I Became the Main Character’s Favorite

Where am I? (2)

The novel with Seo-rin as the protagonist has a bit of a pitiful beginning.
To put it simply, it means it’s somewhat pitiful at the start.

According to the author,
[Nya x Nya x: The pitiful beginning is a device to highlight the pampering that comes later.]
To the extent of making such nonsensical remarks, there’s a brief period of pitifulness at the beginning.
Among those, this prison scene was the most representative.

‘Seeing it directly, it’s even more miserable.’
Recalling the author’s explanation (?) note,
It says Seo-rin needs to get beaten up a bit here so that later she can dish out some catharsis and make her power-tripping more natural, but
To be honest, I’m not sure about that, and from what I can see, it’s just horrific.

‘As much as I’d like to possess the author and change things,’
That’s only possible for God, not for me, so it’s impossible.
Anyway, getting back to the main point, as it was called slightly pitiful at the beginning, the initial content continues to be pitiful.
Yes, for example, the guard walking over there swings violence mercilessly… or food worse than food waste is served, things like that.

In reality, seeing other prisoners besides me and Seo-rin falling ill and collapsing one by one,
It was clear that this was a harsh environment impossible for ordinary humans to endure for long.
I pouted my lips while looking at the green vomit-like… no, porridge that was closer to vomit.
It might have been okay if only the appearance was bad but the taste was unexpectedly not bad, but

This was exuding a taste true to its appearance, so swallowing it was quite a hardship.
‘Still, I’m not sure if it’s right to call this fortunate, but’
Unexpectedly, it wasn’t spoiled or rotten food.
I didn’t get an upset stomach or food poisoning. Of course, this could be because my and Seo-rin’s bodies are exceptionally sturdy.

Anyway, the situation is too harsh to be picky about food, and even Seo-rin, who is younger than me, is enduring and eating well.
So, to show an adult-like behavior as an adult, I was eating this when
Seo-rin starts patting my head as if impressed.

“Ueeee.”
A strange sound comes out because my body suddenly moves.
Seeing this, Seo-rin rather smiles widely as if it’s cute, looking at me.
I glared at Seo-rin like that and told her firmly and coldly to stop.

“Stop it.”
Why is this damn tongue so short?
Embarrassed by the mistake, I feel a burning sensation starting from my neck and spreading to my face and the back of my ears.
Thinking I’d like to quickly hide in a mouse hole if there was one somewhere, I lower my eyes, when Seo-rin waves her hand and apologizes to me.

“I’m sorry. You’re just so cute, Ha-eun, I did it without thinking…”
“It’s okay.”
“Yeah, sorry. Next time, I’ll pat you while being more considerate, okay?”
Huh? Normally, wouldn’t one say they won’t pat at all?

I was about to point this out, but seeing Seo-rin trying hard to hold back from patting me, I couldn’t bring myself to tell her not to do it at all.
Seeing this, I decided to sacrifice myself if enduring this hellish prison life meant letting her pat my head, and kept my mouth shut.
“By the way, Ha-eun, what do you want to do when we get out of here?”

“Hmm.”
What would be good when we get out of here?
Delicious food? Games? Or sleeping comfortably on a warm electric blanket?
With so many happy choices that are hard to pick just one, I can’t easily decide.
While deeply pondering what would be good amidst such considerations,

Seo-rin hugs me, puts me on her lap, and calmly says,
“When we get out, big sister will do anything for you, so let’s hang in there a little longer, okay?”
“Yeah.”
“And no matter what happens, big sister will make sure to save Ha-eun at least, so don’t worry.”

The words “save at least you” sound like she’s saying she’ll sacrifice herself if there’s a situation that requires sacrifice.
Hearing those words, I thought it wasn’t right for a girl younger than me to say such things, so
I quickly shook my head and denied it.

“No, I’ll protect you.”
Seo-rin seemed to find these words just cute,
She smiled brightly and answered me.
“Really? I’ll look forward to it.”

“……”
Since it didn’t seem like she would believe anything else I said, I kept my mouth shut.
I sighed inwardly and thought I should just eat, and forcibly put the green vomit-like… no, porridge into my mouth.

I’m not sure if it’s right to call this fortunate, but
The guard who initially beat us indiscriminately hasn’t appeared even now, a week later.
Of course, a new guard appeared and occasionally insulted our dignity by spitting or cursing, but

Still, it was a great relief that he didn’t beat us directly.
“Wow, Ha-eun, your hands are really small. They seem to be only half the size of big sister’s palm?”
Hearing those words, I looked at my tiny hands.

Even when spread wide, they can only be described as cute, and unconsciously my lips pout.
Of course, as soon as I regained my senses, I pulled back my unconsciously protruding lips… but I feel a bit sulky.
‘I’m the older one here.’

Not just older, I was an adult.
I got my ID card last year and I’m a proper adult who’s even had drinks at university.
So I didn’t like being cooed at like this… but seeing Seo-rin’s extremely happy expression, I couldn’t bring myself to tell her to stop.

So, feeling a bit gloomy, I was being held as Seo-rin’s attachment doll when
Seo-rin takes out a blue ribbon from her pocket and confidently tells me.
“Ha-eun, what’s this?”

It felt like pointing to an apple or toy and asking a baby what it is, so I felt sulky again.
But as an adult, I couldn’t get upset over something like this, so I calmly gave the answer.
“Ribbon.”
“That’s correct. Isn’t Ha-eun a genius?”

