Transmigration into a game.
Fine. That part was fine.
There were dating simulation games where you got smothered in love between an emperor and a duke, and apparently the latest trend was transmigrating into horror games.
Even zombie games would’ve been acceptable. At least there, you could fight a common enemy while building love and friendship.
“But gangsters? Since when was there a game with a mobster male lead?”
There was one.
The very same adults-only dating sim she had played before falling asleep.
Sure, the content had been intense, but it was because the game was violent!
And of all things, she had to transmigrate into that game?
“Fuck…”
At her low curse, the male student staring out the window flinched and turned his head toward her.
His black bangs hung low enough to shadow his eyes, giving him an ominous look. But she knew.
She knew exactly how handsome the face hidden beneath that hair was.
And she also knew what kind of terrifying adult that boy would grow into.
“Why did it have to be the future mob boss sitting next to me?!”
Was she going to get stabbed in some back alley if she got on his bad side?
Silently screaming inside, she slammed her forehead onto the desk. The impact was loud enough that she could feel the boy beside her twitch.
Right now, he was quiet. She knew the other students looked down on him.
Of course, she also knew he secretly mocked all of them for being beneath him.
“And then he’ll fall for the transfer student heroine, and the moment she gets bullied, he’ll reveal his true identity…”
Back when she played the game, she had squealed over how cool that scene was.
Now that she was actually here, it just felt horrifying.
Still face-down on the desk, she clenched and unclenched her fists in an attempt to calm herself.
“Is this a dream? I’ll wake up soon, right? …What if I don’t? It looks like I transmigrated into a side character. Did I seriously get so emotionally invested in that game that I’m dreaming about it?”
Well, the characters had been ridiculously attractive.
And despite all the brutality, there had been something weirdly addictive about squeezing romance out of the chaos.
Sniffling, she buried her face deeper into the desk.
“Extracting romance from a dating sim… I should’ve realized something was wrong with me back then, damn it!”
She should’ve listened when her friends asked why she liked such niche garbage.
“Hey… are you okay?”
“I’m not okay, fuck.”
The answer slipped out before she could think.
Then she froze.
Something felt wrong.
She jerked her head up.
The future mob boss was still staring at her.
“…Were you talking to me?”
“Yeah.”
Was he insane?!
Who starts a conversation just to get cursed at?!
She was done for. Absolutely done for.
Was she going to get kidnapped tonight and sold to an organ trafficking ring? Or dragged into a torture chamber? Mobsters were brutal. The torture would probably be beyond imagination.
Her face turned pale, then ghostly white.
The boy watched her quietly without saying a word.
Then—
Ping!
Something suddenly appeared in front of him.
[Baby Mobster, ‘???’, has taken an interest in you.]
“Oh, fuck.”
First transmigration.
Now a game status window.
What kind of chaotic mess was this?
So stunned by the majestic appearance of the system window, she failed to realize one very important thing.
She had just looked directly at the baby mobster’s face—
and cursed at him.
The dating simulation game she had transmigrated into followed a fairly standard setup.
The heroine transfers into a new school.
The male lead hides his true identity while living as an ordinary student.
Without realizing it, the heroine ends up doing something meaningful for him, and he falls hopelessly in love with her.
Unfortunately, he came from a gangster family.
To him, becoming a mobster was only natural.
Which meant his way of loving someone could never be normal.
He ignored consent completely, forcing his feelings onto the heroine.
And if she rejected him?
He would resort to abnormal methods—kidnapping her and locking her away.
“The happy ending was literally him murdering the heroine’s entire family and keeping her imprisoned while she remained ignorant of the truth.”
At that point, she genuinely wondered whether the scenario writer even understood the concept of a “happy” ending.
There was also a second male lead.
If the heroine showed even the slightest interest in him, the main lead responded with torture and murder.
The male lead was the type to drag everyone around the heroine into hell just to destroy her completely.
“In the bad endings, he’d murder her family or the second lead right in front of her while forcing her to say she loved him.”
The heroine suffered so horribly that death sometimes felt preferable.
Watching the once-kind, considerate heroine slowly lose the light in her eyes had been painful.
Though admittedly, she had gotten way too emotionally invested.
“Still… it was easier to ignore because it was just a game.”
And because the illustrations were criminally handsome.
Even the classmate beside her—the future mob boss—had an absurdly attractive jawline.
His bangs hid his eyes, but she knew.
That face was exactly her type.
“Damn it. Damn it…”
She muttered quietly.
She could feel his gaze on her again, but ignored it.
Hopefully he’d just assume she was mentally unstable and lose interest.
She felt a little sorry for the heroine, but she had absolutely no desire to get involved with the male lead.
Actually—
No.
She corrected herself.
Looking down at the name tag pinned to her uniform, she read the name carefully.
“Baek Ihae.”
That was her name in this world.
“At least the name is pretty…”
She let out a hollow laugh and clenched the tag tightly.
The heroine transferred into the school during the male lead’s second year.
The textbooks on her desk were for first years.
“I have to survive an entire year? Should I transfer schools? Fake an illness?”
An illness?
Baek Ihae snorted bitterly.
“What is this, a corporate job?”
She repeatedly smacked her forehead with her palm.
Cursing alone.
Mentally self-destructing alone.
Meanwhile, she completely failed to notice her deskmate resting his chin on one hand while openly observing her.
