1 - How to Escape the Reverse Harem Cliché
Chapter 1
Chapter 1. Manifestation
My dream was to live a long and quiet life.
To be more specific, my lifelong wish was to gather every ounce of my soul and buy a house in the capital region.
It was to the point where I would jolt awake at the mere mention of the word 'real estate'. That's when my mother and I finally achieved success. Our application for a housing lottery on the outskirts of the capital region had been accepted.
It was the beginning of happiness after the end of misfortune. Our life of constantly moving from place to place, without a proper home, was finally over.
All that was left was to take out loans, pooling every last bit of our savings, and move into the apartment.
I truly believed my life would begin from that point on...
“Laila. What do I do... I’m sorry, Laila. Sob.”
Seeing the little kid, who was clutching my hand tightly and sobbing, I closed my eyes again, which I had only just managed to open.
It had to be a dream, so I firmly believed it was a dream and jumped from the balcony, but instead of waking up, I didn't die.
As fate would have it, there was a tree with many branches below the balcony. That tree acted as an airbag, and I ended up surviving with only a broken leg.
Damn it. Not everyone can even die properly. Though, I wouldn't know, as I've never died.
It wasn't a dream after all, was it? If I wasn't waking up even with this much shock, it meant this was reality, not a dream.
“Laila. I’m sorry... Don't be in pain, Laila. Huh? It’s all my fault. Please don't do that...”
Even though he was just a clueless kid, he seemed to instinctively sense that I had tried to die, as the little one cried his eyes out, holding my hand and trembling.
Still, having spent a month seeing his face, I felt genuinely sorry seeing him cry because of me. Besides, he was only eight years old; wasn't this too harsh a situation for a child?
“Oppa.”
“Yes. Yes, Laila. You can see me? Huh?”
At my call, the kid looked at me with eyes brimming with tears, as if overcome with emotion, and then suddenly stood up.
Seeing his posture, as if he was about to run off to call his parents, I quickly grabbed him and shook my head.
“I want to rest a bit. Can you do that for me?”
“Of course! I’ll stay quiet here. I’ll keep my mouth shut and quietly watch until Laila falls asleep.”
“Thank you, Aiden.”
“Laila!”
Adrian, who let out a short cry filled with emotion, tightly hugged my lying body and began to sob.
No, you said you'd be quiet. You said you'd just watch quietly.
However, this young child showed no signs of letting go of me, his younger sister.
Eventually, in a state of near resignation, I lay in Adrian’s arms and stared blankly at the ceiling.
Wow, I still can't get used to this chandelier. Why is it so big? If that suddenly fell, would I die? But how much would that cost? It must be expensive, right?
As such useless thoughts led to thoughts of money, I was reminded of my own home, which I had tried to buy with every ounce of my savings, and I felt another surge of emotion.
Damn it. If my life was going to get this twisted, it would have been better if it happened when I was a high school student facing the college entrance exams. But for my life to get this twisted right before I was about to move into the apartment I won the lottery for, does that even make sense?
How many part-time jobs did I work to pay for college tuition? And after getting hired, I practically ground my bones to dust at the company, with more overtime than regular hours.
But is this the result? I still couldn't believe it, so I pulled my hand away from Adrian's grasp and pinched my cheek.
Even though I only pinched it lightly, my cheek stung, which meant this was reality, even if I died.
Is this really okay? How old am I to be starting a new life already...
I had been counting down the days until I could move into my home, which I had prepared with all my savings, but suddenly, I had been reincarnated as the female protagonist of some novel whose title I couldn't even remember.
...Is this okay, my life?
As my broken leg gradually healed, I was able to walk with the help of a brace.
As soon as that happened, I placed a piece of paper in front of my vanity and began to quickly jot down and organize my current situation with a quill pen.
Trying to recall the contents of the book while lying in bed, the plot and character names were all jumbled together, making it difficult to organize.
So, the title of this novel was "~Reverse Harem~" or something like that.
I don't know! I don't know the title. It was entertaining, but it wasn't a book I particularly liked; it was just one of those novels I read out of boredom. I even stopped reading halfway through.
One of the reasons I stopped midway was that the male lead was suddenly decided in the middle of the story. And it wasn't my favorite character...