…… I just correctly identified a ribbon, but being praised excessively feels odd.
Still, it’s not entirely unpleasant, so I’m not resisting much, when
Seo-rin carefully gathers one side of my hair and ties the ribbon around it.

“Big sister might not be good with her hands, but she’s good at tying hair. So when you see the finished look, Ha-eun will probably love it?”
“……?”
Before I could say it’s okay or that she doesn’t need to do it, my hair was already tied to one side.

Realizing that I now had a side ponytail, I couldn’t lift my face due to embarrassment.
‘This is… a bit too embarrassing.’
Unable to handle this, I cover my face with my hands.

Seo-rin giggles beside me, saying things like ‘It suits you so well!’ and ‘You’re really the cutest and prettiest in the world!’
Hearing those words, despite my embarrassment, I became curious and peeked at a metal fragment.
Seo-rin’s words weren’t just empty flattery; objectively or subjectively, an incredibly cute little girl with a side ponytail came into view.

If I had seen this on the street or YouTube, I would have thought ‘What a really cute child’, but the problem was that this was me.
Unable to bear the embarrassment, I tried to undo my hair.
But my grip was too weak to undo it even if I tried.

Moreover, forcibly trying to undo it caused my hair to tangle, making it quite painful.
Still, my masculinity was telling me this crossed a line, so I tried to endure the pain and undo it, but
Before that, Seo-rin, who had been watching, asks me in a very disappointed voice.

“You don’t like it…?”
My hand pauses at those words.
In a normal situation, I would have nodded, but perhaps due to the special circumstances of being in prison, my heart keeps softening.
After a moment of internal conflict at such a question, I shook my head and spoke as if giving up.

“… No.”
“Really? Then is it too tight? If so, big sister will tie it again, so wait just a moment.”
As I’m giving up control over my swaying head again this time,
The rusty, stiff prison door opens with a creaking sound.

“… I’ll tie your hair again in a little while.”
Judging by the reaction, it seems the guard who came is not the recent one, but the one I encountered when I first came to my senses.
Seo-rin subtly hides me behind others to protect me as much as possible while moving her body forward.
Probably to draw all attention to herself to protect me.

Seeing this, I initially pretended to hide as Seo-rin intended, but then I emerged from beside the people and stood up.
It wasn’t that I suddenly popped out without thinking.
It was to escape from here using the plan I had been developing over the past week.

‘The method is simple.’
My plan was to charge at the guards and get beaten up badly so that Seo-rin could awaken.
There were two reasons why I chose this dangerously risky method:
First, there were essentially no other viable options besides Seo-rin awakening.

Second, only if Seo-rin awakened could this novel flow into the overpowered, power-abusing hunter story.
‘So I’ll charge at the guards and get beaten up indiscriminately.’
My plan was for Seo-rin to awaken upon seeing this and break down the prison… but
There was one big problem with this plan.

‘Will she… awaken?’
The point is, we don’t know if she will awaken or not.
In the original story, Seo-rin clearly awakened just before dying after enduring violence for a long time.
So it was questionable whether she would awaken upon seeing ‘someone else’ being subjected to violence.

‘That’s why I was considering going with the standard route until just now, but…’
Even though my body is like this, the contents are an adult.
I thought it was too inhumane to make plans to live by sacrificing a girl younger than me to violence.

So I decided to just take the beating instead.
‘It’s easier on my conscience too.’
Hoping that the relationship built over the past week would shine,

I thrust my horns (not white gum, okay) forward and charged at the guard.
“Ha-eun!?”
Seeing this scene, Seo-rin called out to me in a very flustered voice, trying to calm me down.

But I pretended not to hear and rammed my body into the guard.
Thunk.
Not a thud, but with an incredibly light ‘thunk’ sound,
My body fell backwards the moment it hit the guard and collapsed.

Thinking this was too weak even so, I tried to headbutt again, but
Before that, the guard’s hand strongly grabs my hair and lifts me up.
“This fucking little brat, are you crazy?”

Being lifted by my hair, it feels like my hair is about to be ripped out.
As my body trembles in pain too severe to even scream,
Curses too vulgar to be heard assault me.

Whether it’s because my body has become younger or because I’m directly exposed to violence, I’m not sure, but
An indescribable fear makes my whole body tremble.
When I was an adult, I might have been able to endure this level of emotion, but with this toddling body, it’s difficult to endure, and tears keep threatening to spill out.

‘… It’s, it’s okay. Since I have good healing power, I should be able to endure.’
I kept repeating the word ‘okay’ in my head, but the trembling doesn’t stop.
As I squeeze my eyes shut, hearing Seo-rin’s agonized voice nearby,
The guard looks at me like this and swings his palm.

Slap
My head rings momentarily and my insides turn over.
Along with that, judging by the metallic taste flowing out, it seems my mouth has been torn.
As my head becomes dull and my mind gradually turns blank, suddenly a strong vibration starts to spread from Seo-rin’s direction.

My head is foggy from the tears and the shaking from the violence, not working well.
As I’m dazed, not understanding what’s happening,
A bright white light spreads in all directions, strongly striking the guards around and easily, perhaps excessively so, starting to take them out.

‘… Take out?’
I’m pretty sure in the original story, she just pushed the guards away and then broke through the wall to escape.
Instead of pushing away or attacking, she’s instantly taking them out?
Watching the protagonist… no, Seo-rin, who has awakened several times stronger than in the original story, I sensed that something had gone wrong.