After the confusion was successfully dispelled, the frail body of the 16-year-old girl slowly pushed itself up. Her delicate face, filled with exhaustion and freckles, turned left and right in bewilderment. Thankfully, her initially vague memories were becoming clearer.

    It seemed she had now entered the body of "Ellie," a supporting female character who often followed the protagonist "Nara" around. Sometimes, she would even create problems for the heroine to solve. It could be said to be an impressive event for helping friends or her main duties, which included arguing on behalf of the wonderfully kind heroine when the latter was too timid to confront the villains causing trouble. Luckily, Ellie, a local village girl who had received a scholarship with her, was there to help in those confrontations.

    As a reader, one might feel that Ellie’s actions only made everything more chaotic…

    In her current situation, Ellie seemed to have awakened a power that made her body feel like it was exploding. For a young girl with no guardians to properly guide or awaken her power, the chance of dying during this time was quite high—a testament to why survivors who awakened their powers on their own were rare.

    And this also showed just how capable such a person was!

    Ellie, in the script, was an orphan. Her father had died two years ago, and her mother had tragically passed away just a month ago. In this dire situation, Nara had been consistently supportive, whether it was with small meals or other necessities. For this, Ellie was immensely grateful to the point of wanting to repay Nara with her life.

    With such a background, it was no wonder that Ellie fought so fiercely on Nara's behalf…

    As her thoughts scattered, a familiar voice came from the front of Ellie's humble wooden house.

    Actually, Ellie's family had quite a bit of land, surrounded by vegetable plots that her deceased parents had bought for their livelihood. Had it not been for their premature deaths, perhaps Ellie’s life could have been better in the future. What a pity, truly a pity.

    "Ellie, I brought you some vegetable soup today. Don't lose hope, okay?" The bright smile on the young girl's face, with her beautiful features, filled little Ellie’s heart with warmth.

    Nara’s small ponytails made her look like an innocent and pure child. Her moist lips looked healthy, and no matter how many times one looked, they were always mesmerizing. Her golden eyes matched well with her hair, her petite frame made her look adorable and fragile. This girl was the protagonist, the perfect heroine!

    "Thank you so much, Nara," the one playing Ellie’s role said, looking at her with fascination. She had already been a fan of this heroine character. Now that she had met her in person, how could she not feel “thrilled”?

    "It's nothing. I'll be going now, Ellie," Nara said before waving cutely to her only friend.

    Ellie smiled and waved back brightly, suddenly remembering that she had yet to tell Nara that she had already awakened her power.

    Hmm...but it probably won't matter. She could just tell Nara later. It’s not like anything's been damaged anyway.

    “I remember that this Ellie have the power of botany, isn’t she?”

    Ellie pondered to herself. It seemed the novel’s plot wouldn’t advance any time soon because, according to the story, it all began after Nara had awakened her own power of light. The rumors about a village girl who had awakened her power became so famous that they reached the ears of the examiners from the educational institution. Before long, they sent someone to investigate the matter. And they discovered that there were two girls who had awakened their powers on their own and survived. A month later, both were invited to join the high-level institution together.

    Did this mean that before Nara could awaken her powers, she had to live here for at least another month to wait to enter the institution? And how could she let Nara feed her this clear, odorless vegetable broth indefinitely?

    Above all, if Ellie wanted to study at the kingdom’s top magical institution, she could not afford to be so passive. It’s true that in the story, they were impoverished villagers who received free scholarships, including three meals a day, but those were merely low-quality meals.

    Ellie remembered in the story, after the heroine met with Hero No. 1 and they went out to eat together, the hero said, “Nara, how can you keep eating this kind of pig food? Come on, I'll take you to eat something better.”

    And yes! The free food mentioned was nothing but poor-quality scraps, just like trash. It must be said that very few receive scholarships in this institution, and some years there were none who awaken their powers on their own, meaning they didn’t have to pay much attention to these scholarship students. The cooks used leftover scraps from the main menu to feed them, which was barely better than throwing it to pigs and dogs.

    And from the dialogue mentioned by the author, was there any part that mentioned a supporting character like Ellie popping up? Not at all! The good hero never had a line that even slightly referred to his girlfriend's close friend like Ellie, which meant if she couldn’t make something of herself, she’d end up being the only one eating that trash food!

    “I will not be poor and eat only pig food. I must at least try to have some money on hand,” Ellie clenched her fist, encouraging herself.

    Wasn’t it that in her past life, she worked hard day and night just so she could enjoy a nice buffet, delicious meals, and delightful, sweet drinks every day? With Ellie’s attitude of “living to eat,” this goal was indeed the most important thing in her life.

    Now that she knew her goals, Ellie reviewed what use this heroine’s friend could possibly have. She found that in the story, apart from interjecting to fight villains in place of the heroine, who was quiet and just cries, she again only appeared when she created misunderstandings between the heroine and the hero. As for other roles...not mentioned at all!

