"I'm screwed."
The overwhelming sense of doom was enough to bring tears to my eyes.
"Did you hit your head that hard?"
A red-haired boy stood in front of me, inspecting the corner of a table. He looked almost exactly like me.
You idiot...
Completely unaware of the miserable future waiting for him, he was worried about the desk that had hit his little sister's head.
The thought made me even sadder, and I burst into tears.
Unable to watch any longer, Erden helped me to my feet and sat me back down on the chair.
"What's wrong, Rohesia?"
What's wrong?
Everything was wrong.
Starting with the fact that my brother and I were named Erden Utel and Rohesia Utel, and ending with the horrifying truth that this world was the setting of the dark novel The Sacrifice of the Thorned Goldfinch Flower.
In the story, Erden was one of the male leads of a reverse harem. True to the role, he became obsessively attached to the heroine.
The problem was that his methods were so bizarre that ordinary people couldn't even comprehend them.
Every time he appeared, readers lost a little more of their hopes and dreams.
Because every single male lead was completely insane, their jealousy ultimately drove the novel toward disaster.
In short—
A total annihilation ending.
My situation was even worse.
After my mistreatment of the heroine was exposed, I was brutally murdered by Adrian, the hidden mastermind among the male leads.
I didn't even survive long enough to witness the world's destruction.
The reason I suddenly remembered all this wasn't just because I'd smashed my head into a desk.
The real cause was what had happened a little earlier.
'What does this word mean?'
While reading a book, I'd come across a word I didn't know. Since my brother was in the next room, I'd toddled over on my short little legs and asked him.
'Annihilation? It means killing everyone.'
For some reason, the word sounded both familiar and deeply unfortunate.
Annihilation.
Annihilation...
Annihilation!
...!
Suddenly, unfamiliar memories flooded into my mind.
I staggered in shock, and when I hit my head, the impact triggered even more memories.
This place... I... that guy...! Damn it!
"Erden..."
I wiped my swollen eyes and called out to my brother.
"Yeah?"
"Please live properly. Even if you don't understand something, at least try being a good person."
"...?"
From Erden's perspective, his little sister had suddenly barged into his room, asked him about a word, smashed her own head into a desk, fallen over, and then started picking a fight with him.
His confusion was understandable.
Still, I decided to say everything I needed to say.
People often say a tree's future can be seen from its sprouts, but education was powerful too.
"Even now. If someone falls over and starts crying, you're supposed to ask if they're okay and show concern. It doesn't matter whether it's your sister or anyone else."
Leaving my bewildered brother behind, I stood up.
Since I was still tiny, there wasn't much difference between my sitting and standing height.
"Take your book."
The fairy tale book I'd brought sat on the desk.
How boring...
Having abruptly lost interest in books altogether, I shook my head and turned away.
And then—
Ding!
A clearly electronic sound rang beside my ear.
Even if I remembered my previous life, this wasn't a sound that should exist in this world.
At the same time, a brilliant white light exploded before my eyes.
[QUEST: Congratulations. You have completed 'Quest: Awareness of the World.']
[SYSTEM: Reward +10 EXP]
[Level Up!]
[SYSTEM: You have 1 completed quest.]
[SYSTEM: Welcome to the world of <The Sacrifice of the Thorned Goldfinch Flower>!]
W-What the hell?!
Being reincarnated into a novel was bad enough.
Now there was a game-like status window floating in front of me too?
My young body couldn't handle the shock.
I swayed unsteadily and collapsed with a thud.
"Rohesia?"
[SYSTEM: Welcome to the world of <The Sacrifice of the Thorned Goldfinch Flower>!]
I didn't know it because I'd already fainted, but another message appeared above the sea of white screens filling the air.
[ADMIN: Are you alright?]
The Sacrifice of the Thorned Goldfinch Flower.
The novel I'd casually sampled one day turned out to be a mature-rated dark reverse-harem story.
"Oh?"
The keywords had caught my interest, so I'd immediately purchased it.
At first, the male leads seemed promising.
Adrian Bellas, Duke of Bellas and the Empire's Sword.
Nathaniel Stewart, the rising star of the Chancellor's family.
Erden Utel, a mysterious alchemist.
"Nice, nice."
But as the story progressed, something felt off.
The male leads didn't simply become possessive and affectionate.
They beat each other bloody and slaughtered everyone except the heroine.
And then they actually killed everyone except the heroine.
The heroine herself, already shattered by endless trauma, eventually followed them into death as a form of repentance.
The emptiness I felt after reading the final page was indescribable.
"...Author?"
That was the first time I'd ever given a novel a one-star rating.
Not long afterward, I was diagnosed with cancer.
After a long battle, I died.
Don't tell me I got reincarnated because of that one-star review?
Tears slipped down my face through my hazy consciousness.
Even so, couldn't you have sent me somewhere else?
Rohesia Utel.
The Poison Rose of the Utel Alchemist Family.
I remembered the scene from the latter half of the novel where Adrian's poison turned her entire body blue before killing her.
"Now you finally look worthy of the title Poison Rose."
Hadn't Adrian said something like that?
That crazy bastard...
