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∼Chapter 1∼
I Got Scammed Into Reincarnation
Ding!
At the sound of the notification, I pulled my phone out of my pocket.
Fresh Update
UP <I’ll Run Away Despite Being a Rich Heiress> has just been updated. Click ▼ to read now.
‘Oh, it’s already six.’
The upload time for <I’ll Run Away Despite Being a Rich Heiress> was six in the morning.
Which meant I had stayed up all night working.
I rubbed my sore, heavy eyes.
‘Can I finish translating everything and send it before Assistant Manager Park gets to work?’
Honestly, it was impossible. It was far too much work to finish even after staying up all night for several days.
But……
“Are you complaining again? Someone like you, who doesn’t even have an impressive academic background, should be grateful that we’re willing to employ you. If you can’t handle it, just say so. There are plenty of people who can replace you.”
I tightened my grip around my phone.
‘Let’s hurry back.’
I had come to the convenience store to buy coffee because I was afraid I might fall asleep.
I picked up the cheapest canned coffee.
After paying and leaving the convenience store, I habitually pressed the button.
Reading romance fantasy novels was the one small happiness in my otherwise endlessly exhausting daily life.
My only happiness, really.
No matter how rich I am, I can’t live with brothers and a father like these! I have to run away from this house!
Watching the heroine make her decision, I thumped my frustrated chest.
‘No, seriously. Why would you leave a house with a rich family, a handsome father, and handsome brothers?!’
Your (handsome) father is such a doting dad!
And what about your (handsome) brothers?!
They even gave you a diamond mine today!
Why are you running away?!
Unable to endure the sheer frustration, I rapidly left a comment.
Can’t I be the daughter of that family instead of you? I wouldn’t run away and I’d live there happily ever afterㅠ
Apparently, everyone agreed with me, because the number of shot up at an incredible speed.
Soon, my comment became the top comment.
I was feeling inexplicably pleased with myself, and just as I smiled with a little hmph—
HOOOONK—!
An incredibly powerful light pierced through the dim dawn air and flooded my vision.
Blinding headlights.
And a truck the size of a house.
Wait, a truck in this narrow alley?!
And it was charging straight toward me at an insane speed.
Why all of a sudden?!
Screeeeeech—!
BAM!
Yep. Completely out of nowhere.
That was my final thought.
‘More precisely, I suppose I should say it was the final thought of the .’
I stood there with my arms folded, staring solemnly at my own corpse.
I had died in an instant, so I hadn’t even felt any pain. I was simply dumbfounded.
I was really dead?
Just like this?
What had all my suffering been for?
A sense of emptiness washed over me.
Then it happened.
[Congratulations! You have obtained the opportunity to reincarnate!]
With a BOOM! a voice suddenly rang out, and I looked up.
A strange boy was standing there against the now-bright sky, setting off fireworks and grinning.
Fluffy white hair that looked soft as clouds, and golden eyes.
A perfectly harmonious face that looked almost too beautiful to belong to a human.
‘I guess I really did die. I’m seeing things.’
[Excuse me? I said you obtained the opportunity to reincarnate! Could you please look a little happier?]
What was he talking about?
An opportunity to reincarnate?
I absentmindedly mulled over those words before suddenly sucking in a breath.
“Was I hit by that legendary reincarnation truck?!”
The reincarnation truck.
The legendary truck that sends you to a fantasy world as long as it runs you over.
“I thought that only happened in novels.”
[That certainly is the kind of thought I’d expect from someone who reads a lot of novels! As expected of the chosen one!]
“Huh?”
[I am the messenger of the god, Aftanes.]
A messenger of God?
So he was an angel.
Well, an angel or a demon would have to be the kind of being that could talk to a dead person.
Looking closely, I noticed a pair of tiny wings, barely bigger than beans, fluttering on the boy’s back.
‘This angel is way too frivolous and pathetic for my expectations…….’
[Aftanes referred to many different things while creating the world.]
The angel spread his arms with a flourish, as though he had just revealed something magnificent.
[And the thing he referred to the most was romance fantasy novels!]
Excuse me?
He referred to what?
What kind of nonsense was this?
‘Of all things, he used romance fantasy novels as references to create the world!’
Was he insane?
[How about it? Isn’t this a world made especially for a romance fantasy reader like you? You want to be reincarnated, right?]
“No. Who would want to go to a world created by an insane god who uses romance fantasy novels as references?”
I couldn’t help but stare at him flatly.
The bean-winged angel puffed out his cheeks and waved his arms up and down.
He claimed to be a messenger of God, but he was anything but divine. He was incredibly frivolous.
