Though it wasn’t funny, she laughed emptily from sheer absurdity.

So she worked this hard all along without even being the protagonist? Believing she could return home? Even that might have been a lie told by that man.

What terrible luck.

‘Really, my luck is… just too terrible, ha……’

After the hollow laugh came tears. She had thought this corrupted world’s plot was too easy. If she had known the ending would be bad, she wouldn’t have acted so boldly.

No, since the real protagonist was perfectly fine, perhaps it wasn’t a bad ending. Maybe the narrative of a mere extra didn’t matter. Nothing would change even if she cried like this.

“Ungh, this is so frustrating, huuk.”

Teardrops raced down her reddened eyes, inflamed with anger.

She never imagined she would miss the cliché plot twist where someone possesses an extra’s body but turns out to be the protagonist. Those transmigrator were probably living comfortably by now.

The only one who failed was Jang Jangmi, who had lived in this transmigrator-corrupted world for two years.

The title 〈Heroes Save with Their Bodies〉 was actually more like 〈Former Heroes Survive by Fraud〉—an “everyone knows but you” transmigration story, essentially a transmigration outcast story.

‘These days, such plots… hic, would get criticized, what confidence did they have, huk, so annoying.’

Jang Jangmi, Transmigration Holdings employee of three years… no, ex-employee, was a passionate representative… no, ex-representative who had experienced every transmigration story from old to new.

Do you know how unsettling and miserable it feels when everyone in the story knows something that only you don’t?

Transmigrators never hesitated to give one-star ratings to such works. Even those who had been living enjoyably would contact the aftercare team frantically requesting refunds.

‘That’s why I had such a, huuk, hard time. My performance dropped and I got scolded by the department head, aaagh…!’

Finally exploding with frustration, Rosé jumped to her feet.

The memory of the difficult early days of her career made her forget that bastard Lian Mora’s voice, leaving only the thought of escaping this damned place.

But then…..

“Done crying?”

Finding her master standing before her was unexpected.

“Master?”

Her feet faltered in surprise, but she was standing in front of a tree trunk. She ended up banging her back against the hard pillar.

She had completely forgotten about her master while thinking only of that con artist. But how could she explain?

That she just discovered he was a fraud, and was trying to leave when suddenly he kissed her? But did she even need to explain in the first place?

The protagonist of this transmigration story wasn’t Rosé Mora, this naive country girl, but the con artist Lian Mora. Now she didn’t care about gaining stats anymore.

“I… have nothing to say.”

Rosé turned away from Muho, who must have been hurt.

She had kissed another man in front of her partner. She should have spoken more sincerely, but Rosé had given up—she had resigned.

The reason to become a hero, the reason to gain stats for him, had vanished. Her entire past life running toward the goal of returning home had literally collapsed.

Was there any need to keep running? The ending would only be death anyway.

So if her master wanted to break up, there was nothing she could…

“I’m sorry.”

“……What?”

Rosé stared at Muho’s lips with round eyes, wondering if she had misheard.

She had imagined various breakup lines—let’s part ways, don’t show your face again, I don’t want anything to do with a flirt like you—but she hadn’t expected an apology.

“I should have come sooner to pull that bastard off you… I’m sorry. Really.”

Muho tightly embraced the dazed Rosé. From the hand stroking her hair, she could feel how carefully he was holding her.

Rosé remained speechless for a while, then suddenly burst into tears.

She thought that if he wanted to break up, she would let him go without regret. But in truth, she had wanted comfort.

She hoped someone would ask if she was okay. The con artist was someone else, yet this innocent man was even apologizing to her.

His embrace felt too warm. Too warm to want to part from him.

“Master, I……”

“I know without you saying. You must have felt disgusted and furious. You did nothing wrong.”

Rosé kept nodding in his arms. He seemed to have entered her mind, saying only what she wanted to hear.

She had done nothing wrong. She had merely been deceived by a cunning con artist. It definitely wasn’t because she liked it, liked it…

“You didn’t do it because you liked it, right?”

The answer didn’t come easily. Her throat pricked like something was stuck in it.

When Rosé stopped nodding, Muho pulled her closer and asked again. Unlike his gentle hand stroking her hair, his eyes were empty, staring into space.

“Did you like it. Did you hate it. Just tell me that.”

His tone was strangely childlike, not like speaking to an adult. His voice carried irritation.

But Rosé, unable to see his expression, didn’t doubt his intention. He was just showing a little jealousy. He wasn’t trying to interrogate her.

“I hated it. Of course.”

The tight embrace loosened at that moment. Muho slowly pulled away and examined her face.

His eyes lingered persistently on her lips, checking if she was lying. Soon he noticed her peeled, scratched lips and smiled.

“Don’t worry. That bastard can’t touch you anymore.”

Muho pulled her chin to make eye contact. His dilated pupils roamed over her cheeks, lips, and collarbone where Lian had touched.

Rosé instinctively stepped back from his scrutinizing gaze. But he wouldn’t let her go.

“Where do you think you’re going.”

“Ugh.”

A thick arm with visible muscle fibers wrapped around her waist. The force was more oppressive than desperate.

“From now on, I’ll raise you.”

A low voice, followed by a sudden wind that began to swirl. The place where the two stood shook violently.

