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CHAPTER 01
“Sarubia! Sarubia, where are you?!”
“Yes, I’m coming!”
So, when I first possessed this world, I was in an orphanage.
At the time, I had no idea this world was actually inside a romance fantasy novel, so I simply thought I had been given a second life in a rofan-style world.
Fortunately, I still had faint memories of this body’s original owner, so adapting to the new environment wasn’t too difficult.
In fact, I even thought it might be fortunate for the original owner that I had possessed this body, because she had been born an orphan with no parents and raised harshly in an orphanage.
Strangely enough, in rofan stories orphanages are usually portrayed as places where the director is a cruel villain who abuses the children, starving them and exploiting their labor. Probably just authors’ biases about orphanages.
But here, that bias was actually true, damn it. Looking back, it felt like a rofan cliché had activated.
“Sarubia! Didn’t I tell you to wash Sylvia earlier? Why are you still dawdling?!”
“I’m sorry, I haven’t finished the laundry yet.”
“How are your hands so slow, huh? At your age, you should be able to finish something like that quickly! It’s because you’re always slacking off that you’re so useless at working!”
“I’m sorry.”
The body’s name was Sarubia, seventeen years old this year.
She lived doing every kind of odd job in the orphanage.
‘Well, at least I’m treated better than the other kids, so I guess I’m lucky?’
Whenever the director was in a bad mood, she would casually raise a hand against the children. But I was an exception.
Of course, it wasn’t hard to guess why.
‘They’re planning to sell me once I come of age.’
Sarubia, the body I had possessed, was beautiful. Extremely, almost offensively beautiful.
With coral-colored hair that shimmered vividly, golden eyes, slightly roughened skin from hardship but otherwise spotless and white, delicate features like a flower, and a fragile, lovely impression—she was a true beauty.
Objectively speaking, Sarubia was the kind of girl who made everyone turn their heads when she walked by.
‘She’s the only one in this orphanage with hair like this.’
From Sarubia’s appearance, I had already been convinced this was a fictional rofan-like world that didn’t exist on Earth. And indeed, the other children in the orphanage had very ordinary looks.
Brown, blond, black, red hair… eye colors like brown, blue, green…
In other words, all colors that could naturally occur. Sarubia alone had unreal coral-colored hair and golden eyes.
‘But in this case, being pretty and unique isn’t necessarily a good thing.’
A parentless girl of low status gains nothing from being beautiful. There’s no one in this world to protect her.
I should probably be grateful the orphanage director didn’t sell Sarubia when she was younger. Demand for pretty young girls was fairly high.
‘Once she comes of age, she’ll either be sold as a noble’s concubine, or… to somewhere even worse.’
I should probably figure out a way to escape this orphanage. But then again, what kind of life could a girl with this face even live alone?
And there was another problem: I eventually realized this body had a special ability.
While cleaning as ordered, I stuck my hand under a huge drawer to wipe it, and suddenly thought:
‘…If I put some strength into it, could I move this?’
And then I pushed it.
I pushed a massive cabinet that even an adult man probably couldn’t move alone.
Seeing myself push it effortlessly with a delicate face that looked like I couldn’t even lift a spoon made me feel strangely disconnected.
‘Now that I think about it… this body has never once felt physically tired or lacking in strength…’
Something felt ominous.
I didn’t know whether this ability was good or bad, but if you add “has a strange ability” to the setting of “beautiful low-status orphan girl,” my future definitely wasn’t going to be peaceful.
So I tried my best to stay unnoticed and behave quietly in the orphanage… but then—
“What is this?”
One day, a golden tattoo appeared on my wrist.
It suddenly manifested like magic, glowing brightly, and began spreading along my veins, slowly coloring my arm in gold.
‘This feels ominous…’
“Sarubia!”
At that moment, I flinched at a voice behind me and hid my arm.
The director had appeared at some point, staring at me with gleaming eyes.
“Good. So it’s finally time!”
“W-what time?”
A foolish-sounding voice escaped my mouth. I had no idea what was going on.
“Time for enlistment!”
“Pardon?!”
