Chapter 1
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How to Survive as the Villain's Younger Sister Episode 1 "Big sister!"
A small, pale hand emerged suddenly—round and soft as a glutinous rice cake. A baby's hand clutching a cookie.
"...."
A girl with eyes as deep blue as the ocean depths regarded that hand with icy indifference. The hand belonged to the girl's only younger sister.
"This is yummy! It's sweet!"
She was barely four years old. Her plump, rosy cheeks—carrying the faint scent of infancy—tilted in confusion. She couldn't understand why her sister wouldn't accept her gift. What was incomprehensible was the sister herself. Every time she ignored and pushed me away, I came back clinging to her. As if I truly loved her. The girl would surely think something like this. 'In a few years, you'll try to kill me anyway.' The reason I could read this girl's thoughts as clearly as a book was simple. 'Because I'm inside a novel I once read.' So please, big sister, just take my cookie! Trapped in this four-year-old body, I screamed internally. 'I've possessed a character in a novel... Well, I suppose it could happen.' When I first realized I'd been possessed, I accepted the reality easily enough. 'In my past life, monsters suddenly poured through dimensional rifts that opened out of nowhere, so possessing a book character is nothing.' When I discovered the novel I'd possessed was called 【Revenge Alexis】, a regression revenge story, I thought the same thing. 'But if I've possessed Cyrilia, the younger sister of the protagonist Alexis, then everything changes!' 【Revenge Alexis】 is a revenge drama where the younger sister drives the older sister to death in the previous life, and after regression, the older sister drives the younger sister to death. In other words, I've possessed Cyrilia, the villain younger sister in the novel. 'I suffered miserably in my past life and died, and now I'm going to die by my sister's hand? I hate this!' Please, let's not fight each other and get along. I blinked my large eyes and spoke as lovingly as I could manage.
"This is what Cyrilia likes best! Big sister, eat some too!"
"...."
"The head chef said there's only a little bit left! So Cyrilia brought it for big sister, but...."
"...."
That's when I heard a voice impossibly cold for a nine-year-old girl.
"How typical of someone like you to only eat what you want."
Alexis left those words behind and walked right past me. A thorough dismissal.
"...!"
I think I'm done for. I reaffirmed the hypothesis I'd harbored for so long. My sister has already regressed—she's living her second life. 'In other words... in my previous life, she already killed me once.' That meant there was only one possible outcome left. And that was— 'I die by my sister's hand.' Thump. My legs gave out beneath me, and I collapsed to the ground. * * * In my previous life, I was an S-rank Awakener. The sole S-rank Awakener in the entire world with a unique trait. [Awakener Information] Name: Lee Ji-ye (25) Affiliation: South Korea Rank: [Locked] Title: [Locked] Exclusive Trait: [Locked] Exclusive Skill: [Locked] Items: [Locked] ... '...Damn it.' That's right. I was a half-baked Awakener cursed with [Locked] status on every ability worth using. Even the items I acquired were all [Locked]. Even when I purchased items from the shop, they were [Locked]. As a result, I didn't have a single decent item to my name. 'Can this even be called an awakening?' Despite all my abilities being [Locked], my martial arts were quite serviceable, so I could manage reasonably well as an Awakener. But facing the "real deal" in the highest-tier Dungeons was impossible without equipment. "This is just S-rank in name only."
People who approached me based on my rank alone would laugh and turn away once they learned the truth. Everyone except Baek Seung-jun, South Korea's number one ranked Awakener.
"I know your worth. I need you for this raid."
South Korea's hero. The nation's pride. A living legend. Baek Seung-jun, with his likable features and gentle expression, extended his hand toward me. And I—fool that I was—took that bastard's hand without hesitation. Growwwl...! And so I found myself standing alone before this monster. A colossal frame constructed entirely of jet-black bone. Three heads resembling wolves. The grotesque monster snarled as if consumed by rage. 'Morpheus, the Fallen Demon.' Master of the first Dungeon that transformed the world into hell. And the worst Dungeon boss that remained unsealed even as Awakeners conquered countless rifts. People said it. That Morpheus would ultimately destroy the Earth. But.
"Uuuurgh...."
Morpheus was dying. With only one of the three heads remaining. Bloody foam dripped from the jaws that had torn countless Awakeners to shreds. The one who had brought this terrible monster—whom no one else could defeat—to the brink of death was— me.
"Lee Ji-ye!"
Someone called my name irritably from behind. It was Baek Seung-jun, the Guild Master. His seemingly kind smile had vanished without a trace.
