Chapter 3
“Ark” was a game similar in spirit to a beautiful girl-raising simulator.
The key difference? Unlike the average dating sim that starts from childhood and ends with adulthood—getting a job or a husband—Ark began at age 19 and concluded just a year later, at age 20.
Even with its short playtime, Ark demanded well-developed stats.
“S-Status window.”
As I called out in a trembling voice, a soft sound effect played, and a translucent status screen popped up in front of me.
Name: Adelheid Ulmer
Age: 19
Occupation: Adopted daughter of “Paula Ulmer”
Title: –
Alright, let’s get to the real meat.
Hoping my base stats were at least good enough to survive, I glanced further down.
[Basic Stats]
· Core Power: 0/100
· Intelligence: 3/100
· Elegance: 5/100
· Charm: 0/100
· Stress: 30/100
[Special Stats]
· Notoriety: 5/999
· Karma: 0/999
· Persuasion: 0/100
· Doormat Power: 95/100
“…What the hell.”
Is this for real?
No matter how many times I read it, the disastrous stats glaring back at me hadn’t changed even a fraction.
Which made it even harder to accept.
“Is this game seriously broken?!”
Even when I first played Ark as a total noob, I never had stats this bad. Why now?
As I agonized over it, the same system message I saw earlier popped up again.
[SYSTEM] Due to exceptional circumstances, ‘Hard Mode’ has been applied.
Player’s real-life attributes influence in-game stats.
“…You’ve got to be kidding me.”
So these bottom-of-the-barrel stats… were because of my real-life self?
Even if I could understand the rest… a Doormat Power of 95? Was I really that much of a pushover?
In the Ark forums, it was often said that any stat over 50 was already decent.
Leveling up stats was notoriously tough.
Yet here I was—not with a positive stat—but with one of the worst possible ones, sitting at a whopping 95?
Haha.
“I’m screwed.”
No matter how much I tried to stay optimistic, doom hung over me like a thick storm cloud.
With dead eyes, I scanned the rest of the stats.
The only silver lining was the Karma value sitting at 0.
Karma rose only after committing genuinely terrible deeds, and if it exceeded 500, you were outright banned from temples.
To compare: Notoriety could actually benefit certain characters, while Karma was always a drawback.
Back when I aimed for specific jobs or endings, I’d always kept my Karma squeaky clean.
‘Anyway… what do I do from here?’
The current information wasn’t enough to figure everything out.
Apparently, achieving the “final objective” would allow me to return to my original world… but what was the final objective?
[SYSTEM] The final objective unlocks after completing the tutorial!
As the most notorious villainess in the Bregenz Empire, please spread your infamy with deeds worthy of your title!
The system delivered its message right on cue, but it didn’t clear anything up.
‘So basically, just play the game and see where it leads?’
Still, I wasn’t completely hopeless.
The developers constantly updated the game, and while I couldn’t claim to have uncovered all the hidden content even after over 1,000 playthroughs… I did know the main plotlines. That should keep me safe, right?
‘First things first, I need to fix these stats.’
Since the genre was a villainess-raising sim, becoming a stat-maxed villainess seemed like the key to making progress.
Of course, raising stats took a lot of time. And Ark’s total playtime was only one year.
Most new players would’ve given up by this point, but not me. I could proudly call myself a battle-hardened veteran—a die-hard fan who’d seen it all.
‘I know every cheat trick in the book.’
Mainly because my playstyle was a bit unconventional.
Unlike most players who went the socialite route, I took the adventure path—grabbing both a “career ending” and “marriage ending” at the same time.
That was possible because all endings in Adelheid Chronicle could be reached via multiple routes.
For example, to become a duchess, you could become a maid at the Duke’s estate, bloom as a social butterfly, or go on an adventure and hijack the Duke mid-journey.
‘Still, going all-in on the adventure route is risky.’
This was no ordinary game now—I’d possessed someone in this world.
Could I afford to ignore the noble society route like I usually did and go off adventuring?
As my thoughts spiraled and my head started to throb, a new window popped up in my view.
[SYSTEM] Daily Quest has arrived!
Huh? That wasn’t in the game before.
[SYSTEM] As the Bregenz Empire’s top villainess, you must train your ‘Core Power’ to the point where you can gracefully slap faces and crush toes on the dance floor without losing your balance.
Meet the daily goal and your Core Power will improve.
· Slap Practice (0/100)
It was like the system knew I’d been worrying about Core Power and handed me a quest for it. The problem? The task was weird.
“Wait… am I really supposed to practice slapping people?”
I stood in place and gave a strong air slap, just to test it. The counter changed.
· Slap Practice (1/100)
“…Seriously?”
That’s when I should’ve known.
That this status window, this game—no, this whole world—was at least halfway insane.
Ten days since I possessed Adelheid Ulmer.
Thanks to diligently completing the daily quests, I’d just barely raised my Core Power to 5 and Elegance to 10.
But on the seventh day, a notorious event occurred—the classic argument scene with my rival and non-blood-related sister, Paula Ulmer.
And the merciless system took my high Doormat Power as justification to force me into a matchmaking meeting with Marquess Vente.
The issue? I didn’t just screw up the meeting. I caused a scandal.
“L-L-Lady…”
Sophie’s trembling voice cut through the air. I turned with the most pleasant smile I could muster.
“Yes, Sophie? What is it?”
“M-My lord has summoned you… right away…”
Sophie looked like she was terrified just to deliver the Duke’s orders.
At first, I didn’t understand why she was this scared, but I’d long since given up trying to figure Sophie out.
With a sigh, I glanced down at the daily paper spread out on the table.
It only listed initials, but still—how many elderly noblemen get punched in the face at a salon? People would know.
The Duke of Ulmer had probably seen the article too.
“I really don’t want to go…”
And the moment I grumbled, the status window answered right on cue.
[SYSTEM] To ignore ‘Duke Ulmer’s orders’, your Notoriety must be at least 300.
Your Notoriety is insufficient.
Rejection failed! Request accepted automatically.
“…Guess I have to go after all.”
In the game, higher Notoriety granted more freedom to your character—but I didn’t expect it to be enforced this literally.
I resisted the strong urge to slap my own runaway mouth as I got to my feet.
No sooner had I entered Duke Ulmer’s study with dragging steps than—
CRASH!
“Ah…!”
An ink bottle came flying at my face.
But this? This was nothing.
After all, not just anyone could survive as a noble’s plaything in this twisted world…
