Ariadne went to the bookshelf and took out a book from the bottom shelf. Before she had even flipped through a few pages, she recognized what the book was.

“It’s a children’s book.”

It was a children’s book that she enjoyed reading in her childhood. She put it down and pulled out another book beside her.

“This is a children’s book that I also saw.”

This time, she took out a book from a completely different compartment.

“Why are all the fairy tales I’ve read before here?”

Was it only for the lower ranks? What about the high level books? She tried jumping, but it didn’t make any sense. It was a height that a seven-year-old, shorter than his peers, could not reach. In the end, she pulled out the books in the lower compartment and stacked them one by one.

Ariadne whimpered up the stairs made of books and reached for the top shelf.She pulled out a copy of something.

“… Is it a collection of poems?”

It was a collection of poems that included poems from previous lives.

‘A book of poetry followed by a children’s book? What is this bookshelf… no way?’

She started climbing up and down her bookshelf, picking out random books.

“Mystery novels, history, essay books, romance novels, science, self-help books, psychology…”

The books she randomly picked were all books she had read in her previous life.

‘Isn’t this a collection of newspaper articles? There are even articles I saw on the Internet.’

After taking out dozens of books like that, she had no choice but to be convinced. That bookshelf was filled with writings she had read impressively in her previous life. The posts she enjoyed without noticing the passage of time, the posts she admired or resented, the posts she cried, the posts she laughed at, the posts that shocked her, the posts she liked.

In some way, the writings that left a mark on her own previous life and became a part of her in that way made up her bookshelf. She had a vague idea of what that place was like.

‘The study of my previous life… Same thing.’

She brushed her bookshelf with her fingertips. She liked the feel of the spines of books placed side by side.

‘It’s a strange dream.’

She didn’t know why she had that dream, but it’s a pleasant dream. Maybe it didn’t matter.

Ariadne smiled slightly.

‘Can I come here again? There are many books I want to read again.’

What should she do to have the same dream again?

‘Come to think of it, I was doing something before I had this dream.’

She couldn’t remember. It was a feeling she didn’t want to recall. With a grunt, her eyes saw unusual books.

‘All the other books are hardcover, so why not these?’

Among the leather-bound or hardcover books, thin-covered books were lined up, which stood out. Looking closely, she could see numbers written on the spine, unlike other books with nothing on them. 1 to 10. Was it a long novel? Ariadne tilted her head.

‘It’s ten books. Have I ever seen such a long novel in my previous life?’

She took out the first volume and opened it. It was a regression fantasy novel. The story of the main character ‘Axel Valentine’ who had the ability to go back to the past, and tried to save the world that was perishing from the invasion of the demon world.

‘Looking at the plot, it’s clear that this is a book I’ve read in my previous life… Why can’t I remember where or how I read it?’

Curiously, she turned over her bookshelf. As she skimmed through the pages, her eyes were fixed on one spot.

“Eldeer.”

Ariadne slowly re-read the sentence she had seen, aloud to her.

“The Duke of Eldeer had amassed tremendous wealth using the elixir he developed himself.”

Eldeer. Elixir.

Suddenly, goose bumps ran down her spine. She skimmed quickly, skipping over the back part.

– Elixir was a potion that saved humanity from the war against pollution.

-There were many who were ready to lick the duke’s feet in order to secure the elixir. Even the king looked at the Duke’s eyes.

– There was even a joke that the duke poured gold coins into a lake in the castle because he had nowhere to put his money, and the lake was filled with gold coins and turned into a mountain.

-But it wasn’t because of the elixir that Axel Valentine went to the Duchy of Eldaire.

– Is the information obtained true?

She headed to Eldeer to check for herself.

“Couldn’t it be?”

Ariadne muttered in a trembling voice. Her hand turning the pages of the book became faster and faster.

-Duke Franz Eldeer had two children.

-His biological daughter, Ariadne Eldeer, died at the young age of 16. And Helene Eldeer, the adopted daughter brought from the collateral family.

-Helene was in the process of making her name as a heavenly and earthly spirit.

-The information that Axel obtained was that Helene’s spirit magic was actually not her own ability.

Thanks to the special child made by the Duke, it is said that someone who was not even a spirit sage was acting as a spirit sage.

‘It’s an item that allows users to control spirits using the soul of the elementalist.’

An item that makes even incompetent people hear the word that they were genius spiritists. 

If that information was true, Axel must have obtained it.

She read ten books without stopping. There were parts she vaguely remembered, so she could read them quickly. After closing the last page, Ariadne lay haphazardly among her open books. Sulfur piled up endlessly above the glass ceiling. The rooms of the gold bookshelf were far away.

‘It’s not just the name.’

