The Perils of Early Childcare
Lee Yuna.
She had been the fake heroine most popular and highest-rated in the novel Blade God Survival Guide.
Known as the Saintess, her appearance and behavior mimicking the Virgin Mother had led countless readers to hope the protagonist and Yuna would reunite romantically.
But all Yuna had ever loved was the poor bastard Lee Cheon-seong.
"Is this even real?! Why do I have to die for some half-witted extra like him?!"
And Yuna had died, violated by monsters while trying to protect him.
Naturally, the outrage from readers when the most popular heroine candidate was defiled and killed by monsters caused countless others to abandon the novel.
Honestly, I had wanted to do the same, but the subsequent chapters were so infuriatingly addictive that I kept reading, and the result was the novel being abruptly canceled mid-run.
"That crazy bastard author!"
The protagonist never reunited with the heroine.
The most popular Yuna was killed in the monster violation ending, and the other heroines he had any connection with were slaughtered by the main villain, the Celestial race, without ever reuniting. The bastard author never finished the story and just threw the whole thing away.
Even after most readers left upon Yuna's death, the remaining ones watched hoping for an ending where the protagonist and the other heroines somehow found happiness.
But the story was canceled, so the comment sections and other sites were flooded with every curse imaginable for Blade God Survival Guide, and I was no exception.
After cursing for nearly two thousand characters, I suddenly felt dizzy and collapsed.
When I woke up, I was reincarnated into the body of the sub-protagonist from Blade God Survival Guide, Cheon Yu-seong.
"Fucking hell... What the hell is this? Is this a dream? Aah! It hurts..."
At first I thought it was a dream and pinched my cheek, but the pain confirmed it was reality, so I cheered.
"Fuck! I finally reincarnated into a novel too!"
One of the themes in countless novels: transmigration into a story.
And I had become the sub-protagonist of the novel I had read until the very end, even though it was canceled.
Since Yu-seong was the sub-protagonist, he was naturally talented, had wealth, and was handsome.
His father was the guild master of the Heavenly Palace Guild, one of the four great guilds in the country.
With all the knowledge of the future, looks, wealth, and talent that came with this body, my goal was obvious: build a harem.
Already knowing the tastes and personalities of the heroines from the novel, the next step was crystal clear: harem!
"I'll steal all the protagonist's heroines and build my own harem!"
Of course, in this world polygamy is impossible, but once the main villains, the Celestials, invade and people start dying, polygamy will have to be allowed.
"First, I'll sweep through the Legna Academy students!"
Before entering the academy, I would conquer all the students, grow strong, attract the attention of the academy instructors and heroines.
This was the most efficient way to draw major attention, which any transmigrator should do.
"The first heroine I'll target is Yoo Hwa-young, obviously."
Actually, my favorite was Yuna, but since Yuna was hopelessly devoted to the half-wit, I would have to separate her from Cheon-seong first, which would take time.
So I decided to target Yoo Hwa-young first, the one who made the quickest connection.
One month later, Yoo Hwa-young would appear in the episode where she razes the underground auction house beneath the abandoned factory.
Seizing that chance, I would deal with the underground auction house together with her, build rapport, and snatch the expensive magic tools and elixirs inside.
"Speaking of which, what should I do about the Yoho?"
One of the main villains who betrayed humanity during the war with the Celestials—the Yoho.
The nine-tailed fox Yoho with all her tails fully bloomed was certainly a big threat, but...
"Yoho, Yoho... Now that I think about it, the inner core of a nine-tailed fox seemed like a good elixir too..."
Sniff
"Should I lure Yoho here sooner to let her grow stronger?"
A nine-tailed fox has nine tails, but not every nine-tailed fox has nine tails.
The number of tails a nine-tailed fox has determines its strength, and the more tails, the more potent its inner core.
'In the story, the protagonist and heroines handle it together, but... Yoho is honest, I just need to block mental attacks. And Yu-seong had strong mental attack resistance.'
Even though Yu-seong wasn't the main protagonist, he was still the sub-protagonist. Yu-seong also had overwhelming specs compared to others.
"Or should I just advance the day when Yoo Hwa-young raids the underground auction house?"
Yoo Hwa-young had heard rumors of a nine-tailed fox in the underground auction house beneath the abandoned factory and was excited, so she attacked.
Then, if I leaked the news of the nine-tailed fox and first raided the place where Yoho's parents lived?
"Then I can get two of Yoho's inner cores and even increase the confrontation with Yoo Hwa-young, right?"
According to the setting, Yoho's parents were strong opponents with seven tails each, but with mental attack defense magic tools and hiring strong mercenaries, it would be no problem.
Money wasn't an issue either—selling the nine-tailed fox's skin or fangs would restore everything in no time.
"This... I need to plan this quickly."
This was the plan that popped into Yu-seong's mind the moment he reincarnated into the novel.
***
"Thank you for the meal!"
