SAE 01

chapter 01

“Ariana, hurry. The door’s going to close at this rate.”

Leonard Pierce.

The protagonist of this novel’s world.

With his radiant golden hair, he urged the hesitant woman forward.

“I understand how you feel. I really do, but this can’t be helped. We have to go.”

At his insistence, the woman’s deep green eyes wavered aimlessly.

They were filled with guilt.

“But…”

“Hurry!”

Even with his continued urging, she still couldn’t easily take a step forward.

Ariana. She was the heroine who would one day become renowned as the saintess and the lover of Leonard, the man destined to become a hero.

Taking advantage of the moment, I finally forced my mouth open again.

“Can you take me too?”

“……”

“I said… ugh, I’m part of the team too. Take me with you. This kind of injury will heal quickly… haah, just take me with you.”

I didn’t even know how many times I’d pleaded already.

But once again, no one responded to me.

From earlier, it was like they couldn’t even hear my voice.

As if they had agreed to ignore me.

“…Unfortunately, it can’t be helped. Miss Ariana, we must go.”

As Ariana continued to hesitate, another man who had been standing beside her like a guard finally stepped in.

“Let’s go. Now.”

As if he couldn’t wait any longer, he grabbed Ariana’s arm and pulled.

In the end, unable to withstand everyone’s urging, Ariana lowered her head weakly.

“…I’m sorry, Rosette.”

At that, I was completely dumbfounded.

“Don’t apologize—just take me with you.”

If you’re sorry, then take me along.

Can’t you hear me?

“I’ll… leave this behind.”

She muttered quietly, almost to herself, and placed a tattered bag onto the ground.

Her head remained bowed, as though she couldn’t even bear to look at me.

Finally, Ariana turned away.

And with no more reason to linger, the men led her off without hesitation.

I gathered my remaining strength and shouted.

“Hey!”

But they disappeared through the door without even looking back.

“Hey, you bastards!”

Thud.

The door shut.

Every story has a protagonist.

And people who exist only to make that protagonist shine.

Not the protagonist, not even a supporting character—just an extra.

That was me.

One of the children offered as a sacrifice.

A minor character who didn’t even have a name in the novel.

I realized that fact the moment I was chosen as a sacrifice.

“Rosette, my dear little sister. Through your noble sacrifice, our family—and even the peace and happiness of this country—will be preserved.”

Even now, I can vividly remember the cold hand of my so-called brother as he pushed me toward the altar while saying that.

So from the very beginning, I was an adopted child raised to be a sacrifice.

I only realized that after I was dragged onto the altar.

In the unbearable pain of my body burning there, I recalled my past life and realized this was a world inside a novel.

“You were sold by your parents.”

Starting from that line, the novel <The Devil’s Game> began in earnest—a typical low-quality fantasy.

The noble families of two empires that had unified two continents had been offering children of their bloodline as sacrifices, following an oracle.

The reason was simple.

To maintain the barrier sealing the miasma.

The sacrificed children were sent to a tower, where they were toyed with in the devil’s amusement before dying.

But as expected of the protagonist, he gathered his companions, crushed everything in his path, cleared the tower, and escaped.

After that, he would overthrow the empires that had maintained peace through child sacrifice and become a hero… something like that.

But realizing all of that changed nothing for me.

At that point, I was already burning on the altar.

I screamed for help until I lost consciousness from the pain, and when I opened my eyes again, I was already inside this tower.

And just like that moment…

“Ha… damn it…”

When I came to again, no one was around me.

The people I thought were my companions had truly left me behind.

“What a joke.”

Once I accepted reality, I let out a hollow laugh.

The so-called protagonist of this trash novel was, in reality, a complete piece of garbage.

But what was even worse… was my situation—abandoned by those trashy people.

That’s right.

This was the third floor of the tower.

I had been discarded.

And this tower was a separate dimension ruled by demons.

A tower beneath an island saturated with miasma.

A place where ordinary humans could never easily survive.

And in such a place, they had casually abandoned one person.

It was hard to believe this was the action of the so-called righteous protagonist and his companions described in the novel.

Their indifferent faces as they left my injured body surfaced in my mind.

“You’re the reason we can’t all be stuck here.”

“Please don’t resent us too much.”

