Chapter 144

Where should I even begin to untangle this?

The girl who had already awoken on her bed twice today sighed as she wrestled with the increasingly convoluted situation.

Never would I have imagined that my body’s parents were truly killed by my sister. I now understand why the original owner of this body would never forgive her, even if she were capable of forgiving others. Of course, if someone had eaten my parents, I doubt I could forgive them either.

However, the critical point isn’t that fact itself, but rather the reason she revealed it to me. If she hadn’t told me, it probably would have taken much longer for me to learn the truth.

Had she continued to keep it from me, it’s possible I might have developed feelings for her despite the actions taken against this body’s original owner.

“…Ugh, why are there so many complicated people.”

My sister, who has eaten people yet holds a high position within the Association. Her words only seemed to try and instill hatred within me, since she never provided a reason.

While Erica hadn’t considered these things when she was initially listening to her sister’s one-sided account, after waking up and calming down a bit, she immediately realized that no reasons had been given.

The reasons why people were eaten, why she could hold such a high position in the Association despite those actions, and why she would make the daughter of the people she ate into her own younger sister—understanding all these reasons would likely determine what kind of ending awaited her and this body’s sister.

Once Erica had pondered this, she rose again. Since she had fallen asleep immediately after eating, she wasn’t feeling hungry.

Moreover, thinking about Yoon-na would only leave her feeling depressed without providing any solutions.

Ultimately, the only thing left to do was to either continue training her supernatural abilities as usual, or try something else. And trying something else meant…

“Guess I need to change my mindset.”

Erica instinctively sensed that she must now confront something she had been avoiding all along.

To be honest, her approach to this romantic visual novel hasn’t been very proactive.

It was almost passive, to the extent that one couldn’t complain.

Whether it was about the school’s former queen,

or the matter of destroying the dolls handled by the doll maker,

or even the fight in Busan,

none of those were things she had willingly taken the lead on—rather, she had been dragged into the situations.

Ultimately, if the difference between the protagonist and the heroine lies in proactivity, then upon realizing she had entered this visual novel, Erica had wanted to become the protagonist. However, she ended up behaving not much differently from the heroines.

However, now that Yoon-na has distanced herself from her, and her sister has left a cryptic warning, she realized if she remained passive, she’d simply follow the standard endings listed so far.

The protagonist tries to help the heroine avoid a bad ending while simultaneously pursuing Yoon-na. However, if the heroine behaves like a heroine, they’ll only lead to bad endings.

“Let’s go out.”

I need to become more proactive.

And becoming more proactive means that first…

Erica looked at the phone sitting beside her desk, alongside these thoughts. First, she had to check if her counterpart was available.

Among all the people she’d met here, this person held one of the busiest jobs, so it was natural to confirm if she was free to meet now.

Though Erica planned to insist somewhat, it was still better to call her when she had no schedule.

*

“Do you know that if I were busy, I might not have been able to come?”

“If you were busy, we could have postponed it.”

A woman, sporting a hoodie over her head and sunglasses, approached a white-haired girl sitting on a park bench near Erica’s house.

Wearing headphones and fully armored in her own defenses, the woman had come because she owed the white-haired girl, Erica, a debt.

Although the debt had been repaid by her granting Erica’s favor, the favor was so trivial that she still felt some obligation remained.

“You set this meeting too abruptly. Who would have thought you’d ask to meet within an hour? What is it? I thought you had completely forgotten about this debt since you never mentioned it again.”

Instead of answering, Erica looked at the woman.

The secondary heroine and an idol active in this world.

Han Ye-seul.

A debt had arisen between them once before when Erica helped her during jogging, but Erica had waived it on easy conditions for a simple reason.

Because getting too close to her made Yoon-na display dislike.

Yoon-na, who had sacrificed so much for her, was someone Erica didn’t want to approach if she disliked.

However, now that Yoon-na has distanced herself, it was as good as permission to reconnect with Han Ye-seul.

Frankly, she hadn’t thought Han Ye-seul would come out so readily despite the debt being repaid.

With the feeling that the wind was somewhat in her favor since she had personally made the initiative, Erica smiled warmly and said,

“Let’s hang out.”

“…Pardon?”

The woman echoed her words, seemingly hearing something strange, upon which Erica, momentarily forgetting about the events from this morning and smiling even more warmly than before, said,

“I don’t have any friends to meet this weekend, so I’m asking you to hang out. That’s it. I promise not to bring up this debt again.”

