliar place when I woke, and found myself face to face with this stranger who held a deadly intent. I couldn't think of a single explanation, "Well um that's... what's next?" He demanded with a terrifying look. He didn’t seem to like my incomplete answer. As if on cue new sentences appeared in the box. 1. I'm sorry. I'l act appropriately next time. 2. A stupid maid was the one to start all this fuss. 3. Those lesser beings treated me lowly. Me, who is the only daughter of Eckart! ‘There was no time to idle and contemplate what was going on right now. I quickly picked the best answer I could considering the mood, "I'm sor -" He interrupted before I could finish. “If this was something that could end with a simple apology, we wouldn't be standing here in front of each other right now." My heart dropped hearing his piercing tone; I curled my body instinctively, keeping my head low. "Penelope Eckart,” He continued in an icy tone. Penelope Eckart? The name seemed familiar somehow. “As punishment, we'll withdraw our name, 'Eckart', from you for some time."‘That line and the name were very familiar. With a start I raised my head. I could see the face of the man before me clearly, now. The man who stood some distance away from the bed was not one of those people from that house, as expected, but a foreigner I've never seen before. He had ocean blue eyes with hair as black as obsidian. Above him was a long bar that resembled a phone's battery bar with a white word that sparkled inside of it ~ Favorability. "From this moment onwards I place you on probation. Not only are you banned from attending banquets, but you are also banned from leaving your room. Think of what you did wrong and how you should act from now on while you repent." I could only stare up at him in silence. What I did wrong? “What are you looking at?" He said with a frown, "Why are you avoiding my eyes and looking elsewhere?" He was displeased with me staring at something else instead of paying attention to his words. But I did not react. I could only stare at the bar above his head. [Favorability 0%] No Way... I thought. I shook my head a few times without realizing, rejecting what my eyes were showing me. It was truly unbelievable; really, truly. “The rumors of your insanity must have been true." He spat. He glared at me for a moment then abruptly turned away. He walked through the door with quick long strides as if he couldn't stomach being in the same place as me a second longer. I could only watch as [Favorability 0%] moved away from me. What did I do wrong? I thought. Staring at the back of the retreating figure I could begin to consider what was going on. But before I could, I felt someone else's eyes on me, with an aura that full of malice. I turned to find another man in the room standing with arms crossed in the shadow by the door. He had the same ocean blue eyes as the man who just left and hair pink like a delicate rose. He stood there, smirking with contempt. [Favorability -10%] ‘The words sparkled in white above the young man. It's even in the negative! "Stupid bitch. Serves you right." Such ugly words came from his pretty face. He left the room, following the dark haired man, slamming the door as he went. Finally alone with time to think, my mind could only draw a blank. I was so shocked I wasn't thinking clearly and I couldn't understand what was going on at all. After a few moments I began to come back to my senses. This room and those two men both seemed somehow familiar. “It's a lie, right? There's no way, though." I could finally speak freely when alone, though I didn't realize it at the time. This scene, those people -It was all identical to a scene from that game I was playing before going to bed last night. It was playing out as if it were real right in front of me! And with me as one of the characters in the game! “I'm dreaming right now," I muttered to myself. Try as I might, I couldn't think of any other explanation for what was happening other than a dream, But no matter how much I pulled at my hair or pinched my cheeks I still couldn't wake from this dream. "N, no... No, no! No! I say no!" Penelope Eckart. She was the villainess of the most popular otome game for girls these days, and the heroine of the hard mode difficulty.Chapter 1 ‘The story of an orphan adopted into a wealthy noble family - What a romantic setting, especially for a girl. If it were a novel or television drama she would be the heroine of her own Cinderella story. The reality was nothing like the stories. Real life isn’t a novel or a drama. When my mother died my estranged father, a wealthy businessman, adopted me. For the crime of suddenly appearing in their lives, my two older half-brothers bullied and harassed me from day one. ‘They were cruel. They insulted me and even pulled pranks with my food. My halfbrothers' torment. became my new normal. Any hope of reprieve at school was quickly dashed. They made my school life miserable. They made me "target number 1" for the school bullies. The biggest bully was my second half-brother, the younger of the two. He wasn't much older than me and we spent one year of school together. Even after he graduated the bullying only got worse. That's how it always seemed to go. If ever anything changed, it always changed for the worse, never better. It didn't help that Father's wife died from an illness. Her death hung heavy on my brothers. Even though she died long before I was born those insane bastards blamed the young me as if I were the one who killed their mother. Their torment was so relentless I almost began to believe I really was the one responsible for their mother's death. ‘Though I lived in luxury, I felt every part the beggar in my own home. Living with my mother in a one. room apartment or a future in an orphanage, either would have been better than the life I had with my father and brothers. I lost a noticeable amount of weight and it seemed that with each pound lost I gained scars and bruises, as if to replace the missing weight. The man who called himself my father, who brought me into that house, didn't even care. He didn't give a damn about anything they did. Why did you bring me here if all of you were going to be like that? Just send me to the orphanage already! I would often think to myself. ‘And when I did lash out with anger or complaints, they meant nothing to anyone. For someone like me, who lived in poverty with a single mother, it was best to just give up. I would only regret it if I resorted to begging for love and affection from people who treated me worse than a wild animal. I wanted to leave, but I didn't have a single dollar of my own and no place to stay if I left. So I studied hard until I graduated. It paid off when I was accepted to a prestigious university. It wasn't because I wanted to be recognized by those bastards. I worked hard to get into a prestigious university just so I could have a reason to move out and escape that hellish family. ‘The day I received my acceptance letter I ran to my father with a bright smile for the first time in my life. "Father! Look! I was accepted! I was accepted!" I nearly shouted with joy. "So? Spit out the reason you came to me." He responded gruffly. He didn't have a single word of congratulations. I didn't really care, though, since I didn't expect anything from him, "I want your approval to live on my own. I want to live close to the university; it will help me to succeed. You can at least do this much for me, right?" Father frowned at this unexpected request. 