Chapter 42
042 [Chapter 3 - Section 3]
The romance fantasy novel I Became the Youngest Daughter of the Count Family begins with an Earth woman reincarnating as the daughter of a count's family on an alien planet. Noble status. Stunning beauty. Immense wealth. She was the perfect protagonist, equipped with every element others could envy.
Isn't it already over? I had zero expectations, since it was obvious handsome young men would line up vying for her, even without reading further.
And sure enough, it unfolded exactly as predicted, without a single twist to shatter my assumptions.
"Manager. Is this actually fun?"
"I think men who enjoy fantasy novels full of beating and killing are the weird ones."
"Ah, yeah."
Seo Hye-ju's flawless counterargument had me raising the white flag immediately.
Anyway, "There are so many guys who fall for the protagonist. The knight escort, her kingdom's prince, a foreign prince, the young emperor, a famous mercenary, her childhood friend, the clever butler..." Every handsome guy in the novel gets tangled up with her somehow.
They fall head over heels in love just from locking eyes with her!
"That's why it's a novel."
"Aha!"
Even so, wasn't it a stretch for all these men to circle a woman handpicked by the emperor of a superpower, desperately craving her love? Unless she had a death wish and wanted to get assassinated...
There were plenty of other implausible bits that strained credibility, but hey, it's a hit for a reason—no arguing with success!
"Kang Moon-soo-ssi. What'd you think?"
"Painful to read from start to finish. The ending was unsatisfying too."
An utterly irresponsible finale that left it to the readers' imagination without her ever picking a husband right up to the last page. Probably unavoidable, given how the plot was rigged so the rejects would rampage in rage or off themselves from heartbreak the moment she chose.
By the way...
"No sign of the director. Manager, any idea where he is?"
"......"
"Manager?"
"He's back home undergoing a police investigation right now."
"Gasp! Why?"
Police out of nowhere?
"The director's job is to protect and manage the athletes. But he wasn't there when you collapsed."
"Even so..."
"He was at a casino. There's testimony from a girl who says he paid her. You can fill in the rest."
"......"
This hyper-realistic slice of reality left me speechless.
"It's not your fault."
"But it only came out because of my issue."
"He never should've done it in the first place. Booked cheap transport just to fund his entertainment."
"Ah..."
I'd thought that passenger ship—treating us practically like cattle—was fishy too. Never imagined it hid this ulterior motive! A shiver of betrayal ran through me.
"Feeling better now?"
"...Yeah. So what happens to me going forward?"
In the few days I'd been out, I'd lost the director who'd been guiding me.
Does this even make sense?
But it was cold, hard reality, so I had to accept it. Just like I'd convinced Song Seon-yeong and Choi Kang-min to face facts instead of denying reality and clinging to their dreams.
No exceptions for me.
"No clue on my end. How about partnering up with me while you've got the chance?"
"You said it'd turn me into an idiot."
What kind of sales pitch scares me with brain cell damage first, then dangles the offer?
Seo Hye-ju averted her gaze, as if regretting her words.
"That's the norm, but your recovery's abnormally strong, Kang Moon-soo-ssi. You'll be fine."
"Say it to my face."
"Ah! Hungry yet? You've been buried in books since waking up."
"...Starving."
I gave up pressing and rubbed my sunken stomach.
Wild.
Right after snapping out of the dream, I'd dove straight into the romance fantasy novel I Became the Youngest Daughter of the Count Family.
Originally planned to skim the start and rest, but...
"Fun novel?"
"Nah. Couldn't get immersed—the guys fawning over the protagonist felt totally unrealistic."
Aside from her endlessly hyped beauty, she had zero redeeming qualities, yet they were ready to pledge their souls! How the hell did they pass as respected rulers of territories and nations with that pathetic devotion? Baffling.
"You sure were focused for someone nitpicking."
"......"
Couldn't argue with Seo Hye-ju's dig. Facts were facts.
I'd binged all five volumes without stopping midway.
Totally hooked!
Curiosity over her tangled love life—how it'd sort out, who she'd end up with—kept me going, only for an open-ended cop-out. Infuriating...
"Kang Moon-soo-ssi. Let's head out. My treat."
"Director said outside the hotel's dangerous..."
"It is. No lie there. But the hotel area's got guards and cops protecting tourists—security's solid."
"Aha!"
Seo Hye-ju, now in simple outing clothes, took the lead.
"Follow me."
"Thanks for coming."
"Don't sweat it. That chemical formula you brought from the future? Worth every bit."
"Even so..."
A layman like me couldn't even ballpark its value.
"The world's gonna change. Just like with P's Aptitude Test machine."
"That big?"
I hoped the day she described came soon.
* * *
It wasn't a long time, but the bitter truth that the director I'd relied on had duped me drew a wry smile.
My karma?
