The Perks of Being an S-Class Heroine

Chapter 1

⌈(Disaster Response Headquarters) Sudden surge in disappearances and deaths! ▲ Avoid traveling alone. ▲ Take special precautions around subway stations, building rooftops, and riverbanks.⌋

It was the usual emergency text alert sent out to warn citizens of disaster. I brushed the message off as I hurried home after a long day of dealing with difficult customers. I was exhausted, but my footsteps were light in anticipation of crispy fried chicken—truly a cure-all for the battered souls of customer service reps.

Just as I was pumping myself up for a binge-reading session of the latest webtoons and web novels, my cell phone vibrated.

⌈▲Avoid dark alleys! Take detours around routes without streetlights!⌋

“Uh-oh...”

How convenient. One of the few street lights illuminating the path ahead had just flickered out.

I better keep moving. It may be hard to believe, but the threats described in the emergency texts were all too real. The number of deaths and mysterious disappearances was skyrocketing across the nation. There were rumors spreading online that reported the cause behind this strange phenomenon as “transmigration.” The farfetched claims were brushed off at first, but they gained credibility as new evidence was uncovered.

Apparently, all the recent deaths were completely unique with the exception of one common factor. Every single victim had received some sort of ominous message just moments before their death, a warning, if you will, in the form of an insurance registration spam text message.

Just then, my phone vibrated again.

⌈◈Transmigratory Life Insurance Notice◈

The days of saving up for retirement are over! Now is the time to prepare for the afterlife! This is a limited-time offer! Transmigratory survival assistance package on sale only today! Set yourself up for success in even the most challenging S-class storylines at the low, low cost of a single month’s rent!

Available while supplies last! Only three left in stock! Register now?

(Yes / No / Reply STOP to opt out)⌋

“W-what is this?”

A truck materialized out of nowhere, honking for me to move out of its way. I could only stare into its headlights as it barreled toward me.

Mom, Dad, Oppa, I’m coming to see you now… My thoughts drifted away into the abyss as I drew my last breath in the dark alleyway. My thumb just happened to be hovering above the ‘Yes’ button as the truck rammed into me, by chance forcing me to press down on the screen.

With a final vibration, my phone received one last message.

⌈Registration complete!⌋

✠

“Open your eyes, Reader Code 1****5617.”

“Huh? Where am I...?”

I was brought to my senses by what sounded like the shout of a prison roll call. An array of what seemed to be airport check-in counters manifested before me as I squinted my eyes to adjust to the light.

People were bustling about the counters to get issued a pass of some sort, after which they proceeded to a gleaming gateway with incandescent light streaming out of its entrance. Suddenly, I found myself standing in front of a counter as well.

As I glanced over to the counter adjacent to me, I found myself looking at a young girl in her school uniform. She beamed as she turned away, as if satisfied with whatever she heard, and then a screen flashed over her head.

⟬Reader Code 1****5613 Transmigration Evaluation Results:

Original Work: Revolutionary Princess Eve

Genre: Rated R Romantic Fantasy with Rebirth Motif

Survival Difficulty: F-class⟭

As I scanned the screen, something caught my eye. “What in the world? ‘Transmigration evaluation’?”

“That’s correct, Reader Code 1****5617. Now it’s your turn.”

“Oh my god! A talking puppy!”

Words seemed to emanate from the winged Welsh corgi every time it opened its mouth to pant. “How amusing! A puppy, you say? I’m actually the officer in charge of evaluations here at the Transmigration Bureau’s Assessment Division.”

“Transmigration… Bureau?”

“You must’ve been dozing off during orientation. Very well then, allow me to give you a quick run-down. To put it quite simply, you, the Reader, are dead. This place is the afterlife.”

“Oh.” It was all coming back to me now. I had been hit by a truck just moments after I’d received one of those rumored ominous messages. “Damn…”

Looking back now, my life was full of regrets. My mom died during childbirth, and my dad and older brother followed her not too long after—they both died in a terrible car accident, hit by someone driving on the wrong side of the road.

I was forced to live with my uncle and his family who treated me like trash, even though they were the ones that snatched up and squandered all of the insurance money. I moved out the moment I turned eighteen and provided for myself ever since.

Times were tough and I struggled to make ends meet. Somehow, after many hardships, I managed to land a government job that finally lent some stability to my life. But whaddya know? Just when it seemed like things were taking a turn for the better, I got caught up in this mess and then ended up dead.

It’s a real shame that my uncle’s going to get his hands on the deposit that I put down for my apartment. What rotten luck...

The corgi panted while I scowled at the thought. “The gods in charge of public works in the afterlife have taken a special interest in content creation. Many web novels have been getting webtoon and movie adaptations, in addition to being turned into games. When the gods wield their divine powers, worlds are manifested. In other words, dimensionalization becomes possible. We’ve currently managed to push forward some of our business plans involving dimensionalization of some earthly souls that have passed away.”

It turns out the final form of mega-hit web novels is dimensionalization.

“Of course, we don’t let just anyone transmigrate. Seeing as how you were summoned to the afterlife much sooner than your originally intended lifespan, you must have magnificent transmigration potential!”

“Yeah... Right...” I wanted to argue, but what was the use in quibbling with such an adorable, helpless puppy? I’d be no better than my rude customers. The corgi didn’t give me any time to respond anyhow. The evaluation began almost immediately.

“Now that we’ve brought you up to speed, Reader Code 1****5617, let’s take a look at your reading history. I must say, this is quite an impressive array of genres. Romance, romantic fantasy, martial arts, GL, BL, X-rated...”