1 couldn't help but wonder why. Isn't this beneficial for them, too? The child they all hate so much tells them she'll leave on her own ~ how could they not be happy about this? After a moment's pause father continued. “Alright. I approve." My escape plan worked out smoothly! There was only one problem. Father left the job of finding a place for me to stay to the first asshole, my oldest half-brother, who was preparing to lead both the family and the family company as heir. It's because of that miscalculation I get to live in this underground basement filled with dust and mold. But if that was the price to pay for freedom, it was fine with me. Nothing could make me unhappy after leaving that house. I soon forgot about my depressing middle school and high school years. At university I made many new friends. And it was thanks to these friends I was introduced to that game. “Lady's Love-Love Project? What the hell? That sounds so childish." I said, It was an extremely popular phone game among my friends. The illustrations and the title of the game‘were more than enough to know what kind of game it was, and it made me cringe. I really wasn't that interested in playing it, but it was all my friends talked about at school. Not wanting to be left out, I downloaded it just to check it out. It was my day off from volunteering, so I had nothing else planned and plenty of time to play. ‘The game was divided into normal mode and hard mode. | figured it made sense to do the normal mode first. I clicked on the button for normal mode without hesitation. I figured I could play a chapter or two and then go to bed. The game started with a prologue video that introduced all of the characters. “Lost during an accident 6 years ago, the youngest daughter of the ducal house comes back and regains her title as a Lady." ‘The story began with the innocent and pure female protagonist entering the stage with light, bright and happy background music. I ignored the pretty illustrations; quality artwork wasn't anything special in games like this. It was a classic Otome style game - you capture the hearts of the male characters by raising their interest or favorability in the heroine. While you're at it, the heroine can also get rid of the villainess, raise her wealth, and raise her fame among the people. At the end of the game you receive a love confession from the male character with the highest favorability. ‘The game was actually really fun. The cringy-titled game that seemed so childish was actually good. It had an intricate plot that was nicely planned-out and well written. The game also had a lot of problem- solving so I didn't get bored. The game system was quite advanced for a cellphone game. Even though high quality illustrations aren't uncommon in games like these, I found myself drawn into it; it was clear the illustrator put their heart and soul into the artwork. It also didn't hurt that the story matched my own circumstances with the heroine being the long-lost child of a wealthy household. So in a way I ‘was personally invested in the game. Among the male capture targets there were the two older brothers of the heroine. The main story was set within the ducal mansion. The two brothers didn't welcome their younger sister who appeared out of nowhere, but instead they only bothered her. Similar to what I went through. I thought to myself. Though the treatment I received was as different ‘as night and day compared to the heroine of the game. Over time the brothers felt guilty for how they treated their sister. Watching the protagonist captured their hearts little by little had me diving deep into the game. Me, who only wanted to try the game, found myself now drowning in it. Even though it was my first time playing a game like this I reached the end easily. I had to agree with my friends, it was fun, But the normal mode was way too easy, even for a beginner like me. From the start all of the male characters' favorability towards the heroine started at 30%. At that point they may ‘as well have called it easy mode instead of normal mode! I couldn't put the game down and saw every character's ending within three hours. After beating all of the normal mode endings a box popped on the screen that said 'Hidden Ending’ with lock on it. I clicked it. "A hu-- hundred dollars?! Are they crazy? Why is it so expensive?" To see the hidden ending, you needed to either pay a ridiculous price or finish the hard mode of each route. "Shit... I's already midnight though." For a brief moment I thought about my early morning classes. “Abh, whatever! Let's finish it!" I had to be insane, controlled by a game like that. I never would have done something like that before. 1 excitedly clicked on the hard mode button. A different video played for the prologue. Grand music began to play as the characters were introduced. "Ooh, the protagonist changed to her." ‘The villainess from normal mode, the fake young lady of the ducal house brought in to replace the real daughter who went missing when she was young, now graced the screen. The hard mode story was set. during the time before the heroine appeared in normal mode. It felt like a completely different story. "Maybe this is why the game is so popular." If thought I was tired before, the appearance of the hard mode protagonist's detailed illustration on my screen woke me up for sure. I only grew more and more interested.‘The villainess who was evil to the angelic heroine was now the one who had to win the hearts of the strict love-guarded male leads. It was exciting in a way I couldn't quite explain. Since normal mode was so easy I thought, how hard could hardmode really be? I expected the choices would be a bit more difficult and that was all. How wrong I was! "Ack! Ack! Why did I die again!?" Hard mode was extremely difficult. ‘The villainess's story was set up such that raising the capture targets’ favorability was extremely hard. It wasn't only that - the favorability raised would instantly drop to 0% and you would get a game over after just one mistake, Game over wasn't just a normal game over, either. Every game over was a very disturbing death for the villainess-turned-protagonist. "Why did it have to be so extreme?" ‘The illustrations were realistic and cruel. I frowned at the illustration of the protagonist losing her head by the crown prince's sword. "This crazy game....." ‘Though I tried to sincerely make good choices, I still died several times. I was so frustrated! What was the producer thinking making hard mode like this? This was horrible game design! I died so many times I was getting stressed out. "Please let me live for once, please!" At first my goal was unlocking the hidden ending, but that goal was long forgotten and replaced with a new goal: to see the poor pitiful villainess not die and live a happy life with at least one of the male leads. What makes the villainess the guilty one? She looked so evil in normal mode, but if you look at it from her perspective, she didn't really do much wrong. Why is everyone treating her like this? Honestly, it was the author who made her the villain! The heroine in the normal mode earns everyone's love too easily. No matter what choice I made favorability went up. On the other hand, the abused and mistreated villainess only became more miserable, no matter how much she begged for affection. Her circumstances reminded me of my life before, "I'm seeing the endings to this no matter what." I was resolved, I was killed again by those bastard older brothers. My grinding teeth could be heard throughout the room. I died so many times I couldn't even remember! My hands trembled, clenching my warm phone. I ‘was getting too emotional. It's just a game. But I couldn't stop myself from pressing the reset button again and again, With each reset I started again from the beginning. I chose the correct lines, slowly raised their favorability, received fame, glamour and money to open up the new route. "Ack! Why!? Why!?" I