I tried to clench my tiny fist but suddenly realized something.
I'd never even met Adrian yet.
At this point in time, he was probably still locked away in some basement, unable to step into the outside world.
Though his personality was undoubtedly deteriorating in real time.
As for me, I hadn't done anything evil yet.
The worst thing I'd ever done was steal my brother's allowance to buy candy.
That meant there was still hope.
I opened my eyes.
The system window was still flashing brightly before me.
[SYSTEM: Welcome to the world of <The Sacrifice of the Thorned Goldfinch Flower>!]
Right. That thing was still here.
The whole situation was so absurd that I'd nearly forgotten.
As if noticing my gaze, a new popup appeared.
[ADMIN: Only you can save this world. Complete quests, prevent the characters' corruption, and receive rewards!]
What was that supposed to mean?
Save the world?
Well, if all the protagonists died, then I suppose the world might as well end.
But forget the world.
My survival came first.
That's why the part about preventing the characters' corruption immediately caught my attention.
Looking closer, I noticed something.
This popup didn't say SYSTEM.
It said ADMIN.
Well, every system had an administrator.
I stared at the glowing message and asked,
"How exactly am I supposed to stop them from going dark?"
I'd already been moved back to my room.
No one else was around.
As soon as I muttered the question, another window appeared.
[ADMIN: Experiences during childhood possess tremendous influence. Meet the characters and lower their corruption levels.]
[You can do it!]
Was it just my imagination?
The administrator sounded strangely excited.
I, on the other hand, was thoroughly confused.
"Why do you trust me so much?"
Beep.
[ADMIN: That's...]
[A secret.]
You little...!
I was momentarily irritated, but decided to try something more practical.
"Status window."
Wasn't that how these systems always worked in novels and movies?
The moment the words left my mouth, a translucent screen appeared.
Lv. 2 — Youngest Daughter of the Utel Family
Skill Points: 1
Condition: Slight Headache
Charm: C
Fame: — (Unranked)
A faint rose pattern decorated the background of the status window, fitting the nickname I'd eventually receive.
Still, the stats were pitifully cute.
In other words—
I was a complete beginner.
How exactly was I supposed to save anyone with this?
As I stared at the screen, the door suddenly opened.
"You're awake."
It was Erden.
Without hesitation, he sat on my bed and placed a hand on my forehead.
As he leaned down, the shadows of his red eyelashes fell across his pale cheeks.
It was hard to believe that only eight years later, this same boy would commit all sorts of morally questionable acts for the woman he loved.
Sure, he'd always been a little cold and eccentric, but still...
Ding!
The moment I looked at him, another popup appeared.
Eldest Son of the Utel Family
Condition: Calm
Charm: B
Fame: C
What?
Why was his Charm higher than mine?
Honestly, wasn't I prettier?
And unlike me, he even had a Fame rank despite not having debuted in society yet.
I don't like this!
Since I'd already spent ten years living as Rohesia before recovering my memories, I genuinely saw Erden as my older brother.
Naturally, I wanted to save his life too.
"I thought you'd gone crazy."
"Huh?"
Maybe I should just give up on saving him.
"You suddenly started crying, said weird things, and passed out."
Hmm.
From his perspective, that was fair.
The status windows floating before me clearly weren't visible to him.
If I told people I could see things like this, they'd think I was insane.
Keeping it secret was definitely the best option.
Sigh.
At the tender age of ten, I'd already acquired a burdensome secret.
Since life was becoming difficult anyway, I pointed a finger at Erden and scolded him.
"When entering a lady's room, you're supposed to knock first!"
"The fact that you're yelling means you're fine."
Ding!
The electronic sound from earlier rang out again.
The bottom of the system window flashed.
[SYSTEM: You have 1 completed quest.]
After making sure Erden wasn't paying attention, I glanced at it.
A quest window opened.
[QUEST: Firmly lecture the male lead Erden, whose moral compass is severely distorted. (112/3)]
"...?"
The completion count—112—had already far exceeded the required number of 3.
Well, ever since I'd learned how to talk, I'd never stopped criticizing Erden.
[QUEST: ...Automatically Cleared!]
[SYSTEM: Reward +20 EXP, +1 Coin]
[Level Up!]
[QUEST: The quest has advanced to the next stage.]
[QUEST: Firmly lecture the male lead Erden, whose moral compass is severely distorted. (109/10)]
[Automatically Cleared!]
For a while, electronic chimes continued ringing.
Quest.
Auto Clear.
Level Up.
The words flashed repeatedly.
By the time the dazzling lights finally faded, my level had risen all the way to 10.
Unfortunately, celebrating was premature.
[QUEST: Firmly lecture the male lead Erden, whose moral compass is severely distorted. (99/300)]
It looked like my nagging marathon would continue for a very long time.
As far as I could tell, that idiot had been born with a broken moral compass.
What exactly had gone wrong in our mother's womb to make my life this difficult?
I glared at him resentfully.
His green eyes looked back at me with lukewarm pity.
"I really think something's wrong with your head..."
"It isn't!"
Was he really a male lead?
Looking more carefully, I noticed there was additional information beneath Erden's status window.