“Ahem.” There was no shame in my little cough. Rather, it was an indication of my pride. I am pretty well-read across the board if I do say so myself.

“Do you prefer any particular genres?”

“Childcare fantasy romance!”

That’s right. Childcare fantasy romance. A fine genre of literature, it is. The survival difficulty level was relatively low. It was the perfect choice to minimize any hardships and appreciate life in all its beauty. It’s the perfect genre to transmigrate to indeed! To plead my case and express how sincere my love for the genre was, I decided to ham up the groveling.

“I lost both my parents and brother at a young age. I was emotionally abused by my uncle and his family. I never got to find out what it meant to be loved by a family growing up. I really, truly want to transmigrate as a protagonist who’s loved and cared for by their family.”

“Okey-dokes, I’ll take that into consideration.” The corgi rapidly tapped away at its keyboard. After a few moments, the dog looked up once again. “The evaluation results are in. Please direct your attention to the screen.”

“Of course.” I gathered my hands in prayer and looked up.

⟬Reader Code 1****5617 Transmigration Evaluation Results:

Original Work: Infinite Returns to Save the World

Genre: Action Fantasy Time Loop

Survival Difficulty: S-class⟭

I stood there speechless.

The corgi didn’t seem to notice my rapidly deteriorating mood and congratulated me. “Marvelous! Only one in one hundred thousand people get assigned level S! I knew you were a gifted transmigrator! Congratulations!”

Look here. Does this seem like a joke to you? I’m royally screwed! The survival difficulty level is S!

Still oblivious to my dismay, the Welsh corgi continued to wag its tail and marvel at the results. I struggled to recollect the plot of the original story as my mind went blank.

Infinite Returns to Save the World. The novel was an insufferably tedious piece about a Regressor stuck in a time loop that I had read when I was in middle school.

From what I could recall, the story was about a protagonist associated with a religious order who regresses back dozens of times to save a world overrun by a demonic realm. You could tell how unbearably insipid the plot was just by reading the comments.

- Screw whoever said this was a masterpiece.

- The main character is so f*cking annoying.

- Give me my money back.

- Only read this if you want to die of boredom lol.

Of course, as is the case for all books, there were also some supportive readers.

- You guys just don’t understand the main character like we do.

- Y’all just need to calm down.

But these comments were few and far between.

- Calm down? We are calm.

- The main character needs to stop being such a try-hard.

└ IKR? The struggle is real.

└ I’m only keeping up to watch the main character die over and over again.

└ FR that’s the only time anything exciting happens lol.

At some point along the line, people just started to call the main character “Tez the Try-hard.”

I’m so screwed.

People around me began to murmur.

“Oh my... That person got assigned level S...”

“How unfortunate.”

“The original story is Infinite Returns to Save the World? That sh*t will put you straight to sleep.”

“I’m just glad that’s not me.”

The corgi started to tap away again. “It seems like you’re very passionate about the growth motif, so I’ll let you transmigrate into a cute little girl. She even has pink hair.”

“What kind of character is she?” I asked.

“Well, there’s this delinquent aristocrat who’s always on a power trip and gives the main character a hard time… You’re the daughter of a commoner that serves him.”

“That’s crazy! I’m even more useless than the toilet paper the main character uses to wipe his ass!”

And just like that, I was back down to the bottom of the food chain once again, stuck being some random filler character. It was just my luck. My eyes began to well up at the thought of my dreary prospects.

“It’ll be okay. You’ll be receiving help from the support system provided by the bureau... Wait a minute!”

“W-what’s wrong? Is there a problem?”

“Upon further inspection, it seems like you were our first customer to purchase the Transmigratory Life Insurance Full Package! You have nothing to worry about now!”

“Transmigratory Life Insurance Full Package? Never heard of it.”

The looks of pity from the people around me suddenly turned into envy.

“You’ll find out soon enough. Now we can’t have the gate get any more backed up so I’m going to have to ask you to step through now.”

“Whoa, hold on a second....”

“May the gods of transmigration be with you!”

I yelped as I found myself getting sucked into the world of Infinite Returns to Save the World, a rebirth-themed fantasy novel filled with literary monotony.

How a Transmigrator Beefs Up Her Game

⟬«System» Logging into the [Transmigrator Support System.]⟭

⟬«System» Transmigration Insurance - Full Package Benefits! You have received [Mandatory Tutorial Period], [Blessing of Extreme Growth], and [Lump Sum Cash Deal].⟭

⟬«System» [Mandatory Tutorial Period] will initiate the tutorial before the novel’s timeline. Difficulty has been set to level F for the duration of the tutorial. Your actions will be restricted.⟭

⟬«System» The genre of this original work is [infinite rebirth]. The [loop] number will be assigned upon completion of the tutorial. Please hold. The process may take some time...⟭

“Ugh...” I opened my eyes to numerous system notices. The low wooden ceiling caught my attention as I observed my surroundings. I seemed to be in an attic of some sort.

⟬«System» Synchronization complete. You are now synced with [Ailette Rodeline.]⟭

This must be the bureau’s support system the corgi was talking about. I gave myself some time to get acclimated and slid over to the edge of the bed.

“Huh?”

I was a little taken aback as my feet dangled over the floor. My arms and legs were much shorter than I had imagined. My dainty feet patted across the floor as I went to look at myself in the mirror. A small girl that looked about ten years old stared back at me. The mercury-coated mirror reflected my emerald eyes and bright, coral hair.

“Wow, I look like a doll.” I clung to the mirror like a narcissist, admiring my looks when I suddenly remembered the reality of my new, ill-fated life.

This is frustrating. I’m stuck in the perfect body for a childcare fantasy novel, but that’s not this genre.