died again, It was so annoying. I might be better off just buying the favorability using real money. If the producer's goal was to make others pay for the damned thing, they greatly succeeded. They even made me, a person who values money like no one else, want to buy favorability and the hidden ending. In the end I did not use my own money. But I was on fire all night playing to see the ending with at least one of the capture targets. Die, start over. Die, and start over again. Die, Die, And die again. I kept dying until sunrise. I played all night but I was never able to see the ending for any of the routes. "Puck..... Again, L almost pressed the reset button, but I just couldn't handle it anymore. I was exhausted. I fainted and fell asleep with my phone still in my hand. When I opened my eyes next a man addressed me. "Penelope Eckart.” The man stood before me. There was a long empty bar that resembled a phone's battery bar with a white word that sparkled inside of it - Favorability 0%,“As punishment, we'll withdraw our name, 'Eckart', from you for some time." I was the villainess in a game I could never beat.Chapter 2 My Lady." "My Lady, Please get up now." Even though I was deep asleep, I woke from just the faintest presence of someone whispering above me. Hoping that all of this was just a dream kept me awake all night. I refused to accept what happened. I spent hours wishing hard to just wake up. I must've fallen asleep at some point, though. Lady." A cautious woman's voice called out to me. Is she calling me? I thought. The two men with blue eyes had already left, and from what I could remember no one else was in the room last night except for me. I supposé by a process of elimination that meant the only one who could be addressed as "lady" was me. I didn't answer her. I was drowsy and lost in thought. Answering the person calling out to me was not ‘on my mind. A moment later I heard a rustling sound from behind. Half-awake I decided it was time to get up from bed when a lightning sharp pain shot up my forearm from outside of the comforter. "Ack!" My eyes flew open and I screamed, jumping and kicking my comforter away. I pulled my sleeves up to see what caused the sudden pain. I looked wide-eyed at pale skin that contrasted starkly with my sky blue pajama sleeves. My jaw dropped; my forearm was covered with blue and purple bruises and scars from what looked like needle marks. If the skin of my arm were fabric, it would be littered with holes. I was still in a state of shock when I noticed a small drop of blood oozing from a freshly pricked mark. "You're awake now." The woman's unconcerned voice came from beside the bed. I turned to find a brown haired girl with a face full of freckles. She was a maid. When I played the game none of the maids had faces, but they all wore the same maid outfit. A maid outfit just like what the gir] standing at my bedside wore. I don't know where she hid the needle, but there was nothing in her hands now. She merely stood there observing me, mocking me with a satisfied grin. What's wrong with her? Doing this kind of thing to someone just sleeping in bed!? Topened my mouth to snap at her. "1 No matter how hard I tried no words came. Damn it, my voice won't come out! Am I not able to say anything if there aren't any choices? Why isn't anyone helping me in this kind of situation? Damn it! All I could do was glare at the maid, unable to speak. The maid acted as if nothing of note had happened. “ve prepared the bath. If you would please, go and wash yourself, Lady." Her lips curled in an evil smile as she began to make the bed with me still in it, It was clear she was used to getting away with doing harm to this body. I sat on the bed a while, biting my lower lip, but eventually the maid urged me to leave and go to the bathroom. She said she prepared the bath, but the only thing I found was a basin of ice cold water. I got goosebumps just dipping my fingertip in it. I didn't expect her to attend to me, but this, this is just too much. I thought, ‘The game did say the villainess was terribly mistreated, but it never explained the specifics. Seeing how I was being mistreated forced me to again confront the reality of the situation: I've actually entered the game. I pulled up my nightgown sleeve to look at the old scars and freshly forming scabs. ‘Tears began to well up. What is this? Nothing like this was shown in the ga- I suddenly remembered an illustration from the game where the villainess wore an open-shouldered dress. The villainess had several small dots drawn ‘on one of her forearms. I thought it was a small mistake by the artist or possibly a birthmark. I thought that maybe they were something important that would come up in one of the stories I failed to unlock. I never would have guessed they were traces of Penelope's abuse! For a brief moment in this unbelievable mess, I was surprised at how detailed the game's story was to have such small yet important details in an illustration.“Lady. Breakfast has been prepared. Are you done yet?" The maid urged from the other side of the bathroom door. I was annoyed, but I didn't have a choice. I dipped my hand into the freezing cold water. This is nothing. I suffered far worse from those bastard step brothers for years. This barely tickled! I was so angry I wanted to lash out at the maid, stabbing that bitch with a needle like she did to me, but I would have to restrain myself. There was just too much I didn't know. And I was still stuck in a state where I couldn't even speak freely. 1 dried my face with a towel and stepped out of the bathroom. I could see a small table set with some food on it, just as the maid said. It seemed I would be eating my meals in my room. It was probably part, of my probation when the first son of the Duke grounded me. “Take a seat, Lady." ‘The maid pulled me towards my seat. As soon as I sat down I frowned. The food before me wasn't fit for human consumption; it didn't look edible at all. There was a plate with a piece of moldy blue bread and a bow! filled with some sort of thick grey soup with mysterious solids floating around. Is this pile of garbage my meal? I'm supposed to eat this? I thought. “Hurry up and eat. I know you're hungry." The maid smiled widely. I clenched my teeth and glared at her. A white square popped into view right in front of my eyes. 1. (Flipping the table) What's this? Are you crazy?! Bring me the chef right now! Right now! 2. (Shove the fork in the maid's mouth) You're telling me to eat this slop that not even a dog would eat? How about you do it first! 3. Eat.) ‘These choices, I knew them. I got "Game Over” twice at this scene from choosing wrong. If I chose option 1 every one of the workers would run to the duke and act pitiful and make Penelope out to be a villain. The oldest son who grounded Penelope would hear about it and become so furious that he would prohibit anyone from bringing Penelope "even a single drop of water" during her probation. Penelope would die of hunger and dehydration, On my next attempt I chose option 2. It just so happened that the second son of the duke was passing by and saw the commotion. He jumped to get the villainess off of the maid. In the process he would push Penelope so roughly that She would fall to the floor. Her fork would also fall and stabs her in the neck, killing her. It was truly a ridiculous way to die, In the end there's really only one option to choose. I thought to myself. ‘The scene that followed option 3 was probably one that held some story about the relationship between the villainess and the workers at the mansion. But when I was playing the game I didn't want to watch a scene where the villainess-turned-protagonist was mistreated, so I skipped this