TVJA 02

Episode 2

Crack.

My carefully maintained pale pink nails were now ruined.

I had barely slept since last night.

No—more accurately, it had been a week.

The heavy dark circles drooping under my eyes were enough to show just how much I’d been through.

{System: One month before the heroine’s debut event.}

If I wanted to escape this wretched game, I had to meet the clear condition before the original heroine, Noel, encountered any of the main characters.

And that condition was painfully simple:

{Raise the favorability score of one of the male leads to ‘100’}

If I didn’t accomplish this within the time limit, I would die.

The causes of death were absurd, to say the least.

Killed by an assassin sent by a male lead after bullying the heroine.

Attacked by bandits while riding in a carriage.

Drank what I thought was ordinary wine, only to find it was poison.

…Death, death, death…!

So why not just avoid doing anything bad?

If only it were that simple. As you saw earlier, I don’t exactly get a choice in the matter.

All thanks to this semi-forced, cursed choice system!

Still, what, am I supposed to just obediently lie down and accept death?

Not a chance.

I owned dozens of properties under my name in this world alone.

A seaside villa with an ocean view, a cozy boutique shop with everything I could want, and a charming café overflowing with adorable desserts.

And this is a secret, but while I was walking through the garden yesterday, I stepped on something hard and looked down.

Lo and behold—it was a real gold coin.

Sure, I’m rich, but even so, gold coins lying on the ground? That’s not exactly an everyday occurrence.

I even bit it a few times to make sure—well, ahem, it was real.

Turns out, the whole “dig a well and instead of water, gold coins pour out” trope was meant literally!

Back in Korea, my dream was to be a rich, property-owning slacker—and I was determined to live that dream here, if nowhere else.

But fate had other plans. Of all things, I had to transmigrate into the body of a villainess doomed to die at the hands of the ruthless male leads.

Dear God, why would you give me such a godawful trial?

Sure, I’ve heard there are a lot of people transmigrating lately, and maybe this world is overcrowded…

But still! Of all the roles, did I really have to be shoved into a low-tier villainess destined to die like a nobody?

Golden waves of hair like ripened barley, and eyes clear and blue as shattered lakes.

No doubt about it—aside from the heroine, you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone with such beauty.

The day I transmigrated into this body, I sat in front of the vanity for a whole hour just admiring myself.

‘Noel Catherine.’

The warm-hearted heroine who stands in stark contrast to my current character—the stereotypical cold-hearted villainess.

She’s what people like to call a “sunshine heroine.”

That’s the role Noel Catherine plays in this game.

“What was her illustration like again…?”

Soft brown hair that shimmered like silk when brushed, and a gentle, droopy-eyed gaze that could melt even the hardest heart.

“…At least, that’s what the game said.”

She was petite, too—so much so that people constantly fussed over her for no reason. And her voice? So pure and lovely that a wandering bard who once overheard her singing said:

“Her voice is like a serenade offered to the gods.”

“Give me a break.”

If that’s not the cringiest thing I’ve ever heard…

Worse still, the male leads had no proper story arcs or development. They just fell for her at first glance because of her “beautiful looks” and “shy smile.”

They said she was like a sweet, delicate baby rabbit.

What a joke.

I could write a better story in my sleep.

The only silver lining was that the male leads hadn’t met the heroine yet.

Meaning, I still had a chance.

The game only officially begins once the heroine meets the male leads.

“…So what’s so silver about that.”

As I lay on the bed, my body screamed in protest. Every muscle ached.

No wonder—I’d been running around all day.

Trying to gather information on the heroine, Noel Catherine.

But instead of getting intel, I ended the day by triggering a random event and splashing water in a maid’s face while walking down the hall.

The reason? I picked the choice: “The lukewarm water made me uncomfortable.”

“…Seriously.”

I rolled my eyes upward and saw the familiar green ceiling.

Unlike ordinary wallpaper, this one had constellations about the size of a grown adult’s palm embedded into it.

And when the lights were off, a soft glow would emanate around the stars.

Thanks to that, I wasn’t scared even when I fell asleep in the middle of the night.

Not because I’m a scaredy-cat or anything.

…Absolutely not.

One… two… three… eighty-one, eighty-two, eighty-three.

