2 - The Protagonist Exits Here

2

* * *

└[Are there only event Comments? I can't see any Vanguard Comments either.]

The noisy voices in my head, offering support and reviews, called themselves 'Comments.'

Fortunately, the barrage of support was brief.

It soon subsided to a murmur, giving me room to calm my dizzy head.

"Rose. Are you asleep?"

This time, it wasn't a monotonous voice cheering me on, but a boy's voice.

I turned my head and saw round, green eyes staring at me.

'Ah, right, this is the orphanage.'

Only then did I come to my senses, clenching and unclenching my fists a few times.

Unlike when I saw the panoramic view of my life, my body moved as I willed.

Still feeling unreal, I placed my hand on the round head of the boy who had approached me.

I wondered if it would disappear like a mirage, but the boy's soft hair texture was vividly transmitted beyond my palm.

"It tickles."

He giggled and reacted to my actions, and even communicated!

└[You Regressed, you know. Female lead.]

An unidentified tinnitus spoke to me again.

So, what is Regression? Doesn't it mean returning? Like a salmon.

└[These days, skipping the Regression, Possession, Transmigration explanation is the norm, but the female lead asking for the definition of Regression is refreshing.]

└[Just look in the mirror, touch your chubby cheeks, and think, 'I'm young again, I have to live a new life' lol.]

'Why do they want me to touch my cheeks? They are soft, though.'

└[Cute]

……Just to be cute?

Dazed, I followed the Comments' instructions and then lowered my hand again.

According to the Comments, Regression is when someone who died miserably in their past life is granted a second chance, and it's now a common occurrence.

'But I've never seen anyone like that, even after becoming an adult.'

No matter how much I thought about it, there wasn't even anyone suspicious.

Vainly rummaging through past memories, the face of Count Torto, whom I had last seen, came to mind, only making my head throb.

"Rose, does your head hurt?"

"A little. I think I had a bad dream."

After going through my life's retrospect with the panoramic view of my life, the events of my past life now felt like a dream.

└[When will the story progress? This is episode 2.]

I, I wasn't planning on dragging it out either…….

Urged by the increasingly indifferent Comments as my thoughts grew longer, I hurriedly got out of bed.

* * *

While I was accepting my second life, the boy next to me had apparently told the orphanage Teacher about my headache.

A male Teacher with a tired expression took out a round pill from a glass bottle and placed it in my palm.

"Chew it thoroughly. Don't secretly spit it out because it's bitter."

It was a medicine made by mixing ground herbs and grain flour, but the herb content was low, so the color was very light.

However, whether my sense of smell stimulated my head, the scent of grass triggered memories of the past.

'That's right. When I was in the orphanage, the medicine was always this.'

I took it when I had a headache, when my throat hurt, when I had a cold, when I got frostbite in the winter, and even when I cut my finger on grass.

└[Is that an Elixir?]

└[Huh? Did you come from a martial arts novel?]

As I was reliving my memories, the Comments interrupted, as if to disturb my concentration.

It wasn't really a panacea, and since children recover quickly, it was a medicine meant to give them any medicine and have them endure until they got better.

At best, its efficacy would only be to give a little boost of energy.

└[That's just a placebo.]

This medicine is called Placebo?

These auditory hallucinations often spouted information I didn't know, considering they were created by my mind.

└[Treating them as auditory hallucinations lol]

└[I came because it's supposed to be a reader participation system, but is there no agreement with the protagonist?]

└[This is kind of like generative AI, are you trying to train artificial intelligence with Comments by inducing reactions?]

└[Oh, that's why she asked what Regression was]

└[Machine out, machine out]

……I don't understand what you're saying at all.

Could it be that they're not auditory hallucinations, but Fairies?

'Fairy. Can you hear me?'

These Comment Fairies, who appear from time to time and say a word or two, aren't their purpose communication? They didn't respond to my requests for conversation one by one.

└[How long is the female lead going to keep spamming question marks? It's frustrating, I don't think it's for me. I'm dropping it.]

……Even though they read my thoughts unilaterally like this.

According to what the Fairies were saying, the virtue of the female lead, the protagonist, seemed to be to not find the situations immediately after Regression strange and to overcome them calmly. And that protagonist was me.

'I feel like I've become a stage actor…….'

