Chapter 25 - The Transmigrator's Plan
"I'm fucked."
That was the thought in Lumia's mind just one day after possessing this world.
[Justia dead. The culprit is a hero from the Secret Intelligence Bureau...]
[Justia's killer Kang Ha-neul, his true identity is...?]
In less than a day, the media was flooding with breaking news.
Most of them were journalists who had left their names in Lumia's call history over the past week.
She wanted nothing more than to contact them immediately to stop the news from spreading. But that was impossible.
The articles were already published and being reproduced uncontrollably.
"Trauma is definitely the ultimate evil... but this is a false accusation, damn it."
But Lumia knew well. That all of this was a false accusation.
Of course, back when the original work was still unfinished, she too had assumed Trauma must have killed Justia.
But in the final arc of the original story, the truth was revealed.
The truth that he wasn't actually the one who killed Justia.
The greatest plot twist that had exploded community discussions for months and continuously boosted Trauma's popularity, even making him rank first in popularity polls.
Right now, Lumia was the only one who knew about this twist.
'How can I resolve this situation?'
Naturally, she was the only one who could save the current Kang Ha-neul.
"Evidence... right, let's check the evidence."
The breakthrough Lumia came up with was to find flaws in the evidence.
Since Kang Ha-neul wasn't the real culprit, there had to be flaws in the presented evidence.
If she could prove those flaws, she could establish his innocence.
"........."
With that thought, she directly checked the published information through Great Order, but soon hit a major obstacle.
"...There are no flaws."
Despite thoroughly reviewing everything multiple times, she couldn't find a single flaw.
This couldn't happen unless someone had been meticulously planning for years.
But that impossible thing had actually happened.
"...Tsk."
After checking and rechecking the materials, Lumia grabbed her throbbing head and tossed the documents aside.
'Should I just confess?'
Failing to stop the media and find flaws in the evidence.
What if she just confessed instead?
'...That won't work either.'
She briefly considered it but soon shook her head.
Even if she confessed now, there was no way to prove the crime.
After all, Lumia wasn't the one who killed Justia.
Rather, if Kang Ha-neul's abilities were revealed, it would clearly work against him.
"There's no solution..."
A truly hopeless situation.
"...In that case, I have no choice."
Once Kang Ha-neul's villainization begins, things will spiral out of control.
The moment he goes berserk due to villainization, the worst and strongest villain in history will be born.
Honestly, she desperately wanted to see that.
It would be her chance to witness Trauma, whom she had fallen for.
But saving her favorite character before he became a villain didn't seem so bad either.
Above all, she had resolved to live as normally as possible this time.
"Hello?"
Having made her decision, Lumia made a call.
"Lumia?"
"Yes, Great Order."
The person on the other end was Great Order.
"I called because I have something to tell you..."
First, clear up the misunderstandings of those around her. Then, join forces to break Kang Ha-neul out before he becomes a villain.
Honestly, she wasn't thrilled about borrowing her power, but it couldn't be helped.
It was necessary to save her favorite character.
"...Ugh!?"
But Lumia soon realized.
"Lumia? What's wrong?"
That within her own body, there remained a presence that strongly disapproved of this.
"Tremble..."
Lumia's hand, which had dropped the smartphone as she collapsed in her seat, was trembling uncontrollably.
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On the day Kang Ha-neul's execution was decided, Lumia was staring at her right hand with a cold expression.
"This is creepy."
Then, she unconsciously blurted out a curse.
To be honest, she knew well that she wasn't normal.
Innate antisocial tendencies. Impulsiveness and murderous intent. And a terrifying obsession with possessions.
Knowing this, she deliberately avoided becoming attached to people.
The only person she had ever cared about was Kang Ha-neul, someone she would never meet in reality.
"...Crazy bitch."
That's why she could tell immediately.
The presence dwelling in her right hand.
The original owner of this body was not in her right mind.
"I should have read that side story."
Even after the original work concluded, "Lumia Vois" remained a character with many loose ends.
The most famous one was that there had never been any "internal narration" for her in either the comics or the game.
While outwardly she walked the path of a hero like Ariel, the other dual protagonist, it was impossible to guess what she was thinking inside.
A prequel novel focusing on her was scheduled for release, which would have resolved all those loose ends.
But Lumia died the day before the side story's release date.
Therefore, the original Lumia's true identity remained a MacGuffin even to her.
"Tremble..."
"Cut it out already."
But seeing the entity's behavior, she could roughly guess what was happening.
Despite her possession of this body, the original had managed to avoid complete personality extinction through sheer willpower.
She was dwelling in the right hand, constantly trying to project her influence.
Just days ago, she had desperately prevented Lumia from revealing the truth to Great Order.
