"Ariana, hurry up. The door's going to close."
The protagonist of this novel's world.
Leonard Pierce.
With his dazzling golden hair, he urged the hesitant woman.
"I understand how you feel. I truly do, but this is something we can't avoid. We have to go."
At his urging, the woman's deep green eyes wavered uncertainly.
Her gaze was filled with guilt.
"But…"
"Hurry!"
Despite his repeated urging, she couldn't bring herself to take a single step.
Ariana—she was Leonard's lover who would later be known as a hero and be revered as a saint.
Anyway, taking advantage of this moment, I painfully opened my mouth again.
"I told you to take me with you, didn't I?"
"..."
"I'm… ugh, part of the team too. Take me. I'll recover from these wounds in no time… Hah, just take me with you."
I'd already lost count of how many times I'd pleaded.
But again, no one responded to my words.
From earlier, they'd all been acting like they couldn't even hear me.
As if it had been agreed upon.
"…I'm sorry, but there's no other choice. Miss Ariana, we must go."
As Ariana continued to hesitate, another man, who had been standing by her side like a guard all along, stepped in.
"Let's go. Now."
As if he couldn't wait any longer, he grabbed Ariana's arm and pulled her.
Unable to withstand everyone's pressure any longer, Ariana finally dropped her head, defeated.
"…I'm sorry, Rosette."
At that point, I was simply dumbfounded.
"If you're sorry, just take me with you!"
If you're really sorry, then take me.
Can't you hear me?
"This… I'll leave it here."
She mumbled quietly, dropping a worn-out bag onto the floor with a dull thud.
Her head stayed bowed, as if she couldn't bear to look at me.
At last, Ariana turned away.
And with no reason left to delay, the men quickly escorted her away without hesitation.
I mustered every last bit of strength and shouted.
"Hey, wait!"
They disappeared beyond the door without even a backward glance.
"You bastards!"
Thud!
The door shut.
* * *
Every story has a protagonist.
And there are always characters whose purpose is to make the protagonist shine.
Not the hero, not even a supporting role, just a nameless extra.
That's what I was.
One of the children offered as a sacrifice.
A minor character whose name never even appeared in the novel. A complete nobody.
I realized that fact the moment I was offered as a sacrifice.
"Rosette, my sweet little sister. Thanks to your noble sacrifice, our family and even this country will know peace and happiness."
…I still vividly remember the cold touch of the one who pushed me toward the altar while saying those words—my so-called older brother.
I had been adopted for the sole purpose of being sacrificed from the very beginning.
And I didn't even learn that truth until I was dragged onto the altar.
In the unbearable pain as my body burned on the altar, memories of my past life came flooding back, and I realized the world I'd reincarnated into was one from a novel.
"Your parents sold you."
From that line onward, the novel
According to prophecy, the noble houses of two empires, each of which had unified a continent, had long been offering children of their bloodlines as sacrifices.
The reason for offering sacrifices was simple.
To maintain the magical barrier that sealed away demonic energy on an island.
These sacrificial children would be taken to a tower, where they were tormented as playthings for demons before being killed. That was the premise.
But the protagonist, being the protagonist of a cliché fantasy novel, was different.
Unlike the others, he brought his party with him, fought through the tower with ease, and escaped.
After that, he overthrew the two empires that had maintained peace through child sacrifices and became a hero.
That was the general gist of the story…
But even after realizing all that, there was nothing I could do.
Because by that point, I was already burning on the altar.
I screamed that it hurt, begged them to save me, then lost consciousness. When I opened my eyes again, I was inside the tower.
And just like back then…
Ha, damn it…
I had blacked out, and when I came to, no one was around me this time either.
The people I had thought were my comrades had truly left me behind.
This is ridiculous.
Once reality sank in, a hollow laugh escaped me.
Turns out, the so-called protagonist of this garbage novel world was nothing but a hopeless, irredeemable piece of trash.
But what was even more hopeless was my situation—being abandoned by that trash.
That's right.
This was the third floor of the tower.
I had been left behind.
And this tower existed in a different dimension ruled by demons.
It lay beneath the island tainted with demonic energy.
A place no ordinary human could ever escape from alive.
And yet they had left someone behind in a place like this without a second thought.
It was hard to believe that those people, once described in the novel as righteous heroes, could act so cruelly.
I kept seeing their cold expressions as they stood over my injured body.
"You alone can't be the reason we all get stuck here."
"I hope you won't hold too much of a grudge."
"…May the blessing of the Gods be with you."
In the 'we' they referred to, I was not included.
Bastards.
I had devoted myself to the protagonist's party, pulling more than my weight time and time again.
I never expected them to show great loyalty in return, but I never imagined they would abandon me so easily, without even hesitation.
I really had it all wrong.
They never once considered me a comrade.
To them, I was someone they could discard at any time. Just a tool to use.
So in this moment, what boiled in me wasn't betrayal.
It was rage.
"…You dare abandon me?"