"Why aren't you finishing it off? That bastard's poison is spreading here!"
Sigh. I exhaled deeply. 'Fighting Morpheus alone is no easy task.' Guild members stood behind me, but they had their own duties. Specifically, protecting South Korea's Rank 1 Awakener, Baek Seung-jun. 'Morpheus releases hallucinogenic poison. Even approaching slightly causes the body to deteriorate from the toxin, and the mind succumbs to hallucinations, driving one mad.' So South Korea's only SSS-rank Awakener, the nation's hero Baek Seung-jun, cannot engage directly. He hides safely behind a shield, and only when I defeat Morpheus will he finally step forward. 'To sever the last breath from the Morpheus I've already subdued.' When I risk my life to inflict a mortal wound, Baek Seung-jun will finish off the barely-breathing opponent. This was why Baek Seung-jun had scouted me.
"Why me specifically?"
"You're immune to poison. You'll be safe from Morpheus's hallucinogenic toxin."
"The ones who played 'bait' before me all died, didn't they?"
"Those weaklings are nothing like you. Despite being a [Locked] princess, you've made it this far relying only on martial arts and poison immunity. And...."
He smiled with contempt.
"I'll lend you SSS-rank equipment. If you succeed in conquering Morpheus, then I'll give you 'permanent ownership' of it."
"Permanent ownership?"
"Right. You're so unlucky that any item you pick up or purchase gets [Locked] the moment you obtain it."
"...."
"But if that item isn't yours to keep—if it's merely on loan—then the situation changes entirely. With just that item, you'll never be treated as an S-rank in name only."
"...All right."
"That said, I'm not asking you to kill Morpheus outright. I have some conscience—I won't ask you to do something that dangerous."
The shameless face grinning wickedly flashed before my eyes. 'He just wants to hog all the clear rewards for himself.' It was absurd, but I couldn't say I felt wronged. This was a transaction, after all.
"Grrraaagh!"
Morpheus suddenly roared and came stumbling toward me. 'His final death throes.' I tightened my grip on the sword. It was Barissada—an item Baek Seung-jun had lent me out of charity. Equipment that would become permanently mine if I succeeded in this clear. I leaped high and drove Barissada precisely into the area near Morpheus's vital point. Not the vital point itself, though. That was Baek Seung-jun's privilege.
"Krraaaagh!"
The colossal monster, easily over three meters tall, crashed down onto its knees.
"That's it! Lee Ji-ye took down Morpheus...!"
"Who took down what, exactly?"
Baek Seung-jun's voice cut through the guild member's cheers, cold and sharp. The other guild members, sensing the mood, spoke up.
"Watch what you say. How could Lee Ji-ye possibly take down Morpheus?"
"Right. She just softened it up a bit. A boss like Morpheus—SSS-rank—only someone of Seung-jun's caliber could actually kill it."
The flattery was at least competent. But I had no time to feel irritated. The fallen Morpheus was summoning its last reserves of strength, raising its front claws. It was trying to slash at me with those razor-sharp talons. Yet Morpheus was already beyond recovery. This was merely a final flicker—a last gasp before death. 'Its movements are sluggish. I can finish this easily...?' As I moved to strike Morpheus, I froze in shock. Barissada, which I'd been holding, vanished like a mirage. And— ['Barissada's' owner, 'Baek Seung-jun', is retrieving the equipment.] Screeeech! The moment the notification window appeared, searing pain erupted from my abdomen. Morpheus's claws had pierced straight through me. Thud! Thud! Morpheus and I collapsed simultaneously.
"W-what is this... cough!"
The moment I opened my mouth, blood poured out in a torrent.
"Ah, Lee Ji-ye almost killed Morpheus while defending. How careless."
Baek Seung-jun muttered irritably as he passed by my side. In his hand was the Variscada he had recovered from me. 'He took back the borrowed equipment because he was afraid I might kill Morpheus while defending?' Even though he knew I would be hurt? But none of the Guild members paid any attention to me lying collapsed on the ground. They simply rushed toward Baek Seung-jun, splashing through my pooling blood. That was when it happened.
"Damn it! He's already dead!"
Baek Seung-jun shouted as he tried to sever Morpheus's life with the Variscada. At that same moment, a notification window appeared. [You have successfully cleared the 'First and Final Dungeon,' defeating the Fallen Demon 'Morpheus.'] [The clearance reward (bound) has been granted to the clearance achiever 'Lee Ji-ye.']
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