Through Song Seon-yeong's dream, I'd learned he was the one saving that swimmer and approached him on purpose.
Figured skill trumped aptitude—he'd snap me up regardless!
But the world wasn't that accommodating to my schemes.
「Director: Sorry.」
A curt message sat on my smartphone.
Ring ring~♪
I called right away, but no pickup no matter how long I waited.
Click.
"Haa..."
"Still hung up on the director?"
"Obviously."
"Hmm~ You really treasure your connections, Kang Moon-soo-ssi."
"Praise?"
"Fifty-fifty."
"Ugh."
But I couldn't mope forever.
We filled up on exotic local eats and returned to base for some serious research.
What kind? "Dream timeline looks like late Volume 2, where conflict erupts with the duke family betrothed to her in the womb."
"Weird. If the patient read up to Volume 4 and mimicked the protagonist, no war would've broken out..."
"Seems it escalated when her fiancé caught her kissing the knight escort."
"Nothing like that in the novel."
In the original, protagonist Anjilina Chimac tearfully stops the knight who's sorting his feelings and about to leave. No kiss. No getting caught...
Because the core's different?
The original protag was lucky as hell—new hunks popping up to save her in every crisis.
But not for the patient with the same face; no such fortune.
"My hunch: the patient didn't perfectly recall the protagonist's lines and actions."
"Checks out. Original Anjilina was passive about guy troubles."
"Cunning, though."
We deep-dived into I Became the Youngest Daughter of the Count Family, analyzing harder than the author ever did.
All to predict the patient's next moves as the possessed protagonist!
"But Manager, is this analysis even useful? Plot derailed with a war that never happened in canon."
"It is. If I were the patient, I'd scramble to mend those ties somehow."
"Why?"
"Any fan of this novel wouldn't ditch her fiancé. Hand him off to another woman? Horrifying to even imagine!"
Seo Hye-ju ranted with fierce conviction.
"...Big fan, huh."
"Loved it except the ending. I wanted her puppeteering every guy into peacefully unifying the continent."
"Ah, sure."
Cleaner than the open end, but I couldn't quite endorse.
"Who wins the war's the key."
"Predictable?"
"...Forces seemed evenly matched. No idea."
"Then they'd fake a fight, call a truce to save noble face."
"Fake...?"
Countless died meaningless deaths. And those were just props for noble dignity?
Seo Hye-ju lectured like a teacher. "Before cannons could smash stone walls, medieval castles were a nightmare to siege. Talk of needing ten times the troops wasn't exaggeration."
"Why?"
"Even if forces are even, winners rarely seize the castle. Unless they capture the lord or heir on the field."
"Ah!"
"And victory with massive losses? Neighbors become the issue. They'd never pass up a golden chance at a weakened castle. A treaty from the powerless might as well be toilet paper. History proves it."
"Makes sense."
"So assume a draw and plan from there."
"...Let's dive in."
One round of clueless flailing to a stupid death was plenty.
My brain cells were precious!
The patient's fuzzy plot recall was a wildcard, but we built a rock-solid strategy accounting for it.
Day one, two... We mapped the novel world, memorized character backstories and relations, prepped methodically.
And at last: "Time to go back properly!"
"Confident?"
"This prep? If it flops, I'll quit clean."
"Bold resolve."
"See you later, Manager. Greet the new director for me."
"I'll explain. Oh! Right—if you meet my favorite character, give me a heads-up."
"How to topple the empire and unify the continent?"
Thought it was a joke...?
"Please."
"That's... I'll mull it."
I set off once more to confront the patient trapped in the novel!
* * *
Round two respawn: smack in the wasteland where I'd died.
Outfit... "Beggar vibes."
Stuff I'd briefly worn as a soldier.
A step up from naked slave grunt—leather gear topped with a thin Chimac family crest tunic.
But that was then.
How many trampled my corpse?
Torn battle rags everywhere, plastered in footprints and blood—no pristine patches.
And the battlefield was as trashed as my threads: no soldiers, just women and kids scavenging the dirt like treasure hunters...
"Little miss."
"Yes!"
The girl, waist-high on me, answered brightly.
"Whatcha hunting?"
"Corpses!"
"......"
Grinning innocently, but really?
Shaking off the culture shock quick, I pressed on.
"Why corpses?"
"Sell rings so Mom and Dad don't starve."
"...Got it. Sweet kid."
Decoding her quirky reply was easy.
"What're you doing here, oppa?"
"I..."
"Secret?"
I patted the girl's impatient head. "Here to punish a bad noona."
"Where's she at?"
"Over there."
I pointed to the city housing Chimac Count's estate.
"Then why head the opposite way?"
"Gotta prep first."
"What kinda prep?"
"Secret."
I waved bye to her pouty lips and picked up the pace.
Bound for Somac Duchy territory—home to the protagonist's fiancé.