"Yeah. Don't just go to sleep after eating—sit up."
"Yes~~!"
"And sleep. I'll give you one extra today, only for today."
"Wow! Daddy is the best!!"
After finishing his meal, Seong told Hana to sit and took out a Tendon-X, fed her one piece, then began cleaning up while Beatrice entertained her.
"Hmm? Now there’s no food left at home. Beatrice. I’ll go buy some groceries—mind watching Hana for a bit?"
[Understood. Come back safely.]
"Daddy, come back safely!"
"Yeah, I’ll get something delicious when I return."
With those words, a happy voice from behind calling out "Daddy is the best!" made a smile spread across Seong’s lips.
After shopping, Seong was heading home when he saw a scene that would make him furious.
"Those bastards... How dare they."
Whoosh!
Seong’s eyes widened as he saw Yuna being dragged into the dark alley by two men, her mouth covered.
He charged at the men, his aura vanishing.
Boom!!
Crash!!
"Yuna, are you okay?"
"Excuse me, are you okay?"
Seong kicked the large man who was trying to drag Yuna away and helped Yuna up from the ground, asking if she was fine. His hand wasn’t the only one extended.
And the voice coming from beside him sent a cold sweat down his spine.
Turning his neck with a creak, he saw a red-haired woman with ruby eyes—his rival, Yoo Hwa-young, who he had sworn not to make contact with—extending her hand to Yuna.
'No fucking way, why is she here!!'
Yoo Hwa-young had no motivation for anything that didn’t interest her and stayed home.
So I had assumed she wouldn’t meet me while I was out, but that assumption was shattered today.
"Excuse me. Have we ever met?"
"I-I don’t know what you’re talking about."
"Huh? That voice sounds similar to that guy’s... Hmm. Must be my imagination."
"Cheon-seong? Are you two acquainted?"
Avoiding Yoo Hwa-young’s gaze, Cheon-seong answered that they had never met, while she wondered if her imagination was playing tricks.
At that moment, Yuna looked at Seong with eyes as black as death and a flat voice.
"Ah... No. We don’t know each other."
"Really? We’ve never met? That voice feels familiar..."
"No! No! Y-Yuna, let’s go!"
"Ah...! A-Alright."
Seong judged the conversation too dangerous, grabbed Yuna’s hand, and fled. Yuna, blushing from the sudden skinship with Seong, followed him.
"Fucking hell... Is it really not? She kinda looks like the face too."
"Ugh... This bastard! You bitches! What the hell are you doing?! Aah aah!!"
"Quiet down. I’m thinking."
Yoo Hwa-young, who had been imagining Cheon-seong’s face from the broken one in the underground auction house, supported the groaning man’s shoulder with fire and told him to shut up.
"Kuaaaaaaaaah!! Let... Let me go, you fucking bastards!!"
"Fuck, this is annoying. Kim Secretary. Handle these guys. I’ll go back."
"Yes, understood. Miss."
Yoo Hwa-young frowned at the noisy men following her, called her secretary, and headed home.
"Kuk... My arm... Fuck... My arm..."
The screams of the thugs left behind with the Flame King Guild’s secretary in the black suit echoed through the dark alley, but the sound was sealed by a barrier and only reverberated inside the alley.
......
"Haah... Haah... Seong... Seong-ah... I... I can’t hold on anymore."
"Ah... Sorry, Yuna."
"Haah... Haah... No. Cheon-seong. I’m really grateful you saved me just now."
Seong kept running without stopping while Yuna panted and spoke to him. Only then did he realize she was fine and stopped, apologizing.
"But Cheon-seong. Were you out buying groceries?"
"Ah... Yeah. We’re staying at home. Everything’s run out."
"You already ate the bento I made?"
Cheon-seong was slightly tense, realizing Yuna didn’t know who he was, and nodded.
"Um... Then, Cheon-seong, I’m grateful you saved me, so... Can I make you bento when I get home?"
"Ah... No! It’s fine anyway. I should have helped! So no need."
"No. If you hadn’t saved me, I would have been in danger, so I want to do it."
"Ah... Okay. Thank you."
Cheon-seong accepted because he couldn’t refuse her smiling face, but a crisis alert went off in his mind.
'What now!? Should I call Beatrice... Wait, Beatrice doesn’t even have a phone!'
In a situation where he couldn’t even contact Beatrice, Cheon-seong’s sweat poured down as it got worse the closer they got to home.
"Cheon-seong, are you sick? Why are you sweating so much?"
Seeing Seong sweat too much, Yuna asked. Seong startled and answered.
"Ah... No. It’s... a bit hot."
"Was the weather hot today...?"
"Y-Yuna, let’s hurry."
Thud!
"Ah! A... Uh... Yeah..."
This ended with Seong holding Yuna’s hand and walking, eventually arriving at his house door. Tense, he opened the door with sweaty hands.
Creeeeak
The sound of a Pandora’s box opening echoed.