I must’ve heard something strange.
“Didn’t I explain this to you several times? You are of the other race, so there will come a time when you must enlist. It seems your contract magic has finally activated. Let’s go. I’ll take you.”
“W-where?! Why would I enlist?!”
I grabbed her collar desperately, but she seemed to think I was just in denial.
“Good. You’ll leave tomorrow, so rest for tonight. Well, the contract magic should be able to hold off for a day or so.”
After saying that, she left the room and locked the door.
“Hehe, if I report her instead of letting her enlist voluntarily, I’ll get a reward.”
I could hear her voice from beyond the door.
“What the hell are you talking about?!”
I screamed desperately, but there was no answer.
A few days later,
By the time I came to my senses, I was already in the Border Defense Corps. Only then did I realize this wasn’t a rofan-style world—it was the actual novel I had read. Damn it.
From the moment the director dragged me into the Border Defense Corps, I realized three things.
First, my unrealistic hair and eye color were because Sarubia was of the other race.
Second, my unrealistic physical strength was also because Sarubia was of the other race.
And lastly, everyone in the orphanage knew Sarubia was of the other race… except me.
No wonder the kids sometimes looked at me with pity. Everyone but me knew I was destined to enlist…
“Sarubia, is that correct?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
I answered weakly to the man sitting in front of me. He seemed like a soldier managing enlistments, but I had no idea what his rank was from his insignia.
“How is your arm?”
“It’s not okay…”
Ever since the golden tattoo appeared on my wrist, my left arm had been aching.
The pain kept getting worse, to the point where I was practically urging the director to take me somewhere that could fix it.
The man placed his hand over my wrist and began muttering in an unknown language.
[━━━]
It sounded like a spell… or maybe a curse.
As I listened silently, I suddenly realized the pain in my arm was gone.
“Ah?”
The golden tattoo that had been glowing like veins had shrunk into a small mark near my wrist. It no longer glowed, and the pain had completely disappeared.
“Now that the contract has been completed, you will no longer feel pain. However, if you desert or try anything foolish…”
He made a gesture with his hand as if something exploding.
I don’t fully get it, but I understand perfectly well that desertion means I’m screwed.
“I… have a question.”
At my words, he raised an eyebrow and glared at me.
“…I do have a question.”
Damn it, even asking a question is this hard.
“Speak.”
“Why am I being enlisted?”
He looked at me like I was the dumbest thing in the world.
I was furious enough to scream, but there was nothing I could do.
“Your ancestors made a contract using magic. That contract flows through your blood. When the time comes, it activates, and if you do not serve in the Border Defense Corps, then you—”
He made a throat-slitting gesture.
So I’m part of the “other race,” and that race is bound by a contract forcing mandatory service…
It was such an absurd setup, but it strangely felt familiar.
Still, I should think about my future first.
“…When does this contract end? When do I get discharged?”
The answer was short.
“Eight years.”
Damn it. There is basically no future.
After hearing everything, I joined the enlistment ceremony with the other members of the “other race,” and finally realized this world was inside Ne-Mi-Jip.
And now I had finally arrived at the unit where I would be staying.
When I read Ne-Mi-Jip, I skimmed over the worldbuilding and focused only on the romance between the heroine and the male leads—but now that I was inside it, this world was completely screwed.
The other race lived in lands infested with monsters. At first, they fought them using their superior physical abilities.
But over time, the number of monsters grew beyond what they could handle, and the Adolb Empire—an advanced civilization—invaded their lands.
As a result, the other race was defeated and came under imperial rule.
They were then forced into a magical slave-like contract with the empire, agreeing to serve for eight years when their powers matured, in exchange for the protection of the empire.
And that contract magic had now activated in me, Sarubia.
‘Even so, eight years is way too much, isn’t it?’
One day, I swear I’ll assassinate the emperor of this insane Adolb Empire.
‘I want to desert. I know I can’t because of the contract, but I desperately want to.’
Even as I silently screamed about desertion, my feet kept moving obediently with the others.
Before I knew it, I had entered an old building with my fellow recruits.
