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 h*llish 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 v*olence 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.

How do I know?

I didn't have a purpose.

(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 I don't choose an answer I might die! 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 own voice.

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.

I'm sorry. I'll act appropriately next time.

A st*pid maid was the one to start all this fuss.

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 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!

"St*pid b*tch. 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.

...—End Chapter 1—...

...PS. This Novel is not my own work...

...Credit's to 권겨을 ❤️...

...the creator of this wonderful novel...

...translator: -CatLovesTowels -Lizette...

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 half-brothers' 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 b*stards 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 d*mn 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 b*stards. I worked hard to get into a prestigious university just so I could have a reason to move out and escape that h*llish 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. I 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 as*hole, 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 h*ll? 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. I 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 a 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.

"Sh*t..... It's already midnight though." For a brief moment I thought about my early morning classes.

"Ahh, 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.

I 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 I 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.

D*e,

D*e,

And d*e again.

I kept dying until sunrise. I played all night but I was never able to see the ending for any of the routes.

"F*ck..... Again....."

I 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'

I was the villainess in a game I could never beat.

...—End Chapter 2—...

...PS. This Novel is not my own work...

...Credit's to 권겨을 ❤️...

...the creator of this wonderful novel...

...translator: -CatLovesTowels -Lizette...

“Lady. Wake up now.”

I heard someone whispering above me.

Even though I was fast asleep, I was able to wake up even by the smallest presence of someone.

I refused to believe in what had happened to me which kept me awake all night, hoping that this was all just a dream. I wished so hard for me to wake up from it, and I think I fell asleep during the process of that.

“Lady.”

The cautious voice was heard again.

‘Is she calling me?’

The two man with blue eyes left already, and from what I remember, no one was in this room except for me ’till the very last moment I was awake.

For that reason, the one who could be called a ‘lady’ was me alone.

“…….”

I was drowsy when I was lost in my thoughts that I couldn’t answer the call right away.

It was a moment later when I heard a rustling sound from the back.

I was somewhat awake from sleep now. I was about to put my strength to my body to get myself up from the bed.

A lightning-like pain was felt on my forearm from outside the comforter.

“Ack!”

My eyes automatically flashed open.

I screamed as I got up from the spot, kicking the comforter away. Next, I pulled my sleeves up.

It was to check my pained forearm.

‘Th, this…….’

I was shocked to see the flesh shown under the light sky blue pajama sleeves, making my jaws drop.

The thin forearm was covered with blue bruised scar of the needles.

If it weren’t a human flesh but some kind of fabric, it would’ve had lots of visible holes on it.

It was when I was still shocked by the sight of a drop of blood on one of my forearm.

“You’re awake now.”

Unconcerned casual voice came from beside the bed.

I turned my head towards that direction to see a brown hair girl with lots of freckles. She was a maid.

In the illustrations, every maids had no faces drawn and all wore the same maid outfit.

Including the girl standing in front of me.

I don’t know where she hid the needle she poked me with, but there was nothing in her hands.

She was observing me with the face of mockery and some kind of satisfaction.

‘What’s up with her, doing this kind of thing to a person who was doing absolutely nothing!’

I opened my mouth in desire to snap at her.

“……!”

However, no words came out of my mouth no matter how hard I tried.

‘Why isn’t anything helping me out in this kind of situation? Damn it!’

When I only glared at her with no words said, the maid acted as if nothing happened.

“I’ve prepared the bathing water for you in the bathroom so go and wash yourself first, lady.”

An evil smile was reflected on her face as she started to make the bed. She seemed to be used to doing this to this body.

I sat still, biting on my lower lip, but was forced to enter the bathroom due to the maid’s push.

She told me she prepared the bathing water, but the only thing in the empty bathroom was a bucket filled with cold water.

It was freezing cold like ice water that it gave me goosebumps just by dipping my finger tip in.

‘I didn’t expect any service in helping me bathe but this, this is just too extreme.’

There were some stories about how the villainess got the worse ever treatment, but nothing explained something this specific.

I was once again, forced to realize from the overflowing feeling of reality.

That I’ve actually entered the game.

I pulled up the sleeve to see the scar with dried blood covering it again, and when I did, I sort of teared up.

‘What’s this. Nothing like this was shown in the ga…….’

Suddenly, an image popped up in my head as a reminder.

It was an illustration of the villainess with a open-shoulder dress.

Unlike the other illustrations that had not the smallest mistakes in it, on the illustration of the villainess had several small dots drawn on the one forearm.

‘Nuts. I thought those were actual birthmarks!’

If it weren’t, then, maybe it was something important that would be mentioned in one of the stories I failed to unlock…….

Who knew those were the traces proving all the abuses.

Though this was unbelievable, I was once again surprised of how detailed the story was plotted.

“Lady. Breakfast has been prepared. Are you done yet?”

The maid urged from the other side of the bathroom door.

‘Ugh, says her who isn’t a match for me.’

I felt annoyed but with no choice, I dipped my hand into the freezing cold water again.

To me who suffered the worse for years from my step brother bastards, this was not even tickling.

I was the villainess anyways, so while I was at it, I wanted to make needle marks on that bitch as she did to me but I had to give it more time for me to investigate everything first.

Because unfortunately, I was in a state where I couldn’t even speak freely of what I wanted to speak.

The moment I stepped out the bathroom, drying my face with the towel, I could see the table all set with some food on it like the maid had said.

Seemed like I even had to eat my meal in the room. Probably because I was grounded by the first son of the duke.

“Take a seat, lady.”

