Episode 1
My name is Cecilia Miller.
Nickname: Cici !
Up until just a moment ago, my life’s dream was to become… a carriage.
And that dream had just been shattered into a million pieces.
Why?
Because the instant I turned exactly seven years old, my memories of my past life came flooding back—
right after I blew out the candles on my birthday cake.
What the heck…?
I barely had time to despair over the fact that humans can’t turn into carriages before something even stranger happened.
Blinking dumbly, I found a translucent scroll-like window floating in midair before me—
just like the “system windows” I’d seen in novels from my past life.
[Penalty for ‘Under Age 7’ access restriction lifted]
Minimum requirements for system access met.
When further conditions are fulfilled, “Original Plot Progression” will be activated.
Designated Original Work: I Only Wanted to Save the World
Keywords: #ReverseHarem #AllAlive #HeroQuest
Current Progress: Epilogue
So… this is…
I Only Wanted to Save the World.
Or as the fandom in my past life called it, I.O.W.S.W.—a fantasy adventure novel about a heroine who, after getting entangled with multiple male leads, goes on to save the world.
And the reason I’m bringing this up is because…
“Why the sudden dark cloud over our princess’s face?”
“She blew out the candles and just… went blank.”
“Don’t tell me someone blew them out for her.”
“Not me.”
…because the people crowding around me with cake right now are none other than the main characters of I.O.W.S.W. themselves.
No wonder I’d always wondered why I was the only kid in town with several extremely handsome fathers.
It was because my mother was the heroine of the novel!
As the truth clicked into place, my jaw dropped.
Even the townsfolk’s casual acceptance of the whole “one kid, four dads” situation suddenly made sense.
Of course—they’re living in a world where the heroine can get away with anything!
I looked dazedly at the “dads” surrounding me.
“Cece. Focus. Wandering.”
The man with bronzed skin and the perpetual glare—scary enough to stop a crying child mid-sob—was Dad No. 1, the taciturn male lead Derrick Grant.
“Strange.”
The warm voice belonged to the man with flowing golden hair and glasses—the Empire’s greatest archmage, Dad No. 2, Harzen Walker.
“♩♪ You idiots, you’re scaring her! Back off! I can’t see Cece’s face!”
And the one snapping irritably was Dad No. 3, Kyle Blake, the Empire’s greatest inventor—and an incorrigible potty mouth.
Well… “potty mouth” whose swearing gets bleeped out in real time, thanks to a device he invented himself.
Apparently, he didn’t think he could quit cursing entirely, but he did worry about how it might affect my emotional development.
As for Dad No. 4, he was currently away from home on some unavoidable matter.
So yes—this was my family: four dads, all of them different in looks and temperament, all of them hopelessly devoted to the same woman…
“Why? What’s wrong?”
…my mother, Yuria Miller.
“Mom…”
The woman with cotton-candy-pink hair tied up in a ponytail was the very image of the heroine from my past life’s reading.
Without thinking, I reached for her.
Even though my adult mind was creeping back in along with my past-life memories… right now, I was still a seven-year-old who loved her mom’s embrace more than anything.
“What is it, princess? Did your dads bully you again?”
“No… it’s just… you’re so, so beautiful.”
Honestly, I still couldn’t believe it.
That this gorgeous woman was my mother.
That I’d inherited these genes.
“Oh, honey—Mama thinks you’re even prettier.”
She laughed, scooping me into her arms and dabbing a fingertip of cake cream onto my nose.
Ah! Cold!
“Hehehe.”
I giggled reflexively… then quickly snapped myself out of it.
Careful—don’t get swept away by the fluff.
“Mom, wait… just a second…”
I wriggled free from her arms and turned my attention back to the floating scroll.
[Penalty for ‘Under Age 7’ access restriction lifted]
Minimum requirements for system access met.
When further conditions are fulfilled, “Original Plot Progression” will be activated.
Designated Original Work: I Only Wanted to Save the World
Keywords: #ReverseHarem #AllAlive #HeroQuest
Current Progress: Epilogue
In I.O.W.S.W., the story ends with Mom and the dads defeating the Demon King and retiring to the countryside.
That was before I was born, so obviously we were now in the post-ending timeline.
Which meant that all I had to do from here on out was enjoy this peaceful world.
…Except I had a bad feeling about this.
If this was just a tranquil slice-of-life epilogue, why bother showing me any of this?
And most importantly—
I never even read the epilogue.
Why?
Because of comments like this:
“Please, whatever you do, don’t read the epilogue… Details in the replies.”
└ ♬♪ If I’d known, I wouldn’t have wasted my money. Usually, epilogues patch up plot holes—this one just wrecked everything.
[Full Series Review]
└ If not for the epilogue, I’d have overlooked the plot destruction in the reverse harem ending—but the epilogue ruined it all. Don’t spend a penny. Don’t even read it for free.
Who’s gonna want to read it after that?!
I was already the type who usually skipped epilogues—so I never bothered checking why this one was so hated.
Now I wished I had.
As I groaned, clutching my head at the memory of those “early reader” comments—
Ding!
The scroll changed again.
[Would you like to view a portion of an early reader’s spoiler reply?]
[ YES / NO ]
Ooh?
They were offering me a tailored spoiler, just for me?
Well, I had no reason to refuse.
If I was going to live in this world, I needed to know why the epilogue had such a bad reputation.
I glanced around at Mom and the dads, then fixed my gaze on [YES].
The moment I did, the translucent scroll glowed brightly.
Pink-Haired-Heroine-Love-Club
Spoiler:
Out of nowhere, some random ○○ shows up and the heroine just □ dies, and the male leads start doing “Let’s destroy the world” nonsense.
I read it once.
Then blinked.
Then read it again. Slowly.
Heroine… dies?
World… destroyed?
…No way.
That couldn’t be true. Right?
Right?!
I stared at the words, denial flooding my chest—until finally, I couldn’t stop myself from whispering:
“Mom…”
Give me back my happy future!
