Chapter 1

Translator: Nox

Chapter 1

 

My DogX Coin had hit the jackpot.
It skyrocketed. Truly, it was a massive, monumental win.
I suddenly had tens of billions in my hands, nearly a hundred billion.
‘Whoa, me. How many zeros is that…?’
Incredibly, I’d become a billionaire overnight.
A coin I’d bought on a college senior’s recommendation ages ago and completely forgotten about… who knew it would come to this.
Memories of the past years flooded back.
A year ago, after my parents and brother went on a trip without me and died in an accident, I was left all alone.
My parents had cut ties with the family long before they passed, so not a single relative showed up at the funeral.
I felt guilty toward them, but life was hard, so I threw the modest inheritance they’d left me into stocks.
Life was short—just once around—so since I couldn’t even dream of buying a house, stocks seemed better than the lottery.
And after losing it all, I finally realized stocks just weren’t for me.
Then, while I was agonizing over whether to quit my hellish job at the company everyone called ‘Shithole Inc.,’ and with everyone around me buzzing about crypto lately, I suddenly remembered the DogX Coin I’d bought way back when.
“Tsk, this is why we shouldn’t hire from podunk colleges.”
My boss was always running his mouth, belittling people, and I slaved away under him, dreaming only of escaping that company.
In a world where jumping to a better job felt impossible, my only hope was striking it rich.
‘But against all odds, I succeeded—big time?’
Dad, Mom up in heaven, how have you been? Your daughter turned her life around.
‘Manager Kim, you bastard! Good riddance! Hahaha!’
Farewell, everyone!
I’m breaking free from all the chains and shackles of this world to chase my own happiness.
That day, I didn’t get to slap Manager Kim across the face with my resignation letter…
But I did quit the company.
‘First things first—off on an overseas trip!’
I booked first-class tickets to that island I’d always dreamed of visiting with my earnings.
That part was great. Really great…
Until the plane crashed.
A plane crash—the kind with odds lower than winning the lottery!
And just like that, I died on the spot.
‘Damn it, what kind of bolt from the blue is this?! God, it’s so unfair no matter how I think about it—wahhh, my coin! My money!’
I’d kicked the bucket without even getting to properly spend those tens of billions.
If only I’d blown it all in Vegas, that’d be one thing.
In first class! I hadn’t even eaten the in-flight meal yet!
‘I can’t die like this—I won’t!’
Wahhh.
If I’d known, I would’ve lived a little less pathetically!
My money! My trip! Wahhh!
I should’ve at least slapped that Manager Kim bastard once!
* * *
I woke up sobbing my heart out, as if emerging from a deep sleep, and found myself staring at an unfamiliar ceiling.
What? Even in death, am I dreaming?
“Y-You’re awake, Duchess Charlize!”
As I opened my eyes and sat up, someone startled and bolted away so fast I couldn’t even see their face.
‘Where am I? Why is the furniture like this?’
I stared blankly at the surroundings and froze.
There was a mirror nearby, so I checked my reflection.
The moment I looked, my mouth fell open slightly.
“Whoa, unreal.”
An incredibly beautiful woman blinked back at me from the mirror.
Her long, flowing pink hair had lost a bit of its luster, and her red eyes were proudly upturned.
Her slender yet elegantly graceful figure.
Her face was a little hollow and pale, like she hadn’t slept, which was a pity, but it didn’t detract from her beauty at all.
Looking at those subtly seductive eyes, I thought if she so much as flirted, I’d go full fan-girl mode yelling, “Sis! I love you!”
I spent a good while admiring the mirror happily before freezing.
‘Wait, the person who just left definitely called me “Charlize,” right? That name rings a bell…’
Why does it feel familiar? As I pondered, I glanced around the room and flinched.
“Alcohol bottles?”
What the hell is all this…?
The room was a total wreck.
Scattered bottles everywhere, the bed and decorative fabrics soaked like someone had spilled drinks all over.
Judging by the neatly stacked ones nearby, the person who’d just left must have been cleaning up.
As I took a step, my toe caught on something.
A scroll? Like something out of a Western movie, rolled-up parchment.
Curiously, it floated up on its own and unrolled.
“W-What?”
[It’s God.
Sorry about this, but to fix an error in my world, I summoned you.
For a limited time of 1 year, maintain your engagement to ‘Askin Remute’ as the villainess.
But absolutely do not let on that you’re a fake soul.
Succeed, and I’ll return your DogX Coin.]
“…Voice phishing scam?”
That was my instinctive reaction.
I know it sounds ridiculous, but it was all I could say.
‘Wait, hold on—with this appearance, villainess, and Charlize…’