'Is she aiming for assimilation?'
The concept where the possessor's mind gradually assimilates with the original owner's personality and habits. Lumia had read several web novels with such settings.
This phenomenon happening to her was probably similar.
"I won't let someone like you take over my body."
Of course, she had no intention of surrendering the body.
An ordinary person might have been assimilated by now, despite having knowledge of the original work.
But she prided herself on being quite unhinged as well.
Therefore, she had no intention of doing what the original wanted.
'I'll have to use the last resort.'
All of this was probably orchestrated behind the scenes by the original Lumia.
Though she didn't know why she would do such a thing, given the situation, there was only one option left.
'I must become Kang Ha-neul's archenemy.'
On execution day, Kang Ha-neul would awaken as a villain.
Nothing could stop that development now.
If so, she needed to make his attention focus on her.
She needed to become someone he hated, someone he desperately wanted to kill.
'That's the only way I can save him.'
Throughout the original game and comic, Kang Ha-neul loses his life in every ending except one route.
And the one route where he survives can only be seen when choosing Lumia as the protagonist.
That is the "Victory of Evil" ending.
An ending that can only be seen if Lumia is killed by Trauma.
There's a reason why only Lumia has such an ending.
When the protagonist is Ariel, it's easy mode; when it's Lumia, it's hard mode.
When playing as Ariel, "saving" is possible.
No matter how many times you die, resurrection is possible.
But when playing as Lumia, a one-coin play is enforced.
If you die even once, it's over.
'I don't care if I die. As long as you live.'
Her own life didn't matter. It was a bonus life anyway.
Being obsessed over by him, experiencing a brief pseudo-romance seemed thrilling enough.
Being killed by her favorite character while he was obsessed with her, if that could save him, Lumia would be satisfied.
But to do that, she needed to lock the route to herself.
If he took Ariel's route, he would definitely die no matter what.
There's no way to defeat a protagonist who keeps coming back to life no matter how many times you kill them.
'He'll need to kill me and control my ability to face her.'
With that, Lumia made up her mind.
"Great Order, I have a favor to ask. Ah... my body is fine. I just dozed off for a moment."
To save her favorite character, she would become the person he hated most in the world.
"...Could I visit Kang Ha-neul briefly?"
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"So, how does it feel?"
"How does what feel? Are you mocking me...?"
"How does it feel to have everything taken from you by me?"
Having made her decision and visited the meeting room, she finally met him.
"What... are you talking about?"
The only person she had ever cared about, Kang Ha-neul.
"By the way, your eyes aren't narrowed yet?"
"Answer me!!"
She felt absolutely euphoric.
The young Kang Ha-neul, never before described, was sitting right in front of her.
She wanted to take him away from this place immediately.
To a place where no one in this world could find her and Kang Ha-neul.
She wanted to turn Karma upside down, hide him in her arms, and help him escape.
'Calm down, calm down...'
But that was impossible.
Even for someone like her, infiltrating Karma alone was impossible without collaborators.
And the original owner, dormant in her right hand and watching for an opportunity, wouldn't let her do such a thing.
"First, write a full confession of everything that's happened on the paper beside you."
"...Yes."
"And as soon as you leave, submit the paper and turn yourself in."
"...I understand."
Still, it was truly difficult to compose herself when Kang Ha-neul used the laptop she had deliberately brought for brainwashing to hypnotize her and give orders.
'...I want to pounce on him.'
She wanted to gently kiss those adorable sky-blue eyes.
At the very least, she wanted to hold his hand once.
Should she pretend to resist, struggle, and then "accidentally" fall into his arms?
Thinking such thoughts, she began to surrender her fading consciousness.
"Tremble..."
"Are you... resisting? But how...?"
But the original owner seemed unwilling to allow even being brainwashed by him.
'...This method won't work either.'
Hoping for an early defeat, she quickly assessed the situation and delivered her prepared line.
"The protagonist always succeeds in resisting mental abilities."
A hint about her own ability.
"It's such a cliché, isn't it?"
"By the way, you still haven't properly figured out how to use your ability. Well, you'll get better with time..."
And a hint about his ability that Kang Ha-neul himself wasn't yet aware of.
'Please hate me.'
Afterwards, watching Kang Ha-neul being dragged away by guards with a dumbfounded expression, Lumia quietly murmured inside.
'My favorite.'
Hoping that he would kill her as soon as possible.
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A few days later.
"........Huh?"
Lumia couldn't help but mutter in confusion.
"Why are you guys here now?"
Because a character who shouldn't appear at this point was extending a hand to Kang Ha-neul, accompanied by an organization that shouldn't even have been formed yet.