The Villainess’s Guide to Winning the Male Lead

“Hmm, that might not be possible. The fan meeting is supposed to be a secret from the manager.”

I was most curious about and wanted to see the manager. It was disappointing.

“Then…”

A viewer who was always friendly to me and for whom I felt inwardly grateful.

“PleaseShakeACarrot?”

Among the regular viewers, they always kindly took my side.

“That one?”

Gabriela seemed to know who I was talking about and nodded.

“I’ll call them now, so wait a moment.”

About ten minutes after Gabriela said that, I heard someone running towards the door, and then it burst open.

The person who entered had golden hair and pink eyes. 

He had a very cute appearance. His expression brightened like sunshine when he saw me.

“Nuna!”

Even though it was my first time seeing him, I knew who he was from that one word.

“…PleaseShakeACarrot?”

“Just call me Carrot!”

Carrot shook my hand vigorously up and down, looking very excited.

Though we had only met through chat, he felt strangely familiar.

“You must have been shocked by the sudden accident! Do you know how worried everyone was when Nuna got game over?”

“Haha……”

I let out an awkward laugh.

Carrot’s pink eyes sparkled.

“But it was so cool! The way you sacrificed yourself to save Anna! That’s our Nuna!”

“……”

I wondered how I appeared to the viewers. It was really just an impulsive act, but I felt awkward from the excessive praise.

“Let’s go, let’s go! See you later, Gabi!”

“Take good care of her―”

Gabriela waved to us.

I was led out of the room by Carrot. It was my first time stepping out of here.

Soon, a surprisingly ordinary hallway appeared. It was a bit fancy, but not overly so to my eyes, accustomed to living in the Duke’s manor.

Carrot hummed a tune. I spoke to him.

“I’m sorry for interrupting your work.”

“It’s fine! It’s a chance to take a break.”

Carrot was just cheerful. He was exactly like he was in the chat. I hadn’t expected him to be so young.

“Where should we start? Honestly, as it’s a workplace, there might not be much fun! Shall we just go outside?”

“Let’s start here.”

I was curious about the workplace of the angels. There had been a lot of talk about work in the chat. I was also interested in how my regular viewers spent their time.

“Do the others know I’m here?”

“No! I snuck out as soon as I got the message.”

Carrot exclaimed proudly.

“I’m in charge of being the guide! The others will see you at the fan meeting. For now, let’s spend time together.”

Carrot seemed intent on monopolizing me. His small stature made all his words and actions cute.

Carrot clasped his hands together and looked up at me.

“I’m so amazed right now! To see Nuna, whom I’ve only seen in videos, right in front of me!”

“Right now, I’m not even in Anais’s form, is that still okay?”

“Of course! I’m a fan of Jiha Nuna. Any form is fine. If I could spend points right now, I would have used all the points I saved up. That’s how much I like it!”

You mean you had points saved up and didn’t spend them? I felt a bit betrayed.

“Can I hold your hand as we walk?”

“Sure.”

I readily extended my hand. Carrot took my hand and smiled happily. It felt like having a younger brother.

“If you want to look around here, um… should I show you my office?”

“You have an office?”

“Yes! I work well, so I work in my own office.”

A kid like this works?

Suddenly, I remembered Carrot spending a lot of points. He must be quite an excellent employee.

We arrived at Carrot’s office. The office was quite spacious.

“Sit here!”

Carrot kindly pulled out a chair for me. It was almost overwhelming.

“Do you always do this much?”

“I’m Nuna’s fan, so of course.”

What exactly is a fan? What did I do to deserve this much affection? It was just fascinating.

Carrot sat opposite me, giggling.

“How long will you be here?”

“Um… until the fan meeting is over?”

“Do you have any detailed plans for the fan meeting?”

“I don’t usually make plans like that.”

“Typical Nuna.”

Carrot seemed to have expected that response.

“Does the manager know?”

“No. It’s supposed to be a secret, right?”

“True, the manager was strongly opposed. He said that distance is necessary between a fan and a celebrity.”

That wasn’t wrong. The distance between fans and celebrities is quite important. But I had already messed that up.

“What kind of person is the manager?”

Carrot seemed to be quite close to the manager, using the term ‘hyung’ (brother) without any distance.

I couldn’t contain my curiosity about the manager. It was even stronger because I couldn’t meet him.

“The manager hyung? As you see in the chat. Grumpy, easily offended.”

“Really?”

“Yes! But he takes really good care of us. He talks tough, but he’s always cleaning up after us.”