episode. There were plenty of other episodes I had to unlock anyway, so I didn’t need to play this one right away. At that moment, though, there was no “return” button that would take me back to the "Episodes" menu. Damn. I ruefully glared at the maid standing next to me and helplessly selected number 3. As soon as I did I began moving automatically by no will of my own, as if someone was controlling my body! My hand took hold of the spoon, scooping up rotten soup. Though I desperately did not want to eat it and fought against it, my hand only trembled slightly as it made its way from the bowl to my mouth. A few drops of ‘grey liquid fell to the table. No matter how strong my disgust was, no matter how strongly I willed it, I couldn't stop my body from moving on its own. The soup was thrust into my unwilling open mouth. Ugh. 1 felt the warm sensation of grey liquid on my tongue and at the same time was overwhelmed by the horrible taste. This wasn't food. It was the taste of boiled organic garbage. My body continued to act on its own, swallowing the garbage water. ‘The maid gasped, as if she really didn't expect me to eat itUrgh. I feel like I'm going to vomit! I gagged. I was trying so hard to forget the disgusting feeling. I guess that once is enough. | wouldn't die from just a spoonful of organic garbage. I let out a sigh of relief since I safely got through an episode. I was wrong. What's it doing? What? The hand that held the spoon didn't stop. My hands continued to force moldy blue bread and grey soup into my mouth. The maid's face went pale as she watched me eat the spoiled food. My body only ceased its involuntary movements when the Duke's second son happened to enter the room, "What are you doing?" He asked. "Y: young master Reynold!" The maid panicked at the sudden arrival. “Urgh, ugh!" I groaned. Unlike the maid I didn’t have the time to focus on our new guest. It took all of my strength to maintain my composure. I felt so nauseous, as if everything I had consumed would come gushing out any moment. I covered my mouth with both of my hands as I gagged. Why do I have to go through things like this? I already experienced more than enough before entering the game. How many times did I suffer at the hands of those two bastards in that hell house? Whether it was school or my food they never left me alone. Because of them I was constantly sick. I've had enough experiencing this kind of stuff in the real world. And now I have to experience it again in this fictional worid? The thought made me sick. “Uhh, ugh..." A strand of saliva escaped my mouth, oozing through the gaps between my fingers. I began to tear up from both disgust and the unfairness of the situation. I groaned like a person who just drank poison. Hearing my groans the young man with pink hair approached me. "Hey, are you oka..." he stopped mid-sentence and his eyes grew wide in shock. He stood frozen; his expression grew even more shocked as he saw what was set out on the table. “This...” He looked down on moldy blue bread and rotten soup. It was a mess. No one in their right mind would ever guess that this was served to a lady from a ducal house. Not even a commoner would eat this garbage. At the sight of the half eaten food and his adopted younger sister, heaving and covering her mouth while growing ever more pale, the young man's expression turned from shock to horrifying anger. “What the hell? Hey, what did you just feed her?" "Y, young master! Th, this is, well..." the maid turned pale at the deathly aura coming from the young man. She began to tremble in fear. He obviously never would have guessed. I thought. How could someone just passing by ever have guessed that the fake lady who always complained or made a scene would be quietly eating rotten food, purposely prepared, without complaint? “How dare you mock the duchy! You, a mere maid doing such things to her master's food!?" The pink haired man snapped at the maid who wouldn't answer properly. "Young master! That, that's a misunderstanding! Young master!" She pled. "Get out of my sight! Get out of here now!" He shouted, "Y, young master!" “Dl kindly explain this whole thing to my father and brother," he threatened. "Is there anyone out there? Where's the butler!" The pink haired man turned to the door,calling for help,Chapter 3 "Is there anyone out there? Where's the butler!" The young man shouted toward the door. It was not long after that the butler, along with a great many of the staff, came bursting through the door. "Second young master! What's the matter?" The butler asked. “This bitch!" He pointed at the maid, "Take her away and lock her ina cell." "Y-young master! I'm sorry! Young master! Young master!" the maid who had been tormenting me since this morning cried out as she was dragged from the room. With a single gesture of the pink haired man's head she was gone. I couldn't do anything during the commotion. I was preoccupied with my own body's rejection of my so- called breakfast. I leaned weakly against the chair; one hand still covered my mouth. The pink haired man reached a hand out to me, lightly taking hold of my shoulders. This gentle gesture was unexpected. "Hey. You okay?" he asked. I couldn't answer him. “Why did you just sit there, eating those things in the first place? You should've screamed and flipped the table, or made some kind of fuss like you usually do." Either he was picking a fight with me, or he ‘was actually trying to console me. He was exactly like the character from the game. If I didn't eat it, my neck would have been stabbed by a fork because of you. I thought. I was annoyed. 1 wanted to talk back at him so badly, but I couldn't say anything without those damned choices. Hah... It's done with, right? I was able to win the fight with the maid thanks to some unexpected help ~ not that I was thankful. Something like this never would have happened in the first place if the members of the Duke's family, including this bastard, didn't just ignore the situation, And it wasn't just this one maid who bullied the villainess. That personal maid was just one of many. Everyone in the mansion probably abused the villainess. None of them liked her. That bastard probably ignored all the bullying over the years, even after seeing the villainess made miserable. Even though I only woke up a short while ago, I already felt extremely tired, “Hey. You look really ill. Should I call for a doctor or something?" The words were spoken half- heartedly. The young man seemed to be bothered that I wasn't answering him. But the sight of him bending down to examine my face and his hands gently holding my own, it almost seemed like he was genuinely concerned about me. It was at that moment a white chat box appeared in front of me once again. 1. Don't bother. 2. Why do you care? Get out of my room! 3. Don't pretend to be kind. It's disgusting. It was terrible of how I had to make another whole-hearted decision, even in this kind of situation, to be able to live. I chose the least offensive of the three crazy options the writers came up with. "Don't bother." My mouth moved on its own. The words came out weak. The line matched my own feelings. I wanted to say it with all my heart, but I was still struggling to hold back "breakfast." "You..." Understanding the meaning behind my words, the pink haired man frowned, but only for a moment. I glanced at him again. He was as cold and emotionless as ever. It gave me goosebumps. Then again, maybe I was seeing things; I was not in the best state to observe anything that well. "You... Yeah. It's none of my business if you want to eat just anything given to you and get sick like a beggar." The man who a moment ago was crouching down to check my condition now spoke cruelly.