‘Seol Yu Bin?’

I looked again with a bit of hope.

Curly hair. Round glasses. Baggy school uniform. No matter how you look at it, it was definitely Seol Yu Bin.

‘Why did she come back looking like that again.’

Where did all her nice clothes and styling go…? No, wait a minute.

I narrowed my eyes and examined Seol Yu Bin closely.

‘Is that really ‘Seol Yu Bin’?’

Honestly, it was very suspicious.

‘Let’s think about it. What’s more likely – Seol Yu Bin coming back or Seol Yu Hwa appearing?’

I considered both possibilities.

‘Since Seol Yu Bin didn’t say she wanted to die unlike in the original work, she could have just returned.’

If the person there was Seol Yu Bin who changed her mind and came back, that would be good for me.

‘But there’s also a chance it could be Seol Yu Hwa.’

Just like she left a letter for me, Seol Yu Bin could have left something for her older sister too. Seol Yu Hwa could have seen that and pretended to be Seol Yu Bin like in the original.

In other words, there was a possibility the original story was officially starting.

So which one was the kid over there?

‘…Let’s observe for now.’

I hid my body behind the wall and peeked out at the grounds.

“Hey, you’ve been really annoying lately.”

The ponytail girl spoke harshly.

Since I couldn’t be sure of her identity yet, let’s refer to the kid there as Seol Yu Bin for now… Seol Yu Bin couldn’t say anything in response and just hung her head low.

‘I can’t see her face well because of her hair.’

Of course, since they were identical twins, their faces wouldn’t help distinguish them anyway, but still, an important clue became useless.

“Why are you acting up and making people feel bad instead of staying quiet like you used to?”

‘Acting up’… Those words really don’t suit Seol Yu Bin. Then was it Seol Yu Hwa after all?

No. I couldn’t be sure. It could just be the ponytail girl picking a fight for no reason. Isn’t accusing someone of “acting up too much” a go-to line for bullies?

When I was in school too, there were always kids who would say nonsense to normal people while they were the weird ones.

“Want me to teach you a lesson?”

Despite her harsh tone, all the ponytail girl did was glare at Seol Yu Bin with a snobbish look.

For better or worse, from what I could tell, the level of bullying here wasn’t as severe compared to other manhwas.

I guess it’s because even the top villainess of this world, Yoo Hee Na, was like that… They were all at a cute level for villains.

Of course, that doesn’t mean what they did wasn’t bullying.

Anyhow, it was time to make a decision. The ponytail girl seemed like she would cross the line soon…

‘I should step in for now.’

Whether that was Seol Yu Bin or Seol Yu Hwa, there was no harm in helping.

I moved my feet to go out to the grounds.

That’s when it happened.

“Heh…”

Huh?

I paused for a moment.

‘Did I hear that wrong…?’

I reflexively looked at Seol Yu Bin’s face. Eyes covered by long bangs. Below that, red lips curved into an arc.

…Why was she smiling like that?

The Seol Yu Bin I knew wouldn’t smile in a situation like this, let alone give off such a murderous aura.

It seemed I wasn’t the only one who felt that, as the girl bullying Seol Yu Bin also flinched back in surprise.

“Wh-what? Why are you smiling like that? It’s creepy!”

Then ‘Seol Yu Bin’ laughed out loud. An ominous laugh echoed through the grounds.

‘Could it be…?’

Right then.

[SYSTEM]

[Updating the system. @_@] [Female protagonist ‘Seol Yu Hwa’ confirmed.] [Tutorial ended.] [Starting the main game.] [Title: World’s Rank 0 Seol Yu Hwa, Disguised as Her Twin to Get Bullied?!]

Seeing the system window pop up, I felt like all the blood drained from my body.

Seol Yu Bin… no, ‘Seol Yu Hwa’ spoke.

“Heh. Are you done talking?”

We were doomed.

I sensed the impending destruction.

“Wh-what did you say?”

The ponytail girl yelled, finally coming back to her senses.

And I, also coming back to my senses late, thought:

‘What the hell is going on?’

I racked my brain desperately to grasp the situation.

‘Right, of course. There’s no way that’s Seol Yu Bin.’

The original Seol Yu Bin did disguise herself as an outcast, but she just had no friends, not getting bullied to this extent.

In other words, she wasn’t mortal enemies with the other kids like the person in front of my eyes right now.

‘What exactly happened all this time?’

At this point, it would be stupid to thoughtlessly intervene.

‘This won’t do. Let’s observe the situation more.’

I canceled my plan to step forward and hid behind the wall again.

The ponytail girl spoke with a flushed face.

“Done talking? Yeah, I’m done! So what!”

Sheesh. Even her lines sounded like some third-rate extra.