[You literally just said in your comment that you wanted to be the heroine instead!]
“That’s because it wasn’t a world created by a weird god…… Huh?”
I frowned as I thought about it.
Was this guy really a messenger of God?
No matter how I thought about it, I couldn’t imagine a god or an angel being this completely insane.
“Why are you giving me the chance to reincarnate?”
[Aftanes has seen all the novels you left comments on.]
What?
[You became a top commenter more often than anyone else, and you gave the protagonists more unsolicited advice than anyone else.]
[To the ultimate romance-fantasy top commenter like you, we’re offering a romance-fantasy-inspired world that suits you perfectly! How about it!]
The angel smiled brightly and winked as though nothing could possibly be clearer.
[Live there and please leave us a rating and comment!]
“…….”
Was God an attention seeker?
I didn’t even have to live there to give it zero stars, you bastard.
[Now then, if your questions have been answered, you’ll reincarnate, right?]
How could that possibly answer my questions?!
If anything, it only made me more suspicious. This whole thing reeked of something shady.
But.
I was dead.
I had nothing to lose, so ordinarily, I would have simply taken the gamble and nodded.
‘Ordinarily, that is.’
I was a romance fantasy reader.
A hardcore one at that, to the point where I read dozens of novels every month.
‘There’s no way I’d just say, “Oh, okay,” when he tells me I’ll adapt well!’
Romance fantasy had all kinds of stories.
‘What if I reincarnate into a dark, depressing story?!’
Even if it wasn’t a depressing story, there was still a problem.
What if I reincarnated as a villainess who gets her head chopped off?
Or as a supporting character who gets used by everyone until the end?
[Why are you hesitating? Didn’t you want to live in a fantasy world instead of this one?]
“I don’t simply want to live in a fantasy world.”
[Then what do you want?]
“I want to reincarnate into a family with a rich father and handsome brothers, just like I said in my comment!”
[Good grief, you’re picky.]
See? He was definitely planning to send me somewhere terrible.
“That’s the basic premise of romance fantasy.”
[Fine. You can be born into a wealthy family with a handsome father and handsome brothers.]
“And they all have to be completely devoted to me.”
[Hmm……. There aren’t many romance fantasies like that. Usually, even if the family eventually becomes devoted to the heroine, they don’t like her at first…….]
“Of course there are! Like Lady Be—!”
[Well, if you want to start off with the entire family dying like in that novel…….]
“No, sorry. That was a slip of the tongue. I’ll behave…….”
A quick change of attitude is the shortcut to a comfortable life.
[Now then, are you satisfied? Will you reincarnate?]
A handsome father, handsome brothers, and a wealthy family.
It was exactly what I wanted.
“Hmm, but most romance fantasy heroines have some kind of special ability……. At the very least, they’re smart.”
[……You really ask for a lot.]
The angel turned his head away, and I heard him mutter something under his breath.
“Huh?”
[Don’t worry. Since we’re going to reincarnate you under such special circumstances, we’ll give you an ability too.]
The angel smiled sweetly, as though he hadn’t been grumbling just a moment ago.
I was pretty sure he’d just insulted me……
‘Reincarnated with a handsome father, handsome brothers, and a special ability.’
At this point, it was practically compensation for all the suffering I’d endured.
Sure, I might not have lived the most virtuous life, but I had suffered a lot.
The day when sunshine finally reached the mouse hole had come!
“Then, okay. I’ll reincarnate.”
The moment I said those words, I felt a chill run through my chest.
Startled, I looked up and saw the angel smiling.
The corners of his lips curled into a sinister, lingering smile.
That expression was less like an angel and more like—
[Then the contract is established, human.]
A completely different voice and tone rang out above my head.
At the same time, a huge crack began forming in midair.
Inside the crack was pitch-black, so dark that not even a single ray of light entered.
A swirling abyss completely incompatible with an angel or a god.
And on top of that—
‘He said…… contract?’
A sense of unease washed over me.
Didn’t gods normally bestow blessings?
‘A contract is…… something that he makes, isn’t it…….’
That thing.
You know—
‘A demon.’
The color drained from my face.
“W-Wait!”
The pitch-black crack was growing larger, so I frantically waved my hands.
“Cancel this contract! I want to take it back!”
[The contract has already been established, human.]
The fully expanded crack opened its enormous, pitch-black maw and began sucking my soul inside.
No matter how hard I tried to escape, I was powerless against it.
It seemed impossible to stop myself from being reincarnated now.
Then I had to get something out of this!
“M-My ability……! What’s my ability?!”
Demons were notorious for tricking people. What if he gave me some ridiculous ability too?
[Do not worry, human.]
