Raising the Princess to Overcome Death-Prologue
0. Prologue
"Leo! Look over there! It's a Cocoren!"
Lena, who was picking wild berries together, nudged Minseo's shoulder and pointed to something hanging on the tree that looked like a squirrel. The animal was clinging to the tree trunk, seemingly parasitic.
A Cocoren, with its cute little eyes rolling around. Lena clapped her hands towards it. Seeing that mountain animal is said to bring good luck...
Minseo was trapped in [Raising Lena].
With the indifferent text "Starting [Raising Lena]," he became Leo and was imprisoned in a strange world.
Why did I end up in a place like this?
Minseo gave a bitter laugh, while Lena smiled brightly.
*
Clothes scattered like a carpet in the messy room. Minseo, rolling around in the disordered bed, got up weakly.
Watching OTube while lying down had become boring.
"Should I play a game...?"
Mumbling, he threw aside his dirty pillow and turned on the computer with an unenthusiastic expression.
As he stood up, his messy hair poked his eyes. Minseo hadn't been outside for days. Except for occasionally dragging his slippers out to buy cigarettes and ramen.
- Let's take some time apart for a while.
Chaeha's firm voice echoed in his head.
Minseo tried to shake off that voice and skillfully logged into Suteam. A place where you could download thousands of games, his account was already filled with many games.
An annoying book got caught in the hastily moving mouse. The desk was filled with public servant exam books like administrative law.
How bothersome.
Minseo piled them up and pushed them aside, returning to his computer.
Suteam was having a sale again today. Some games were marked down by up to 90%, catching his eye.
In that space where he could forget reality, Minseo lined up new games and scrolled through them.
- I'm saying this for us. I'll get something done too. Let's try our best.
He scrolled more vigorously.
Urgency. He wanted to start any game quickly. He wanted to escape.
He graduated from college two years ago.
Even then, he sighed, but he had an alternative. It wasn't his dream job, but he boasted that passing the public servant exam would be enough. Those were the days he made excuses to people around him with bravado.
Minseo felt ashamed towards Chaeha, who believed in him till the end. His will couldn't keep up with his heart. Books didn't hold his attention, and he would just fiddle with his phone until hunger brought him back to reality, a moment he dreaded.
[Raising Lena]
While hastily scrolling, the mouse landed on a game. A cheap game priced at only 2,000 won, and arrogantly not on sale.
He liked the arrogance. When he clicked on it, a cute female character smiled brightly at him.
Reading the game description, it seemed to be a knock-off of the "Princess Maker" series.
The story was about raising a girl, marrying her to a prince, and making her a princess.
It was predictable even before starting. You bring up a child, make her work to earn money, and then use that money to educate her diligently.
I should study instead.
And if possible, a game where you marry her to a prince and make her a princess. Even if you couldn't marry her off to a prince, there were various endings.
A daughter who becomes a farmer and marries an ordinary man, a daughter who becomes a noble lady, a daughter who becomes a knight...
His daughters would all smile radiantly at the end, saying, "Father. I'm happy. Thank you for raising me," and then disappear with the ending credits.
How heart-wrenching it was to see the final moments of daughters who smiled brightly despite being exploited and unable to decide anything for themselves.
Were those girls really happy?
Lena, a beautiful character, shone brightly on the screen, breaking his thoughts. It looked like a cheap game, but feeling somewhat nostalgic for the past daughters, Minseo clicked the purchase button.
Alright. Take it, 2,000 won!
After waiting for the installation to complete, he launched it immediately.
The graphics filled the screen.
It was surprisingly high-quality, so much so that he was startled. Fearing he might accidentally close this overwhelming intro video, he took his hands off the mouse and switched to popcorn mode.
Just watching this video made the 2,000 won worthwhile — no sooner did he think this than the screen was covered with text.
[Starting Raising Lena]
[Achievement: First Meeting with Lena - Lena feels a high affection for Leo.]
"Leo! Are you listening to me?"
"Huh?"
"Leo? Why do you look like that? You! Are you teasing me again?"
It was the face he had seen in the game introduction.
A teenage girl with distinct features, her upper lip beautifully curved as if she had received ample love, and her eyebrows gently arched. Her softly raised nose was intellectual, but the tip descended in a gentle slope.
While he blankly stared at her face, Lena gazed directly at Leo with undeniable affection in her bold eyes.
Unable to bear that affection, he turned his head away.
A forest. Startled, he raised his arms, but only immature hands followed. A worn leather pouch filled with unfamiliar berries hung at his waist, and rough fabric itched his skin.
And the girl looking at him bewilderedly...
It took a few days to accept the situation. This was a small village called Demos.
A cozy village where everyone knew each other, paying taxes to the Right Kingdom under Count Gaidan's domain.
His name was Leo.
His mother had passed away early, and he lived with his hunter father. Fortunately, his father was away on a hunt, giving him time to grasp the situation.
"Leo! Are you home? Don't you want to go pick wild berries?"
For several days, Lena knocked loudly on the door early in the morning.
Lena and Leo were childhood friends.
They were so close that their bodies remembered roaming the mountains and fields together to gather food.
Today, too, he followed Lena's lead up the mountainside, imitating her actions to avoid suspicion.
"I heard this from Brother Leslie, you know~"
Lena chattered away while working. Thanks to her, he understood the situation better.
Here, injuries were treated by priests, the feudal system and social hierarchy were strict, knights and paladins rode horses, and some plants moved like animals while some animals moved like plants.
He had no way of knowing why or how he was sucked into this place. There was no way to exit.
He had already abandoned the thought that this was a dream and that everything would return to normal when he woke up. The sense of reality was too vivid for that.
With this vivid sense of reality, he even began to faintly forget that he was Minseo.
The faces of his parents and girlfriend, Chaeha, were hazy, only surfacing if he concentrated. It felt like Minseo's consciousness was receding, and Leo's was emerging.
Leo glanced at Lena. She seemed to be enjoying herself just being with him, never running out of things to say.
Lena, her existence provided a clue to Minseo's mystery. He was here to "raise" Lena.
Lena, who tied her hair back tightly and deftly picked wild berries with quick hands.
Lena, whose delicate hands never dried from the small wounds of hard labor.
I have to make this girl a princess. Isn't that the escape route to finish this game and return?
.
!
Prologue
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