“Stupid side characters should just stay side characters.” The words echoed through Hina Aizawa’s mind as she stood silently in the crowded train station. A few minutes earlier, her manager had humiliated her in front of everyone at work again. Nobody defended her. Nobody cared. Just like always. Hina lowered her head tiredly and tightened her grip on the romance manga hidden inside her bag. The only place she ever felt alive was inside those fictional worlds. Especially when villainesses appeared. Beautiful. Confident. Powerful. The kind of women who could make an entire room tremble with one smile. “They’re so much cooler than heroines…” Hina muttered quietly. Unlike herself. She was just ordinary. An unnoticed background character living an endlessly boring life. That night, while walking home beneath the pouring rain, Hina suddenly stopped in the middle of the empty street and laughed bitterly. “If I ever get reincarnated,” she whispered toward the dark sky, “I want to become a villainess so terrifying that everyone remembers my name.” “And then—” Bright headlights appeared before her. SCREEECH. Everything went black. When Hina slowly opened her eyes again, golden chandeliers sparkled above her head. Servants surrounded her nervously. And reflected in the giant mirror before her was the face of the most infamous villainess in the entire empire. Hina stared at the reflection in complete shock. “…Wait.” Her heartbeat quickened violently. “…Am I reincarnated?”