“Isn’t that what you said last time?”

“This time it’s for real.”

Han Ye-seul wanted to build a relationship, so she’d been brought here under this pretext. If they could somewhat strengthen their bond through this meeting, she wouldn’t need to summon Han Ye-seul with debt-related issues anymore.

Erica thought about this as she looked at the woman hidden behind her sunglasses.

It was likely she’d accept this request since she came this far, but there was always the possibility she might act on a whim.

“This request is pretty trivial again… Still, alright. This time is really the last time. So, what do you have in mind? You didn’t call me without thinking of what to do, did you?”

“Bingo.”

Fortunately, she agreed to Erica’s persistence, allowing her to internally sigh in relief.

Even though it seemed like continuously pressing Han Ye-seul might be bothersome, it was necessary.

In order not to be swayed by anyone anymore,

in order not to let others approach her anymore,

she needed to take the initiative in approaching the other heroines.

If she could reach all the heroines she could approach, the situations would no longer flow without her knowledge.

The idol heroine in the romantic visual novel?

Just how many idol heroines do you think I’ve managed to romance here?

It’s possible.

Even if the idol heroine has extremely high defenses, I have the confidence to romance her.

Romancing doesn’t mean the other person necessarily has to love you.

If we can build a relationship up to the level of close friends, that’s what I consider successful romance.

Even if our romance turns out too perfect and we end up with some intimate experiences, as long as I remain on top, it can be resolved without damaging my self-esteem too much.

You think it’s possible to minimize these intimate experiences unless I serve the other way? All heroines are beautiful, so it’s doable.

“Hm, where should we go… I like coin karaoke, would you want to go that way?”

“Ah, I went to karaoke with Inna’s friends a few days ago.”

“Well, then you plan something then!”

Han Ye-seul, grumbling despite not having many friends, was thinking hard, which Erica noticed and momentarily looked away.

[If you manage to romance her, you may fulfill one condition required to become the main heroine.]

Even an encouraging message from the system was delivered.

Could it be that even the system doesn’t oppose my direction, but rather encourages me to become the main heroine?

I might have started this way from the very beginning.

Instead of waiting until Yoon-na left me to make such a resolution,

I might have decided too late to romance other heroines to become the main character here.

But as the first semester ends and the vacation starts just now, it’s not too late.

Since two more semesters remain in the second year and the entire third year is still ahead,

“Even if you know, I called you because I don’t have that many friends and I want to be friends with you.”

“…Of course I’m aware. It’s not something that happens just by saying we’ll be friends. I accepted your persistence because I sort of want to do it too, you know?”

“Yeah, of course I understand.”

The strong supernatural ability woman who is near Kim Ha-neul.

Now that Yoon-na has gone away, if I could bring the most powerful supernatural ability user within my reach into my circle as a friend,

I’m sure even if I know nothing and the main scenario continues, it would be possible to tweak it to my liking.

I don’t know what Kim Ha-neul is thinking except for the fact that he’s looking for the true heroine while pursuing Yoon-na.

Since Yoon-na has become a woman I don’t even know how to approach after leaving me since last night,

I have no clue why I accepted his forced fake relationship proposal even though the president of the student council is pretending to date Kim Ha-Neul.

But in this world where I don’t know much,

If I can only expand my circle bit by bit—

‘Among those who you’ve truly given your heart to, who is still around?’

Erica furrowed her brows, recalling the words she’d heard this morning.

Her words definitely hit a nerve.

Whether in this body or when I was a man, no one remains by my side.

Perhaps even if I grow my circle this way and ascend to the rank of the main heroine as the system just mentioned,

nothing might really change.

“Therefore, I truly appreciate it.”

But still, the reason I’m moving forward like this is because

I’d be too cold without someone’s warmth beside me.

While thinking this, Erica reached her hand out in the direction of Han Ye-seul’s hand.

Han Ye-seul hesitated for a brief moment, wondering what Erica’s intention was in reaching out her hand, but then took it.

“Whatever happened, stay strong.”

“Was it that obvious?”

“Since you said you wouldn’t mention the debt anymore but then used it to summon me just to hang out, of course it was noticeable.”

Even though Erica hadn’t noticed her plan to romance her,

Han Ye-seul definitely realized that Erica needed human warmth at the moment.

The female idol, who rose to fame with meteoric speed,

decided to play with this now unstable girl who, despite not being close to her and not even a fan,

had reached out to her.