The Villainess’s Guide to Winning the Male Lead

“Marry me, Anais.”

With jet-black hair and purple eyes, he was Kabir Hayward, the male protagonist of this novel. Despite being right in front of me, his beauty felt almost surreal.

Hearing Kabir’s words, I accidentally let the tea I was sipping dribble down my chin. Kabir, unfazed by my reaction, continued with a smile.

“I think it’s a mutually beneficial proposition.”

“…What about Selena?”

Selena was the female protagonist of the story. Kabir was supposed to be utterly smitten with Selena, showing little interest in anyone else.

“Selena doesn’t matter.”

Kabir maintained eye contact as he spoke.

“Now, you are the only one I find interesting.”

I cringed involuntarily at his words.

What on earth did I do to pique his interest? Clearly, things had gotten seriously twisted.

‘Well, I do have a conscience.’

Even if I were despicable, I hadn’t stooped to stealing my sister’s man. I had enough sense to reject such a ludicrous proposal.

“I’m sorry, but I…”

Before I could finish, the sound of a refreshing coin rang in my ear.

[asdf has donated 100 points!]

– Accept and get ten thousand points.

“Shall we go pick out a ring first?”

“……?”

Kabir looked puzzled by my immediate acceptance.

Whether the male protagonist likes me or not, it was irrelevant at the moment.

What mattered most was entertaining these people.

* * *

“This is rather tricky.”

Heo Jiha, 23 years old. Died today.

I had no idea how I ended up dead. One moment I was fine, and the next, I found myself in the afterlife. I casually placed my hands in the pockets of my hoodie, wearing an indifferent expression.

Unlike me, the woman in front of me seemed extremely serious. She kept muttering about the situation being tricky, flipping through the papers in her hand.

“It’s complicated to reincarnate you. But it feels too wasteful to just extinguish your existence…”

“Please reincarnate me.”

I stated confidently. The woman opposite me looked at me as if I were absurd.

“Didn’t you hear me talking to myself just now? Your soul isn’t clean enough for reincarnation.”

I had committed quite a few dirty deeds in my past life. I nonchalantly picked my ear, pretending ignorance.

“Sigh… It’s such a waste.”

The woman began to contemplate again. For some reason, she seemed reluctant to end my life just like that.

Seeing her ponder over my reincarnation, was she some kind of deity? She was absurdly beautiful. Instinctively, I thought I should make a good impression on her.

“I’m even confident in doing menial tasks like scrubbing floors. You can use me as much as you want before reincarnating me.”

“Don’t you have any pride?”

The woman nodded in response to my words. My pride had been long forsaken.

“…….”

Suddenly, as if struck by a thought, the woman raised her head sharply.

“There’s a joke that the angels used to say. Are you interested?”

“What is it?”

“It might really hurt your pride and annoy you.”

“I’m used to that kind of thing, so it’s fine.”

As I showed interest, the woman hesitated but then began to speak.

“You see, the Celestial Realm is too peaceful.”

So, this place must be the Celestial Realm. Then the person in front of me must be an angel.

“So, there’s a joke that’s been passed around as a light-hearted conversation?”

“Yes.”

“…….”

I was listening attentively, but the woman suddenly clamped her mouth shut and shook her head.

“No, let’s just drop it. Even I think it’s too trashy to consider.”

“Why? Let me hear it and I’ll decide.”

Whether to accept or reject was my choice. She didn’t seem like she would force me anyway. So, I wanted to at least hear her out.

“I like doing trashy things.”

“…….”

The woman looked at me with a wary expression.

“…Alright, I’ll tell you. We’re preparing a new world, you see? Usually, before we fully operate a new world, angels go and live in it as a test. But it turns out to be more bothersome than expected. Since it’s going to be a world for humans anyway, the idea came up to let a human test it.”

So, she wants to assign me the role of a tester? It didn’t seem like a big deal. It wasn’t something to be called trashy for.

But it seemed the real issue was just beginning, as the woman’s brows furrowed.

“As the suggestions kept coming, the conversation started drifting from work to entertainment.”

“Entertainment?”

“Yeah, like… the idea came up to allow the angels to watch while I’m being tested.”

Watching, huh? I had a rough idea of what that entailed.

“So, I just have to play the role of a toy.”

“That’s a bit… isn’t it?”

“No? It sounds like fun.”

I nodded for her to continue. The woman went on to explain methodically.

