‘Is this a dream?’

It must be a dream.

It has to be a dream.

“I’ve been playing too many games lately. To have such a ridiculous dream…, hahaha.”

I tried hard to think positively.

Careful not to drop the baby in my dream, I raised my hand and slapped my cheek.

Smack!

“Ouch…..”

It hurt enough to bring tears to my eyes.

It’s going to swell.

Which means.

“This isn’t a dream…?”

Me, a nanny.

A nanny in a trash game…..

I never imagined this would happen.

♡SYSTEM♡ Please name the lady!

※ The name cannot be changed later.

Ding!

The system window chimed once more, as if urging me.

Right, the name.

Still feeling disconnected from reality, I was about to apply the name I had been thinking of until just now.

“The lady’s name is ‘Cromwell Y’…”

I almost continued with “ou b*stard.”

“—I mean! It should be a name that suits the Cromwell surname. I need to think more about the name.”

I quickly added, glancing nervously at the system window.

Please don’t let her name be ‘Cromwell Y’.

♡SYSTEM♡ Would you like to postpone naming?

[YES/NO]

Thankfully, a new window appeared.

I repeatedly tapped [YES].

So frantically that someone might think I was throwing punches.

♡SYSTEM♡ Introduce yourself to the lady!

A new window appeared after postponing the naming.

It meant I should decide the player’s name.

If I chose something like ‘Stop Marrying Your Dad’ or ‘Cromwell You Madman’, I’d probably be arrested for insulting nobility.

‘…Insulting nobility.’

It’s strange how I’m reciting the laws of this place as if they’re everyday knowledge.

It seems the original body owner’s memories remain.

I’d rather not have my head cut off even in a game.

Since the setting is a romance fantasy novel, a Korean name would be strange, right?

So I chose the name I had used on my third attempt.

“Lorelai.”

I spoke to the baby.

“My name is Lorelai, my lady.”

In the early days of the game, before I got used to the ending where you marry the father, I used decent names too.

Of course, my heart is screaming to introduce myself as ‘You’ll die if you marry your daughter,’ but.

Sometimes you have to compromise with reality.

After the introduction, this body truly became ‘Lorelai.’

Lorelai’s memories, or more precisely, the etiquette and rules to be observed in the Cromwell mansion, entered my mind.

“This is really absurd…”

Moreover, this maid assigned as a nanny, contrary to expectations, is not a veteran.

She was almost as young as the young Duke Cromwell.

About nineteen years old.

With the inexperienced body of ‘Lorelai,’ all I could do now was not mess up and safely take the baby to her room.

As if the Cromwell mansion hadn’t expected a new family member, they had hurriedly assigned a guest room.

“……”

The lady in my arms was literally ‘just’ born.

She was barely a month old.

The baby breathed evenly.

♡PROFILE♡

Name: Lorelai Keith

Health: 100/100 

Mental Strength: 100/100

Fame: 0

Level: 1

~ Ongoing Quests (1) ~

Quest: (Hidden) See the Imperial Princess Ending!

Time Remaining: 3 years

Difficulty: Extreme

Quest Reward: Return to the real world, 6 billion

Quest Failure Penalty: ???

※ Difficulty [Extreme] means playing without saves.

※ [Hidden Mode] does not provide mid-term evaluations.

The profile window appeared.

While childcare might be new to me, games are not.

I scanned the familiar window.

“Since it’s still day 1, clearly…”

Stats and abilities are pretty standard.

But what caught my eye was…

Quest Reward: Return to the real world, 6 billion

“6 billion?”

Before I could even process the horrifying fact that I’d been thrown into a game and would have to rot here for 3 years taking care of a baby, the 6 billion caught my attention first.

Is the game company paying me?

Or does the money materialize if I successfully complete the quest?

“Where would I get 6 billion from…?”

I don’t do cryptocurrency or stocks, much less gambling.

A lottery win?

“I do buy the same numbers every week….”

Surely it can’t be game money.

I wanted to speculate further, but I had to shift my attention.

“Waaah—!”

Thanks to the still nameless lady who started crying.

Day 2 of Being Trapped in a Terrible Game, Day 1 of Tutorial

♡SYSTEM♡

Health has been reduced by a total of 50.

Mental Strength has been reduced by a total of 50.

“Waaah……! Waaah!”

I had momentarily forgotten.

This game is trash from its very foundation.

They say newborns sleep 20 hours a day, but implemented with excessive realism, the baby disrupted my sleep in various ways—sleeping for 30 minutes then crying for 1 minute, sleeping for 10 minutes then whimpering for 3 minutes, and so on.

In the game, it would simply say [You couldn’t sleep all night. Health and Mental Strength reduced by 50 each], but I experienced that one line for 16 hours.

“This is driving me crazy……”

When I first saw the term 6 billion, I thought it was similar to those internet scenarios like ‘Stay home for 3 years and receive 6 billion VS Just live normally.’