After standing there for a while, she let out a long sigh. She had to admit it.

She knew that the world she was born and raised in was the same as the one in the novel she had just read. And the fact that she was born as ‘Ariadne Eldeer’ in the novel.

Ariadne thought calmly.

‘It’s ruined.’

It was also ruined on a very global scale.

‘This novel has a bad ending.’

The end of this ten-volume fantasy novel was the failure of the main character and the destruction of the world.

‘The main character of Munchkin rolls and rolls while repeating regression… How can the ending be like this?’

She thought she could understand why she couldn’t remember reading it, although she remembered the contents. Her previous life must have hated the ending so much that she wanted to forget the memory of reading this novel. Even so, the reason why it occupies a place in the study of the previous life was because of the shocking ending that makes you want to forget it.

‘Regression itself is a trap, so if you regress, you will inevitably fail.’

The main character whose bad ending had been decided from the moment he first returned. He didn’t even know his own fate, repeated death countless times and struggles to save the world.

‘What’s this? The main character’s hardships were all meaningless? It’s too much, really.’

At the last moment, the moment full of joy that he finally succeeded, the protagonist realized that his efforts so far were part of the process of destroying the world. The final scene was the despairing protagonist laughing madly at the world with nothing left.

‘There was a line. Yes, there was foreshadowing, but no matter how much it is, where is the futile ending of hitting the back like this.’

The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. Ariadne stared into the air and covered her eyes with the back of her hand.

‘… Now is not the time to sympathize with the protagonist. I’m the problem right now.’

It’s absurd to even be born as a character in a novel like this, but to say ‘Ariadne Eldeer’.

According to the original story, she had to live with being experimented on by her father until she was 16 years old. She’s endured through those terrifying years, but the only thing waiting for her was death. Destined for her soul to be picked up and become an item even after her death.

‘It’s the worst.’

Ariadne lifted her right arm, rolled up her sleeve and checked her forearm. Her arms, covered with her hideous scars. Finally, she recalled the situation before she had that dream.

To the point where she couldn’t even feel the pain of her wounds, she felt the overwhelming pain of ‘contamination’. She broke into a cold sweat just thinking about the pain and her tears welled up.

“Wow.”

Ariadne curled up and retched her stomach. Until the memories of her previous life came to life, she had no idea how serious her situation was. Because she was young. Because she didn’t know what a normal father would be like, or what her mother would feel looking at her. Because she was just a kid who wanted her dad to compliment her, to believe that her daddy loved her.

She believed her father’s words. She tried to hold on well. But remembering her past life, she now knew for sure.

In her previous life, she was an adult who went to work after graduating from college. She knew very well what was normal.

‘What about the special class?’

Was that a necessary class? Was it for her? Was that her father love?

Disgusting

Ariadne held her trembling hand. She grabbed it tightly.

What she was subjected to was human experimentation, which was close to torture.

‘If I live while experiencing this kind of thing, I’m going to lose my mind before long.’

In the novel, Ariadne Eldeer died when she was only 16 years old. Whether she was killed or a side effect of human experimentation was unknown, but it was clear that the Duke was the cause either way.

‘I don’t want to die like that.’

How did this happen, why did she… She couldn’t afford to indulge in such worthless thoughts. She had to find a way to survive. She wanted to live.

Even for her mother, who was trying to save her.

‘Mom…’

The morning that withered and fell outside the closed window came to mind. Even in the novel, the Duchess died at an early age. The exact time was not given, but the situation was around this time.

‘As expected, she died.’

Her mother was not in good health. But she was just weak, she didn’t have a chronic disease. The constant bickering with the Duke over her special class, the sudden departure of her travels without even saying goodbye to herself as her daughter, and the Duke’s attitude in tearing her away from her morning glory vines. .

‘Did Daddy kill my mother?’

It was an intuitive suspicion. It was a part that did not appear at all in the original work, and there was no evidence, but she could not help but doubt it. Could she have saved her mother if she had realized her memories of her previous life, that this world was a novel, a little sooner?

‘It’s already too late.’

Ariadne stared blankly into space and bit her lip. It was pointless for her to fall into despair assuming what-ifs.

She’s too late, she’s too young.  As of now, she had no power to even defend her own life. It was a suspicion that she had no choice but to bury now that she was too busy to survive.

‘If he really killed my mother.’

A bright blue flame lit up in her eyes as she stared into the void. If it’s really like that, he would kill her with his own hands someday.

‘Franz Eldeer.’

She didn’t want to call him daddy anymore. She couldn’t let it happen the original way. Her life and the end of the world being destroyed…

‘I will definitely survive.’

She will live, grow her strength, and uncover the truth. After that, she would use that power to change the ending of that damn novel.

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