Chapter 2

The novel with Seorin as the protagonist starts off depressingly. To elaborate, it’s slightly bleak. According to the author:

[Nya x Nya: The early bleakness is a device to highlight the future cuddly moments.]

Despite the complaints, there’s a short period of gloom at the beginning, and the most representative scene is this prison moment.

“Seeing it directly makes it even more tragic.”

Recalling the author’s explanatory (questionable) note, they claim Seorin needs to endure now for later soda moments and natural bossy behavior. Honestly, though? I just find it terrifying.

“Though I’d like to possess the author right about now…”

But since only God can do that, it’s impossible. Anyway, getting back to the main point—yes, the early part is described as mildly depressing, continuing with grim content. For instance, a warden mercilessly swings violence, or food scraps worse than trash are served.

Looking at other prisoners collapsing except Seorin and me, it’s clear this environment is unbearable for normal humans.

I stared at the grotesque porridge—it looked more like vomit. Even if it were ugly but tasty, it might’ve been okay, but this tasted exactly as bad as it looked, making swallowing quite a struggle.

“But is it right to call this fortunate?”

Surprisingly, the food wasn’t spoiled or rotten, so no stomachaches or food poisoning occurred. Though, that could be because Seorin and I have exceptionally robust bodies.

Regardless, complaining about the food seems excessive given the situation, especially since even young Seorin eats quietly. Determined to act mature, I ate too, only for Seorin to start patting my head proudly.

“Eeeeeeek!”

The sudden movement caused an odd noise. Seeing this, Seorin smiled cutely and gazed at me, while I glared and firmly told her to stop.

“Hadi-ma.”

Why is my tongue so short?! Embarrassment burned from my neck to my face and ears. Wanting to hide in a hole somewhere, I looked down, but Seorin apologized by waving her hands.

“I’m sorry. I couldn’t help it because Hae-un is so cute…”

“Ganchana.”

“Yeah, sorry. Next time, I’ll check before petting you?”

Wait… don’t people usually say they won’t touch at all? Trying to point this out, I noticed Seorin was restraining herself from petting me again, so I couldn’t bring myself to tell her to stop.

If enduring this hellish prison life means letting her pat my head, I decided to sacrifice myself and closed my mouth.

“By the way, what would you like to do once we escape?”

“Mmm.”

What would I want after escaping? Delicious food? Gaming? Or perhaps sleeping on a warm electric blanket? There are only happy choices here, making it hard to pick.

While pondering these, Seorin embraced me and placed me on her lap, speaking calmly.

“Once we’re outside, I’ll do anything for you. Just hang in there, alright?”

“Unh.”

“And no matter what happens, I’ll protect you, so don’t worry.”

Her promise to protect me sounded like she’d sacrifice herself if needed. Thinking this wasn’t right for such a young girl, I quickly shook my head in disagreement.

“Nope, I’ll protect you.”

Seorin seemed to find this adorable and grinned, answering brightly.

“Really? I’ll look forward to it.”

“…”

Since further protests wouldn’t make her believe me, I stayed silent. Sighing inwardly, I decided to eat and shoved the greenish vomit—not porridge—into my mouth.

* * *

Whether calling this fortunate is correct or not, the guard who beat us up initially hasn’t shown up in a week.

Sure, new guards occasionally spit or insult us, but at least they haven’t beaten us directly, which is lucky.

“Wow, Hae-un’s hands are tiny. They’re barely half the size of mine!”

Hearing this, I looked at my small hands, pouting unconsciously at their petite size. Regaining my senses, I quickly stopped pouting—but still felt a little sullen.

“I’m older, you know.”

Not just older—I’m an adult. I got my ID last year and drank alcohol in college. Despite feeling annoyed at being treated like a kid, seeing Seorin’s happy expression made me unable to complain.

Thus, I silently became her favorite stuffed toy. Suddenly, Seorin pulled out a blue ribbon and confidently asked,

“Hae-un, what’s this?”