“Come on, status window. Forget the baby mobster crap—give me information about me first!”
As if responding to her thoughts, a blue screen appeared above the notebook she’d been staring at.
[Name: Baek Ihae
Age: 17
Traits: Recently lost both parents in an accident. Starting today, she will move into the home of one of her parents’ friends.
Personality: Introverted.]
“Introverted? Fine. Since I don’t have any information yet, I’ll keep my mouth shut.”
More importantly—
She became an orphan the moment she transmigrated?
Tears welled up in her eyes.
She’d been an orphan in her previous life too.
And now this?
To make matters worse, she didn’t even know where she was supposed to go.
Baek Ihae collapsed onto the desk again, deeply moved by how helpfully vague the status window was.
There were no quests.
No explanation of her role here.
Nothing.
Come to think of it, her memories of her previous life were strangely blurry.
Could her past life have been the dream, and this reality?
“No… the dating sim is way too vivid.”
She still remembered the names of the heroine and male lead perfectly.
Turning her head, Baek Ihae looked at her deskmate.
Their eyes met immediately.
Apparently, he’d still been staring at her.
“Seo Dogyeom.”
Like her own, the male lead’s name was beautiful.
Regardless of his personality or background.
[Baby Mobster Seo Dogyeom is becoming interested in the reactions of the usually quiet side character.]
“Oh, so I’m officially just a side character now? You won’t even call me by name?”
Go live happily ever after among yourselves, damn it.
Baek Ihae grumbled internally.
Still, even if she shared a class and desk with the male lead, they probably wouldn’t become deeply involved.
Introverted Baek Ihae never initiated conversations.
And even if someone spoke to her, she’d probably pretend not to hear.
Maybe she could just flirt with a reasonably handsome second male lead and live happily ever after instead.
That fantasy shattered after school.
“Why does he keep following me?!”
Thankfully, the status window had provided her with a minimap showing the location of her new home.
Just like in a game, it hovered at the corner of her vision.
So she followed it—
only to realize Seo Dogyeom was trailing behind her at a perfectly consistent distance.
Even if she tried to ignore him, the steady pacing was driving her insane.
“Is this because I cursed at him earlier? Is he going to kidnap and torture me?”
…He was still a minor, though?
Then again, if he had a conscience, he wouldn’t become a mobster in the first place.
Baek Ihae’s eyes trembled violently.
She didn’t want to die like this.
Suddenly, she kicked off the ground and sprinted away.
She hurried desperately toward her destination before he could catch up.
Fortunately, Seo Dogyeom didn’t follow immediately.
Relieved, she took a roundabout route and eventually arrived where the minimap indicated.
“…Wow. They’re way richer than I expected.”
The mansion before her was far grander than she’d imagined.
But why were there two intimidating men guarding the front entrance?
They kept glancing at her suspiciously, clearly wondering why some random student was lurking around.
“No way. No, seriously… no way.”
Anxiously stepping backward, Baek Ihae bumped into someone.
She looked up instinctively.
And saw a familiar face.
From below, she could finally glimpse Seo Dogyeom’s handsome features beneath his bangs.
His eyes were colder than she’d expected.
“So it was you. The guest my family said would be staying with us starting today.”
…Strange.
A handsome guy was speaking absolute nonsense.
Baek Ihae dug at her ear as if trying to dislodge the words.
She desperately wanted to deny reality.
“No, I think there’s been some kind of misunderstanding! I must’ve come to the wrong place—”
As she tried to flee, Seo Dogyeom grabbed the back of her neck.
Casually.
Like a predator catching escaping prey.
“Baek Ihae, right? Your name’s unusual, so I remembered it. There’s only one Baek Ihae at our school.”
She struggled wildly, but despite his thin frame, his grip was terrifyingly strong.
Or maybe she was just absurdly weak.
Ignoring her near-tearful expression, the mansion doors opened.
Seo Dogyeom dragged Baek Ihae inside.
It felt exactly like being dragged into a tiger’s den.
Mother whose face she’d never known.
Father whose name she didn’t even know.
Why did you have to befriend a mobster of all people?!
Was possessing your daughter’s body not enough? Did you really have to dump her into this hell too?!
This “gift” tasted nothing but bitter.
Shouldn’t there at least be a little sweetness?!
Seo Dogyeom continued dragging her deeper into the mansion.
Along the way, large men in black suits stared at her curiously, as if wondering why something so tiny and insignificant had ended up here.
Baek Ihae stared back just as strangely.
“Damn it, I don’t know why I’m being dragged around either! Stop looking at me like that! You’re scaring me!”
Eventually, they stopped in front of a study.
After knocking and entering, Seo Dogyeom finally released the back of her neck.
Then he clasped his hands behind his back and faced forward.
He looked almost like a disciplined soldier.
Baek Ihae followed his gaze.
A middle-aged man sat behind an office desk, resting his chin against one hand.
“Holy hell. That face is insane.”
Her parents whose faces, names, and even blood types she didn’t know.
At least one thing was clear.
They definitely chose their friends based on appearance.
“You’re Baek Ihae?”
At that moment, Baek Ihae felt sincerely guilty toward her deceased parents.
“I’m sorry for complaining that this whole situation was bitter!”
“This isn’t bitter at all.”
“It’s so sweet I might ascend from diabetes.”
