The petite girl returned to her own home, bewildered. She questioned whether she was still in the same novel. What had caused such a drastic change in the storyline? She spent the day absent-mindedly staring at the sky and the whole night pondering like an old woman, until a new morning dawned and the girl she had idolized appeared at her doorstep once again.

    This time, Ellie wasn’t out of her senses like before. She saw that after Nara entered her home, the young woman closed the door to block Ellie’s view of the outside. A sweet, bright smile was given to her as usual, accompanied by boiling water splashing over vegetables that seemed to have just been thrown into the hot water.

    And yes! The fresh lettuce with the smell of earth was definitely from her own home. Choosing lettuce for cooking was simple; just throwing it into boiling water would cook it easily. Many times before, after working from dawn till dusk and seeing a late meal once more, the simple meal she would prepare was just boiled water with instant noodles, after which she would toss in some lettuce from her home. That's why she was familiar with cooking with lettuce.

    “Didn’t you eat the food I made for you yesterday, Ellie? I’m really sad about that. Could you please eat it? Even though you have been through a lot, but...because Ellie is Nara’s friend, I really care about you,” the young woman said in a mournful tone after coming to pick up the bowl with boiled vegetables in plain water that she had left for Ellie, finding it untouched as usual.

    “I just wasn’t hungry.”

    “That’s no good, Ellie! Even if you’re not hungry, you must eat. Didn’t you promise you’d always be Nara’s friend? Even though you’re all alone now, trust me, Nara will be your friend. From now on, Nara will be the only family you have,” the young woman said with a sincerity straight out of a script in the novel, without any deviation.

    Such words, repeatedly entering the ears of a girl who had no one else, deeply moved Ellie. While she had only Nara as a friend, why…

    “Nara, do you really think of me as a friend?” Ellie suddenly asked. Nara was momentarily taken aback.

    A 16-year-old girl, no matter how skilled at acting, couldn’t hide her reaction to such an unexpected question. Thus, the suspicion that Ellie had always wanted to see was confirmed.

    The heart of the little reader grew increasingly sad. Who would have thought that the lovely idol she had supported all along could do something so terrible to her?

    Ellie always felt grateful to Nara throughout the story, but it wasn't really because she was deceived, right?

    "Why would you say that, Ellie? Did Nara do something wrong, or...do you not want to be friends with Nara anymore?" The young girl looked distressed, tears falling one after another, which made Ellie aware of the charm of tears that the heartless Hero No. 2 often spoke of.

    "When I see her tears, I feel like making her cry even more." Of course, it was only a line filled with affection, but for Ellie at that moment, the charm the other party spoke of made her want to cry even more.

    "It's nothing, stop crying," Ellie urged. She didn't want to see the heroine of the story cry and whine like this anymore.

    "Sob, if Ellie says so...then Nara will be strong," she hastily wiped her tears, appearing like a fragile young girl trying to show her strength.

    A faint smile appeared on Ellie's face as she witnessed the innocent expressions of the heroine. If it weren't for her knowing something beforehand, Ellie wouldn't feel as bad as she did.

    Wasn't this a small world that loved its heroes immensely? What would happen if she, a mere interloper, were to change the entire storyline?

    If Ellie exposed that Nara had stolen her money, it would certainly impact her status as the heroine's close friend. And if that really happened, what would she do next?

    The heroine, destined to be the beloved of 4 important figures—the prince, the noble, the sage, and the skilled knight—with such a status, if Ellie positioned herself openly against the heroine, the consequences would be more than she could handle.

    Hadn't there been examples already? The villains, daughters of influential figures in this world, could never defeat the heroine regardless of how powerful their backgrounds were. Their endings were either exile or execution, with some demoted to lower classes. Could she handle such a dismal life?

    "Ellie, Nara have to go now. You should rest a lot and don't worry about family matters anymore, okay? I know Ellie must be afraid that Nara will leave her, so you asked like that. But listen to Nara, I won’t go anywhere; I’ll be your friend forever."

    The young woman in front of her continued to appear innocent and sincere, even though she was actually profiting from this friend. Ellie managed a faint smile as she watched Nara leave.

    After everyone had gone, Ellie looked at the vegetable garden her parents had left her, which she had foolishly allowed others to exploit repeatedly. If her parents knew how weak their daughter had become, would they be disappointed?

    Ellie touched the recently cut morning glory with sadness, her eyes filled with gloom before they widened in surprise.

    - Morning glory level 0: Features include versatile culinary use.

    Action Panel

    Option one: Absorb the botanic elemental power and destroy the remainder.