After all I did for you, bringing back valuable items over and over?
A survival instinct stronger than anything I'd felt before surged within me.
I won't forgive you.
What drives people to live?
Love? Friendship? Wealth and glory? No, none of that.
It's grit.
Sheer, unrelenting grit.
Just watch.
I'll make it out of this tower alive, just to spite you.
I reached toward my chest.
I had hidden an item inside my underwear just in case something like this happened.
Good thing I stashed it ahead of time.
Fumbling, I pulled out a single bean.
It was an item that not only restored basic stats but also healed wounds; essentially, a universal potion.
I didn't even have the strength to chew properly, but I forced myself to grind it down and swallow.
I refuse to die like this.
Why should I die here, for their convenience?
Next, I pushed myself forward with all the strength I had left.
Crawling. Inch by inch.
Toward the bag they had so "graciously" left behind as their final mercy.
"Huff… haah… haah."
Even that little movement caused blood to leak from the wound in my abdomen again.
The pain was one thing, but the sensation of blood oozing out of me sent chills down my spine.
Still, I kept going.
Just a bit more…!
Driven only by the will to survive, I stretched out my hand.
My fingertips brushed the strap of the bag.
Grabbing it, I dragged it toward me and frantically rummaged through it.
Soon, my hand found a soft, squishy fruit.
Bright red, with bite marks from bugs and spots of mold growing on it.
It was the fruit everyone had been too disgusted to eat.
I bit into it without a second thought.
I'll make them regret abandoning me.
They had never realized the true value of this fruit, hidden beneath its revolting appearance.
Even though I told them it was good, told them to eat it, they doubted me.
In the end, they left me behind unconscious, along with that fruit.
As long as I ate this fruit, no, as long as I could control the power gained from eating this fruit...
Maybe I can somehow survive, even without riding the protagonist's bus.
Consumed by sheer desperation, I chewed and swallowed the fruit.
Then I collapsed flat on the floor, gasping for air.
Now, I truly had no strength left in my body.
All I could manage was turning my head slightly, where it lay against the ground.
"Haah… haah…"
Maybe because I finally felt a bit of relief, my already weakened body sank even further.
It's fine... I just need to hold on until the wound heals…
I lay there, breathing raggedly, completely sprawled out on the floor.
To keep myself from losing consciousness, which kept threatening to fade, I bit down hard on the inside of my cheek.
That was when I heard it.
Footsteps.
Someone was walking toward me.
When I heard the sound, I forced my head to turn, trying to see who it was.
"Ugh!"
Suddenly, a hand shot out and grabbed a fistful of my hair, yanking my head up with brutal force.
Before I could even process the pain, I found myself staring straight into blood-red eyes.
At the same time, the man who had grabbed me muttered in disappointment after seeing my face.
"…Knew it. Not the one."
And just like that, he let go of my hair without hesitation.
Thud. My face hit the floor again, but I pushed myself up with everything I had.
The heat from the fruit's power was rising, muddling my vision as it began testing its host in earnest.
Even through the haze, I recognized him instantly, as if fate itself had whispered it to me.
That guy… It was him.
"It's… you… Wait… Don't go…"
That bastard. I was sure of it.
"Wait, just a second…"
I called out to him, desperately.
But he ignored me and kept walking, heading toward the door that led to the lower floor.
No! I couldn't let him leave.
"What the…"
Grab.
I clutched at the hem of his pants with all the strength I could muster.
He looked down at me, clearly annoyed by the sudden hold on his leg.
His gaze was cold and indifferent, like he was staring at a worthless bug.
"If you were waiting for someone to save you, then you've got the wrong guy."
"…That's not it."
"Unfortunately, I'm not the kind of decent person who helps someone on the brink of death."
"That's not..."
You're a villain.
Or to be precise, a person who will become a villain in the future.
What mattered now was that this guy might be my only way out of this tower alive.
You know what they say.
'The enemy of my enemy is my friend.'
Clinging to consciousness with every last ounce of will, I managed to speak.
"Your… your sister…"
I knew what he was after.
The reason he muttered in disappointment earlier after checking my face.
The reason he was desperately heading down the tower now.
I knew all of it, which meant I was someone he couldn't afford to just abandon.
"Your… sister, ngh… you're looking for her, right?"
Swallowing a groan, I forced the words out, and instantly, his demeanor changed.
"What? You know my sister?"
"I… saw her."
"When?"
"Ugh, I mean…"
"Where?"
I had to answer.
I needed to strike a deal before he left me here to die.
But in an instant, the strength drained out of my body.
I had reached my limit.
The moment I slumped over, unable to hold myself up anymore, he grabbed me by the collar.
That hurts, damn it…
"I asked you where you saw her."
"Ugh…"
He didn't hesitate. He shook me violently by the collar in his fist.
"Where did you see my sister? Tell me! Tell me before you die!"
But even his merciless grip couldn't keep my consciousness tethered.
I blacked out.
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