I'm on stage, and when I utter a monologue, the audience listens.

The more I tried to understand this situation, the more Comment Fairies became bored, so I came out of my thoughts for the time being.

And I held the medicine in my palm.

"Ahem."

It seemed that the Comment Fairies weren't the only ones frustrated by my slow actions.

The Director of this orphanage was lingering in the spot where the Teacher had left after giving me the medicine.

'She must have thought it was strange that I was just staring at the medicine.'

It was a very bitter medicine for a child's mouth, but I had to eat it quickly…….

"Ha, really. Children are so full of pretense. They're always saying something hurts, they're injured……."

I had to eat it…….

"Tsk, tsk. They know what's good for their bodies. Herb prices are sky-high these days. The orphanage will go bankrupt, it will!"

“…….”

The Director was looking at the air as if talking to herself, but this was clearly meant for me to hear.

The butler grandfather of the Count's residence, who was stingy about spending money on me, had that exact look.

I glanced around and put the medicine I was about to bring to my mouth back down.

"I, I don't hurt anymore. I think it was because I was sleepy earlier."

"Is that so?"

When I held out the medicine, still in my palm, the Director quickly retrieved it and put it back into the medicine bottle.

└[Why aren't there any decent adults here? She's taking away what the kid was eating.]

└[It's like seeing our company president move the coffee mix to the president's office because it was too expensive.]

That's right. I remembered clearly. The tight-fisted Director!

The person who went around the orphanage all day, monitoring to see if there were any corners where money was being spent.

Besides, it was this Director who introduced me to Count Torto.

└[The orphanage is always the culprit]

└[Please, I hope it's not a development where she gets adopted by Torto again]

'It's Torto, not Trot.'

Anyway, I also wished for what the Comment Fairy wished for.

I had lived the life of a noble lady and returned to being a poor orphanage child, but this was by no means a bad thing.

'When I died, that Vanguard or something Fairy.'

└[Huh, there was a Vanguard? I didn't see it]

└[We're in episode 2 right now, what are you watching? Did you come from the future?]

└[Maybe the publisher pretended to be the Vanguard and then realized it was a real-time serialization and deleted it because they realized their mistake lol]

└[Viral out, viral out]

The Comment Fairies questioned the very existence of the Vanguard, but I had a reason why I couldn't ignore the Vanguard Fairy's words.

'She called me Rose.'

As if it were natural to live as Rose, not Belleta Torto.

A second life that came like a miracle.

This time, I had the opportunity to live as my complete self, Rose.

* * *

In order for me to live as Rose, avoiding becoming 'Belleta Torto' would be the first thing.

Returning to my room, I looked into the mirror placed in the corner.

The image wasn't as clear as the mirrors used by nobles, but I could clearly see my hair color.

"Sigh……."

I wish my orange hair would grow faster.

The biggest reason I was mistaken for the Count's illegitimate child was this blonde hair.

└[Can't you just shave your head?]

└[A bald female lead is a first]

'I'm not shaving it!'

Even if I shaved my head, the fact that I'm blonde now wouldn't change.

Besides, it wasn't enough to just cover up my hair color.

There must have been several other reasons why Count Torto mistook me for his illegitimate child and took me away.

'And the Count is the type of person who will get what he wants no matter what.'

If the Count was going to take me away, and I refused to go with him.

There was a high possibility that he would sternly scold me and drag me away by force.

└[An abuser's personality doesn't go anywhere]

└[♪♩~ I hope all the Counts ♩♪♪ who abuse children ♬♪~~ die.]

'……There it is again. The Fairy's song.'

This was the reason why I speculated that they were Fairies.

Whenever I reminisced about Count Torto, the Comment Fairies kept singing.

What I heard was a song with a strange melody, but judging from the content, it seemed that they were sublimating their heightened emotions into song, not because they were excited.

└[The female lead's thinking is ♩♪♩funny ♩~♬ㅋㅋㅋ]

……No, are they singing because they're excited?

I don't even know if that 'kekeke' is laughter or something. The Comment Fairies fought among themselves, but they would laugh with 'kekeke' and 'hehe.'

└[Ah, you're listening with tts]

└[Minjun?]

Leaving behind the voices of the Comment Fairies, who were making incomprehensible noises again, I focused on my thoughts again.