WELCOME TO HARD MODE!
This mode will be played from GENEVIEVE'S POINT OF VIEW.
That means you must live as Genevieve.
WARNING:
Do not make the wrong choices.
Do not say anything that could alter the future or compromise your mission.
One wrong move may lock you out of an affection route—or worse.
Your objective remains:
EARN 100% affection from all seven love interests before the Villainess's Coming-of-Age Ceremony.
Tip:
Use a mobile phone or VR console to interact.
Unlike Normal Mode, you must type or speak your lines directly.
Be aware: your choices and actions matter more than ever.
This route begins during Genevieve's peaceful days in her remote village.
Every decision will ripple through the storyline.
If you fail…
You must wait 10 real-world days before you can restart.
No checkpoints. No saves.
AFFECTION SCORE REQUIREMENT: 100%
FAILURE PENALTY: DEATH.
Good luck, Player.
Welcome to your worst nightmare.
"Hey, Grandaunt, I recommend you use your phone instead, so I can study properly," Elyza said with a tired sigh as she gathered her books, notebooks, pens, and sticky notes at her study desk. "Don't disturb me, Grandaunt. I have an exam tomorrow, so just… mind your own business and please be quiet."
Viviana clicked her tongue. "Brat," she muttered, rolling her eyes. Still, she reached for her phone, opened the Otome game app, and tapped on Hard Mode without another word.
Elyza didn't look up. "Don't use my VR. Just use your own phone," she reminded, flipping her textbook open and diving into her study session.
✧[It was a beautiful sunny day in Shimka Village. The wind blew gently, rustling the leaves. Children played in the streets while the adults busied themselves with work. I was helping my mother make lunch, while my brothers helped Father outside.]
"Wait, Genevieve has brothers? Seriously… the game developers really went all out with this game," Viviana muttered, gripping her phone tightly.
"Grandaunt, I said shut up! I'm studying here!" Elyza snapped as she flipped to another page of her textbook.
Viviana rolled her eyes but stayed glued to the screen.
✧[Mother was making a vegetable soup with grilled lamb meat.]
✧[Mother: Genevieve… would you mind calling your father and your brothers?]
✧[She smiled gently as she asked.]
✧(Please type your response!)✧
"Hey, Elyza! I'm supposed to type what to say or do here, right? Like interactions?" Viviana turned to her grandniece, who remained deeply focused on her studies and completely ignored her.
"Brat," Viviana muttered, clearly irritated. "Fine. I'll do it myself, then."
"I learned from the previous modes that I need to act kind or something… What is kind, by the way?" Viviana sighed, squinting at her phone as she finally started typing.
✧[Response: Dad! Brothers! Mom said it's time to eat!]✧
"This should do it, right? First response. I really hope I don't have to wait ten days just to reset again…" she muttered, pressing enter with a grim sigh.
✧(Thank you for your response!)✧
✧[Genevieve: Dad! Brothers! Mom said it's time to eat!]
✧[My brothers and my dad came rushing into our small house like a pack of starving carnivores.]
✧[Dad: Whoa! Honey! Did you make grilled lamb meat???]
✧[Mom smiled warmly and gave a proud nod.]
✧[Brother 2: Man, I'm starving!]
✧[Brother 1: Same here.]
✧[My first brother, Geno, sat first on the chair, followed by Dad. My second brother, Gerald, casually plopped down beside Mom.]
✧(Please type your response!)✧
Viviana raised an eyebrow. "Wait, aren't I supposed to eat too or something? Whatever..." She huffed and began typing.
✧[Response: *I sat down beside Dad and began eating as well.*]✧
"Hope this works," she muttered, tapping the enter button.
✧(Thank you for your response!)✧
✧[I sat down beside Dad and began eating as well.]
✧[Geno turned toward me with a teasing smirk, still chewing on the grilled lamb.]
✧[Geno: Hey! I heard from my friends that you've got a crush on one of them, huh?]
✧[Gerald leaned forward, grinning.]
✧[Gerald: Yeah, and James likes you too. He's been talking about you nonstop. Says you're 'kinda cute for a farm girl.']
✧(Please type your response!)✧
Viviana squinted at the screen and grumbled, "Farm girl? What kind of setup is this? Whatever, let's play smart…"
She cracked her fingers and began typing again.
✧[Response: I think James… is nice. But stop teasing me, please.]✧
"I think that would do. I don't even know who James is in this game," Viviana muttered. "The developers really added a lot of extras out of nowhere. None of this was in the novel." She pressed enter and the screen continued.
✧(Thank you for your response!)✧
✧[Dad raised his eyebrows while sipping his soup.]
✧[Dad: Genevieve, you're 18 now. I don't mind if you have someone by your side forever.]
✧[Mom suddenly choked on her grilled lamb.]
✧[Mom: Genevieve, you're too young to be thinking about marriage! Don't listen to them, Gen.]
✧[Geno leaned back, grinning.]
