Chapter 1 : Nursery (1)

[Main Quest: Change the Ending]

“What is this…?”

A translucent text appeared in the air.

I’d be shocked to the point of fainting, but having already experienced a past life, what else could be more surprising?

I looked around at the other children, and they seemed completely unaware of the text.

‘Change… the ending?’

This place is, perhaps, the world within the novel I wrote, [Armonia Chronicles].

What would happen to me if I failed the quest and couldn’t change the ending?

You might think, why not just ignore the quest and live on?

If I did that, everyone in this world would die.

Because the ending I wrote for the novel was the end of this world.

My head hurts a little, but to summarize,

I was reincarnated as a girl in my novel for some unknown reason.

Without any status window, abilities, or anything like that.

I seem to be an orphan.

They say I was wearing a necklace when I was born, and the name written on it was ‘Saya’, so I became Saya.

For now, survive.

I will survive, and I will find out what happened.

“Sweetie, what are you staring at so intently?”

It’s the voice of the woman who takes care of me.

Her name is Helena.

Helena loved babies very much.

I felt like I was truly a baby again, especially when she was taking care of me.

In the hallway, whispers could be heard.

“She’s a creepy child. With that black hair.”

“Isn’t she summoning Sarkas? If the church finds out we took in a child like that…”

It was the sound of other women sneering at me.

From what I hear, it seems that black-haired children are considered cursed and abandoned.

It’s a setting I wrote, but to discriminate so much based on hair color alone…

If I could go back in time, I’d write that black hair is a trait of royalty through generations.

Fortunately, Helena scolded them.

“If you have nothing to do, why don’t you do some laundry?”

“..Yes! Helena.”

‘Serves them right.’

The whispering women quickly scattered at Helena’s glare.

Time passed, and I turned four.

Naturally, I didn’t waste those four years.

I often pestered Helena to read me books, gradually learning the language.

In addition, I got back the necklace I was wearing when I was born and started wearing it all the time.

Now, this cross necklace is my only possession.

Come to think of it, the protagonist of the novel was born into a grand noble family and was loved and raised.

Life is so unfair.

But, what was the protagonist’s name..?

‘Yuri… Freesia.’

[Condition satisfied. [One Step Closer to the Protagonist]]

“Ack!”

A message suddenly popped up, and I screamed.

Give me some warning before you pop up!

[Sub-Quest: Learn the Armonian Language.]

Completion: 50%

Reward: [Armonia Chronicles] Chapter 1

Just by remembering the protagonist’s name a little while ago, some condition was met, and a quest was created.

‘Learn the language… No, more importantly—’

The words written on the reward line are unusual.

Armonia Chronicles Chapter 1.

Does that mean, if I complete the quest, I’ll be given the first chapter of the novel?

How? It’s not an e-book, it’s not like it’s going to magically appear in reality.

There’s no way to know just by thinking about it now.

First, I have to master the language as the quest goal.

The completion rate is currently at 50%.

Because Helena reads to me every day, my listening and speaking are completely mastered, but my reading and writing skills are still terrible.

Is that why it’s 50%?

I thought about copying the letters from the books as much as possible, but…

‘This is crazy.’

There’s no paper.

Not even a common pen.

‘This was a medieval setting. Ha…’

I should have written a modern story.

If I were in an ordinary family, I could have somehow gotten them, but I’m an orphan.

A black-haired one at that.

In the end, I had no choice but to go outside, squat on the dirt ground, and write letters one by one with a wooden stick.

..It feels like the stares I’m getting from everyone have become even weirder..?

While writing on the dirt ground, I thought.

I want to beat the
out of the past me who created an ending like the end of the world.

If I had written a normal ending, I could have lived without worrying about quests.

Back then, genres like apocalypse or end-of-the-century were popular, so I might have been influenced by them…

One thing I remember clearly is that the cause of the end is linked to the death of the protagonist.

So, the first thing to think about is how to save the protagonist.

Yuri Freesia.

I must, by any means, meet her and change her fate.

“Saya. Are you playing in the dirt?”

As I was diligently writing on the ground, a girl with curly platinum blonde hair spoke to me.

Her name is Luna.

She was my only friend in this orphanage.

..We are friends, right?

“I’m not playing in the dirt. I’m studying.”

“Studying?”

Luna tilted her head.

I’m just studying to complete a quest.

I heard everyone will die if I don’t complete this.

“Auntie Montblanc said girls just need to know how to dress up. Marrying into a noble family is the best!”

“Haha…”

It’s not wrong.

Still, I don’t want Luna to have such a gloomy dream already.

“That’s good too, but I think Luna can do a lot more.”

“Then, I’ll marry Saya!”

“..You marry a boy, Luna.”

“What? That’s no fun. Boys only tease me.”

That’s a sign of affection.

Luna is young, but she is definitely beautiful.

Curly platinum blonde hair, sparkling emerald eyes.

It’s obvious that wealthy families will be desperate to adopt her.

Compared to her, I…

Black hair, carelessly cut and damaged, a messy bob.

Clothes covered in dirt.

You can’t even tell if I’m a girl at first glance.

Can I get adopted in this life?

As the day ended and after a meager meal, we were given a short free time.

“Saya, brush my hair!”

Brushing Luna’s hair in bed is the end of the day.

It’s originally the teachers’ job, but Luna insisted that I do it, or so I heard.

I’ve never touched a girl’s hair in my life, so why does she insist on my touch?

While brushing her hair, I used to tell Luna stories I knew about this world.

It was also a way to remind myself of the novel’s content and settings so that they wouldn’t disappear from my memory.

Repeating that routine, about six months passed.

‘Should I check the progress?’

As a result of diligently practicing on the dirt ground, I could read about half of the book.

It wouldn’t be bad to check the completion rate at this point.

[Subquest: Learn Armonian]

Completion: 75%

Reward: [Armonia Chronicles] Chapter 1

…

I expected it, but I’m pretty dumb.

I raised it by 25% in 6 months.

“Ha…”

It was time to find a more efficient study method.

“Hey!”

“What? What’s wrong?”

Luna covers my eyes with both hands.

“Follow Shunshuni!”

Luna had recently lost her front tooth, so her pronunciation was a bit off.

It’s cute, so I’ll follow her obediently.

“What is it?”

“Look forward to it, ta-da!”

There was something wrapped up on the shelf.

“Happy birthday, Saya.”

“Helena…?”

Helena was smiling brightly in front of me.

I didn’t know when she arrived.

“Luna and I bought it for you. I felt like I’ve never celebrated it for you.”

Thank you.

For doing this for me…

Next to the wrapped gift was a small rabbit doodle that looked like Luna’s.

I can see that she wanted to write a letter but replaced it with a picture because she didn’t know how to write.

“Open it quickly! Saya!”

“Okay.”

Well, since it’s a gift for a girl, I guess there’s a hairpin or a doll inside.

I opened the package with a little excitement.

“…”

“How is it? Do you like it?”

“Luna chose it. I was going to give you something cuter… But Luna knows you better.”

..Dangerous.

I almost cried for real.

For the first time in 26 years of life.

No, I’m 5 years old now.

The gift from Luna and Helena was a thick notebook and an old pen.

It was exactly what I needed, a perfect gift.

“Thank you. Helena, and Luna.”

“What… I was expecting a more enthusiastic reaction.”

Luna puffs up her cheeks.

“Don’t push her too hard. Saya is not an honest child.”

Thank you so much, both of you.

With this, I can put more effort into studying.

I can’t fail when they help me this much.

I decided to speed things up.

I will struggle in this place, and I will survive.