Chapter 1
Please Tell Me This Is Just a Dream!
“Big sister, how are you feeling? Try eating this.”
I stared blankly at the thin soup in the wooden bowl. Beside me, a girl with a pure, lovely face smoothed out the sheets I was lying on. When I turned my head, a long-haired girl—whose face still felt completely unfamiliar—was reflected in the small mirror on the bedside table.
“This can’t be real…”
At first, I thought it was a dream. But even after several days, I didn’t wake up. My senses—taste, smell, touch—were all vividly real.
Life had finally started to turn around for me. After losing my family in a car accident, I’d worked every job imaginable—part-timer, contract worker, freelancer. I was desperate for stability, endlessly cycling through jobs and transfers, working and changing workplaces over and over.
There was no time to rest. Even grief had been a luxury.
After years of grinding through contract work and small companies, at thirty-four, I’d finally landed a position at a major corporation—a dream company, with an employee satisfaction score of 4.8 out of 5.
I even rewarded myself with a 3-day trip to Japan, my first since the accident, celebrating my new start and higher salary. The sweet satisfaction of slamming that resignation letter down on my awful team leader’s desk—unforgettable.
And then… I woke up here.
It was supposed to be my first day at work.
“Coco… does it not taste good?”
The girl—apparently my younger sister, Juliana—looked anxious. Without a word, I took a spoonful of the soup. It was watery, bland, with barely any ingredients. Still, just the sight of me eating seemed to brighten her entire face.
“Jul…iana? I’ll say it again—I’m not your sister. I’m not Cornelia.”
She wasn’t really my family, yet she looked after me so tenderly that guilt twisted in my chest. I blurted the truth out in frustration. That someone else’s soul had entered this body.
It wasn’t a lie out of madness or confusion. It just felt wrong—like I was betraying my real family if I pretended otherwise.
“You’ve seen me for days now, right? You should know by now I’m not the Cornelia you’re talking about.”
They’d probably throw me out now. I didn’t even care anymore. I was too exhausted to beg for a place to stay. My whole life felt burned down, leaving only ash.
But Juliana only smiled gently.
“Don’t worry, sis. You just haven’t recovered your memory yet! The physician said high fever can cause temporary amnesia or confusion.”
There it was again—that same reaction. Every time I told them I wasn’t Cornelia, no one ever listened. Instead, they just comforted me and told me not to worry.
“Your memory will come back soon. Until then, I’ll explain everything every time you forget!”
Her optimism reminded me absurdly of a famous movie scene.
Juliana then began to explain who I was—or who she thought I was.
I had possessed the body of Cornelia, a twenty-year-old fallen noblewoman. This world was a Western-style fantasy realm where swordsmanship and magic coexisted. Her parents had died, and aside from the eldest brother, Olgard, who was studying abroad, there were four siblings living together—second brother Marcella, third sister Cornelia (me), fourth sister Juliana, and youngest brother Rio.
There must be a reason for all this.
When Juliana left the room with the empty bowl, I took a deep breath, forcing myself to regain some sense of purpose.
The first thing I did was mentally dig through every web novel I’d ever read on the subway to work. Unfortunately, no story came to mind that included a character named “Cornelia.”
So much for using future knowledge to my advantage.
Then I tried the next obvious test.
“Status window!”
…Nothing.
“Item inventory!”
Silence.
I shouted the phrases several times, only for Juliana to panic and fetch the doctor again.
No matter how I looked at it, this reality made no sense.
“So… I just got isekai’d raw? Without a system?”
I spent the whole day shouting every possible keyword I could think of, but nothing worked.
“No, wait—this is a fantasy world. I might have some hidden talent! Maybe a destiny, a divine mission!”
Yes, that had to be it. Otherwise, why would an ordinary office worker be summoned to another world? God wouldn’t make such a rookie mistake.
Judging from this frail, skinny body, swordsmanship was out of the question. So I stretched my arm and shouted a few spells I remembered.
“Fireball!”
“Dragon Slave!”
