Trapped! I Was Played In A Ruined Romance

Chapter 10

Ada Williams

I spent a long time staring at the ceiling that night.

A very long time.

It was one of those moments when you were exhausted enough to sleep for a week, but your brain suddenly decided it was the ideal time to review every single problem you had.

And there were plenty of them.

I went over everything again, just to make sure I wasn't missing anything.

*First: I was trapped inside a book.

*Second: an entire city was destined for destruction.

*Third: I had a disgusting stalker trying to force me to marry him.

*Fourth: I needed to find a husband within seven days.

*Fifth: apparently, if I ignored the system's quests, I would die.

I sighed.

"Wonderful."

I tossed to one side. Then the other. The bed was still hard. The pillow was still awful. And my life was still a disaster.

I closed my eyes.

The worst part was that none of it felt like a game. The more I observed this world, the less it seemed like a simple system or something artificial. The people were real, and so were the emotions, the memories, even the pain.

So why did those windows exist? Why these bizarre quests? Why this obsession with making me tend to chickens and pull weeds?

None of that was part of the original story. I remembered it perfectly. Well... not perfectly, because I'd dropped the book before the halfway mark. But I still remembered the premise.

The Saint and the Dragon.

The Church that controlled everything, the damn war. The dramatic romance, people making stupid decisions for love. None of that involved a farmer being threatened by a lunatic and chickens while an agricultural system forced her to work. It was as if I were in a different game using the book's setting.

That feeling stayed with me until sleep finally won. And when it did... it didn't last long.

BEEEEEEEEEEP!

"Ahhh!"

I jumped so high I nearly rolled off the bed. My heart tried to escape my chest. For a second, I thought White Hill was being invaded, or that Duene had come back.

But no, it was worse. The damn daily quests.

[QUESTS AVAILABLE]

[Feed the animals — 0/1]

[Tend to the crops — 0/1]

[Gather fresh eggs — 0/1]

[Check food storage — 0/1]

"I hate you." I pointed at the window. "I really hate you."

The system didn't respond. As usual.

I rolled my eyes.

Naturally. The moment it wanted to drag me out of bed like some demonic alarm, it appeared without fail. But when I actually needed answers? Gone. At this point, I really shouldn't have been surprised.

I climbed out of bed, still muttering to myself.

"If someone is actually behind all this, I hope you spend the rest of eternity smashing your pinky toe into every piece of furniture you own."

Nothing.

Sadly.

After getting dressed, I headed straight for the kitchen.

At least I had food now—more than I'd had on my first day.

It still wasn't much, but it was an improvement.

I gathered a few eggs, some fruit, and a small portion of oatmeal.

Then I lit the wood stove, which somehow still felt less like cooking and more like performing ancient magic.

As I prepared breakfast, something unusual drew my attention.

A new notification was blinking in the corner of my vision, right beside the permanent

*MAIN ROUTE ERROR*

message that refused to disappear.

[Available Points: 3]

I stopped immediately. "Hm?"

I brought my hand closer, and then I remembered. The skills! The quest rewards! So that was how it worked: I completed tasks, received points, and could use skills. At least they weren't completely useless now. That was something.

The eggs were done, and the oatmeal cake turned out... questionable. Highly, highly questionable. No sugar, no honey, no... anything. It looked like a sad brick. But at least it was edible.

After finishing breakfast, I walked out to the chicken coop. This time, I was a bit more cheerful. Or less depressed. Which was pretty much the same thing.

"Right." I crossed my arms. "Let's find out how this works."

I opened the skills tab. It was only then that I noticed something I had ignored before.

THOROUGH INSPECTION

(Passive)

"Passive?" I frowned. The day before, I had been so tired and confused that I hadn't even paid attention.

I tapped the skill. Nothing happened. Then, by instinct, I looked at one of the chickens, and a window immediately materialized over it.

[Chicken]

[Healthy]

[Production: Normal]

[Age: 2 years]

I blinked. "What?"

More information appeared over the nearby nests.

[Nest 01]

[Contains eggs: Yes]

[Nest 02]

[Contains eggs: No]

[Nest 03]

[Contains eggs: Yes]

My jaw dropped. "Oh."

That was useful. Extremely useful. But a few seconds later, it all vanished. As if it had never existed. A new notice appeared.

[Cooldown: 30 minutes]

"Oh, s**t!"

Of course. There was a limit. Because my happiness could never last long.

Even so... I ran to the nests. And to my surprise, it was correct. All the eggs were exactly where the system had indicated. My mood instantly improved. For the first time since arriving in this world, something actually helped.

The work that had taken hours the day before was finished in a fraction of the time. I could identify problems quickly. Know which animals needed attention. See where the eggs were. Understand the general state of things. Before I knew it, not even half the morning had passed, and I was already wrapping up tasks that had consumed almost the entire day before.

"Right..."

For the first time, I felt a small glimmer of hope. Not because the situation had improved—it was still horrible. I still needed to save White Hill, find a husband, and deal with that creepy stalker.

I sighed.

I still... needed to figure out how to get home.

But now, maybe I had time to think and get some answers.

As I walked to the next chore, an idea slowly began to form. I was trying to solve everything using what fictional Ada knew. But maybe that was the mistake. Waiting around for some memory to pop up and help me.

She didn't know anything. But I did. Maybe not a lot, but I knew more than anyone in this world about what lay ahead.

I stopped dead in my tracks. My heart began to race. Because I had finally realized—I finally understood the advantage I held.

I knew part of the story. I knew future events. I knew some of the characters. I knew important things.

What if... instead of trying to fix everything like fictional Ada... I started using what I knew about that book? Could that be it? Could that give me a fighting chance to change my fate?