“Aria, hurry. At this rate, the door will close.”
The protagonist of this novel’s world—
Leonard Pierce.
With his radiant golden hair, he urged the hesitant woman.
“I understand how you feel. I truly do. But this can’t be helped. We have to go.”
At his urging, the woman’s deep green eyes wavered aimlessly.
They were filled with guilt.
“But…”
“Come on!”
Even with the continued pressure, she couldn’t bring herself to move.
Aria—she was the woman who would later be revered as a saint and become the lover of Leonard, the future hero.
Taking advantage of the moment, I forced my mouth open again.
“Take me with you too.”
“……”
“I’m… ngh, I’m a companion too. Take me. This kind of injury will heal soon anyway… haah… just take me with you.”
I didn’t even know how many times I had pleaded already.
But once again, no one responded to me.
From earlier, they had been acting as if they couldn’t hear my voice at all.
As if they had agreed on it beforehand.
“…It’s unfortunate, but it can’t be helped. Lady Aria, we must go.”
As Aria continued to hesitate, another man who had been standing beside her like a guard stepped forward.
“Let’s go. Now.”
As if he couldn’t wait any longer, he grabbed Aria’s arm and pulled.
At last, unable to withstand everyone’s urging, Aria lowered her head weakly.
“…I’m sorry, Rosette.”
At that point, I was simply dumbfounded.
“If you’re sorry, then take me with you!”
If you’re sorry, just take me!
Can’t you hear me?
“…I’ll leave this here.”
Murmuring softly, she dropped a worn-out bag onto the floor with a dull thud.
Her head remained lowered, as if she couldn’t bear to look at me.
Only then did Aria turn around.
And with that, the men had no reason to linger. They took Aria and left without hesitation.
I screamed with all the strength I had left.
“Hey! Wait!”
They didn’t even look back as they crossed the door and disappeared.
“You bastards!”
Boom!
The door shut.
Every story has a protagonist.
And there are always characters meant to make that protagonist shine.
Neither the hero nor even a supporting character—just a mere extra.
That was me.
One of the children offered as a sacrifice.
A minor character whose name doesn’t even appear in the novel.
I realized that fact at the very moment I was offered up.
“Rosette, my lovely little sister. With your noble sacrifice, our family—and beyond that, this nation’s peace and happiness—will be preserved.”
…Even now, I can vividly remember the cold touch of the man who called himself my brother as he pushed me onto the altar.
So I had been adopted from the start just to be used as a sacrifice.
I only learned that truth when I was dragged onto the altar.
As my body burned in that horrific pain, I recalled my past life—and realized that this place I had been reincarnated into was the world of a novel.
“Your parents sold you.”
Starting with that line, the story The Devil’s Game unfolded—a typical, cliché fantasy novel.
The two empires that had each unified a continent maintained peace by following a divine oracle: they offered children of noble bloodlines as sacrifices.
The reason was simple.
To maintain the barrier surrounding the island that sealed away demonic energy.
The children offered as sacrifices were transported to a tower, where they would be toyed with in the demons’ playground until they died.
But the protagonist, as expected of a cliché hero, was different.
Unlike the others, he brought along companions, rampaged through the tower, and cleared it smoothly before escaping.
After that, he overthrew the two empires that had maintained peace by sacrificing children and became a hero.
That was more or less the story.
But realizing all that didn’t change anything for me.
At that point, I had already been burning on the altar.
Screaming in pain, begging to be saved—I lost consciousness, and when I woke up, I had already been transported inside this tower.
And just like back then…
‘Ha… damn it.’
When I regained consciousness again, there was no one around me.
Those I had thought were my companions had truly abandoned me.
‘Unbelievable.’
A hollow laugh escaped me as reality sank in.
The so-called protagonist of this miserable novel turned out to be nothing but irredeemable trash.
But even worse than that… was my own situation, abandoned by that trash.
That’s right.
This is the third floor of the tower.
I’ve been left behind.
And this tower is an otherworld ruled by demons.
A structure deep beneath an island filled with demonic energy.
A place where ordinary humans could never hope to escape alive.
And yet, they casually abandoned a person here.
It was hard to believe that the same protagonist and companions described as righteous in the novel could commit something so cruel.
Their cold expressions as they looked at my injured body flashed through my mind.
“You alone can’t be the reason all of us are held back here.”
“I hope you won’t resent us too much.”
“…May the blessing of the gods be with you.”
I wasn’t included in their “us.”