“…May the blessings of the gods be with you.”

There was no “we” that included me.

“Bastards.”

I had devoted myself to that protagonist’s party, working like a one-man army.

I didn’t expect gratitude—but I never imagined they would abandon me without hesitation.

“What exactly did I misunderstand all this time?”

From the beginning, they had never considered me a companion.

They only used me, seeing me as something disposable.

And so, what burned inside me now wasn’t sadness.

It was rage.

“…How dare you abandon me?”

Me—the one who had farmed countless items and handed them over to them?

A survival instinct stronger than ever surged within me.

I will never forgive them.

What do humans live for?

Love? Friendship? Wealth? Glory? No.

It’s grit.

Pure, burning grit.

Just you wait.

I will survive this tower and get out.

I felt around my chest.

There was an item I had secretly hidden in my underwear, just in case.

Good thing I prepared for this.

I reached in and pulled out a single bean.

It was a miraculous item that restored basic stats and even healed wounds—a kind of all-purpose potion.

I had no strength left even to chew properly, but I forced it down desperately.

I will not die like this.

Why should I die for their sake?

Then I crawled forward with everything I had left.

Forward.

Toward the bag they had left behind, as if it were some final act of mercy.

“Haa… haah… haah…”

Just moving that much made blood seep out of my abdominal wound again.

The pain aside, the sensation of blood flowing out of my body was nauseating.

But it didn’t matter.

Just a little more…

I stretched out my hand with all my will.

My fingertips caught the strap of the bag.

I pulled it closer and rummaged through it desperately.

Soon, I found something soft and damp in my hand.

A bright red fruit, half-eaten by insects and covered in mold.

The very fruit everyone had refused to eat.

Without hesitation, I bit into it.

I will make them regret abandoning me.

They never realized the true value hidden beneath its disgusting appearance.

Even when I told them it was good, they doubted me—and left me behind with me unconscious.

If I can use this fruit’s power properly…

Maybe I can survive without relying on the protagonist’s “bus.”

Fueled by pure determination, I chewed and swallowed.

Then I collapsed onto the ground, gasping.

I had no strength left at all.

I could barely turn my head.

“Haa… haa…”

My body, already weak, grew even heavier as relief finally set in.

It’s fine… I just need to endure until the wounds heal…

I lay there, breathing raggedly, biting down on the inside of my mouth to stay conscious.

Then—

Footsteps.

Someone was walking toward me.

When I barely managed to turn my head—

“Ghk!”

A hand suddenly grabbed my hair and yanked me up.

My eyes met a pair of dark crimson ones.

A disappointed voice muttered.

“…Tch. Not you.”

He let go.

My face hit the ground, and I forced myself to lift my head again.

Heat from the fruit was starting to spread through my body, warping my vision.

Still, I recognized him immediately.

Him.

That guy.

“Hey… wait… don’t go…”

I called out desperately.

But he ignored me and walked toward the lower-floor door.

No—

“What.”

He grabbed my pant leg.

His gaze looked down at me like I was something utterly worthless.

“You’re waiting for someone to save you? You’ve got the wrong guy.”

“…That’s not it…”

“I’m not kind enough to help someone already dying.”

“No… that’s not it…”

You’re the villain.

No—more precisely, someone who would become a villain in the future.

But more importantly… he might be my only chance to survive this tower.

There’s a saying.

“The enemy of my enemy is my ally.”

I forced myself to speak as my consciousness blurred.

“Your… your little brother…”

I knew what he was looking for.

The reason he muttered in disappointment earlier.

The reason he was rushing toward the lower floors.

And because I knew that, I also knew—he couldn’t afford to ignore me.

“You… you’re looking for your brother, right?”

At those words, his attitude changed instantly.

“What? You know my brother?”

“I… saw him…”

“When?”

“Ugh… well…”

“Where?”

I needed to answer.

I needed to make a deal so he couldn’t leave me behind.

But strength drained from my body in an instant.

Too late.

As I collapsed again, he grabbed my collar.

Pain shot through me.

“Where did you see him?”

“Ugh…”

He shook me violently.

“Tell me where you saw my brother! Speak—then die if you want!”

But his rough grip couldn’t keep me conscious.

Everything went dark.

I passed out.