“I am worried, you demon!”
[It is the ability that suits you best.]
“What ability could possibly suit me?!”
I was extremely anxious because it felt like I was being scammed in real time.
“If it’s an ability that makes me get scammed, I’m going to die, seriously!”
[You need not worry. ……You are my ———, after all.]
‘What?’
I couldn’t make out the last words he added.
I tried to ask him to repeat himself, but my soul had already been completely sucked into the crack.
And then, an awful darkness in which I could feel nothing descended upon me.
‘That scammer demon bastard!’
I furiously scrubbed the smooth marble floor, swallowing my resentment.
‘Where’s my handsome father?!’
Because it was the middle of winter, my fingers had turned bright red and cracked.
‘And where are my handsome brothers?!’
I couldn’t even feel my fingertips anymore. It felt like they were about to fall off.
‘My silver spoon!’
I plopped down onto the floor.
From there, I could see the enormous hall stretching farther than the eye could see.
It was a magnificent, dazzling hall that looked like something out of a castle you would have to pay an entrance fee just to visit.
Under normal circumstances, I would have been amazed.
But I couldn’t afford to be.
Because I was the only one who had to clean this enormous hall.
‘This isn’t even a dirt spoon. I’m a dust spoon……!’
Sob, sob, sob.
A few tears slipped from my eyes.
Maybe I shouldn’t have reincarnated back then.
I wrapped my short arms around my short legs.
Even an adult would have had trouble cleaning all this alone, let alone a child.
As I sniffled, a thunderous roar came from behind me.
“You’re slacking off again!”
I instinctively flattened myself against the floor without even turning around.
“I-I’m sorry……!”
My lips trembled, and my entire body stiffened.
I didn’t want to act this foolishly, but learned fear had taken over my body.
“Is your laziness something you inherited from your mother?”
Tsk.
I heard him click his tongue.
The man who had approached me kicked the bucket beside me.
The bucket tipped over, spilling soapy water across the floor.
The hem of my clothes became wet and clammy.
“You look just like a dirty little rat.”
Cold.
“You have not a shred of dignity.”
I’m freezing.
“You can’t even do a single thing you’re told properly.”
Lonely.
My swollen hands could barely form fists.
“……I’m sorry.”
I cautiously raised my head and looked at him.
“Uncle.”
The man berating me and insulting my mother was none other than my maternal uncle.
He was also the one who had ordered a child to clean this enormous hall alone.
“Who do you think you are, pretending to be my niece?!”
He became furious.
Apparently, he didn’t like me calling him Uncle.
“Know your place.”
The polished toe of his shoe pressed down on my shoulder.
My child’s body couldn’t withstand the weight and collapsed.
“This is why your father abandoned you.”
I couldn’t even make a sound as I endured his verbal abuse.
“Then again, I’m not even sure you’re really the Duke’s daughter.”
Each word pierced my young heart like a thorn.
“My sister may have been your mother, but she was far too shameless.”
A mother I had never even met.
And yet, whenever my uncle insulted my mother, my stomach churned and the tip of my nose stung.
“She could have been carrying another man’s child, and it wouldn’t surprise me.”
No!
“There might have been others besides you. That’s the kind of woman she was.”
That’s not true! My mother wasn’t like that!
“What are you glaring at me for?!”
Along with his shout, the foot pressing down on my shoulder dug in harder.
“Ugh…….”
My face was slammed against the freezing marble floor.
Gray, soapy foam mixed with dust soaked my cheek.
I bit my lip tightly and swallowed my tears.
If I cried, I’d only be punished more.
When I was reincarnated, I had looked at the lavish and beautiful household and thought:
I was born into a good family.
I didn’t know what the family would be like, but at least I wouldn’t have to spend winter trembling in fear that I might freeze to death.
Survival wouldn’t be the biggest problem in my life anymore.
I would be able to experience many things.
Perhaps I could even have a dream.
Perhaps I could be loved.
I could grow up healthy, bright, and warmhearted, as though I had never known unhappiness in a happy family.
Maybe, just maybe, I could even obtain a happy ending like the protagonists in novels……
I was excited.
Hope for life.
Anticipation for the future.
It had been so long since I had felt anything like that that my heart pounded.
But.
“Papa?”
It had all been a misunderstanding.
That place wasn’t mine.
I wasn’t the protagonist of this world.
A little girl poked her head through the open doorway and covered her lips with an astonished “Oh my.”
She was a lovely child with abundant golden-blonde hair that seemed to shine brightly.
If this world were a novel, she would undoubtedly have been the heroine.
My cousin, Clatie, asked with an angelic expression,
“What are you doing there?”