The keywords clicked together, and a bolt of realization struck my mind.
I suddenly remembered exactly where I’d seen all this.
It was all a description of the villainess from that 19+ dark romance novel I’d read, Surviving as the Tyrant’s Empress!
Charlize was the villainess who’d rampaged with all the love from the male lead and her grandfather until the heroine appeared. The heroine then healed all the victims Charlize had created one by one, turning the men into obsessives who fought over her.
One line to sum up the villainess: a total Gae-mang disaster.
Not only did she love her booze, but she was disastrously obsessed with handsome men, having toyed with every single hot guy in the novel…
Using her power to order violence against them.
Or beating them herself when drunk. Her list of atrocities was endless.
My head throbbed a little.
‘Where’d the parchment go?’
At some point, the floating scroll had vanished.
No matter how I looked, there wasn’t a trace left.
So that message was real?
‘Can I go back and touch my money?’
I swallowed hard.
Of course, the process wouldn’t be easy.
‘Askin Remute’ was the guy in the book who helped the heroine kill the villainess…
The villainess’s fiancé, but the one who’d suffered the most at her hands and hated her the most.
But I just have to maintain the engagement for exactly one year?
Then I get to go back and reclaim my money? Sounds too good to be true?
As confusion swirled, the door creaked open softly, and two people hurried in.
An elderly lady. The moment she saw me, her mouth gaped.
“Ch-Charlize, miss… The Duke is asking for you.”
“……”
The Duke—Charlize’s grandfather, right?
At that moment, a faint image of a handsome old man’s face floated into my mind.
More memories followed, and I realized they were this villainess Charlize’s.
From them, I could tell how Charlize usually treated her grandfather.
‘It said I can’t let on that I’m not the real villainess?’
Then for now, I’ll play it safe.
“Got it.”
As I casually stood, the maid beside me scurried over and draped a shawl over me.
But this maid sister—why was she tearing up and fussing over the shawl the moment I looked at her?
“I-I-I’ll escort you.”
This 19+ novel Surviving as the Tyrant’s Empress—shortened to Tyrant Survival—wasn’t called “survive” for nothing.
The male lead was a tyrant, and including him, there were all sorts of crazy sub-males who made it infamous as an obsession and confinement feast.
‘Among them, the craziest one—why they made him the lead, I have no idea—was the tyrant Roxidian. The villainess Charlize’s brother?’
As the heroine’s sister-in-law, Charlize tormented her in every way imaginable, and when the man she’d set her sights on showed interest only in the heroine, she flew into a jealous rage.
In short, she was the one who’d tormented the heroine viciously from all angles.
“Um, D-Du-Duchess?”
Lost in thought, I’d stopped walking, so the maid was staring at me now.
As I stared blankly back, she started trembling and bowed her head deeply—god knows how she interpreted it.
To avoid awkwardness, I casually spoke up.
“Where are we headed?”
“Y-Yes, y-you drank in the private reception room yesterday and h-had a fun time… So this morning, the Duke said he wanted to see you…”
Whether my question or demeanor seemed off, the answer came from the still-bowed maid.
As we walked and she explained, it turned out Charlize had caused a huge scandal before, been sent away on a “trip” that was basically exile, and had just returned home yesterday after that period ended—promptly throwing a massive drunken bash.
‘Ah, that explains why the room was littered with bottles and a total mess.’
The hollow face was from the booze, huh…
The lady walking with me now was Madam Larville, Charlize’s nanny who’d raised her since childhood.
“The Duke… I’ve brought the Duchess.”
Waiting inside the room was the figure from Charlize’s memories: her grandfather, the Altzveit Duke.
He was a handsome old man, but his cold gaze made him utterly intimidating.
“Sit.”
Madam Larville bowed her head. I rolled my eyes around, deciding to observe the situation.
‘Let’s see exactly what’s going on here.’
No sooner had I sat than Madam Larville exited, and the door clicked shut.
“Hah, you couldn’t hold back your habits and threw a drunken party after all.”
The elderly Duke rubbed his chin.
Only one person stood beside the Duke, and his gaze toward me wasn’t exactly friendly.
“I told you to behave when you returned. Not even a full day has passed… Tsk, why do you keep acting so foolishly?”
The Duke clicked his tongue, his expression chilly.
But for some reason, his eyes were a touch softer than at first glance. Like looking at a somewhat immature granddaughter?
“There’s something you need to know that happened while you were away.”
But that softness was fleeting; his face hardened again.
“Your fiancé, Duke Remute, has demanded to break off the engagement.”