When I reached the eighty-fourth glow-in-the-dark star, I was finally able to close my eyes peacefully.

Ding.

…Or I tried to.

Just as I was about to drift off, I heard that familiar chime near my ear, forcing my half-asleep eyes open.

There was no one else in the room, so it couldn’t be a choice prompt.

It was the middle of the night too…

I felt a growing sense of dread—but there was nothing else to do but check.

As I opened my eyes, the familiar blue rectangular window popped up.

{System: Surprise event triggered!}

“A surprise event? In the middle of the night?”

This had never happened before.

Staring blankly at the window, I yanked the blanket up over my head.

Couldn’t the system see how miserable I looked right now?

I hadn’t slept in three days and my face looked like death warmed over!

“……”

So I pretended to sleep.

I figured I could just ignore it.

But then…

{System: Event triggered!}

{System: Event triggered!}

{System: Event triggered!}

“…Goddamn it!”

I shot up from bed and furiously tapped the alert window.

Finally, it went quiet.

I let out a satisfied smirk… until I read what was written inside.

{Attend the charity party tomorrow night under an anonymous identity!

Required: A veil or mask that can fully cover your face.}

“…A charity party?”

I didn’t even know there was a donation system in this world.

Then again, I vaguely remembered a few episodes related to that in the original game…

What mattered more was what came next.

{Go there and rescue ‘Noah Iosif’—become his sponsor.

Reward: ???}

I had forgotten.

Completely and utterly forgotten.

So it was already time?

Noah Iosif—the side male lead with the most tragic backstory, who willingly became the heroine’s doormat.

The only male lead who would give his life for the heroine.

He loved her with the most devotion, yet was abandoned the cruelest.

In the original story, Noel is forced into a marriage with an old marquis because of her father’s massive debts.

That was where her misfortunes began.

The servants of the estate, recognizing her as a mere noble in name, treated her with disdain.

The daily abuse and mistreatment were nothing compared to what she suffered at the hands of the marquis.

He was, in a word, a psychopath.

He treated her like a work of art rather than a person, even forbidding her from drinking water or eating food.

Once, when she cut her finger on a page of a book, he locked her away for months, claiming she had marred his masterpiece.

In short, the guy was absolutely insane.

“Guilty of knowing but staying silent.”

The staff who could’ve helped her but didn’t—they were complicit too, in my opinion.

At least until I saw the scene where Noah slaughtered them all.

After learning what had happened to her, Noah snuck into the mansion late at night.

Having resolved to give her everything, he killed every last person in that estate—everyone except for her and himself.

The blood-soaked, madness-filled mansion remains one of the most terrifying scenes in the entire game.

Left alone in that empty mansion, Noel, overcome with fear, eventually fled while Noah slept.

The writing was so graphic and brutal that just that scene alone made it clear why Can We Fall in Love? was rated R.

I even spent 20,000 won trying to get Noah a happy ending.

But no matter how many times I reached the 20th ending—never once did I achieve one.

He was so buggy, veteran players joked he was cursed.

“Noah Iosif…”

I muttered his name under my breath.

Maybe this was a good thing.

He was like a starved beast—desperate for affection, fragile in love, and completely devoted to the heroine.

Put nicely: single-minded devotion.

Put honestly: a total pushover.

A mega pushover.

And these days, people say that trying too hard to avoid flags is exactly what gets you killed.

{Do you accept this event?}

I gave a dry laugh and reached toward the “Yes” button.

A faint blue light swirled around my fingertip, then disappeared with a sharp crackle.

Nothing to lose—I decided to trust my instincts this time.

No more passive princesses waiting for some prince to save them like in those fairytales.

Not in this day and age.

I won’t die from eating a cursed apple, nor will I prick my finger on a spinning wheel like an idiot.

If he won’t come, then I’ll go to him.

Simple as that.

I’ll wear sneakers instead of fragile glass slippers, and I won’t turn into foam over some stupid love.

There’s no death more pathetic than dying because I sat back and let a death flag hit me.

A pale shadow cast by the moonlight settled over my white forehead.

The clock pointed to four.

Already?

After tossing and turning under the covers, I only managed to close my eyes when the morning birds began to chirp.