“There aren't any physicians in this mansion that would waste their time on you anyway. Eat whatever you want and die, Who cares?" The pink haired man turned to leave. Above his head sparkled: [Favorability -3%] His favorability had risen. It was -10% yesterday. A seven percent increase was a huge amount considering how difficult it was to increase favorability in hard mode. Even with this increased favorability I wasn't happy. A negative favorability was still negative. One wrong move still meant death, If I knew his favorability would rise this much I would've finished the first episode. I thought. I retreated to the bathroom. After emptying my stomach I stood and rinsed my mouth at the sink. Looking in the mirror I saw a pale beautiful woman gazing back. "Penelope." The girl in the mirror spoke the name at the same time. Words that wouldn't come earlier, when I really wanted them, came easily when I found myself alone. The girl in the mirror had large turquoise eyes that shone like emeralds. Deep azalea pink hair cascaded over her shoulders and down her back; it swayed delicately with every move I made. She was truly a beautiful woman. But no matter how I looked at it, it wasn't me. It wasn't my face. "Penelope Eckart. Eckart... Ha." Eckart - the family name of the one and only ducal family in the Inka Empire. I died a lot during this episode. It was basically the start of the hardmode of the game. I died because I chose the lines that best matched the character's personality. Penelope was reckless, so I chose the reckless lines. It was fortunate that I tried multiple times after my first death in this episode. If T didn't... I sighed a long, deep sigh at the thought of what could have happened a few moments ago. Tturned my attention back to the mirror. “Hmm... Pretty. Very, very pretty. At least I have that going for me." I thought Penelope was pretty from the illustrations, but now that I could see her face in person, I realized that the beauty she possessed wasn't the sort of beauty that could ever exist in the real world. If this had happened to me before I left my father’s house, I probably would have been excited and even happily accepted this unbelievable situation, thinking it was some sort of gift from god to the pitiful me. Thad endured that damned house. I had succeeded in finally escaping. I was accepted into a famous university known all over the world. I had my own place where I could finally relax, even if it was small and dirty. Everything in my life was going great and bringing me closer towards the brightest future But now I found myself living Penelope's life where every tiny little mistake meant immediate death. ‘This was not better. This was far worse. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if I was the heroine of the normal mode where every decision I made was like walking along a flower path? “But why? Just Why!?" I demanded of no one in particular. Why, for me who just succeeded in escaping that hellish house, did this happen? It just wasn't fair. I slammed my hands down on the sink. This girl's beautiful face reflected a harrowing expression in the mirror. She was more furious than sad and looked every part a magnificent villainess. “Hah...” I sighed deeply and ran my hand through my hair flipping it out of my face. Come to think of it, how was Penelope described in the game? [Although she was a lady of the only ducal house in the Empire, she was originally a commoner without even a family name. After losing her mother, a poor traveling merchant, to an illness at the age of twelve she was adopted into the Eckart household due to her similar appearance to the missing Lady Yvonne.] ‘There was only one reason she was able to become a lady of the ducal household. It was thanks to her appearance that resembled the lost daughter of the Duke; pink hair of the deceased duchess and blue eyes of the Eckart family. It made me think of the second son of the Duke who was here a short while ‘ago. His hair was a delicate shade of pink, like a rose or cotton candy. The hair of the woman in the mirror was more deep magenta than it was pink. Her eyes, turquoise in color, were distinctly different from the ocean blue of the other ducal family members. "He should have continued looking for his real daughter. Why did he have to adopt some random kid?" As Penelope grew her appearance became less and less like the Duke's daughter. The duke soon lost interest in her and made no efforts to see her. As the Duke's interest waned, her two step brothers andthe mansion's workers’ abuse increased. "It's so similar to my own life it's uncanny..." Penelope's life and the treatment she received were awfully similar to my own. It was something I didn't realize when I played the game. The realization made me feel depressed. Fake Lady. Every worker in the mansion called Penelope fake. Even though she was breathtakingly beautiful, in the eyes of the others she was a poor crafted counterfeit that just didn't belong. Maybe the story would flow differently if she acted cute towards the others? But her personality was bad and her ties to the ducal family were only coincidental because of her appearance. I thought back, again, to the prologue of the story. It explained that Penelope was always on guard towards everyone like a hedgehog with its spikes up. She always caused trouble wherever she went no matter the place or situation. I wondered why the choices for her lines were all something that would certainly cause a scene. I nodded my head, finally understanding why the choices were so insane. Penelope seemed powerful because of her Eckart name. Unlike the naive normal mode heroine, she was keen and sharp. I sort of understood Penelope. It's only been a few hours and I can tell just what kind of treatment Penelope's been receiving here. Even if she's a violent fake, if they had any sense, they wouldn't torture a child that the duke officially adopted, by poking her with needles or feeding her spoiled food like that. Not even a maid would treat another maid that way! Penelope was only 12 years old when she was adopted into the ducal family. If she was abused from that day on... the thought made me shiver. There's not much a child can do if, no matter how hard they scream, no one listens. Nothing could change the fact that she was abused all of the time, even until today. No one was even the least bit merciful to Penelope, and it killed her inside. Is this their way of justifying her being a villainess? I feel sorry for her. I lifted my hand and stroked Penelope's soft cheek. The woman in the mirror looked so sorrowful. Even so, I pushed down my feelings of pity for her. This wasn't the time to be wallowing in pity for someone else. I was Penelope now. It meant that I could be killed at any time by the male leads, just like Penelope in the game. Chills ran down my spine as I recalled that fact.Chapter 4 I needed to figure out a way to survive. In hard mode it was very difficult to raise the favorability of the male capture targets and a drop to negative favorability meant certain death. It was even worse when dealing with the duke's second son. His favorability was already in the negative. Any interaction with him would be immediate death if it didn't have a rise in favorability. After Lleft the bathroom I searched my room for a pen and piece of paper. I needed to organize all of the information I had about the game and the characters. How fortunate for me that this ‘fake lady' at least had some of the things a noble lady was entitled to have. In Penelope's large bedroom there was a grand bookshelf and writing desk. I promptly took a seat at the writing desk. I dipped the end of a quill into some ink and began to write. "Characters first," I said out loud