✧[Geno: But Mom! I want a brother-in-law already!]
✧[Mom gave Geno a sharp glare. He immediately shrunk in his seat. Honestly, Mom is terrifying when she wants to be.]
✧[Gerald: Then get married yourself and find a wife who has a brother. You're already in your late twenties.]
✧[Gerald casually sipped his soup like he didn't just destroy his brother.]
✧[Dad: Honey… I want another son…]
✧[Mom kicked him under the table. Dad let out a loud yelp.]
✧(Please type your response!)✧
"I think these NPCs want me to get married to an extra. That probably means I won't meet the male leads, right? That would be game over for me. Besides, this village is going to get destroyed soon. Wait... does the reason they haven't mentioned this in the novel... Oh no, I'm sorry Genevieve, but I have to go with the flow." Viviana muttered as she held the phone tight.
Meanwhile, Elyza was still studying at her desk, visibly annoyed by Viviana's loud muttering. "Geez, grandaunt. Will you please...?" Elyza clenched her fist, forcing a smile while holding back her temper, her eye twitching multiple times. "Before I hit you with a pen...?"
Viviana ignored her, focused on the game.
✧[Response: Nah, I'm fine. You don't have to, actually. Actually, mom was right.]✧
Viviana sighed, muttering to herself, "Too bad this family's going to die someday because of the House of Archiz."
✧(Thank you for your response!)✧
✧[Genevieve: Nah, I'm fine. You don't have to, actually. Actually, mom was right.]
✧[Dad immediately held my hand and pleaded with puppy eyes.]
✧[Dad: But Gen! I want another son already! Please get married to James. He's a nice guy, hardworking, and good looking too!]
✧[Geno: Yeah!]
✧[Mom glared at them, and they slumped down to their seats, continuing to eat their meat.]
✧(Please type your response!)✧
Viviana raised an eyebrow and scoffed, "So this game wants me to fail and get distracted by another NPC and fail again? Ha! Not on my watch." She gripped her phone tightly as she began typing very fast.
✧[Response: I think someone is better than James than you thought. Will you please shut up?! Both of you.]✧
Viviana pressed enter with a satisfied look. "Typical NPCs."
✧(Thank you for your response!)✧
✧[Genevieve: I think someone is better than James than you thought. Will you please shut up?! Both of you.]
✧[All of them looked stunned at my attitude. None of them had ever seen this side of me.]✧
"Well, Genevieve wasn't this kind of person. Of course, Genevieve wasn't like this in the novel. I was, and I am! If I'm Genevieve, then I'm going to act like myself," Viviana scoffed confidently.
Meanwhile, Elyza, completely distracted by Viviana's triumphant voice from the game, gripped the edge of her desk. "Grandaunt... please..." She was about to throw a paper at Viviana but controlled herself anyway.
Viviana continued playing, ignoring her.
✧[Mom smirked as she took a bite of the lamb meat.]
✧[Mom: That's my girl.]
✧[We finally finished eating, and Mom elbowed Gerald.]
✧[Mom: You're going to wash the dishes.]
✧[Dad had already left through the door, and Geno went back to work. Both of them are farmers. Gerald is a woodcutter. Mom is just a housewife, and I usually help her all the time. But this time, Gerald was in charge of washing the dishes. Gerald glared at me as he walked closer.]
✧[Gerald: Let's play a game. If you lose at rock, paper, swords, you'll wash the dishes—just like always. I still need to cut some wood. But as promised, if you win, I'll do it.]
Viviana raised her eyebrows and smirked. "So I'm playing a game inside a game, huh? Interesting and weird." She continued the game.
✧(Please type your response!)✧
✧[Response: Sure!]✧
✧(Thank you for your response!)✧
✧[Gerald smirked as he prepared the game.]
✧[Gerald: Rock, paper, swords, shoot!]
✧(Please type your response!)✧
"I think I'm going to choose rock." Viviana smirked as she typed it.
✧[Response: Rock]✧
✧(Thank you for your response!)✧
✧[Genevieve: Rock]
✧[Gerald: Paper! I win! You wash the dishes!]
✧[Gerald left the house with a snicker on his face. He grabbed his wood axe and walked out the door.]
"I shouldn't have trusted AI. I forgot this game is handled by AI itself. Damn it." Viviana sighed.
✧[I washed the dishes as I heard a loud sound.]
✧[Boom!]
✧[People were screaming outside the house, and Mom looked concerned.]
✧[Mom: What is going on??]
✧(Please type your response!)✧
"Wait, what should I say? Should I say or do something? Oh well, whatever." She sighed and typed anyway.
✧[Response: *I opened the door*]✧
"That should do it, right? We use asterisks to do something, right?" She raised her eyebrows as she pressed enter anyway.
✧(Thank you for your response!)✧
✧[I opened the door and saw multiple people screaming and covered in blood. Several men in armor were killing the villagers—and one of them was Dad. Geno was bleeding. I saw Mom trembling, her eyes wide with fear, tears streaming down her face. One of the armored men was riding a horse and holding a flag—a flag that bore a red thorny rose and two crossed swords on a white background. Mom shakily pointed at the flag, recognizing it.]