“The original plan for the test was until the end of the original story, but for the sake of fun, it seems better to proceed on a point system rather than a fixed period. Angels will give you points if they like the story you create.”

Providing entertainment to the viewers and receiving points in real-time, it sounded similar to internet broadcasting.

“Once you accumulate enough points, we’ll arrange for your reincarnation. We’ll try to align the reincarnation conditions as closely as possible to your preferences.”

“Hmm.”

The conditions were better than I had expected. A few years of alleviating boredom and then living the next life as a ‘silver spoon’ – it was a no-brainer for someone who had been hoping for reincarnation.

“I’ll do it.”

“…You can think it over and decide.”

“No, I want to do it.”

The woman chuckled at my decisive response.

“Alright. Then… it’s over once you collect ten million points.”

She rummaged through a pile of documents and pulled out a book.

I took the book she handed to me.

“This is a world with its own original story. It’s a popular novel in the Celestial Realm. Getting involved with the main characters will lead to many interesting events, so try to act in that direction.”

“Am I going to possess one of the characters?”

“It seems best that way. You can choose who you want to be. Ideally, the female protagonist would be good.”

I flipped through the book to read about the female protagonist.

‘Not really my type.’

I wasn’t particularly impressed. Indifferently, I flipped through the pages.

While pondering who to possess, I stopped at one character.

“……”

After carefully reviewing the character’s information, I made my decision.

“Please let me possess this one.”

I had chosen Anais Erpeso, the villainess.

The woman looked puzzled at my choice.

“Why choose the villain? The female protagonist would have an easier time gaining favor with the other characters.”

“You said it’s a popular novel in the Celestial Realm, right? So, the angels coming to watch me would already know the original story.”

I explained calmly.

“If I possess the female protagonist and act exactly as in the original, wouldn’t that be boring?”

Being the villainess would be more convenient for acting outlandishly. Anais had her own set of abilities, making her a better choice than the capable but kind-hearted female protagonist.

“My goal now is to receive as much support as possible. That means I have to act as provocatively as possible.”

“…….”

Hearing my explanation, the woman looked dazed before bursting into laughter.

“This is why I hesitated to extinguish you.”

She seemed very pleased.

“You can’t take the original novel with you due to the risk of leakage. So, memorize it thoroughly now. I’ll give you as much time as you need. I’ll go and inform the angels.”

I smiled confidently. I was sure of my cramming skills.

After the woman left, I began to read the book in detail.

* * *

The character I possessed was Anais Erpeso, the eldest daughter of the Erpeso ducal family.

Anais was intelligent and beautiful but had a very peculiar personality, especially after Selena started staying at the mansion.

The original story began with Anais committing a misdeed against Selena, leading to her removal from the position of family heir and her isolation in an annex. Her family, having given up on her after enduring her wickedness, seemed to have abandoned her.

“……”

Slowly, I lifted my eyelids.

Rolling my eyes towards the window, I could see a very large and extravagant mansion.

‘Have I possessed her?’

I sat up abruptly. If the woman had kept her word about possessing me at the start of the original timeline, then this must be the point where Anais was isolated in the annex.

I picked up the hand mirror from the nightstand beside the bed and looked at my reflection.

Neat straight bangs and black hair reaching down to my waist. The red eyes, paired with the uplifted shape, gave off an even more prickly impression. It was exactly as Anais was described in the novel.

“First of all.”

Before taking any action, I needed to start the broadcast.

I muttered the command the woman had told me about. A translucent window appeared in front of me.

It displayed a chat window, a list of angels who had joined, and my own face.

‘It’s on, right?’

While I was absorbed in thought, a tingling sound rang out, and a new window popped up.

[Please Shake a Carrot has donated 100 points!]

– Hello, hello!

These were the points the woman had mentioned.

‘I need to collect ten million of these to finish.’

I had a feeling it would take longer than expected.

Meanwhile, the chat window was gradually filling up.

[asdf: Giving points already, and nothing’s even happened lol]

[Please Shake a Carrot: First donation achievement! lol]

[OnlyPhinley: Human, hello―]

[Isaac: hi]

These people were the viewers, the angels from the Celestial Realm watching over me. Despite having heard enough explanations, it was a bit difficult to adapt to this new situation. I waved my hand awkwardly.

There were eight viewers at the moment. Just a while ago, there were only five, but it seemed more were joining gradually.

As I was checking the viewer list, something caught my eye.