    Option two: Transfer the power of botany to accelerate growth. -

    As the translucent screen appeared before her, Ellie, who had been despondent at first, suddenly felt excited. It seemed she had received a golden touch along with her role as a supporting character, hadn't she?

    "Option one: Absorb the elemental power," Ellie pressed her lips together before she felt a warm sensation entering her body. Meanwhile, the morning glory in front of her slowly withered and turned into a mere husk of plant remains, devoid of any life force.

    Ellie's eyebrows rose in excitement. Now, when she touched the plant in front of her, the action panel presented only one option, which was "Transfer the power of botany to accelerate growth."

    "Transfer the power of botany to accelerate growth," Ellie whispered softly. This caused the previously withered, lifeless morning glory to gradually come back to life.

    Not only that, but as it received more magical power, the cut parts began to regenerate, turning into a beautifully verdant morning glory, almost jade-like. Compared to the other morning glory plants around, it seemed to be on a whole different level.

    - Morning Glory Level 1: Features include versatile culinary use and slight magical power restoration to the consumer.

    Action Panel

    Option one: Absorb the botanic elemental power and destroy the remainder.

    Option two: Transfer the power of botany to accelerate growth. -

    Ellie examined the morning glory in front of her again and found that it had now become a Level 1 Morning glory, also capable of restoring magical power. It seemed as though this morning glory had absorbed her magic, and the magic within it would help whoever consumed it to restore some of their magical power—a truly wondrous power.

    "If this is the case, an easy way to make money could be...no," a mysterious smile appeared at the corner of Ellie's mouth as she thought of the detail in a plot.

    Pleased with her cleverness, Ellie looked at the vegetables which were her parents' sweat and toil. If others were going to harvest them, wouldn't it be better if she handled it herself?

    Then, the next morning, when her dear friend visited her house again, the difference was that this time Nara ran and arrived with a startled expression, and her hot bowl contained no familiar vegetables, not even a single leaf. Ellie exhaled quietly when she saw this.

    Having absorbed all the power of botany yesterday, it was no surprise that today no one could harvest even a single leaf from her vegetable plots!

    "Ellie! Something terrible has happened. Your vegetable plots..." Ellie slowly looked up at Nara as if she knew nothing about any vegetable plot. Seeing Ellie's ignorant gaze, Nara silenced herself.

    Even though she didn't harvest this time, if she carelessly mentioned the vegetable plots, wouldn't that make her suspect instead? Thus, Nara had to keep her panic to herself, not daring to ask her friend why those plants had dried up and died completely.

    In Nara's mind, even if she asked Ellie, this girl who was hardly coherent wouldn't know that something had happened to the vegetable plots. After her only family had died, she had been absent-minded and crying every day, wishing she could die with them. If it weren't for her being there as a friend, Ellie might have already committed suicide.

    "Is something wrong, Nara?"

    "Um, no, nothing. Sorry, I couldn't bring any food today, so I just boiled some warm water for you. Don't be mad at me, okay? My family is poor too. Let's just keep trying."

    "Thank you so much, Nara," Ellie responded with a smile.

    Nara spoke a few more words before walking out of the house. Ellie heard her talking loudly to everyone outside, even though she hadn’t even asked Ellie what had happened to her vegetable plots. Instead, she told everyone that Ellie didn’t know anything about it either.

    Well, after preventing others from exploiting her parents' hard work, Ellie felt somewhat satisfied. She took the opportunity, while everyone had left, to walk over and look at the withered vegetable plots. The original owners of her body, her parents, had tried to make money to buy land for their family, skipping meals but still happy. Who would have thought that once the land rightfully became theirs, something bad would happen again?

    However, after graduating, Ellie intended to make good use of this place, as a way of thanking her body's parents.

    “Wait another 3 days, let it become a bigger issue first. Then I'll act,” Ellie smiled to herself. Right now, she didn’t need to use this land for cultivation, but that didn’t mean Ellie was going to starve herself to death.

    She picked up some leftover seeds her parents had left and transferred her own power into them. Soon, a beautiful cabbage, as splendid as jade, appeared, along with carrots, radishes, spring onions, and sweet potatoes.

    In the lonely house of the girl, stood next to the wilds, the sweet aroma of vegetable stew slowly wafted into the air. The sweetness of the carrots and cabbage made the soup in front of her look several times more appetizing.

    Ellie's hunger, having not eaten properly for a while, was easily satiated. Even the spirited young woman herself hadn’t anticipated that a simple vegetable stew with boiled sweet potatoes could taste so delightful...