Episode 4
The juice bottle she had been holding was flung onto the bed.
The hands stripping off her clothes were just as rough as when she was being shoved into the bathtub.
“I’ll do it! I can do it myself!”
She shouted in a panic, but it was no use.
The nanny swiftly and skillfully removed her jeans and T-shirt, then frowned at the sight of her panties and bra.
“Where did you get such indecent things again?!”
But when Donghee resisted with all her strength, the nanny gave up on taking off her underwear. Instead, Donghee was forced to wear a dress adorned with layers of lace.
It looked like something only a fairy tale princess would wear—beautiful, sure, but so heavy because of the multiple layers of lace. She had barely taken a few steps before the weight of the dress made her shoulders droop.
“Don’t you have any other clothes? This is too uncomfortable.”
“Other clothes? Really?”
Was that such a surprising thing to say?
The nanny asked the same question several more times in disbelief. The way her sparse eyebrows crept toward the center of her forehead was quite something.
Donghee nodded while touching the umbrella-shaped dress.
She had dreamed of wearing dresses like this when she was a child, but not anymore.
There was a quest to explore the territory—how could she do that in such an uncomfortable outfit?
The nanny gave Donghee a scrutinizing look, then brought out a relatively simple-looking dress from the dressing room.
The navy dress looked far more modest and comfortable than the one she was currently wearing.
It didn’t flare out like an umbrella, nor was it covered in wave-like lace.
“This one’s nice.”
When Donghee showed she liked it, the nanny sighed and began changing her clothes again. Despite the simple design, the dress was made in a way that Donghee could never put it on by herself, so she needed help again.
“You better not change your mind later.”
“Okay.”
“But my lady, why have you been speaking so formally since this morning?”
“Huh?”
-Ding! Basic Quest!
Name the nanny who loves Chloe Grace more than anyone in the world. Completing the quest will expand your accessible areas.
Even though a blue status window was floating in front of her, the nanny didn’t show a hint of surprise.
Donghee was now sure the window was only visible to her.
“Emma?”
She blurted out the first name that came to mind. The nanny made a disgusted face and asked,
“What are you looking at?”
The nanny looked at Donghee strangely as she stared off into the distance and talked nonsense, even though she was standing right in front of her.
-This name is already in use.
Ugh, I knew it.
Then…
“Delma?”
If this one didn’t work, she was ready to settle with something like “Yamma.”
-The nanny’s name has been registered.
“Yes? Do you need anything?”
The nanny, now named Delma, asked kindly while adjusting Donghee’s dress. Her hands were gentle and careful as she inspected every part of the dress.
Regardless of Delma’s actions, the status window continued updating.
**-Quest complete. New area unlocked.
Please choose one area to activate:
The convenience store that only stocked expired food
The BBQ restaurant where you spent all day scrubbing greasy grills
The car wash where your arms nearly fell off from endless scrubbing**
Looking at the list, which felt like it was mocking her, Donghee chose #1 without hesitation.
The convenience store had the most variety of items and, most importantly, food.
“Number 1!”
She whispered the answer in a mosquito-sized voice, worried Delma might overhear her. But the status window responded instantly.
-You have selected the convenience store that only stocked expired food as your activated area.
Congratulations, user Chloe Grace! You can now access your moldy basement one-room and the expired-food-only convenience store.
Even while being congratulated, she felt uneasy.
Donghee turned away from the blue status window and smiled at Delma.
“Delma, I like this dress. I mean… I do.”
Speaking informally to someone older than her still felt awkward. But Delma seemed noticeably more comfortable now, her expression brighter than before.
“It looks too plain. Would you like to wear some accessories?”
Delma enthusiastically brought over a jewelry box and opened the lid.
Donghee’s heart pounded with excitement. She had never owned even a silver ring, let alone a gold one.
Jewelry, really?
But inside the small box, most of the space was empty.
“This is it?”
“You barely managed to get even this.”
A necklace with a round, red ruby. A small pearl necklace. A gold necklace with a pea-sized diamond. That was all.
No rings, no bracelets, no brooches.
She had expected a lot more from being a noble, but apparently, the rumors about being dirt poor weren’t exaggerated.
“If only I could activate a jewelry store…”
She mumbled while looking at the mostly empty jewelry box.
At that moment, a blue quest window suddenly popped up again.