That applied to me as well. I already knew that the manager was a kind person.

“What about asdf?”

A viewer who was as big a spender as Carrot in the broadcasts. They were also an angel who had spent the most points among the viewers.

“That hyung is…”

Carrot hesitated a bit, unlike before.

“A bit weird.”

“Weird?”

“Yes. A bit peculiar, I guess…”

I wondered what kind of peculiarity an angel was talking about. From what I saw in the chat, asdf seemed quiet and well-behaved, so it was hard to imagine.

“Will they come to the fan meeting too?”

“They’re usually too busy, but they might come! asdf is also a huge fan of Jiha Nuna.”

It was evident from their daily presence in the broadcasts. While Carrot sometimes missed one or two out of ten broadcasts, asdf had never been absent from the viewer list.

There were many other viewers I was curious about. Just as I was about to ask, there was a knock at the door.

“Ah.”

Carrot chuckled.

“Nuna, can you open the door?”

“Me?”

“Yes. They’ll be really happy.”

Was he saying I would be happy, or the person outside?

His statement was so meaningful that I nodded and went to open the door, driven by curiosity.

Upon opening the door, I saw two unfamiliar women.

“……”

They looked angry and were staring at Carrot across the room.

“Hello, Nunas.”

“You want to die?”

The woman with pink hair in front of me spat out harsh words. The woman with white hair, on the other hand, frowned for a moment but then brightened up upon seeing me.

“Kyaa!”

The woman exclaimed and hugged me tightly.

“Oh my, it’s really Jiha!”

“Hey, you’re scaring her.”

“Sorry, sorry!”

The woman laughed and let go of me.

“I’m late introducing myself. You must know me! OnlyFinley!”

“Ah…!”

That hardcore fan of Finley. The person who liked every male character at first sight.

“And the one beside you is…?”

“Poppopo.”

The woman with pink hair said.

A familiar nickname indeed. She was the one with a rough speaking style in the chats.

“How did you find out and come here so quickly?”

Carrot looked deflated, a stark contrast to when it was just the two of us.

“Poppopo grumbled, ‘Jiha suddenly died, and then you were called by Gabi and disappeared.’ We immediately suspected something.”

“How dare you try to monopolize Jiha alone?”

OnlyFinley also looked at Carrot disapprovingly. Carrot avoided eye contact, pretending not to notice.

“Are you going to come here every time you game over? I know a cafe I like, want to go together?”

“Nuna is busy right now.”

Carrot spoke up in response to OnlyFinley.

“Do you call Jiha ‘Nuna’ even here?”

“Yeah― It’s one thing in the chat, but it’s a bit off doing it in person, man.”

“Why! I call everyone Nuna or Hyung.”

Carrot looked younger than me at first glance.

Seeing my expression, Poppopo said,

“He may look young, but he’s much older than you.”

“That’s true. About 300 years old.”

“He’s still quite young among us.”

“……”

I quietly looked at Carrot. He was just smiling brightly.

Of course, he’s not human… There were no significant outward differences, so I hadn’t realized it.

Carrot made a pitiful face.

“Should I stop calling you Nuna…?”

“No, it’s fine, do as you like…”

It wasn’t a big deal, and if one of my biggest supporters wanted to do it that way, I was willing to go along.

“But how did you end up here? Gabi usually never lets anyone meet you.”

“Oh, that’s because…”

I explained what had happened earlier, about the fan meeting.

Hearing my story, OnlyFinley clapped her hands in excitement.

“So we’re really having a fan meeting― that’s great!”

“Then let’s plan it together!”

“Yeah, we’ll be the hosts!”

Carrot also looked excited. He seemed to get along well with OnlyFinley.

“Is it okay to not work?”

“…It’s fine!”

“Don’t worry, I’ve saved up plenty of points.”

Poppopo, seemingly intending to join in, said with a smile.

“We need to decide on a location. Maybe a café or something?”

“That would be good. If we hold the fan meeting inside the company, I might die of boredom.”

“What about the manager?”

“He’s on a business trip.”

“We have to do it secretly from the manager anyway! Works out, I guess―”

The three of them started a lively conversation among themselves. I was just blinking blankly, caught in the middle.

“This isn’t the time for that. Let’s take Jiha out first! We need to make the most of this limited time!”

“No, I’m planning to stay here for a few days anyway.”

“Oh? Then where will you stay during that time?”

I couldn’t answer Poppopo’s question. I didn’t know either.