Adopting the Male Protagonist Changed the Genre - Chapter 3

* * *

The smile immediately vanished from Sybel’s face as he turned his back on the dining room.

His expressionless face was strikingly abnormal, almost giving the impression of something else entirely.

“Any news from the messenger?” Sybel asked the aide who had followed him like a shadow from behind.

“Nothing new as of yet, beyond a sighting of what appeared to be a notary in the north.”

After the Marquis’s sudden death, the eyes and ears of society were focused on the Marquis of Blanche’s will.

It contained the name of an heir who would inherit everything belonging to the Blanche family.

However, contrary to popular expectation, the contents of the will were not made public after the Marquis’ funeral.

In fact, the wax seal was never even found, let alone broken.

The notary with the Marquis’s will had disappeared.

The aide looked around for any listening ears, then lowered his voice even further.

“As you requested, we’ve covered most of the upper echelons of the Blanche family’s holdings. Even if we can’t find the will, they’ll be happy to comply with your wishes.”

The smile finally returned to Sybel’s face.

Yes, there was no need to worry. There was no one better suited to be the next in line, either in ability or in character.

He had come a long way for this day.

All this time, he had been bending over backwards, acting like a good brother and pretending he had no ambition.

That ended today.

Sybel had been waiting for this day since the day of the ‘accident’.

The good-natured smile that now seemed to have become part of his flesh tugged at the corners of his mouth.

“When the dust settles, you should find her a good match. Though I’m not sure she’ll like him, as she’s a very demanding girl.”

There was a hint of mockery in his voice.

“I’ll find her a ‘suitable’ husband.”

“Yes, I’ll leave it to you, as always. Oh, my sister hates having children with a passion, so I’d prefer her husband to be childless.”

Even as he said this, there was not a hint of malice in Sybel’s face.

“It would be a shame if any offspring tried to parasitise my family.”

He still seemed to be nothing more than a poor brother who was willing to forgive his sister’s wickedness at every turn.

* * *

‘Nobody in this house is on Belinda’s side.’

The evaluation of the situation ended with last night’s dinner. Now it was even doubtful that the dead uncle had really cared for Belinda.

The story said that Sybel had always laughed off the damage caused by his wretched sister.

However, he seemed to be very comfortable with “provoking Belinda and making up misdeeds she hadn’t committed”.

I wonder how many of Belinda’s misdeeds were true.

Probably not all of them. It was still probably true that she had a bad temper and a sense of entitlement that allowed her to abuse the main character.

I resignedly accepted my current situation.

First things first.

Most of Belinda’s deaths were due to the ‘supporting characters’ that appeared in the game.

Well, she was sometimes unfortunate enough to die in accidents.

In any case, the supporting characters recognise the protagonist’s talent and support him by helping the player, while also proving their love for the child by punishing Belinda for her abuse.

In other words, Belinda, if you’re being mean to the protagonist because of the translator, you’re going to have a much higher chance of being killed by the supporters.

I still don’t know the conditions that trigger the sync, and all I know is that the translator doesn’t work if no one is listening.

On top of that, I have a family member who is gnashing his teeth at me.

“Well, if cancer is the enemy, escape is the answer.” 1

(E/N: the superscript ‘1’ lines up with the translator’s footnote at the end of the chapter, as it is a rather long explanation.)

The jewelry I’d found after ransacking Belinda’s room all night clinked in my hand, cheering me on.

Considering the cost of living in this game, it would be enough to support myself in a small town in the middle of nowhere.

‘If I had the funds, I could open a small café or something.’

In my previous life, I didn’t want to bother my aunt, so I ran away as soon as I graduated from high school and became independent.

I wanted to live a normal life like everyone else, so I gritted my teeth, studied, and earned money like crazy. But when I finally came to my senses, I realized that I didn’t have even a single hobby.

<Hirome> was the only thing that brought me joy in that dreary life.

But somehow, that hobby has become my full-time job, so in this life, I should find a new hobby and be lazy doing whatever I want.

However, there was one major problem with this plan.

“I’m already possessing someone, yet I can’t even get a glimpse of the main character’s face.”

Would it be too stalkerish to pay a visit to the palace later and steal a glimpse of the main character’s face, even from a distance?

As I was pondering, I noticed a pair of footsteps on the other side of the door.

The steps of an adult woman, followed closely by that of a young child, cautious as a frightened animal.

I quickly swept my valuables into my dressing table drawer seconds before the door burst open with a faint knock.

I managed to avoid looking incredibly suspicious, but wasn’t this a little excessive in terms of lack of privacy?

I didn’t even say it was okay to come in.

“What?”

My voice came out sharper than usual, perhaps reflecting my mood.

Still, the maid who opened the door only announced the purpose of her visit with a machine-like expression.

“I have brought a child to attend to you from today.”

With that, she thrust a wiry, skinny child forward.

“……?”

A hired hand to look after me, but a little kid?

I scratched my head, and Sybel’s words from yesterday’s dinner flashed through my mind.

“There is an orphan who was brought in for the purpose of alleviating the poor…..”

An orphan boy.

Belinda’s dedicated servant.

‘No way, the main character is already coming in at this time?’

Though the settings are pretty much the same.

I couldn’t really tell what the boy looked like because he was so much smaller than I expected, and his hair was shaggy like a puppy that hadn’t been groomed in a long time.

