Became a Villain Heroine in a Harem Story

Four years have passed since being reborn in this body.

I’ve reached an age where I look somewhat like a little girl.

My black hair has grown long enough to be tied up, and my skin remains soft and plump as the baby fat hasn’t gone away yet.

It wasn’t a wealthy household even as a joke, but it was still a home with its own modest happiness.

Someday, I would make one small house above Seoul’s sky my own.

That’s the small dream of a commoner from the slums.

The house was extremely quiet when both my father and mother went out to earn money.

Thanks to that, I had time to think every day.

Whether I had become ‘Bia’, or whether I had devoured the originally existing ‘Bia’.

A doppelganger.

I couldn’t very well tell my parents, “I am a possessor who devoured your daughter,” after all.

I’ll just act like a kind and well-mannered daughter as much as possible.

: There’s no need for that.

‘…You again.’

: You’re not meant to rot in this place right now!

I’ve ignored the status window’s quest for four years.

Killing people is an impossible task for me, who was just an ordinary civilian. I lack the strength and mental fortitude for that.

In truth, this was an excuse.

I wasn’t the type of person who could kill others. I was such a weak person that just seeing news about someone dying would make me uncomfortable in bed for three days.

My goal is to live normally without getting involved with the academy.

I’ll pursue a modest dream while spending peaceful days without incident.

Someone grabbed me as I was sitting still with a blank stare.

A baby who looked like it had just started walking was looking at me.

“…What?”

No answer comes back when I question the baby.

Yes. This happily married couple had another child not long after having me.

I suddenly ended up with a younger brother.

Even though we clearly live in a semi-basement studio, how on earth did they manage to make a sibling without me noticing?

No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t find an answer.

Damn it.

Since both parents went out to earn money, it ultimately falls to me to take care of the young brother who can’t even speak yet.

I couldn’t understand why they keep having children when they can’t afford it.

Perhaps it’s their means to fill the unique void of poverty.

Even if I wanted to make money using knowledge of the future, this damn dating sim didn’t have the hidden routes or easter eggs commonly found in other games and novels.

That’s because the game itself has a low difficulty level to begin with.

The villains are so weak they collapse with just a light touch from the protagonist, and if necessary, the story could be easily cleared with the cheat ability [Self-Sacrifice].

‘Actually… I don’t even remember the game content well.’

The reason was simple.

It’s a mass-produced dating sim without any depth. Of course.

In the first place, what depth can you expect when even a villain who committed murder is included as a heroine just because she repented?

You couldn’t expect any deep contemplation of sin, unique worldbuilding, or intricate gimmicks and storylines.

At best, the academy’s setting was a little unique.

Why I was possessed in this world, why the status window setting that never appeared in the game showed up.

There were mountains of questions, but anyone who knew the answers kept their mouths firmly shut.

‘Hey.’

: [Silence]

Like this.

The one who had been causing a ruckus for four years, always saying that completing quests would help me, would shut up exactly when I tried to ask something.

Not knowing is better for me… or better for the status window?

I don’t know.

I never had any intention of completing quests in the first place, and I have no desire to get involved in the academy scenario.

I’ll just think of this as a second chance and live normally, that’s all.

Go to hell.

I raised my middle finger to the status window.

My little brother, who had been quietly observing my actions, raised his tiny hand with the middle finger extended.

“No. Don’t do that.”

“Wha?”

My little brother raised both hands with middle fingers up.

…How am I going to explain this to my parents?

♦♦♦

Clunk.

The slightly loose front door unlocked, and my parents came home together late at night.

Seems like they ran into each other on their way home from work.

They never told me what kind of work they did. But I could guess roughly.

There weren’t many options for making good money for people without education. That was a fact I knew better than anyone.

“Were you okay? How’s your brother?”

“Nothing happened. My brother is sleeping.”

A child who hasn’t even entered elementary school yet fluently answers her parents’ questions. And with honorifics.

My parents seemed to think I was particularly quick to learn.

My father, without saying anything, gave me a weary smile and ruffled my hair roughly with his thick, coarse hands.

Even though my neatly brushed hair got all messed up, somehow I felt at ease. I wasn’t upset.

The touch and warmth of someone after a long time.

It was an environment sufficient to release all the tension.

And then, a delicious smell.

“…!”

The plastic bag in my father’s hand belatedly caught my eye.

It was a familiar scent.

Although it wasn’t an expensive franchise chicken, it was the scent of old-fashioned whole chicken from a corner alley shop that only those who knew about it would know.

I immediately loosened my expression with a silly smile.

Swallowing the saliva pooling in my mouth, I looked up at my father.

For some reason, today his shoulders looked wider and taller than usual.

“Dad!”

I immediately clung to his legs.

It was my own way of expressing joy.

Parental beings have such simple behavioral principles that they soften quickly with just a little display of affection.

They love their children blindly.

There were occasional exceptions, but my parents weren’t among those exceptions.

Tonight’s dinner is well-roasted whole chicken.

It would have been nice if there was beer too, but I couldn’t drink alcohol in this body.

‘Let’s be satisfied with this much.’

Next time when I become an adult, I’ll order franchise chicken covered in sauce and expensive imported beer… and eat it with my parents.

Yes. Such a small dream is enough.

Humans don’t need grand dreams or goals.

If you hold just one small thing in your heart, that’s enough.

“How’s your studying?”

“Same as always.”

“Any books you want?”

“No. It’s okay. I haven’t finished reading all the books I have now.”

Since we couldn’t afford the latest electronic devices, I had already read a few decent books until their edges were worn.

But I calmly told a lie.

Of course, my parents knew I was lying. They smiled bitterly and looked at me with a somewhat strange gaze.

“You’ve grown up too fast.”

“What?”

“Tell us if there’s something you want. We’re not so poor that we can’t afford that much. Right?”

My father said that and lightly tapped the shoulder of my mother sitting next to him.

My mother smiled.

“Daughter, just name a reasonable price.”

“I don’t want anything yet!”

I smiled and played the role of a good daughter.

Sitting around a small round table, sharing warmth with each other, chewing on a meal and having conversations.

What happened, what I did today, what was special.

And, they apologize.

Parents are beings who live apologizing to their children for not being able to give them something, despite it not being due to their own inadequacies or faults.

In fact, all a child needs is just ‘parents’ alone, that’s enough.

They didn’t know that.

Because it was their first time.

I answer them. It’s really okay.

That was one day.

Such days repeated many times.

If such ordinary days would continue forever, and when I reach an age where I can earn money, I’d go to college, get scholarships, find a decent job, and repay my parents’ kindness.

That was the plan.

.

.

.

And, on a night when everyone was deeply asleep.

Everything began.

[ Sudden Quest! ]

[ Open the door! ]

[ Reward: I will answer one of your questions. ]

‘What’s this all of a sudden?’

: Exactly as stated.

My first reaction was suspicion.

Nothing in the world is free. If someone approaches offering me something for free, it’s to extract something bigger.

So what is the status window trying to extract from me now?

I rack my brain desperately.

And I reached a conclusion.

Don’t open the door.

I started to sense someone’s presence. The location was near the tightly closed front door.

It must be related to the quest the status window gave me.

‘Should I wake my parents first? Hide? What should I do?’

In the end, I decided to ‘pretend no one is home.’

I thought that if they couldn’t sense any presence from the house, they would leave.

The place I hid was the wardrobe.

Through the gap in the slightly open wardrobe door, I could faintly see my parents and younger brother sleeping on bedding spread on the floor.

‘Nothing’s happening.’

Bang.

I heard the sound of the door being forced open.

My heart beats faster.