‘Bastards.’
I had devoted myself to them completely.
I never expected grand loyalty in return, but I never imagined they’d abandon me so easily.
‘I must have been seriously mistaken all this time.’
From the start, they had never once considered me a companion.
To them, I was just someone expendable—someone to use and discard.
And so, what burned inside me now wasn’t betrayal.
It was rage.
“…How dare they abandon me?”
Me, who had farmed countless valuable items for them?
My survival instinct surged stronger than ever before.
‘I won’t forgive them.’
What do people live for?
Love? Friendship? Wealth? Honor?
No.
Spite.
It’s spite.
‘Just you wait.’
I’ll survive this tower and make sure they regret it.
I fumbled around my chest.
I had hidden an item in my underwear just in case.
‘Good thing I secretly kept this.’
After searching, I pulled out a small bean and swallowed it.
It was a kind of universal potion—restoring both basic stats and injuries.
I didn’t even have the strength to chew, but I forced myself to grind it down and swallow.
‘I won’t die like this.’
Why should I die here for their sake?
Next, I dragged myself forward.
Forward… forward.
Toward the bag they had left behind as their so-called last act of mercy.
“Haah… haaah…”
Just that small movement caused blood to seep from my abdominal wound again.
The pain was one thing, but the sensation of blood flowing out of my body was horrifying.
But it was fine.
‘Just a little more…!’
Driven by sheer will to live, I stretched out my hand with everything I had.
My fingertips finally caught the strap of the bag.
Pulling it closer, I rummaged through it frantically.
Soon, my hand grasped a soft fruit.
A bright red fruit, riddled with worms and covered in mold.
A fruit everyone else had refused to eat.
Without hesitation, I bit into it.
‘I’ll make them regret abandoning me.’
They never realized the true value hidden behind its grotesque appearance.
No matter how much I told them it was good, they doubted me—and in the end, they left me behind with it.
If I eat this… no, if I can properly control the power it gives…
‘I might be able to survive without relying on the protagonist.’
Consumed by determination, I chewed and swallowed the fruit.
Then I collapsed onto the ground, gasping for breath.
I had no strength left at all.
All I could do was barely turn my head to the side.
“Haah… haah…”
Maybe because I finally felt a bit relieved, my already weak body went even more limp.
‘It’s fine… I just need to hold on until the wounds heal…’
I lay there, breathing heavily, biting the inside of my cheek to keep from losing consciousness.
That’s when it happened.
I heard footsteps approaching.
When I turned my head with great effort to see who it was—
“Ugh!”
A hand suddenly shot out and grabbed my hair, yanking my head up.
Before I could even process the pain, I met a pair of dark red eyes.
The man, after seeing my face, muttered in disappointment.
“…As expected. It’s not you.”
Then he let go of my hair without hesitation.
As my face slammed into the ground, I forced my head up again.
My vision blurred as the fruit’s power began testing my body.
Even so, I recognized him instantly.
“…Hey… don’t go…”
It was him.
It had to be him!
“Hey, wait…”
I called out desperately.
But he ignored me and walked past, heading toward the door leading downstairs.
No!
“Hey—”
I grabbed his pant leg with all my strength.
He stopped, clearly annoyed, and looked down at me.
His gaze—like he was looking at an insignificant insect—was chilling.
“If you’re waiting for someone to save you, you’ve got the wrong person.”
“…That’s not it.”
“Unfortunately, I’m not kind enough to help someone who’s about to die.”
“No… that’s not it…”
You’re a villain.
No—more precisely, someone who will become a villain in the future.
But what mattered was this:
He might be my chance to survive.
After all, there’s a saying—
The enemy of my enemy is my ally.
Clinging to my fading consciousness, I spoke.
“You… your sister…”
I knew his goal.
The reason he had looked disappointed after seeing my face.
The reason he was desperately heading downward.
And because I knew that, I wasn’t someone he could just leave behind.
“You’re… looking for your sister, right?”
At my words, his attitude changed instantly.
“What? You know my sister?”
“I… I’ve seen her.”
“When?”
“Uh… that…”
“Where?”
I had to answer.
I had to make a deal so he couldn’t leave me behind.
But all the strength drained from my body.
I had reached my limit.
As my body went limp, he grabbed me by the collar.
That hurts…
“Where did you see her?”
“Ugh…”
He shook me roughly.
“I asked where you saw her! Speak—talk before you die!”
But even his merciless grip couldn’t keep me conscious.
I blacked out.