to myselt. ‘There were five male capture targets in the game: The two sons of the duke, the crowned prince, the wizard and the knight. I wrote down everything I could remember on the blank sheets of paper. First there was Derrick Eckart, the eldest son of the duke. Technically, as the heir apparent, his title was "Young Duke." He was a typical nobleman. In general he had no interest in Penelope because he ‘was too busy preparing to be the next duke of the Eckart family. However, he did hold a strong and intense contempt for Penelope for taking the place of his blood-related sister. It was rare for Derrick to kill Penelope in the game directly, however he never forgot to punish her when she made a mistake. Punishments like yesterday when he restricted me to being grounded in my room, ‘The next was the youngest son of the duke, Reynold Eckart. There really wasn't much to say about him, He was a quirky and passionate guy with a bad temper and overly critical personality. He was always picking fights with Penelope any time he saw her. He was also the ringleader among those who abused Penelope. He was the first to bully her, and his abuse opened the gates for the staff's abuse. And right in line with his quirky personality, any time he was the harbinger of death for Penelope it was always something weird or unexpected, like falling on a fork. "Now that I think about it, these two are kind of similar to the bastards from my old house, aren't they?" I clicked my tongue and reviewed the information on the two. ‘These two had the easiest routes to master in normal mode. It was probably because they had family love for Yvonne and not a lover's love. Penelope was not the least bit related to those two, so there was no way to know if their routes would again be the easiest. Not to mention Reynold's favorability started negative! Not even 0, but negative! It was like the game's creators were sending me a message - Reynold was hopeless so don't even try. Besides, I was the sort of person to get sick at even hearing the ‘word 'Oppa.' I shook my head and scribbled a large X over their names. “These two are hopeless." I decided to completely give up on the two brothers. "Next, the crowned prince." I wrote down what I could remember. Callisto Regulus, the crowned prince. ‘The only information I had about him was from the normal mode route. The crowned prince, who held little value for his own life due to unfortunate childhood events, meets the angelic protagonist who heals his heart before he ultimately punished the villainess Penelope. That was justice done in normal mode, but from Penelope's perspective the crowned prince was a grim reaper. When I played hard mode the crowned prince killed Penelope more than anyone else. I pressed the reset button, skipping cut scenes to go right back to the start, so many times during his route that I don't even remember most of what happened in the game. “Let's not even get close to the crown prince" I said as I vividly recalled the illustration where Callisto slit Penelope's neck. Chills ran down my spine. I quickly scribbled an X over the crowned prince's name, and did so a few more times for good measure, ‘The next was Vinter Belldandy. He was a wizard and a nobleman with the rank of a marquis. When working as a sorcerer he keeps his, noble identity hidden. He worked as an information broker; he exchanged information and mysterious objects. It was thanks to his profession that he was able to both discover the protagonist was the duke'slong lost daughter and learn of the villainess's evil plans, which allowed him to warn the protagonist or foil the plot on his own. He was the most helpful character for getting honors and glamors. In general he was a sweet man who helped the protagonist from behind the scenes. I didn't know what he was like in hard mode. I was already busy dying at the hands of the crowned prince and two sons of the duke before Vinter's route ever even started. Not knowing much of his character in hard mode, I thought there was a decent possibility he might have some potential, unlike those other three brats previously mentioned. I decided to leave his name unmolested for now. "And last, Iklies." I wrote the name on the page. Iklies was a foreigner slave who was made a knight of the duke's household. The duke went out to town one evening and happened to come across Iklies, saw he was outstanding in swordsmanship, and bought him at a high price at an auction with the intention of making him a knight in training. Later on he became the youngest sword master and was even given a noble status. He was a fan favorite and won the contest for "most handsome" character. Even though I never encountered him in hard mode, Iklies was the one character I had the best chance of reaching an ending with among the five. He was the only one who ever felt any sympathy for Penelope, even up until the very end. Penelope was the last master he had served before being granted noble status and he even tried to stop her from bullying the protagonist. “Hah... There's nothing here that really helps me at this point, is there?" I let out a deep sigh when looked at my finished list. I really didn't know that much about hard mode since I made almost no progress in it. And even if I had made more progress through hard mode, I didn't know if that knowledge would be useful since I didn't know if things here would be the same as the game back in reality. The two things I knew for sure were that I would definitely die if I screwed up and a male character's favorability went negative and that I had a time limit to reach an ending. Penelope's coming of age ceremony marked the end for me. I had to finish the route for at least one of the capture targets before that day. That was the day the protagonist would make her debut in the story, the start of normal mode. Poor Penelope. I thought. She lost everything when the real daughter of the duke appeared, just as she became an adult. If didn’t end up with one of the male capture targets it was incredibly unlikely I could survive beyond then even if I didn't act like a villainess. Of course there was no guarantee that I would survive that long, either. "I can't die." I clenched my teeth as I contemplated my sad future. I couldn't die. I had just escaped from that rotten house. I had just gained my freedom. I couldn't die in ‘a game like that. “can't die no matter what." My morning classes were waiting for me. I'd survive and go back to where I belong. I was determined to live. It was at that moment someone knocked at the door, two sharp raps. ‘The door opened abruptly, giving me no time to hide the papers with the information on them. Lady." The white-haired elderly butler stood at the door. He did not come in further than the doorway. “His Grace has commanded your presence." I knew he wouldn't be able to read the language written on the paper, but even so I felt put out by his rude attitude. Even back in the real world the household manager wouldn't just open a door and walk in like the butler did just now. And the real world didn't have class-based nobility like this one. It was indescribably rude for a butler to open a noble lady's door without approval. While contemplating how I should handle the butler a white box appeared in front of my eyes. 1. (Throw an object in the room) You dare open the door to my room without permission? 