“Expelliarmus!”
Nothing.
From outside, I heard whispers.
“Something’s wrong with big sister. She keeps saying weird things and waving her arms around like she’s seeing ghosts. What should we do, brother?”
“….”
My shoulders slumped. I flopped back on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.
“My first day at the company… damn it.”
As my sanity returned, so did the crushing reality. All those sleepless nights, working full-time while preparing for job interviews… and I didn’t even get to set foot inside my dream company.
“And I’m not even a noble lady!”
Everyone said reincarnators wake up in silk sheets and luxury, but my back ached like hell.
So even my isekai was budget-tier, huh.
I lay there, dazed, replaying the image of my job offer email floating in front of my eyes. Even if I could go back now, they’d probably fire me for skipping the first day.
Just then, my second brother Marcella appeared at the door.
“Hey. Dinner’s ready.”
He had a small boy in his arms—Rio, the youngest. I barely turned my head toward him.
“I’m not hungry.”
He stood there, studying me for a moment before speaking again.
“They said your body’s fine, just your mind’s out of it. How long are you gonna make Juliana wait on you? At least come eat.”
His rough tone matched his broad, imposing build. Still, thinking of sweet, patient Juliana, who’d taken care of me all day, I forced myself up.
The dinner table held a hard-looking loaf of bread and the same soup from lunch. Honestly, I’d eaten worse, so I didn’t complain and quietly began chewing.
“Cough, cough!”
Rio let out a dry, painful cough that made my chest tighten. Marcella rubbed his back while Juliana rushed to bring water and medicine. There was only one pill left in the packet.
“Don’t worry, I’ll figure something out,” Marcella said. “You just focus on Rio.”
Somehow, his promise only made my anxiety worse.
Our home was little more than a shack—bare wooden walls, almost no furniture. It was obvious that the children of deceased nobles couldn’t be living well.
Even I could barely take care of myself. And there were four of them. For a young man like Marcella, it had to be crushing.
Then he looked at me, as if recalling something.
“The shop said if you don’t come in tomorrow, they’ll fire you.”
“…What?”
I blinked.
Wait—I had a job here?
“You said you wanted to help pay for Rio’s medicine and our living costs. You got a job at a small shop run by a local merchant guild. You were pretty happy about it, actually.”
He gave me a long look, then shook his head.
“Forget it. Just rest until you’re better.”
There wasn’t a hint of blame in his eyes. Somehow, that only made me feel worse.
In a way, their situation wasn’t so different from mine before all this. I’d worked my entire life without parents too.
Frustration boiled up. Or maybe it was pity. Or guilt.
Rio’s frail cough echoed again, painfully loud.
“God… this is insane.”
If there was no way back—
Then I’d just… convince myself.
Yeah. Let’s think of this as a transfer. Just a temporary part-time job in another world.
An experience money couldn’t buy.
“Where is that shop?”
Fine. I’ll earn my keep before I go.
***
Leaving Cornelia’s worried family behind, I headed to work.
“Everyone, line up!”
A loud voice snapped through the air. A man who seemed to be the supervisor stood in front of the small shop, and all the workers straightened up instantly.
I felt eyes on me. When I’d glanced in the mirror earlier, I’d thought this body was quite pretty—apparently, others thought so too.
Well, at least I’ve got a beauty buff going for me.
The supervisor began calling roll and briefing us on the day’s work. I thought it was over until—
“Oh, Cornelia. You’re actually on time today.”
“…Sorry, what?”
He clicked his tongue.
“You’re late so often I figured today would be no different. But look at that—punctual for once. I’ll give you another chance, since your brother begged for it. Try to make up for all your mistakes, alright? Or at least don’t cause another disaster.”
Snickers and mocking whispers rippled through the staff.
“…What the hell…”
Later, I learned the truth. The original Cornelia had been late more often than she’d been on time.
Her written excuses? “Overslept.”
As a career veteran who’d survived three corporate restructures and a toxic boss, I could only gape in disbelief.
“I… I was a slacker?!”