"Oh? So just one move and the AI adds the rest, huh? Nice, AI." She gave the phone a thumbs up and continued the game.
✧[Mom: That's... that's the crest of the House of Archiz. What... why are they destroying the village?]
"So the AI protected me from that scene. No wonder it made me lose that game Gerald played." She chuckled as she continued.
"Grandaunt, I'm done studying. It's late, I'm going to sleep now. Don't disturb me."
Elyza closed her books and slipped them into her bag. She walked to her bedroom, wrapped herself in a blanket, and settled in for the night.
Viviana, however, was still glued to her game. Her once-neat pixie haircut now stuck out in every direction, a total mess. Two nights had passed with zero sleep—just nonstop gameplay. The time read 11:49 p.m., but Viviana showed no signs of stopping.
Hours later...
At exactly 6:00 a.m., Elyza opened her eyes and sat up straight, silencing her alarm with a groan. She rubbed her eyes, then blinked at the light pouring in.
"Grandaunt? You're still playing?! Seriously?" Elyza was stunned. Viviana hadn't slept in two days and at 60 years old, that was seriously dangerous for her health.
"Shut up, Elyza. I'm almost finished with the hard mode," Viviana muttered, her eyes locked onto her phone screen as she typed away.
"You're almost finished? Without a single reset? I can't even do that." Elyza raised her brows, honestly impressed, as she stood up and started getting ready for school.
"See? I can do what you can't. Now let me finish this," Viviana said with smug confidence, not even glancing up.
"But Grandaunt... your health," Elyza muttered with concern. Viviana, of course, ignored her.
"Well, good luck with very hard mode then," Elyza added, half-sarcastic as she slung her bag over her shoulder. "Every reset costs a thousand dollars anyway. Not that it's a problem for you, since you're a freaking chairwoman... who's been ignoring her duties for two days straight. Wow." She gave a low whistle. "Especially since that very hard mode was hacked and bugged by some anonymous hacker."
After showering and getting dressed, Elyza picked up her bag and stepped out of her bedroom, though calling it a bedroom barely did it justice. It was large enough to fit two regular apartment units, complete with a walk-in closet and a luxurious en-suite bathroom that could easily double as a studio flat.
"Bye, Grandaunt," she called out as she headed for the door.
"Yeah, whatever," Viviana replied, barely audible, still glued to her phone.
A few hours later...
A soft knock echoed from the front door before it opened with a quiet click. Viviana didn't even flinch.
"Viviana… you need to eat breakfast," came a gentle voice.
It was Lilybeth, her sister-in-law. She stepped inside carrying a tray with a bowl of cereal and two bananas neatly arranged on the side. Without waiting for an invitation, she placed it down on the table and sat on one of Elyza's many sofas.
"You're still addicted to that, aren't you?" she asked, watching Viviana's motionless figure.
No answer. Not even a blink. Viviana remained silent, utterly immersed in her phone screen.
"Your bodyguards, your secretary, even your CEOs, have come by the house," Lilybeth continued with a sigh. "You've ignored the board. You've missed meetings, business trips, and paperwork. Carsten Electronics has been running without its chairwoman for two days now. Even your vice president is starting to panic."
Still, Viviana said nothing.
"You need to eat, Vivi. Sleep. Take a shower, for God's sake," Lilybeth pleaded softly, but her words fell on deaf ears.
After a heavy silence, she stood and headed for the door. "Well then, I'll leave you alone," she said, her voice laced with concern. The door clicked shut behind her.
Viviana, without even looking, picked up a banana, peeled it, and took a bite, all while continuing to tap away on her phone.
"I'm almost there… Caelus is at 92% affection score…" she murmured, eyes still locked onto the screen.
But then—
✧[[ GAME OVER ]]✧
"What?!" Viviana froze, mouth slightly open, her thumb hovering in midair. "But I'm almost there! How—why?!"
A new screen faded in:
✧(You can reset the game in 9 days, 23 hours, 58 minutes, and 21 seconds.)✧
Viviana blinked rapidly, her expression shifting from shock to horror.
"What's the reason?! Why did I lose?!"
Another line appeared:
✧[[ You failed to achieve full 100% affection scores for all seven male leads before Elyza Archiz's coming-of-age ceremony. ]]✧
"Ha?!" Viviana's jaw dropped. "Wait... the ceremony already happened?! I didn't even notice that!"
She finally pulled her eyes away from the screen, sighing in defeat. Only then did she glance at the untouched tray and notice the blinking red notification:
!!(Low battery. Please charge your phone.)!!
"Oh, shit."
Muttering, she snatched Elyza's charger, plugged in the phone, and flopped back on the sofa—pouting, grumbling, and shoveling cereal into her mouth.
TO BE CONTINUED...