Chapter 3.2

“Lirina?”

She raised her chin as she snorted at my answer.

“You should call me Lady Lirina from now on. You’ll no longer be the lady of this house, nor will you be regarded as family to the Marquis.”

“That is true,” I agreed with her, “Now get out of my way, lady.”

Noticing that she didn’t move an inch after I asked politely, I repeated again and said, “Can you get out of the way?”

However, Lirina pushed me by the shoulder forcefully, as if she didn’t even acknowledge my polite tone.

“Are you kidding me? Are you being sarcastic with me now?!”

‘No, I’m not really sarcastic.’

Edith Abina was the bloodline of the late Marquis’ wife. She was now forced to take on her mother’s surname, as the Marquis was determined to expel her from the family.

‘Then am I being demoted to being a commoner? No, her name was Marquess, so she must have been a noble as well.’

“I’m sorry if I offended you.”

“Sorry? Then at least get down on your knees and apologize!”

I shrugged my shoulders at Lirina’s glare and angry voice.

‘Well, this is just a game anyway. Let’s just do as she says.’

To me, a faster logout was ten times more important than Edith Abina’s pride.

This was a moment where I had no choice but to bend my knees.

TING!

A familiar warning window blocked my view along with a warning sound that seemed like a ball bouncing.

<WARNING> ‘Kneeling’ is an act outside the scope of the character of ‘Edith Avbina’.

<WARNING> The choice system is enforced by the character collapse penalty.

‘You’re forced to choose?’

My eyes widened with what I read from the warning window. <Experience! Scenes of Life: The Saint> is a game where experience is the main content. It guaranteed a high degree of freedom, so even though it was a romance simulation game, there was an option to eliminate choices.

I could only grumble silently, ‘I turned it off a long time ago because it was cumbersome to select one.’

It was a function I’ve never used once. Several options fell over my confused head.

A. “How dare you bring me down on my knees?” Kill Lirina.

B. “How dare you stare at me?” Beat Lirina to the brink of death.

C. “How dare you talk down to me?” Slap Lirina’s cheek.

D. Stare coldly at Lirina without saying a word.

I couldn’t help but swallow my own saliva at the extreme options.

‘How did she usually act that these are the only options I can choose from?’

At least D seemed to be the best choice. It’s not good to mess with Lirina right now.

As soon as I chose an option, I could immediately feel my facial muscles move automatically. Lirina, who was in high spirits, flinched and stepped back as she saw Edith Abina’s expression.

“What, what, what are you looking at?” she stuttered.

“…”

“Why, why, why?! Are you going to hit me again?! Do you think father won’t do anything this time too?!”

Judging by her words, Edith seemed to have beat Lirina in the past.

I walked past Lirina, who was curling like a cornered mouse, and entered my bedroom.

After kicking out the maid who stood with a duster in hand, I took a deep breath and called out the status window once again.

RING!

I pressed it countless times like in the morning, but it didn’t even pause, let alone log out.

‘If I can’t log out, I’ll try to force it to shut down.’

“Damn this game. I should at least get to sue the real production company! I can’t do this.”

Nervously sweeping up my messy hair, I started looking around for a tool to force stop the game.

‘Rope… there’s none. There’s no knife either. There’s nothing here.’

As it was a virtual reality game that could strain the body, the game automatically terminated if the player lost consciousness or acted excessively in the game.

Unable to find anything, I released a heavy sigh and eventually approached the window.

“It’s just a game, but this is still a very scary option…”

In fact, a forced shutdown was a method I had never tried before, even when I encountered lags or bugs.

‘How is this different from a suicide attempt?’

Edith’s bedroom was located quite high since she was on the top floor of a four-story mansion. I swallowed my saliva as I peered below at the seemingly distant garden.

I chickened out and tried to find another way, but when the Marquis’ words rang in my head, I felt a tingling sensation like gross bugs crawling all around my body.

‘Anyway, the moment I take my foot off the window, the game would end to protect me. I don’t have to be scared…’ I tried to convince myself.

Sitting by the window, I took a deep breath and leaned forward.

“…Edith?”

At that moment, I turned my head to the sound of someone calling my name, and Curtis caught my attention.

“Edith Abina!”

Despite his concerned voice, I didn’t hold on to the window and slowly pushed myself out.

‘I’ll log in as the main character and come back, Curtis,’ I thought silently.

My light dress fluttered between my legs. It wasn’t such a bad feeling with my thin body floating in the air.

‘…but why am I still falling?’

I expected the game to end instantly the moment I flung myself out the window.

CRAAAACK!

Even before it registered in my head that I wasn’t logged out as I assumed, the muddy sound of my whole body breaking into pieces clearly rang in my ears.