The surrounding gusts made it difficult to breathe. Rosé choked and clung to Muho’s arm.

“Mas, ugh, ter……”

“I’ll feed you like he did, put you to bed, earn money for you.”

She might have seen him smile as she lost consciousness.

“And I can f*ck you too.”

* * *

Blue Rock, with its ceiling and walls half-collapsed. In the middle of the dilapidated mansion that looked like a demolition site, broken wooden planks occasionally twitched.

Just when it became unclear whether what was inside was an insect or a person, a system window appeared.

〈SYSTEM〉 ‘Mother of Lust and Depravity’ asks if you’re still alive, stamping her feet anxiously.

The wooden planks moved more vigorously. Dust scattered, then the thickest and largest plank was kicked away by someone’s foot.

What emerged was a man cursing and breathing heavily—Lian, once hailed as a hero, was now thoroughly beaten by a tiger.

〈SYSTEM〉 ‘Mother of Lust and Depravity’ sheds a tear, saying she thought you’d need a remake like someone else.

“Damn it……”

Lian fiercely shook off the gray dust thickly accumulated in his hair. If the Sword of Asker’s barrier hadn’t activated just then, he would have truly died.

His former master, who had understood and helped him more than anyone, had genuinely tried to kill him. Even breaking the divine beast’s restriction against harming humans.

〈SYSTEM〉 ‘Mother of Lust and Depravity’ breathes heavily, saying she should contact the Eastern Continent administrator and argue it’s a setting error.

“That’s enough. This much is… ugh.”

Lian gritted his teeth and popped his dislocated shoulder back into place. Though he tried to act unaffected, these were the worst injuries he’d sustained since leaving the tower.

Crushed under the collapsed ceiling, he had no part of his body left uninjured. His black pants were stained bright red from wounds torn by sharp boards.

He had hastily used his shirt to stop the bleeding, but his head still spun.

“Damn it.”

Lian tried to stand up by bracing his knee but cursed and collapsed again. He had vaguely known, but his body had truly weakened.

Judging by his past recovery ability, this physical condition would leave him groaning for at least two weeks. It was completely different from his days as a hero when bones would mend after just one day of rest.

Lian held his throbbing head and looked around the half-destroyed mansion. This was nothing short of ruins. It was an even more terrible sight than when he first received the mansion.

The flooring was warped like its threads had come loose, the walls were stripped bare showing the frame, and the scrap metal chandelier decorations were all broken into pieces.

Funds: 299 sila

Checking his funds, Lian rubbed his temple hard. His already aching head now seemed to ring through to his brain. Just when he thought he had managed to solve living expenses, now he needed to cover repair costs too.

But lack of money was the lesser problem. Lian roughly wiped the blood flowing from his forehead and activated the tracking system.

〈SYSTEM〉 Displaying tracking results for nurturee ‘Rosé Mora’.

Current location: Unknown

‘Unknown?’

Lian’s eyebrows rose. He had tracked her location numerous times before, but this was the first time ‘Unknown’ had appeared.

The system created by a transcendent being couldn’t have broken down. So then…

〈SYSTEM〉 ‘Mother of Lust and Depravity’ scratches her head, saying the system might not work properly in a tiger’s den.

Despite the clear answer, Lian’s expression grew more grim. Tiger’s den. In other words, his master’s mountain cave where he ate and slept. The reason Rosé would be there was obvious without looking…

〈SYSTEM〉 The nurturee has entered ‘Muho(S-Tier)’s ‘hardcore section’.

“Nothing’s going right. Damn it.”

Hardcore section. A zone that even the system’s will couldn’t control. The only method was to calm the conquest target’s anger.

〈SYSTEM〉 ‘Mother of Lust and Depravity’ shakes her head, saying the tiger’s s*xual preferences are as intense as yours, making the nurturee quite pitiful.

Lian clenched his molars and struggled to his feet. Then he found and picked up the Sword of Asker that had fallen beside a collapsed pillar.

〈SYSTEM〉 ‘Mother of Lust and Depravity’ widens her eyes, asking if you really plan to enter the tiger’s den.

The transcendent being’s dialogue window appeared quite urgently. Lian nodded as if it were obvious.

The longer one dragged out time in a hardcore section, the harder escaping became. It was difficult even with a clear mind, and she had a high probability of not overcoming it in her current state.

If the penalty involved bodily dismemberment…

The muscles in Lian’s clenched jaw tensed visibly. He absolutely couldn’t allow that.

〈SYSTEM〉 ‘Mother of Lust and Depravity’ snickers, saying she doesn’t know why that angry face looks like jealousy to her.

The transcendent being’s words, which pierced Lian’s heart, fortunately or unfortunately appeared briefly and disappeared while he was looking for his shoes.

But he would manage somehow. Regardless, it was certain she was in a dangerous situation.

The only remaining problem was finding the tiger’s den—the temple called the divine beast’s nest. The transcendent being sent meaningless encouragement toward the protagonist facing a difficult journey.

〈SYSTEM〉 ‘Mother of Lust and Depravity’ blows a vuvuzela and waves a cheering stick.

In reality, what sinister scheme the transcendent being might be plotting behind that smiling face was something that neither the protagonist in this game nor a mere human, Lian Mora, could know.