How to get on the protagonist’s flower path

Min Jaeyun.

She was none other than one of the sub-heroines.

Curly white hair resembling wool, horns protruding from the sides of her head, and soft, innocent-looking gray eyes. Her skin had a warm, brown tint, giving her a gentle, unassuming appearance.

With such a soft and mellow look, it was hard to believe that her system-assigned class was “Berserker.”

But beyond her class, there was something else about her that was downright terrifying…

I recalled her actions in the novel.

“Yuhan, who are you with? Why are you with them? Why? Why? Why? Why?”

“If I die with Yuhan, then he’ll be mine forever… right?”

Uh… yeah.

Even among readers, her obsessive personality was a highly divisive trait, one that people either loved or hated.

I found her scary, too. To the point where I’d rather hang out with the unhinged con artist than deal with her.

Now I also remembered why Min Jaeyun had been placed under close surveillance. I wanted to smack myself for temporarily forgetting.

The problem was that my character was one of those sunny, cheerful types.

Even if I wanted to keep my distance from Min Jaeyun because of her obsessive tendencies, the character I was playing wouldn’t ignore this innocent, naive girl!

Why am I still acting, you ask?

Well, in acting, details are everything. If Yuhan and Min Jaeyun ever crossed paths, I didn’t want my behavior to create any inconsistencies.

“Hello!”

I nervously forced a bright smile as I sat next to Min Jaeyun, trying to appear calm.

“What’s your name?”

She seemed surprised that I spoke to her first, her eyes widening as she stammered her response.

“M-M-Min Jaeyun.”

“I’m Kang Nahyeon. Nice to meet you!”

I know nothing. I know nothing at all.

Damn it. This “innocent” character concept is really coming back to bite me now.

Smiling, I reached out and held her hand. Min Jaeyun flinched but didn’t pull away.

“Are… are you okay?” she asked hesitantly.

“Hm? About what?”

“Well, I have dark attribute magic, and I’m not good at controlling it… I keep causing harm to people I touch…”

And that was the root of all her problems—the dark magic that unintentionally cursed those around her.

“Hmmm… I think I’m fine for now?”

I flexed my fingers, which tingled slightly, and casually shrugged it off.

“And if you can’t control it well, then you just need to practice! I’ve only recently awakened too, so I’m still pretty bad at most things. Let’s work hard together.”

With a cheerful “Fighting!” and my fists raised in encouragement, Min Jaeyun looked touched, her eyes welling up with emotion.

“Y-Yeah…!”

It seems like she’s starting to like me…

Well, this much should be okay.

…Right?

***

“Nahyeon…! Where are you?”

Let me cut to the chase.

“Look! I think I’m controlling my magic a little better than yesterday…!”

It wasn’t okay.

Min Jaeyun had started following me around everywhere.

Once she developed a liking for me, she stuck to me like a duckling imprinting on the first thing it sees after hatching.

“Nahyeon, you’re such a good person…!”

Maybe it was because she’d been isolated from her friends and sent to this special observation class, but I found her cute in a way, with those pure eyes always trailing after me.

But Min Jaeyun could be a bit exhausting.

“Compared to you, I’m so lacking…”

Here we go again. I patted the dejected Min Jaeyun.

“It’s fine. You’re getting much better at controlling your curse now, right?”

“Yeah, but because of me, you keep getting caught up in my curses…”

I gave her a bright smile and said, “We’re friends. It’s no big deal!”

…In truth, the way she constantly hesitated and wavered reminded me of my younger sibling, Kang Yoo, when I first met them.

That’s why I couldn’t help but care about her. Even though I knew I shouldn’t, I kept getting closer and showing her kindness.

Whether she realized it or not, every time I was kind to her, Min Jaeyun would beam with happiness, her eyes shining brightly.

“Nahyeon! T-This is for you…!”

“Cookies, huh? Did you make these yourself? They’re cute.”

“Yeah…”

One day, she even gave me homemade cookies.

They were clumsily made, all uneven and misshapen, clearly her first attempt. I carefully took one and, under her expectant gaze, took a bite.

They didn’t taste good.

Still, for a beginner, they were made with effort. So I praised her.

“Mmm, they’re good! You’re really good at baking, Jaeyun!”

She smiled as if she’d just been handed the world.

I was doing all this to maintain my character, but somewhere deep inside, I felt a twinge of guilt.

“Ouch.”

“A-Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I just bit my tongue.”

And as her feelings for me grew, so did the intensity of her “accidents.”

I hid my slightly darkened fingertips and smiled. If I let on that I’d been cursed, she’d look devastated, so it was better to just let it slide.

It was still manageable, and she was really trying hard to control her magic.