I had a good feeling about the character I picked as my favorite this time. Whether it was a movie or a drama, I always ended up with the second male lead, but this time, I had picked a favorite with good energy, only for him to inevitably become the second male lead.
It's a reverse harem, though. How could that happen? This is a betrayal by the author. If it had ended with everyone happy, fine, but how could I watch the story end with him paired with a male character who wasn't my favorite!
As my favorite character's screen time dwindled, I eventually wiped away tears and closed the book.
The plot of the novel was also very cliché. It was the typical story where the male leads regret their actions, suffer endlessly, and then return to the female lead. Moreover, it followed the cliché progression very faithfully, making the next events predictable.
The peculiar point was the existence of ability users called Espers and Guides. As expected of a cliché, all the male leads were Espers, and the female lead was a Guide.
The moment I realized I had been reincarnated, I despaired at this part. Why a Guide of all things...
What is a Guide? They are the ones who are drained of energy by Espers who can use abilities. Unlike Espers, whose bodies are far superior to ordinary people, Guides have a physical structure no different from ordinary humans.
The only difference was that they could provide Guiding to Espers. That was it.
The more Espers use their abilities, the lower their Guiding level drops. If it exceeds a certain limit, they go Berserk and die. On the other hand, Guides cannot use abilities, but they are beings who naturally produce Guiding without effort.
Therefore, Espers have no choice but to cling to and obsess over Guides.
At first glance, it might seem like Guides have the upper hand over Espers, but that's only possible in a worldview where human rights exist. This was a world where such things as human rights did not exist.
If you fall into the wrong hands of an Esper driven mad by Guiding, you might have your Guiding forcibly taken away. After all, you can't defeat an Esper by force.
What's more, the problem was that Guiding itself offered not even a shred of benefit to the Guide.
Espers, who consume Guiding just by existing, become more vibrant the more Guiding they have in their bodies. However, for Guides, having too much Guiding in their bodies is a problem, and having too little is also a problem.
Like excreting waste products, they had to periodically expel accumulated Guiding, whether they wanted to or not, to make room for new Guiding to enter. The Guide couldn't do anything with the Guiding they possessed, yet they had to expel it...
"If I get caught by Espers who target Guides... Ugh, just thinking about it makes me dizzy."
But are Espers in a better situation? Not really. They too live with the anxiety of not knowing when their Guiding will run out and they will die.
The one who actually needs 'Guiding' is the Esper, but they cannot produce Guiding themselves. And the Guide, who doesn't need 'Guiding', naturally produces it even though they don't want to.
It was a setting that seemed appealing when I read it, but now that I'm in this position, my future looks bleak.
If I had to get a new life, couldn't it be a normal and comfortable one? Why me, a Guide protagonist who has to struggle just to survive? A life where I grow up in a wealthy and loving family, living without financial worries – that was the life I wanted.
Most importantly, the fact that I didn't finish reading the ending leaves me uneasy. This isn't going to end with a 'merry bad ending,' is it...? Stories of this type always seem to end that way. The development had been strange, which made me anxious.
No. Absolutely not. My goal is to live a long and quiet life.
“Laila? What are you doing?”
I was so worked up and lost in thought that I didn't even hear Adrian knock.
Startled by Adrian's voice from behind me, I hastily shoved the paper into a vanity drawer.
“Laila. Are you uncomfortable just staying in the bedroom? Shall I ask Father to take you for a walk?”
“Aiden. I’m sorry, but I’m a bit tired today. Could you leave now?”
“...Really? Alright. I’m sorry, Laila. Was I bothering you too much?”
Adrian, his spirits visibly dampened, placed the warm cocoa he had brought on the vanity and turned away dejectedly.
As an adult who had lived before, playing with a child only goes so far. Being tired wasn't a lie. Ever since Adrian hugged me in bed last time, he had been trying his best to act like my older brother.
Even though we are only a year apart. Even though he's a fake brother with no blood relation, the kind Adrian was busy taking care of his younger sister.
Laila Pascianne. Adrian Pascianne.
As I etched the names of myself and Aiden into the air, I decided to retrace the story of this novel.
