HKRH | CH 04

Chapter 4

There were bad rumors about the Ailsden mansion spreading throughout high society.

And when people found out that Natalie really did have a bad personality, she couldn’t make a single friend.

‘So what if I’m alone? It’s comfortable and peaceful.’

Natalie tried her best to act confident.

To make sure no one dared to look down on her, she flaunted her family’s wealth — buying expensive dresses and jewels without hesitation.

But then, people started saying she was arrogant and wasteful.

And unfortunately, she was directly compared to Sharon — who was humble, sociable, frugal, and had lots of friends.

Because of that, Natalie’s reputation got even worse.

But deep down, even with all her twisted anger and hurt feelings, Natalie couldn’t let go of her desire — to be loved, just like Sharon.

So she began wearing a fancy black wig.

She thought maybe, if she looked a bit different, people might treat her kindly — like they treated Sharon.

But her pink eyes and pale white skin didn’t match the dark black hair. It just made her look strange.

“Oh my, look at that black wig. Is she trying to imitate Lady Sharon?”

“Pfft. She doesn’t look pretty at all—she looks like a gloomy crow.”

Before long, people started saying the ill-tempered Lady Natalie wasn’t even pretty.

Some even joked that maybe she wasn’t the duke’s real daughter.

“Everyone in the Ailsden family is known for their beauty. Maybe Lady Natalie was the one adopted, not Sharon.”

“Oh, but Lady Sharon has the same green eyes as the late duchess, right?”

“How amusing! And the Duke and his son were both chosen by the God of Light. Yet Lady Natalie… has no power at all. Haha! Just kidding!”

The more people mocked her, the harder Natalie tried to prove them wrong.

She acted even more proud and sensitive, spending money recklessly.

In front of her wealth, people flattered her half-heartedly, but behind her back, they compared her to Sharon again and again— mocking her as “a girl blessed only by the god of money.”

That was all before Natalie’s “stroke of luck” arrived.

Thanks to that luck, things had changed— and she started to hope, deep down, that maybe her life would finally turn around.

But everything just got worse.

And now, at age twenty, Natalie’s life had hit rock bottom.

“…I don’t want to live anymore.”

After crying for a long time, Natalie whispered in a hoarse voice.

The black wig she had worn to be loved like Sharon was now trampled and dirty.

Yes—this was how her own family treated her.

Natalie staggered toward the tall window and opened it, stepping out onto the balcony.

The mansion was silent in the middle of the night.

Even if something heavy fell, no one would notice.

Would it hurt?

Barefoot, she climbed onto the railing. Her room was on the top floor—the third story—quite high up.

She tried to suppress the urge to escape from this cursed mansion.

No one loves me anyway.

Whether she died trapped here or in some monster attack didn’t matter.

She’d tried talking to Anatol, but he’d only gotten angry.

And her father wouldn’t believe her if she said her dreams of monsters attacking would come true.

Because she was the unloved daughter.

Natalie stepped over the railing.

The air below looked endlessly deep.

She whispered her final goodbye—words no one would ever hear.

“Goodbye.”

And as she loosened her grip—

“Ah!”

A flood of memories suddenly poured into her mind—dozens, hundreds of them, all at once.

Natalie gasped and clung to the railing.

Among those memories, one stood out clearly—

“Who Is My Boyfriend?! Complete Edition”

“…A game?”

That’s when Natalie realized—she had reincarnated inside a reverse-harem dating game.

“Hah…”

Those strange urges, those moments that had changed her fate before—they weren’t “luck.”

They were events from the game.

They weren’t instincts or coincidences—just déjà vu, guiding her toward the “correct choices.”

Dazed, Natalie went back into her room, her head spinning.

She lay on her bed and took deep breaths.

“Why did I forget all this until now?”

Then she began piecing it together.

She had been the first-ever player of Who Is My Boyfriend?! Complete Edition.

It was nicknamed “WhoBoy” (short for 내남누 in Korean).

It was an insanely popular, all-ages reverse-harem dating simulation game—where you played as the heroine and tried to romance three male leads at once.

It was made by a small indie company, but the story was just as exciting as a bestselling romance novel.

The BGM was high quality—better than some big-name games—and, most importantly, the male characters were insanely handsome.

The only downside?

The heroine didn’t have a visible face—just hands and a body—but that actually made players feel more immersed.

So the game stayed #1 in downloads for a long time.

And the love route system was so clever.

To finish the game, you had to raise all three guys’ affection levels to at least 70%.

The first man whose affection hit 100% would become the final ending.

So of course, players enjoyed raising all their affection levels while juggling drama and romance.

Plus, the game had a ranking system—which made players compete with each other.

I was obsessed. I stayed #1 for three years.

Here’s how it worked:

There were three endings (one for each male lead).

After finishing one route, your score was calculated like this:

1️⃣ The faster you reached an ending, the higher your base score.
2️⃣ Your base score plus the total affection points of all three men made up your final ranking.

So, the strategy was:
finish the route quickly, max out everyone’s affection, and climb the leaderboard.

Natalie had memorized every scene, every choice, every ending.

She’d even achieved the rare feat of holding Rank 1 for three straight years.

But then, one day—someone took her spot.

That person stole her #1 ranking, just like they’d stolen everything else from her before.

“……”

Losing even in the game to that same person filled her with humiliation and rage.

That sleepless night—a new announcement appeared.

“WhoBoy: 19+ Complete Edition is now available!”

‘A chance available ONLY in the 19+ version!’

‘Live Together Special Ending + Exclusive Illustrations!’

“A live-together ending? That’s new…”

In the original all-ages version, the game ended with your chosen guy smiling at you in the final illustration.

It was kind of underwhelming for a harem game, and players complained about it for years.

So clearly, this “Complete Edition” was meant to fix that.

No time to waste. I have to get Rank 1 again—right now!

Driven by jealousy and desperation, she downloaded it immediately—wanting to see the new R-rated ending and reclaim her lost title.

“Visitor Total: 1.”

“Welcome to WhoBoy: 19+ Complete Edition!”

“Warning: Logging out before reaching an ending is…”

She clicked through the warnings without reading.

She just kept pressing “Start.”

She skipped most of the tutorial too, reading only the first two pages.

The new edition was harder:
you had to get all three men’s affection levels to 90% to finish, and 100% for the special “All Together” ending.

Come on, faster… faster!

Since she’d memorized every choice and line from years of playing, she thought it’d be easy.

So she dove right in—confident and impatient.

But the moment she started—

Waaah!!

She found herself inside the game… as a baby.

What the—?! The Complete Edition makes you enter the game world?! What kind of messed-up game is this?!

Panicking, she searched for the logout button—but there wasn’t one.

Then she finally remembered what the warning message had said:

“Warning: Logging out before reaching your goal is impossible.”

“If you attempt to force quit, logout may become permanently unavailable.”

Wait… does that mean I can’t leave until I finish the ending?

Worse yet, she wasn’t just a “player” anymore—she was the actual in-game character.

No menus.

No options.

No interface.

You’ve got to be kidding me…