Plus, I bought a new bracelet that resists curses, so I should be fine.

And…

Since we’ve been spending time together for a while now, I wanted to see more smiles than tears.

As soon as I found out that I was in the same class as Min Jae-yoon, I started looking for items to deal with the curse.

There was an item I could buy within 300 million that I got during our last club activity.

[Haeju’s Bracelet (E-grade)] – Protects the user from curses.
I thought Min Jae-yoon had become adept at controlling curses because I was wearing this bracelet.

“Maybe things are getting better…!”

“That’s a relief.”

“Thanks to you, Nahyeon.”

She smiled brightly, looking genuinely happy.

“Nahyeon must be my lucky goddess!”

“I don’t think that’s true.”

I averted my gaze, feeling overwhelmed by the sparkle in her eyes.

“So I don’t want to let you go.”

…I thought I heard something ominous, but it must just be my imagination, right?

With this obsession, I couldn’t help but think of the recent scammer. I briefly recalled some nostalgic memories.

Especially my entrance scene from a few days ago was quite the spectacle.

85
I wonder what Nahyeon is doing? I couldn’t focus on training because the thought kept coming to me.

“You idiot! Focus!”

In the end, I got scolded by Yggdrasil.

185

85
Today, Nayuri is looking at me with cold eyes. Now I understand. Nayuri tolerated me because of Nahyeon. Well, who would like someone as trashy as me?

185

085
I miss Nahyeon. Lost in thought while holding a drink, I felt Choi Su-jeong poking me with her tail.

“What’s up? Why are you so spaced out lately?”

“It’s just that.”

“Is it hard because someone you like is far away?”

At those words, I accidentally dropped all the drinks I was holding.

Crash! The loud sound echoed, but I didn’t have time to care about that.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Nahyeon, Nahyeon! Wow, your face is all red!”

“That’s not true!”

I shouted at Choi Su-jeong, but she didn’t seem to believe me at all.

185

During the competition, I seemed fine enough to provoke my opponent, but why am I like this again…?

The scammer’s mental state was still very fragile, and her reliance on me was at an all-time high.

I could guess why she was in this state.

Now that I’ve realized this isn’t a game but reality, the only person who fully accepted her ugly self is me, so she must be depending on me.

And I believe her feelings towards me are closer to affection for a friend than love. She has said so herself.

Could that scammer really be so foolish that she doesn’t even know the nature of her feelings?

Anyway, there’s nothing to do but wait for time to heal this. As she builds deeper relationships with other friends, her reliance on me will lessen.

If I’m by her side, she’ll just lean on me, so maybe it’s better that we’ve distanced ourselves. Take care of your mental health, scammer.

I thought that as I embraced Min Jae-yoon, who came into my arms.

“Are you spacing out…?”

“Ah, yeah.”

“…When you’re with me, just look at me.”

Wow. I just got chills.

I forced a smile and turned my gaze to her.

There was something oddly vacant in Min Jae-yoon’s eyes.

Wait, wait. No way, right? It can’t be…

To test a certain ominous feeling that flashed through my mind, I decided to ask a question.

“Jae-yoon, what do you think would happen if I got a girlfriend?”

“A girlfriend?”

Her neck tilted at an odd angle. The smile vanished from her face, and her expression turned to a serious one that somehow added chilliness to her cuteness.

“Isn’t that… something you shouldn’t do? Let’s just be together forever, okay?”

She buried herself deeper into my embrace and started chattering.

“What if we leave for a foreign country after graduation? Living together abroad would be fun, right?”

Ouch, ouch. The places where we touched began to throb again. Her faint black magic swirled around me.

“…Um…”

“Why? Don’t you like it?”

Yes. I like living with my family.

But I had a feeling that saying this would lead to trouble.

“I dream of being a hunter working in Korea, so that won’t work out.”

“Then I’ll compromise a little…”

Min Jae-yoon said with a sulky expression.

“Then you can’t abandon me, okay?”

Min Jae-yoon looked at me with eyes like a puppy that had been abandoned.

“…Who would abandon you?”

I knew all too well that she didn’t want to be discarded, so I pulled her into my embrace and gently patted her back. I wanted her to feel reassured.

“Rather, it’s me who wants to ask you something. Will you continue to be my friend?”

I felt her breath catch for a moment at those words.

Before long, I heard her voice brightened with excitement.

“Yeah!”

Hearing her voice filled with joy somehow made my heart swell.

“I’m so happy!”

Because you resemble my sister.

***

Haeju’s bracelet that protects against curses.

As expected for a price of 300 million, it was doing its job very well, but it was starting to feel insufficient.

Because…

“…Nahyeon?