[No Title Provided]
It took quite a while for the storm to finally die down after I tried to button that first button.
"So, buddy...? Please stop crying...."
"Hic... I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."
"Charlie...? Why are you still like that?"
"Sis!"
"I'm sorry. We're so sorry, Director.... Hey, you stop crying too and get out here quick. ...The director's really gonna get mad...."
"...."
"I'll take him out right now! Sorry!"
I could hear everything, kids. The girl hurriedly dragged Charlie away. She moved so fast, I half-expected her to join the Survey Corps if she knew how to use ODM gear.
"...Drains the life outta me."
My gaze lingered on the spot where they'd vanished. In my past life, I'd been pretty good with kids. I'd look after the little ones in the hospital ward and get more snacks than the hospital food in return.
Scaring them just by showing up is a rare skill....
Maybe the body I'd possessed had an even more rotten personality than I'd imagined. It seemed spot on, given how it was screaming and raging in my head right now.
Villain level.
Villains gonna villain. Whatever. For now, I ignored the hallucination's meltdown and focused on sorting out the situation.
Combining my webnovel reader experience with the wild fantasies I'd spun in my hospital bed... there was no doubt about it. I'd possessed a character in a novel. Denying it would just mean I'd died back in reality and that was that, so let's call it a possession and move on nicely.
But hearing someone else's voice in my head suggested the possession wasn't perfect...? What did that mean?
Too little info....
The memories of Luagwen I'd gained during the possession were frustratingly fragmented. Nothing useful.
I did learn she liked wine, though. Plus, all the info I knew from my past life was from the protagonist Kiara's perspective. There'd be zilch on Luagwen. She was just a minor early-game character who popped up briefly and peaced out.
Anyway, my top priority now that I'd possessed her was to avert the death flag that came with this body....
"Excuse me, Luagwen?"
[How rude, stealing someone else's body like that.]
"Can we talk?"
[....]
"Hello? Pardon?"
[....]
Not cooperative at all. Guess I'd have to do some legwork. Figuring out the current timeline was key... but judging by the kids still being alive, it didn't seem like the "worst-case scenario" had happened yet. If it had, I'd have woken up in a coffin.
"You have no intention of helping, do you?"
[....]
Okay. No persuading her. Don't dwell on the impossible. First things first, I needed to meet Kiara. The decisive trigger for Luagwen's death was sacrificing the orphanage kids as offerings.
If I started living kindly from now on and built up favor with Kiara, that should do it.... I could picture it: the protagonist suffers through all the hardship while I chill in the back, sucking on the sweet honey.
But what actually unfolded before my eyes was a different scene entirely.
"Letters...?"
Blood...? No, there was no metallic tang in the air. The unnatural red liquid slithered across the desk, forming words.
"Luagwen? Can you see that?"
No response... Did that mean only I could see it? Normally I'd suspect mental illness, but the message forming was too significant for that.
"Luagwen."
I couldn't tell who—or what—had made it yet, but the short sentence carried its meaning crystal clear. Especially to me.
【Failure.】
【190 days】
【1-0 days】
【180 days】
Failure. Days ticking down. A body condition eerily familiar from my past life. The pivotal event that doomed Luagwen was sacrificing the orphanage kids as offerings....
Why? Why did she need offerings? I'd never cared about those questions before, but now the answers hit me.
"You're on a countdown...?"
[...What the hell are you?]
"Ha... what the fu—."
Who sent the message didn't matter right now. A beggar's life. Doomed to a short one, and now another short one stacked on top.
* * *
"I can't just keep calling 'Luagwen, Luagwen' out loud, so I'll call you 'Shasha' from now on."
[How the hell do I die to those orphanage brats?]
"Shasha, is there a kid named Kiara here?"
[How could I die to trash like that.... You're lying to me right now, aren't you?]
"How about we take turns asking one question each?"
Sacrificing others' lives to heal a sickly body. Anyone hearing that would call it peak selfish asshole material lol, but in the novel, Luagwen was a selfish asshole, so no issue there. Separately, though, serving as a minion for the Evil God was a capital crime here—worth hanging for.
I'd nailed the secret Luagwen had hidden her whole life in one shot, then rattled off my future knowledge and novel plot points. Since we were sharing a body anyway, she'd figure it out eventually. Best to sell high, and that got me to the negotiation table with Luagwen.
