Chapter 2
└ [Why are there only event comments? Not a single scouting party comment.]
The noisy voices in my head cheering and reviewing themselves called themselves “comments.”
Thankfully, the flood of cheers only lasted a moment.
They soon died down to quiet murmurs, giving me some breathing room to clear my head.
“Rose. Are you asleep?”
This time, it wasn’t one of the monotonous cheering voices. A boy’s voice reached my ears.
I turned my head and saw round green eyes looking at me.
‘Oh, right. This is the orphanage.’
It finally hit me. I clenched and unclenched my hands a few times.
Unlike when I saw the life-flashing-before-my-eyes scene, my body now moved according to my will.
Still not quite feeling real, I reached out and placed my hand on the round head of the boy who had come up to me.
I half expected him to vanish like a mirage, but the soft, fuzzy texture of a child’s hair clearly registered in my palm.
“That tickles.”
He grinned at my touch—and even responded to me!
└ [You reincarnated, girl. You’re the FL.]
A mysterious voice once again spoke to me.
So… reincarnation? Doesn’t that mean you return? Like a salmon?
└ [LMAO the FL asking what reincarnation is. These days everyone skips that explanation.]
└ [Just look in a mirror, pinch your chubby cheeks and go “Guess I’m young again. Time for a new life lol.”]
‘Why the cheeks though? I mean, they are squishy.’
└ [Cute.]
…So the point is just to be cute?
Feeling confused but following the “comment” instructions anyway, I lowered my hand again.
According to the voices, reincarnation means someone who died a miserable death is given a second chance at life—and that it’s supposedly so common now it’s boring.
‘But I’ve never seen anyone like that my whole life.’
No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t think of a single suspicious person.
All I got was a headache from dredging up memories of Count Tortor’s face.
“Rose, does your head hurt?”
“A little. I think I had a bad dream.”
After reviewing my life in a flash, my past started to feel like a dream.
└ [It’s episode 2. When does the story actually start?]
I-I didn’t mean to drag it out, okay…
Urged on by the increasingly bored-sounding comments, I hurriedly got out of bed.
While I was coming to terms with my second life, the boy beside me must’ve told the orphanage teacher about my headache.
A tired-looking male teacher took out a round pill from a glass bottle and placed it in my palm.
“Chew it up well. Don’t spit it out just because it tastes bitter.”
It was a medicine made from crushed herbs and grain powder. The color was faint, likely due to the low herb content.
But the smell hit my nose, triggering a vivid memory.
‘Right. This was always the medicine at the orphanage.’
We took it for headaches, sore throats, colds, frostbite, even papercuts from grass.
└ [Panacea much?]
└ [Uh, are you from a wuxia novel?]
I was reliving a memory, and the comments interrupted again.
It wasn’t actually a miracle cure. Kids just heal fast, so they gave us whatever until we got better.
At best, it was mildly energizing.
└ [So it’s just a placebo then.]
Placebo? That’s the name of this medicine?
These hallucinations kept saying things I didn’t know.
└ [Did she just call us hallucinations, lmao]
└ [Came here for reader-participation system, but the FL didn’t agree to it, huh?]
└ [This is giving AI vibes. Are we being used to train a model through comment interaction?]
└ [Ohh that’s why she asked what reincarnation was.]
└ [Machine OUT, machine OUT.]
…I have no idea what they’re talking about.
Maybe they’re not hallucinations. Could they be fairies?
‘Dear fairies, can you hear my voice?’
These comment-fairies always dropped in for a quick word but never answered when I tried to talk back.
└ [When is this FL going to stop spamming question marks? She’s not for me. Dropping this.]
…They read my thoughts and just leave.
According to these fairies, a good FL is one who takes her reincarnation in stride. Apparently, I’m that FL.
‘Feels like I’m in a stage play…’
I’m standing on a stage, speaking my inner monologue, and the audience—these comments—are reacting.
But the more I tried to make sense of it, the more restless the comment-fairies became, so I pulled myself out of thought.
Then I picked up the pill in my hand.
“Ahem.”
Apparently, the comment-fairies weren’t the only ones annoyed by my dawdling.
The orphanage director was pacing near where the teacher had been.
‘Guess he found it weird that I was just staring at the medicine.’
It tasted awful, but I needed to take it…
“Sigh. Kids these days are always faking it. Always something hurts, they’re always whining…”
…Take it…
“Tsk. Good medicine, wasted. Herbs cost a fortune. This orphanage is going to go broke!”
“…”
Though he spoke into the air, he was clearly saying it for me to hear.
He had the same stingy eyes as the old butler from the Count’s estate, who always begrudged spending money on me.
I hesitated, then lowered the pill.
“I-I’m not sick anymore. I was just sleepy earlier, I think.”
“Really?”
As I held out the still-untouched pill, the director snatched it away and shoved it back into the bottle.
└ [Why is there never a proper adult here? He just took back medicine from a sick kid.]
└ [My boss once moved the office coffee to his room cuz it was “too expensive.” Same energy.]
Right. I remembered clearly now. The stingy director!
He used to patrol the orphanage all day, watching for any money leaks.
He was also the one who introduced me to Count Tortor.
└ [The orphanage is always the root of the problem.]
└ [Please don’t let her get adopted by Troto again.]
‘It’s Tortor, not Troto.’
Still, I agreed with the fairies’ wish.
I may have gone from a noble lady to a poor orphan, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
‘At the moment I died, that “scouting party” or whatever fairy…’
└ [Wait, there was a scouting party? I never saw one.]
└ [It’s only episode 2. Did they time travel?]
└ [Probably a publishing rep pretending to be first, then realized it’s live and deleted the comment.]
└ [Viral marketing OUT.]
The comment-fairies doubted the scouting fairy’s existence, but I had reason to believe otherwise.
‘They called me Rose.’
Not “Veleta Tortor,” but as if it was only natural I lived as “Rose.”
This was a miracle—a second chance to live as myself.
To truly live as Rose, I had to avoid becoming “Veleta Tortor.”
Back in my room, I looked into the mirror in the corner.
It wasn’t as clear as a noble’s mirror, but I could still see my hair color.
“Phew…”
I wished my orange hair would grow out faster.
The biggest reason I was mistaken for the Count’s illegitimate child was this blonde hair.
└ [Can’t you just shave it off?]
└ [Bald FL? That’s a first.]
‘I’m not shaving it!’
Even if I did, it wouldn’t change the fact that I am blonde.
Besides, covering up my hair wasn’t enough.
There were many other reasons Count Tortor thought I was his daughter and decided to take me in.
‘And he’s the type who always gets what he wants.’
If he wants to take me, and I refuse…
He might drag me off by force.
└ [Abusers never change.]
└ [♪♩ Tortor, the child-abusing Count, should go to— ♬♪]
‘…There it is again. The fairies’ song.’
That’s why I started thinking of them as fairies.
Every time I remembered Count Tortor, the comments would break into weird songs.
To me, it sounded like some strange tune, but the lyrics were clearly driven by emotion.
└ [FL’s thoughts are a riot ♩♪♩ haha~]
…Wait, are they actually having fun?
That “hahaha” could be laughter or something else entirely. These comment-fairies laughed “hehe” and “keke” even when they were arguing.
└ [Ohhh she’s hearing TTS?]
└ [Minjoon, is that you?]
Once again, they were saying things that made no sense.
But I turned back to my thoughts.