I was pulled by the maid’s hand and sat on the seat by the table. As soon as I did though, I couldn’t do anything but to frown.

The food prepared as a meal for a human didn’t look edible at all.

On the plate was a piece of blue moldy bread and on the bowl was a kind of thick grey soup with undefined solids floating around.

“Hurry up and eat. I know you’re hungry.”

The maid smiled widely as she urged me to eat. I clenched my teeth and glared at her.

A white square screen popped into view right in front of my eyes.

(Flipping the table) What’s this? You crazy?! Bring me the chef right now! Right now!

(Shove the fork in the maid’s mouth) You tell me to eat these that not even the dogs would eat? Then how about you do it first!

(Eat.)

I’ve experienced the ‘game over’ twice at this scene.

When I chose 1, every one of the workers ran to the duke acted pitiful and poor to confess the villainess’ troublesome actions.

The son who grounded the villainess hears about this and grows so furious that he prohibited anyone offering a single drop of water to me during the grounded days.

So I died in hunger.

On my next turn, I chose 2.

Then the son of the duke who was just coincidentally passing by, jumped in to get the villainess off of the maid.

During the process, the villainess who was pushed roughly, fell, and the fork which fell on her afterwards stabbed her neck.

It was really a ridiculous way to die.

‘In the end, there’s only one to choose.’

This scene is probably the episode which held the story about the relationships between the villainess who became the heroine and the workers here who worked in the mansion for a long time.

However, me who didn’t want to see the scene where the heroine is mistreated from the start, just skipped the episode to the next one after dying twice.

It was because there were tens of episodes I had to unlock anyways even if it weren’t this one.

Right now though, in front of my eyes, there were no ‘Return’ buttons that would take me to the page that enabled me to choose the episodes from.

‘D*mn…….’

I sorrowfully glared at the maid standing next to me as I powerlessly clicked the number 3.

Once I did, as if someone was controlling my body, I started to move automatically without my wills.

My hands held onto the spoon and scooped up a spoonful of rotten soup.

My wills of me not wanting to eat this may have affected my movements as my hands with the spoon started to tremble on its way to my mouth.

The drops of grey liquid fell on the table.

No matter how strong my wills were, I couldn’t stop my body from moving on its own.

In the end, the spoon with the soup was shoved into my forcefully opened mouth.

“Ugh.”

The warm sensation of the grey liquid was felt on my tongue. At the same time, the horrible taste of it was sensed.

This wasn’t food. It was the taste of the boiled cup of organic garbage.

My body continued to act on its own as it forcefully gulped down the garbage water which has entered my mouth, down my throat.

“Gasp!”

The maid who watched, gasped, as if she didn’t expect me to really eat it.

‘Urgh, I feel like I’m going to vomit!’

I gagged. I was trying so hard to forget the feeling I was currently feeling.

‘I’m guessing that once is enough.’

I wouldn’t die just by consuming a spoonful of organic garbage.

I let out a sigh of relief since I’ve safely got over an episode.

It was my misunderstanding.

My hand which held the spoon with didn’t stop.

‘What’s it doing! What’s–!’

Even afterwards, I had to keep on shoving the moldy blue bread and the grey soup in my mouth.

It was not due to my wills.

The maid’s face paled at the sight of me forcefully eat the overdued foods.

My body which repeated those crazy motions came to a stop when the duke’s son happened to come in.

“What’re you doing?”

“Y, young master Reynold!”

The maid came to panik at the sudden appearance of a figure.

“Urgh, ugh!”

Me, on the other hand, didn’t have the time to focus on that. I had to cover my mouth with both my hands so fast.

I gagged so much. I felt as if everything I’ve consumed today was going to come flooding out any moment now.

‘Why do I have to experience these things?’

I’ve already experienced these things enough even before entering the game.

How many time did I have to suffer all the pains given by the two bastards in that hell-like house.

But I have to experience these things over again even in this fictional world?

“Uhh, ugh…….”

A strand of salvia escaped my mouth, out through my palms.

I felt myself tearing up due to this unfair situation and the disgust.

I groaned like a person who just drank poison. Seeing that, the pink hair approached me with a shocked expression on his face.

“Hey, are you oka…….”

He stopped in his words. He froze still with more shock shown on his face as he looked at what was set on the table.

“This…….”

Moldy blue bread, rotten soup.

It was a mess. No one would be able to guess that this was served to a lady from the duke family. Not even the commoners would eat these garbage for breakfast.

The sight of the half of those foods gone and his pale younger step sister covering her mouth.

The face of the pink hair who turned his face to look back at the maid, changed to a horrifying frown.

“Hey, what did you just feed her?”

“Y, young master! Th, this is, well…….”

The maid turned pale at the deathly aura and started to shiver in fear.

‘He obviously wouldn’t have guessed.’

How would an extra who was just passing by, have guessed that the fake lady who was always making a fuss of one or another would be eating the rotten food, purposely prepared, without any complaints.

The pink hair snapped at the maid who wouldn’t properly answer.

“This is more than enough humiliating to dare mock our family! A mere maid like you, doing these things to the one she’s serving……!”

“Young master! That, that’s a misunderstanding! Young master!”

“Get lost!.Scram from this room!”

“Y, young master!”

“I’ll kindly explain this whole thing to my father and brother. Is there someone out there? Butler!”

...—End Chapter 3—...

...PS. This Novel is not my own work...

...Credit's to 권겨을 ❤️...

...the creator of this wonderful novel...

...translator: -CatLovesTowels -Lizette...