[Kiara, or... Rostyra. Just kill her and it's over, right?]
"If we could kill her, you wouldn't have needed to sacrifice the kids in the first place, Shasha."
Depending on the regression loop, but post-regression Kiara was top-tier world power level. Pre-regression, she was wrapped in the Goddess's blessings.
Jealous protagonist cheat, huh.
Impossible to kill, and the fallout afterward was a no-go. Not an option.
[Poison... ?]
"My turn now. Anyway, poison or whatever—it's impossible, and as long as I'm in this body, I won't agree to it."
[I see....]
"I'd love to hand the body back right this second."
Pure bullshit, of course. Hand it back and I'm done for.
"...I don't know how to reverse it right now anyway, so in exchange for giving you what you want, you cooperate with what I do. Deal?"
[....]
"If you don't help, I might get upset and slit my throat."
This one... half-serious. Honestly, no one could be in a fouler mood than me today. My dad, who'd cared for me alone my whole sick life, died today. I thought maybe reincarnation, but nope—another death sentence?
Maybe grab a knife from somewhere, but luckily, a reply came.
[...Fine. Deal.]
Great. Persuasion complete.
"Perfect. Now the important part.... Do you know where Kiara is right now?"
We'd already cleared one big hurdle, but plenty left. Right after possession was prime golden time, right? Had to button that first button right.
Surviving as the villainess was simple.
Live kindly.
Act like a total irredeemable shit to the end, and anyone can kill you guilt-free. But if you're vicious yet suddenly reform and start acting nice...?
Luckily, Luagwen "probably" hadn't crossed that final line yet... and the "orphanage director" role was straight-up OP. A person repenting past sins, caring for orphans. Killing that without hesitation means you're the one with issues.
Perfect....
Get forgiven by Kiara, run the orphanage quietly, enjoy a happy life.
[No idea....]
"Silver hair, pretty face. We talked about her a ton."
[Why would I track that brat's every move?]
"...Fair enough. Leaving aside that you're the director in charge here."
Maybe even without Kiara, revolution would've come for her anyway. No point grilling Luagwen more—I'd get nothing—so I headed out to search.
The orphanage was surprisingly spacious. Inspect it room by room, and it was basically haunted-house level, but size-wise, it evoked a mansion. Yet the number of kids I ran into? Pathetically low. Zero, actually.
[There are eight kids here. ...Probably.]
"Fewer than expected. Could've sworn there'd be twenty-plus."
[Didn't need that many.]
So much to say, but hold it in.
[This time of day, they're probably in the dining hall.]
"Why?"
[Idiot. It's lunchtime.]
"...."
Sure enough, Luagwen was right—I found the kids on the first-floor outskirts, in the dining hall. The clattering dishes echoed loudly from there, so easy to pinpoint.
"You're here...?"
The first face at the door was the girl who'd fetched Charlie earlier. Seemed she had the biggest guts here. The others bolted to the kitchen the second the door opened.
"What were you doing here? Uh...."
[Alice.]
"...What were you up to, Alice?"
"It's Alice...."
Aw, come on.
I grimaced for a split second, but luckily Alice didn't notice. She spoke mechanically, like she'd rehearsed a thousand times.
"We just finished cooking and were debating whether to bring it to you."
"You kids cook too? Impressive."
"...Thank you."
Alice flicked her eyes toward the kitchen—less a signal, more a desperate SOS with all the frantic chin-jerking.
Three kids hurried out with the food. By age or looks, no Kiara among them.
"...Oh."
The spread on the table surprised me for a different reason. I'd figured no money from the rundown place, but the steak in the center was clearly high-end.
How many times they grilled to get it that even?
The plating was amateurish but good enough for a kids' cooking contest win. But... why only one plate?
"...Where's your food?"
...No way? Alice froze mid-sentence at the unexpected question. Emergency! Emergency!
"...."
"...."
After an awkward stare-down, Charlie saved her this time.
"W-we really didn't skimp...."
"...Eat what you cooked first."
If not for this body, I'd have facepalmed three times. Kiara wasn't even the point right now.... My head was starting to ache from where to begin.
[Can't even prep wine. No learning curve....]
Shut up, please. Trying to button the first button, but there aren't even any clothes.