HKRH 5

chapter 5

To make matters worse, although the Complete Edition shared the same setting as the original version, the situations and detailed developments were different.

Because the player—who had originally been the Saint—now had a different identity.

What confused her the most was that the activation phrase used to check the male leads’ affection levels didn’t work.

She didn’t know whether it was because she hadn’t met them yet, or if—like other systems—it had disappeared entirely.

—Sigh… for now, I’ll just grow up while planning how to capture all three male leads.

As a newborn, she decided that once she grew up, she would immediately pursue all three and reach an ending.

Because she believed that was the only way to return to her original world.

And so, she became Natalie Ailsden.

At least until she was about two years old, she seemed to still be aware that she was inside a game…

‘After Sharon appeared… I forgot who I was.’

Natalie slowly traced back her faint memories.

She recalled how her attention had naturally centered on Sharon—the girl her age who was always by her side.

‘Did my mind assimilate to my body after transmigrating?’

Natalie lost her mother at the age of three and grew up alongside Sharon like real sisters.

Perhaps because she was in the body of a child, the influence of someone she spent the most time with had been overwhelming.

—Why did I cry like that? That’s something Sharon would do…

There were moments when she felt confused by her own behavior—acting like a real child without realizing it.

And at some point, she gradually began to forget who she originally was.

As she grew from a toddler into a child, Natalie eventually forgot everything.

After that—darkness.

She chased after her father and brother, wanting their love.

She grew jealous of Sharon, whom everyone liked.

She lashed out, threw tantrums, got hurt—and eventually became a bitter, ill-tempered noblewoman with no friends.

‘And I even tried to end my life…’

A cold sweat ran down her back.

When she first transmigrated, she thought she would quickly capture the male leads upon reaching adulthood, clear an ending, and log out.

She had never imagined she would forget everything like this.

『Warning: Logging out is impossible before achieving the objective.
Attempting forced termination may result in permanent inability to log out.』

The one message she had seen long ago resurfaced in her mind.

‘If I had jumped… I might have been trapped in this game forever.’

The thought alone sent chills down her spine.

If she died before reaching an ending, it might mean restarting from infancy as Natalie all over again.

“Ugh…”

She didn’t want that. If she became a child again and forgot everything once more, she might never achieve the goal.

Worse—if even dying of old age counted as “forced termination,” she might be stuck in an endless loop.

‘I’m not going through that again.’

Natalie made up her mind.

She would survive—no matter what.

The best option was to stay alive in her current body, capture the male leads, reach any ending as quickly as possible, and log out.

Rubbing the goosebumps on her arms, she sat up.

Surprisingly, the pain and sorrow that had felt unbearable just moments ago had completely vanished.

“That’s better.”

If she continued living only as Natalie Ailsden, achieving her goal would be difficult.

Of course, Natalie was still her—she couldn’t erase the emotions and experiences of the past twenty years.

But now, she no longer had to live as a lonely, unloved noblewoman who armored herself with thorns.

Scritch—

Natalie quickly sat at her desk and began organizing her plan.

“First, capturing the male leads.”

There were three of them:

The Crown Prince, the Grand Duke, and the Master of the Magic Tower.

In the original version, the Saint heroine raised their affection levels through various episodes and quests.

To proceed, all three had to reach at least 70% affection—so balancing between them was crucial.

‘If they misunderstood, got jealous, or disappointed, their affection would drop!’

She had to keep all three above 70% while focusing on one to reach 100%.

Natalie tapped the paper thoughtfully.

‘The problem is… in the Complete Edition, the requirement jumps to 90%.’

She remembered how, even at 70%, their possessiveness had already been intense.

‘If 70% was that bad… what happens at 90%?’

She had raised all three close to 100% before—but in the all-ages version, conflicts were limited to harmless fights.

No one was seriously injured or killed.

But this was a 19+ Complete Edition—and she was living inside it.

‘What if they start drawing swords?’

Natalie immediately decided to abandon the “all together” ending.

Reaching 100% with all three would take too long—and she might get caught in their obsessive conflicts and die.

She wrote “All Together Ending” on the paper and crossed it out firmly.

Scratch—

‘I need to hit 90% as fast as possible.’

She began strategizing how to capture them quickly.

First—locate them.

‘The current year is Imperial Year 877, spring. The time when all three were in the Luxor Empire…’

Fortunately—luck was on her side.

The time when all three gathered in one place was just around the corner.

And that place was the capital—where she currently was.

She let out a sigh of relief.

If she had been any later, she would’ve had to chase them across the continent.

‘So… who can I meet first?’

Time was critical.

Natalie began digging through her memories—every quest, every episode she had played as the Saint.

‘The Complete Edition isn’t identical, but the core structure is similar.’

That was why her instincts had led her to the right choices before.

Like the hat.

In the original game, Natalie had supported Madam Dupre when she was a poor apprentice.

That small black hat had become her debut masterpiece—and a massive success.

Then, the horse race.

She had once discovered that reddish wild horses from humid regions weakened under sunlight—and used that knowledge to win a war.

And Rainfield—

In the original game, he had committed an unforgivable crime at a party, and she herself had sentenced him to death as the Saint.

‘The first male lead I can approach… who is it?’

Would she be able to choose correctly again?

Natalie fell deep into thought.

The first meeting events wouldn’t happen the same way anymore—so she had to create opportunities herself.

As she sifted through her memories, her eyes suddenly sharpened.

“…The monsters are going to turn this place into a sea of fire.”

Just like the earlier events—

the dream she had today was real. It would happen soon.

In the original game, it had been an episode where the heroine visited a noble estate and encountered fire-type monsters that burned everything down.

‘But…’

Those monsters lived in hot southern regions.

It made no sense for them to appear in the inland capital.

‘Someone is behind this.’

A spark lit up in Natalie’s eyes.

If she played this right—

she could start capturing the male leads very soon.

Perhaps even all three at once.

“First… I’ll protect Ailsden.”

Not to beg for love this time—

but because being Lady Ailsden was the perfect position to meet the three male leads.

A grand mansion, immense wealth, and one of only two ducal houses in the empire—

letting it all be destroyed would be a waste.

Natalie looked at the names she had written:

Crown Prince. Grand Duke. Magic Tower Master.

Then, beside “Grand Duke,” she slowly wrote a name:

—Roger Crawford.

In the original game, he was the classic “cold northern duke who is only warm to his woman.”

But the reason Natalie focused on him now was different.

‘He was chosen by the Water God.’

And possessed—

the strongest water ability in existence.