Pointing it out like a fruit or toy to a baby made me feel awkward again, but as an adult, I couldn’t let a mere ribbon bother me, so I calmly answered,

“A ribbon.”

“Correct! You’re a genius, aren’t you?”

…Matching a ribbon gets exaggerated praise, creating a weird sensation. Still, it didn’t feel entirely unpleasant, so I didn’t resist much when Seorin carefully gathered one side of my hair and tied it with the ribbon.

“Sister isn’t good at crafts, but I tie hair well. When you see the result, you’ll probably love it!”

“…?”

Before I could protest, my hair was already tied into a side ponytail. Realizing this, I couldn’t lift my face due to embarrassment.

“This is… too embarrassing.”

Covering my face with my hands, I heard Seorin laughing nearby, saying things like “It suits you so well!” and “You’re incredibly cute!”

Curious despite the embarrassment, I glanced at a metal shard. Whether objectively or subjectively, a super-cute girl with a side ponytail stared back at me. If I’d seen her on the street or YouTube, I’d have thought, “What a cute kid!” But the problem was—it was me.

Embarrassment overwhelmed me, but my grip was too weak to untie it. Pulling forcefully tangled my hair painfully.

Just as I struggled, Seorin asked in a hurt voice,

“Do you not like it…?”

Her question froze me. Normally, I’d have nodded, but the special prison setting softened my heart. After hesitating, I shook my head and resignedly said,

“…No.”

“Then maybe it’s too tight? Let me retie it. Wait a bit.”

Giving up control over my hair again, I suddenly heard the rusty prison door creak open violently.

“Let me redo your hair later.”

Judging by the reaction, it was the warden I first met upon regaining consciousness. Seorin subtly hid me behind others to protect me while moving forward herself, likely to draw attention away from me.

Watching this, I initially played along with hiding, then slipped out among the crowd and stood up. This wasn’t impulsive—it was part of a plan formed over a week to escape.

“The method is simple.”

To awaken Seorin, my plan was to charge at the guards and get brutally beaten.

There were two reasons for choosing this dangerous plan:

First, awakening Seorin is practically the only feasible option. Second, her awakening is necessary for this story to follow its power-fantasy genre flow.

“So, I’ll charge at the guards and get beaten up.”

My plan was for Seorin to witness this, awaken, and destroy the prison… but there was a big issue.

“Will she awaken…?”

Would she awaken seeing someone else suffer violence? In the original, Seorin only awakened on the brink of death after enduring prolonged violence herself. Could she awaken watching someone else?

“Thus, I considered following the classic route until just now…”

But considering my adult mind trapped in a child’s body…

Planning to sacrifice a younger girl through violence felt inhumane. So, I decided to take the beating myself.

“It’s also more peaceful this way.”

Thinking our bond built over a week should pay off, I charged toward the guard with my forehead (not a horn).

“Hae-un!”

Startled, Seorin called out and tried to calm me, but I ignored her and rammed into the guard.

“Tung.”

Instead of a punch sound, a light thud echoed as my body fell backward, collapsing.

Thinking this was too weak, I prepared to charge again, but the guard grabbed my hair and lifted me up.

“You damn brat, are you crazy?”

Pain shot through my scalp as tears welled up. Trembling under indescribable fear, I repeated in my mind,

“It’s fine… We heal fast, so I can endure…”

But the trembling wouldn’t stop. Hearing Seorin’s anguished cries nearby, I clenched my eyes shut as the guard slapped me.

“Zzaak.”

My head rang, my insides churned, and the metallic taste in my mouth indicated a split lip. As my mind went blank, a powerful vibration erupted from Seorin’s direction.

My foggy brain struggled to comprehend what was happening. Then, blinding white light spread everywhere, easily overpowering and eliminating the guards around.

“Eliminating?”

In the original, she merely pushed the guards aside and broke the wall to escape. Now, she’s outright eliminating them? Watching Seorin—or rather, the protagonist—awaken far stronger than in the original, I sensed something had gone horribly wrong.

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