One look at that face and I’d know.

Oh, maybe!

‘Status window?’

“…….”

‘Window, Status! Mister Window!’

I tried to call up the status window in my heart, but nothing like a window that showed the main character’s information in the game came to mind.

Neither could I blurt it out like a madman.

As I pondered what to do, I casually lifted his chin with the tip of the fan I was holding in my hand.

I had to swallow a gasp. The wild hair fell back, revealing the boy’s white face.

“……!”

A thud. My heart dropped to the floor. For a moment, a strange sensation filled my chest.

Hair as black as a raven. Eyes as round and gentle as a puppy’s. Blue eyes speckled with warm colors, like a spring sky with fluttering petals.

Everything about his appearance was the same as the protagonist of <Hirome>.

The only difference was that he was about five times cuter in real life than in the illustrations.

I was truly in awe.

My goodness, how could there be such an adorable creature?

‘He’s like a baby animal.’

“He looks like a wild beast.”

Damn that translator, it caught me off guard.

I looked away, pretending I hadn’t said it.

Then, the maid’s blunt words put a stop to my agitation.

“If you have any future work to do, you’ll have to send this child to me.”

I quickly shot the maid a pleading glance.

‘I would like you to mediate between the two of us for me.’

Luckily, my glare worked, and the maid nodded nervously. And then.

“Then I’ll leave you to…….”

Bang.

The sound of the maid slamming the door echoed through the room.

What the hell. Is she running away now?

“…….”

“…….”

A heavy silence filled the room.

I smiled as brightly as I could, hoping to somehow lighten the awkward mood.

‘Umm, little one, how old are you this year?’

“How old are you this year?”

The child, who had been hanging his head nervously, straightened up and stiffened.

“Yes, yes! I’m nine years old this year!”

‘How cute.’

The corner of my mouth twitched involuntarily.

“Hieuk.”

He made a sound under his breath as if he saw something he shouldn’t have.

Is it possible….. that I’m actually scary?

Belinda’s eyes are fierce, but I don’t think they’re enough to make someone gasp like that.

I put my head down gloomily, pretending to drink tea.

And then I saw it. My face reflected in the clear black tea.

‘What the hell?’

It’s a completely scheming villainous face!

No way….. Does my expression also fall within the range of synchronization?

No wonder everyone flinches and the maid runs away whenever I smile!

I quickly unfolded my fan to cover my face, revealing only my eyes, and the protagonist’s complexion relaxed.

In any case, he said he’s nine years old.

That means we have about six months left before the beginning of the game.

Early spring, half a year from now, when the main character will be ten years old.

He will meet Ophelia, an exiled woman coming to live in the kingdom.

My last doubt had melted away, knowing that the main character is actually real.

The only thing left to wonder about is the ending this child will receive eight years later.

<Hirome> has dozens of different endings depending on how you complete the scenarios and quests, with new endings being updated every month.

<The ‘Star of Heroes’ became the owner of ‘the bakery’, which people say is the most popular in the capital.>

<The ‘Star of Heroes’ has become the kingdom’s greatest archmage, having broken through the top floor of the gray tower…….>

<The ‘Star of Heroes’ is the heir to the High Priest who will rule over the White Palace…….>

I played it again and again, conquering each ending in turn.

Except for one, the true ending.

In fact, <Hirome>, despite its name, had a reputation for players not being able to see the true ending, the hero ending.

‘Personally, I preferred the ending where he becomes the youngest Royal Knight Commander.’

Or the one where he ends up as the heir to the High Priest, because that white robe looks really good on him.

As I contemplated the distant future, an eerie question popped into my head.

‘What if I run away from home now, what happens to the main character?’

Not only would my protagonist’s immediate situation in the mansion be ambiguous, but it would probably affect the events of his meeting with Ophelia.

Rescuing the protagonist from Belinda will lead to a meeting between Ophelia and the protagonist.

What the……. Does this mean that my running away is destroying the original?

As I was wracking my brain, a small voice broke through my thoughts.

“I, I…….”

I glanced down to see him staring up at me with his fists clenched like he’d made up his mind about something.

“Well, whatever you ask me to do, I’ll do it!”

“…….”

“I can clean, I know how to scrub the crevices of hardwood floors, I know how to make furniture sparkle and shine, and, and, and…….”

The child’s voice grew hoarse as he rattled off a long list of cleaning tricks, eager to sell himself.

“I’ll be a useful servant, so if you’ll let me work here, I’ll be able to help you…….”

He didn’t finish his sentence, but the desperation in his voice was heartbreaking.

At that moment, my mental scale tipped completely to one side.

***

1) There’s some degree of belief among Koreans (although not nearly as widespread as fan death, I think!) that stress causes cancer. FYI, it seems that there’s no real evidence that stress causes cancer at the moment. So in this line, Belinda is saying that she would rather run away and escape than deal with the stress of living in the mansion.

Anyway, if you frequent the Korean internet, you will undoubtedly see a lot of stress-inducing users. Some of them are so foul-mouthed (even by Korean standards!) that you actually might struggle with reading their profanity. You, of course, see trolls everywhere on the internet worldwide, but because of the unique Korean internet culture, I always find that the problematic users are more problematic in Korea.