    Day after day, it’s all about what the heroine did, what strange events she encountered with the heroes, or how she was making up with which hero. So, what were Ellie’s abilities? She couldn’t find any information from the novel.

    The young woman's lips downturned helplessly. It seemed like now she must be the one to search the vast ocean herself, right? Luckily, she knew that this heroine’s friend has the power of botany. Normally, those who used magic powers must first find out which element they were compatible with. It seemed she had already cheated a step ahead of others.

    "The power of botany, then maybe I could test it on the vegetables in the garden first," Ellie thought to herself. She soon decided that the only way to understand her own powers was to actually use them.

    Moreover, using powers more frequently could also elevate their magical levels. This was a lesson from the curriculum of the accomplished heroine, so when events occurred frequently, the heroine's power of light reached a level comparable to the geniuses at the institution.

    The petite Ellie left her house to check on the vegetable plots that she remembered her mother had cultivated. Some of the vegetables, like carrots and potatoes, had been dug up and sold. Thus, only leafy vegetables remained, such as morning glory, bok choy, or even lettuce.

    Could it be that the vegetable Nara had cooked earlier was lettuce?

    Ellie’s eyebrows furrowed as a thought struck her. However, this young woman, new to this world, did not want to overthink like in the past. She walked around and saw that her house had vegetable plots each 3 meters wide, totaling 10 plots extending over 500 meters into the forested area. It looked quite dangerous. However, her parents had installed fences to ward off animals and even set small animal traps around. If an animal came out of the woods wanting to eat their vegetables, it meant that they were also entitled to eat the animal.

    There were 4 plots with potatoes and radishes, one each, while the two plots of carrots, which were more valuable than other vegetables, had been completely harvested and sold. 6 remaining plots still had greenery, with 2 plots each of morning glory, bok choy, and lettuce. If harvested, this round would count as profit beyond the total investment.

    Sadly, after her mother had managed to cover the initial costs with the harvest, she passed away, preventing her from seeing the profit from her efforts.

    But then...did that mean this profit now belonged to Ellie?

    "There are still 6 large plots left. It seems the parents of this body's owner were quite diligent," Ellie remarked appreciatively. She approached her vegetable plots eagerly but paused slightly when she saw the scene before her.

    The morning glory and bok choy, which were currently in demand for pickling or as food ingredients, were more than half gone. Originally, Ellie thought it might be animals eating these, but seeing that the traps around were still functioning, some even trapping animals, yet the remains of the animals had disappeared, leaving only broken traps, Ellie’s brows knotted in displeasure. It seemed her home was being robbed, didn’t it?

    The small heart of a person over 30 years old, with extensive experience, suddenly considered something she didn't want to think about.

    Judging from the traces of the missing produce, it was small knife cuts that had harvested the vegetables, not animal disturbances. It showed that during the 1 month she mourned her mother's departure, someone took advantage of this time to steal her vegetables. And not just small amounts for eating; two types of vegetables across 4 plots, almost 300 meters long, disappeared without a trace. The profit from selling these vegetables could have comfortably supported a small family.

    The petite girl swallowed nervously and then went to check the lettuce plots that had not yet fully grown. Indeed, there were slight signs of being cut. Thinking about the hot vegetable soup waiting at home, Ellie felt she might be overthinking things.

    She checked her vegetable plots again. The traces of the morning glory that had been cut were still oozing sap, suggesting they had been freshly cut. However, Nara had only taken one basket; it couldn't have been her...right?

    After nearly 20 minutes, Ellie spotted traces of transporting, definitely adult footprints. Ellie's heart relaxed somewhat; it was better to have an adult meddling than her initial suspicion.

    Ellie knew for sure now that she was being robbed. Even though the body's original owner was still young and might not know what to do next, the mature spirit that had moved into the young body knew exactly what to do!

    She immediately headed to the house of the village chief. Ellie's determination was evident in her eyes. Since the village chief was also Nara’s father, he would surely help her!

    Regrettably, once she arrived at the village chief’s house, an overheard conversation revealed the identity of the vegetable thief...

    "Nara, from now on you must be good friends with Ellie, you know. She trusts us so much. I'll definitely share the profits with Ellie, tell your friend that. This compensation will be no less than last time,"

    The village chief said in a serious tone, as if he wanted the others helping him move things to know just how fair he was.

    The adorable Nara nodded immediately, smiling sweetly,

    "I understand. Last time Nara gave Ellie 15 silver coins. She was so happy. She even mentioned she's counting on you this time."

    "Good, very good, my child. When a friend is in need, we must help," the village chief patted his daughter's head gently as they both laughed joyously.

    The girl who was eavesdropping felt as though she had stumbled upon a story beyond her wildest imagination!