2. Ifhe has anything to say tell him to come to me himself, 3. (Glare for 5 seconds then get up) Okay. Ah. | forgot about that. I forgot that I wasn't allowed to get angry about things the way I wanted. Even so, I also didn't want to do any of the three options would force me to do. I thought a moment and chose the third option, annoyed. Favorability, interest, whatever; I needed to do something about these option boxes! Okay." I hid the papers deep in the drawer before getting up. I followed the butler out of the room. Ionly knew about this mansion from a few illustrations, so I took this chance to carefully observe my surroundings. The mansion was massive, like the sort of European castle you would see in a movie. Penelope's room was on the second floor. The mansion was very busy; a lot of staff passed us as we walked through the halls. Their sideways glances as we went were anything but kind. I ignored them. ‘Those kinds of gazes didn't bother me in the least; I had been glared at like that far too often before I came here, ‘The butler led me to the first floor and we soon arrived at a well decorated door. This must be the duke's office. The butler raised his hand and rapped on the door, three knocks. "Your Grace. I escorted the Lady here." The butler said to the closed door, "Come in." I could hear the duke from the inside. The door creaked as the butler pushed it open. 1 couldn't help but feel nervous as I entered the room. Author note: Oppa is an endearing way for a woman to refer to an older male, be it a brother or just someone you are close to. But you wouldn't be reading this story if you didn't already know that. Author Note: There were multiple names for the wizard: Buinter Verdandi, Vinter Verdandi, Vinter Berdandi. I went with Vinter because I believe the original translator this rewrite is based on confirmed it was supposed to be Vinter. Considering the propensity to use Enligsh words and names, I think it probably should be “winter” but Vinter is what the fanbase is most familiar with. I chose Belldandy for the surname because based on the Korean spelling and pronunciation guide for that spelling it seemed obvious to me that "Belldandy" was the English word they were going for. Author Note: For Iklies his name could have been Eclipse, Eclise, or Iklies. The manga went with Iklies, and I have no dog in this fight so Iklies it is.Chapter 5 As entered the room I tried to convince myself there really wasn't anything to be nervous about. It's only a single scene from a game. I thought. Even so, my hands quivered, if only a little. I thought it might be a subconscious reaction caused by the similarity to my own father and how it mirrored the duke's behavior towards Penelope. Even after fully entering the room the duke did not raise his head. 1 hesitated, but forced myself to approach his desk where I stood waiting, hiding my quivering fingers. I bowed in greeting. My voice still wouldn't come out, so there was no way I could show my presence through speaking. Reading the mood of the room I thought simply waiting was what I ought to do. "You've come." The duke glanced at me. He raised his head slightly. He had the same black hair and blue eyes as Derrick. His face showed no emotions, exactly as one would expect of a high status noble, exactly as shown in the game's illustrations. At this time a white box popped into my view. 1. Why have you called? 2. I'm busy. Please get straight to the point. 3, (Glare without speaking) Out of all the crazy options, 1 was the least offensive. I pressed 1 "Why have you called?" My voice came out on its own. “Theard there was a commotion this morning." No sooner did the duke finish his statement a new set of choices shifted into the box. 1. It's not something Your Grace should worry about. 2. You probably wanted the commotion to happen. 3. It wasn't my fault. This was all that stupid maid's doing! Hah! These insane choices! | felt like I was losing my mind reading those absurd options. Thad experienced this exact scene once before. In the real world when I was playing the game I thought it would be fun to make Penelope a Sassy Chic Femme Fatale and gleefully picked the second option. It still blew my mind that I was seeing the scenes from the game play out before me. Even though I'm called a villainess... what sort of father would treat his not-blood-related daughter so poorly? Shit! I made my choice; I refused to press any of the options on the screen. When I didn't say anything, just standing there, the duke put down his pen and lifted his head to face me properly. His eyes were sharp and keen when he looked at me. Ireally hope this decision doesn't raise a death flag. I gave in and chose option number 1. Trembling I clenched my teeth shut and tried to do everything I could to not speak. "It's not something Your Grace should worry about." I couldn't stop the words and in the end they only came out sounding really weird, "Penelope." I flinched as the duke spoke; his voice was cold as ice and held no warmth at all. Was there really no changing the flow of the story, no matter how much I tried? “Has it already been 6 years since you came to this house?" I reached back into my memories, looking for the right information from the game. The heroine and villainess were both the same age, 18. Penelope was adopted into the duke's family when she was 12. That meant that, yes, he was correct. Wait a minute! I recalled something I had previously forgotten about the game. The coming of age ceremony was held for an individual's 18th birthday. If Penelope was adopted 6 years ago at age 12 then she was almost 18, That meant there wasn't much time left until Penelope's coming-of-age ceremony, right? Then much time do I have until the real Lady of the Eckart family returns?"I don't know if you know, but it's not easy to step a foot in this house. Only those who have proven their worth, that they can be of use to our house who have passed rigorous testing, may enter through the gates of our Eckart mansion." The Duke continued. "ca!" stood silently. “After adopting you I did not hesitate to fund you as the lady of the family. I even allowed you to spend your money lavishly, doing inexcusable things." "cal! [still said nothing. "However, I can't seem to figure out what good you have brought to our family these past six years," He said. I couldn't deny that what he said was true. I would have at least held a sliver of hope if [ looked even a bit like his blood-related daughter. But Penelope's hair and eye color were too different. I wanted to nod while saying that his words were all true, but I couldn't move an inch while the duke was speaking; the system was controlling my body. The white box reappeared. 1. So are you going to kick me out? 2. I told you, I did no wrong! 3. (Kneel down) Finally! Iwas glad to see an actual normal answer I could choose without hesitation. It was the first time I felt excited since coming to this world. Worried the options might disappear with my continued silence, as they did before, I quickly pressed the third option. 1 fell to the floor with a thud. My body automatically moved to kneel. It felt like some force kicked me on the back of my legs, and hard, with a heavy weight pressing down upon my shoulders. Ack! Why is it so strong!? The fall hurt more than I expected and my eyes began to water. "You, what are you doing?" The duke spoke, his eyes wide. He seemed more shocked by the loud thud than I was. I never chose this option as my decision when I was playing the game. I mean, it didn't make sense. Why would someone with Penelope's personality kneel down? The box appeared again. 1. Is me kneeling down the only way to make you satisfied? 