-Ding! Special Quest!
Raise the favorability score of any territory resident toward you to 1.
Success will allow you to unlock one desired location.
Favorability score 1? That seemed way too easy.
She figured it’d be a piece of cake and grinned to herself, but then—spark!—the status window changed.
-Current favorability score toward Chloe Grace from all territory residents: -189,500
“What the hell?!”
“That’s what happens when you insist on wearing that dress.”
Delma grumbled, assuming Donghee’s frustrated outburst was due to the navy dress.
“It’s not the dress. I was just thinking about something else.”
Delma gave her a suspicious look for a moment, then brushed the front of the dress and stood up.
“I’ll go check if the carriage is ready. But you really do like this dress, right?”
Delma still looked doubtful.
She hadn’t given up yet—on her arm was the lace monstrosity Donghee had discarded earlier.
“Yeah. I really like it.”
Who would want to wear something with lace hanging down to the armpits?
Donghee shook her head while glancing at the dress that looked like it would swallow her whole.
The original owner of this body, Chloe, might have had a pretty face, but clearly had terrible fashion sense.
After Delma left the room and Donghee confirmed the door was closed, she tried calling up the status window again.
“Status window, open!”
Nothing happened.
She tried again.
“Open, status window!”
“Open sesame, status window!”
Still no change. The air didn’t even quiver.
“Uju blue screen, open please?”
“Please open, dear status window.”
“Sesame, perilla seed, blue status window.”
She tried everything from casual English to polite formal speech, but still, nothing.
“What do I even have to do…”
She muttered, then turned her gaze toward the gray front door that took up part of the wall like a picture frame.
“Guess I’ll check that out first.”
After double-checking that the bedroom door was still closed, she approached the front door.
Who would’ve thought approaching a dingy front door could make her heart race this much?
Maybe this was still all a dream. Donghee vaguely thought as she keyed in the code.
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
The keypad beeps sounded abnormally loud in the silence. Donghee nervously looked around as if she were a criminal, then grabbed the doorknob.
The cold metal in her hand confirmed this wasn’t a dream.
Fear and excitement tangled together inside her.
“Hoo…”
With a deep breath, she pulled the door open—revealing the familiar, musty basement one-room.
The soft fabric of her long navy dress swished around her ankles as she stepped in.
It felt so strange standing in the middle of a dingy basement room wearing such a regal-looking dress.
Still, checking the newly unlocked location took priority.
“Let’s go.”
She turned from the room connected to her poor estate and grabbed the handle of the outer door.
-Would you like to move to the activated area?
Finally, the status window appeared again.
“Yes!”
She responded instantly, afraid it might disappear if she hesitated.
-Now transferring to ‘The convenience store that only stocked expired food.’
Yes!
She could finally leave the room.
When all you wanted was to lie around all day, staying in was paradise. But once it felt like you couldn’t leave, everything changed.
Donghee licked her dry lips and pushed the door open with determination.
“Huh?”
She had expected to see stairs leading up to the surface.
But outside the door was as bright as midday. It felt eerily similar to the place where she first woke up.
“If I go up those stairs, will I die?”
It looked like one of those ‘heavenly staircases’ you see in movies or dramas.
The top was shrouded in dense fog, making it impossible to see what lay beyond.
Donghee hesitated for a moment before boldly walking up the stairs. Her long dress got in the way, so she grabbed it with both hands and lifted it.
As she neared the fog, her heart pounded harder.
She stopped with one step left. All she could see was white mist.
“This is kind of scary.”
Her voice trembled as she looked into the hazy unknown.
“Hoo…”
She took a deep breath and stepped onto the final stair.
Just then, the thick fog blocking her view suddenly split apart—cleanly, from left to right.
And not far from the staircase—barely 10 meters ahead—stood the convenience store she used to visit every day.
Normally, it would take at least 10 minutes of non-stop walking to get there.
“Something has definitely happened.”
The path from the front door to the convenience store was filled with swirling fog, making everything look blurry and surreal.
Suddenly, a wave of fear hit her.
What if she walked into that fog and never came back out?
Taking even one step felt impossibly hard.
Just then—ding!—the status window reappeared.
-So you’re a scaredy-cat? Don’t worry. There are no other living beings in this space besides the user.
“No one else? What about everyone? Have they all disappeared? Did the world really end…?