I thought I liked money, but apparently not enough to raise someone else’s baby.

Health: 50/100 

Mental Strength: 50/100

I looked at my stats with half-dead eyes.

Half gone in just one night.

The lady was still crying, but now is not the time to soothe her.

If I continue comforting her, the rest of my health will be depleted and I’ll die from overwork.

I know because I’ve died many times.

I carried the crying lady out of the room.

The path I had traversed dozens of times in the game felt familiar, as if I’d been here before.

A luxurious corridor stretched out, but I had no time to admire it.

There was someone I needed to find.

“…!”

After walking for a while, I spotted a girl with orange hair in the distance.

Is this how it feels to find an oasis in the desert?

♡PROFILE♡

Name: Mary Norris

Viewing Level: 1

Occupation: Maid of Cromwell ducal residence

Relationship: Friend

Favorability with Lorelai: 5/10

Favorability with the lady: 2/10

Special Note: She has a younger brother who is an apothecary. She’s worried that her freckles seem to be fading lately.

“Mary!”

I called her name happily.

In the game, she appears as [The maid who fetches water every morning] but…

Is it because of Hidden Mode?

Even background NPCs have profile windows.

“I heard you were assigned to the lady, huh! Are you okay?”

“No……”

“And what happened to your cheek!”

I can’t tell her I hit myself to check if this was a dream or reality.

“Haha……”

I laughed weakly.

Days 1-3 in the game are the tutorial period, when several key skills and items essential for gameplay are introduced.

In that sense, the reason health and mental strength are mercilessly reduced is for,

‘Potion!’

To learn how to use potions.

But I had enough decency not to ask for items right away.

As unrealistic as the situation is, thinking realistically, I’ll be stuck here for years.

Even if I can’t form close relationships with those around me, I should at least maintain cordial ones.

“I was surprised when the Duke chose you yesterday. I was going to ask if it was hard… but I guess I don’t need to.”

“The lady didn’t sleep all night…”

She cried, then slept, then repeated. Even when I slept, it wasn’t really sleep. I spoke with complete sincerity.

I didn’t care about getting a potion; I just wanted someone to sympathize with my suffering.

“When the youngest in our family was born, everyone struggled too. Ah! I have something that might help you!”

Mary rummaged through her pocket.

“My brother made this for practice, but I think you need it more than I do.”

A glass vial the size of a palm swirled before me.

♡SYSTEM♡ You received an Amateurish Intermediate Potion!

Ah, in the game this was a natural gift, but.

Experiencing this fatigue firsthand, Mary looks like a saint.

How could she readily give away such a precious potion?

“Mary, thank you so much……”

Hearing my thanks, Mary blushed and kindly opened the cap for me.

♡SYSTEM♡ You drank an Amateurish Intermediate Recovery Potion!

Health recovered by 30.

Mental Strength recovered by 30.

“I feel alive again……”

As soon as the liquid touched my tongue, all fatigue and headache disappeared.

Even my swollen cheek subsided considerably.

Potions are essential items in Bling Bling ♡ Raising A Noble Lady.

Recovery potions in particular are indispensable in the early stages when health and mental strength are rapidly depleted.

It’s slightly disappointing that it’s just an amateurish intermediate potion, but I’m in no position to be picky.

As if sensing that I had regained my energy, the lady stopped crying.

“Oh right. The head maid was looking for you.”

Mary said as color returned to my face.

Day 1 seems like it will be spent just completing tutorials.

✧ʚ .·:¨༺♡༻¨:·. ɞ✧

I arrived at the head maid’s office.

Olive-colored eyes behind glasses looked at me.

“……”

Is it just my imagination? She seems displeased.

It’s not surprising since she was like that in the game too.

There are two main reasons to meet the head maid.

First, introduction to weekly pay.

The weekly pay is always fixed.

55 gold, up 10 gold from the previous wage.

In a world without insurance, half my assets would vanish on medical bills if I got sick once. But getting anything is better than nothing.

‘Still, since this aims for realism…’

Wouldn’t it have increased a bit?

‘No more, no less, just 90 gold, or even 80 gold…’

“From now on, an additional 5 gold will be added to your weekly pay, and 25 gold will be paid every Monday.”

♡SYSTEM♡ You received your weekly pay!

Gold +25G (155G)

♡SYSTEM♡ Let’s use gold to raise the lady!

The businesslike voice shattered my expectations.

“…25 gold?”

It’s too little, even considering it’s Hidden Mode with extreme difficulty.

In this world, 1 gold is worth about 10,000 won.

This means I’ll earn about a million won a month from now on.

Since even unnecessary things are realistically implemented, I had hoped the salary would increase exponentially, befitting a nanny to a noble lady.

Yet the head maid acted generous about the mere 5 gold increase.

Historical accuracy be damned, just give me what the game did!

How can a noble lady’s nanny be paid so poorly!