As someone slated for 8 weeks of hospitalization, I felt bad for the kids who would later get revenge from Seol Yu Hwa after she reveals herself as Rank 0.

‘Take it easy, kids.’

I felt frustrated watching the children walk the path of destruction on their own.

This happening later would have made sense. According to the original, Seol Yu Hwa was supposed to get involved with Sung Ji Chan.

Just like what happened to me, Seol Yu Hwa could have been targeted by his fan club.

But not right now. From the other kids’ perspective, there was no reason to mess with ‘Seol Yu Bin’ who had been quiet.

…That is, if she really had been quiet.

‘What did Seol Yu Hwa do to provoke them?’

Just what did she do to make the ponytail girl that angry?

I held my breath and waited for the next situation.

Seol Yu Hwa spoke.

“Heh. Is this all you’ve got? How boring.”

“You really…!”

As the ponytail girl raised her hand angrily, the kids on either side restrained her.

Only then did the ponytail girl seem to calm down, snorting and saying:

“I’ll let you off today.”

Good decision.

Without even knowing it, the ponytail girl extended her lifespan by a day.

But she still didn’t seem to have cooled her anger fully, poking Seol Yu Hwa’s shoulder and saying:

“Hmph. Brace yourself for school life from now on. I’ve got my eye on you.”

It was clearly a vicious thing to say, but somehow not scary. Leaving those words behind, the kids disappeared.

And so Seol Yu Hwa was left alone.

“…”

Still hiding my body, I observed Seol Yu Hwa’s behavior.

Now was the time to make a choice.

‘…What should I do? Should I go to Seol Yu Hwa?’

But… what would I say to her? Should I talk to her as if she were Seol Yu Bin? It would be a bit weird if she found out I knew she was Seol Yu Hwa when we weren’t close. Or should I pretend she’s a stranger…?

Right then.

“Heh heh…”

Huh?

“Pathetic.”

Suddenly Seol Yu Hwa started muttering to herself.

“Was this… all it took… to bully Yu Bin…?”

“…”

I had no clue what she was talking about, but it seemed I shouldn’t go out now.

Seol Yu Hwa’s monologue continued.

“I… was such… a fool… I had no idea… Heh…”

Seol Yu Hwa grinned and looked up at the sky.

“Don’t worry… Yu Bin… I’ll get revenge for you…”

A great resolution, but do you have to say it out loud?

And for now, Yu Bin didn’t get bullied like that?

Regardless of the circumstances on her side, Seol Yu Hwa laughed creepily after finishing her monologue and disappeared.

And finally, I was the only one left in the grounds.

‘…Will this really be okay.’

I trembled with anxiety, staring at the spot Seol Yu Hwa had left.

[This is the timeline separator]

After returning home.

I threw my bag in the corner of my room and leapt onto the bed.

Flop.

Then I lay sprawled out, staring at the ceiling, and let out a heavy sigh.

‘…It’s finally starting, huh?’

Seol Yu Hwa. The original top protagonist and World’s Rank 0.

Seeing the true protagonist of this world in person made me newly feel that it was really the ‘start’.

‘How can such a person even exist…?’

To be honest, my first impression was ‘bewilderment’.

‘That kid seems a bit strange.’

I don’t know if I should say this, but in some ways, she seemed even more extreme than Ban Ha Min.

‘Enough. What’s done is done. Let’s think about how to prepare for the future.’

I should check the system first.

I sat up on the bed and called up the system.

‘Didn’t it say it updated earlier?’

I could easily guess why the system suddenly updated.

It was because Seol Yu Hwa officially appeared.

As I mentioned before, the system gains energy from the characters.

Naturally, characters with bigger roles in the original have more energy.

Therefore, with the appearance of the protagonist Seol Yu Hwa, the system was able to be reborn using her as sustenance.

[Kyaa! >ㅁ<]

An even larger and clearer system appeared.

[System revived ㅇ_ㅇv]

I wasn't sure if I should be glad about this or not.

[What do you mean! Of course you should be glad! -_-+]

"Even if you say that…"

It seemed like nothing really changed except it became more energetic.

[No way! It changed a ton!]

The system protested and opened a new window.

[List] [Quests] [Characters] [Map]

[Settings]

"Oh."

Those were definitely new.

'A lot was added.'

I scanned the list from the top.

'Let's take a detailed look.'

The thing I selected first was this:

[Characters]

Clicking it showed the names of the characters I knew listed out.

Not all of them, but the ones with a certain level of importance.

A note was written at the end too.

[If all 'Characters' reach a happy ending, the main quest condition will be met.]

Judging from the nuance, it seemed I just needed to give the people in this 'Characters' section happy endings.

I was wondering about the ambiguous scope of 'all people' anyway, but it looked like there was a criteria.

'Then shall we check…'

I clicked on 'Seol Yu Hwa' at the very top.