2. (Glare with no words) 3. I'm sorry for everything, father! I quickly pressed on the third option. “I'm sorry for everything, father!" My voice came out a shout, possibly because I pressed 3 with absolute certainty and confidence. "..What?" The duke asked as if nothing made sense. At that moment the familiar white box popped up again. Hidden Quest (The Lost Title Of A ‘Father'] Mission Complete! ‘As a reward, the function [Choices ON/OFF] is given, Do You Want To [OFF] The Choices? Wes. / No.] With nothing holding me back, I clicked on the [Yes] The Choices Is Now [OFF]. If You Wish To See The Choices Again, Shout [Choices ON]. Finally the frustrating white box disappeared completely from my view. Awesome! I inwardly celebrated, clenching my hands into a fist. ‘The game's hidden function, [Choices ON/OFF], permitted me to call the duke, ‘father’. If I chose [OFF] the choices in the game would appear as only numbers: 1, 2 and 3, without the lines being shown. At other times simple answers or replies, like "yes" or "no" or a character's name, could be typed in directly with the keyboard. It was an easy function to gain in normal mode. It was a feature that wasmeant to keep the game interesting by avoiding repetitive dialogue options and in accepting short dialogue choices, it made the game go faster. I rarely used it. There really wasn't a point; easy mode was already incredibly fast. I didn't pay much attention to this scene in the hard mode. I suppose it was because I only chose the aggressive lines. I had no idea that this feature was also available in hard mode, because I kept choosing the wrong lines. Granted, I didn't really want the feature; I was addicted to choosing the lines with attitude for the villainess. I didn't know back then that the addiction would become a poison to me later on, and that later on would be right now. I thought. I heaved a sigh at my foolishness back then. I recited the words by my ‘own will, and not from 3 lines in a white box. "Father Hearing the words leave my mouth by my own will was so touching to me that I thought I could cry. ‘Tears literally lingered in my eyes. And the duke, who never seemed to have heard the word ‘father’ from Penelope, looked on with eyes wide in disbelief. I continued with my words, not the least bit affected by the duke's reaction. “I apologize for making a commotion during my days on probation. This incident is due to my negligence in the care and handling of my servants. I will deeply reflect upon my actions during the rest of my probation." I begged, kneeling on the ground. Ifyou thought about, I'm not at fault for the commotion this morning. I was the victim. A maid bullied me. My fault? My ass! But if you think about Penelope's actions so far, that's not important. I would be the one in trouble if I act stubborn. The only way I could survive is by bowing down like that. My very life was in danger. Even though I got the function to turn off choices, there was still a high possibility of me saying or doing something that would have a penalty of death if I failed to take the situation seriously. It was an obvious thing - Penelope was already grounded and on probation after one commotion and went and made another one during it, too. I was in a dangerous position. The so called 'young master,’ Derrick, ‘was also the one who grounded me this time. I know acting stubborn and aggressive during his probation would only lower his favorability towards me, seeing any commotion as acting out against his, authority. “I know I have acted immaturely until now, but if you let it go just this once I will do my best to prove my worth until my coming of age ceremony." I finished. I didn't move an inch even after I finished talking. I had never begged like this, kneeling on the ground, even to my real birth parents. That was Just proof of how shitty this game was. Here Iam, begging with my body down to the ground. Just hurry up and forgive me already. I thought. I ‘was tired, still fatigued from this morning and in need of rest. I was slapping myself mentally to stay alert. "You..." The duke looked down at Penelope as if he she were a stranger. He was slow to speak his next words. He carefully considered what to say. "I... Understand what you are saying. You may rise." He spoke. "Yes." I stood up without hesitation, glad, because my legs were so tired I didn't think I could have knelt much longer. “The words spoken by an Eckart carry a great weight, Penelope." The duke spoke in a low tone as he looked directly at me. "Do not let this chance that you earned today go to waste. You should leave now" he finished. "Yes. Thank you, Father." I made my retreat from the room soon as the words passed my lips. I did not want to risk the duke's anger were I too slow to leave the room.Chapter 6 ‘The door creaked loudly as I left the duke's office. I could feel his sharp gaze on my back until the door closed behind me with a gentle click. It was a bit refreshing to know he would look at me differently now than how he did when I first entered the room. But there really was no point in caring about that. ‘The duke wasn't a character I needed to gain favorability with. His existence was unimportant right up until the coming of age ceremony. “"Y'm sure I told you to live as silently as a mouse without causing any commotion." A cold voice spoke. 1 gasped and turned in surprise. There in the hall in the shadow of the drapes stood a figure whose body language made it clear he was not happy to see me. In the dark I could still see the shining letters above his head [Favorability 0%]. The dark figure with black hair and blue eyes, barely visible in the shadows ~ it was the first son of the duke, Derrick, "Emily," he paused for effect, exiting the shadows in two quick steps, "has been a loyal maid who worked in the ducal estate for nearly 10 years." ‘The man crossed the large hall in a few quick steps. He was in front of me before I knew it. He leaned over me and looked down with a deadly aura. He glared as if he were looking at garbage. I did nothing ‘wrong, but I had to cower myself before his hatred and disgust. "No matter how much extra money we offered, no one was willing to be your personal maid. Emily was the only maid who agreed to serve you. But I guess today marks the end of that, since you went crazy and chased out your one and only maid because you didn't know your place." I felt bitterness at his unfair words. When did I go crazy or chase her out? The one who went crazy was that brother of yours. And it was me who was almost chased out of this very life by eating that rotten food! I wanted to shout I was so annoyed by the situation. It was only the [Favorability 0%] above Derrick's head that stopped me from speaking my mind, Hold it in. If it goes any lower, I'm dead. I thought. I inhaled and exhaled a few times to regain my ‘composure. [Favorability 0%] I was already tired after talking with the duke. And I focused so strongly on unlocking the ‘choices off feature that I couldn't remember much of what happened in this scene when playing the game. So I decided to get some help from the system. Choice On. A familiar white box appeared before me. 1. Ha! She must have served you very well at night in bed, huh? 2. She was chased out because she did something to deserve it! 3. (Glare without saying a word.) Choices Off! Off! Scanning through the choices I mentally shouted. Was this game trying to get me Killed? Do You Want To [OFF] The Choices? [ves / No] I quickly pressed [Yes]. If I picked one of those three I would be headed straight to hell! Time continued to pass while I was sorting through my options and Derrick's gaze grew colder. “I suppose you don't even hear my words anymore?" His glare was so sharp I was certain he was going to kill me. i guess I had no choice. “I apologize for the commotion." How many times would I have to beg like this even though I did nothing wrong? I still had a little thing called pride! It was so demoralizing to bow my head down like this, like a slave. But this was nothing if it meant I would live. Besides, these people weren't even real. ‘They were just some fantasy characters from a game.