The person she was talking about was no other than Alina Ashcroft Marchiossas, the hidden end boss of Vanishing Truths.
This girl was a background character at the start, never getting too close with the main leads, so everyone, including the players and herself, thought that she was just a random NPC that was just there to fill the room.
However, when Selene was playing another round of Vanishing Truths, she wanted to try and beat the game without triggering any achievements, which was hard.
Well, hard was an understatement. Not getting any achievements meant not interacting with the main characters and getting any powerups, using only easter egg gifts and the current starter skillset, which she can't even advance without triggering the said achievements.
The reason she decided to put herself through months of torture is because she had once read a challenge in the official website forums, saying that the game producers would give a hundred grand to the person that could beat the game without achievements or interacting with the main leads, which was equivalent to ignoring half of the purpose of the game.
Encouraged by the money and a reason to keep playing the game, she steeled herself (and her credit card), and started playing the game again.
When she got to the boss room, she was not met with the cold, black haired villainess. Instead, she stumbled upon Alina, a random side character, killing the villainess with a powerful swing of her pitch black sword.
'Alina Ashcroft, the developers' favorite jump-scare to all the players that attempted the Achievement-less run. She could kill the player with insane speed. Speed that is always higher than the character, no matter how many relics the player had bought and/or equipped. Beating her was next to impossible. I couldn't have done it without doing countless runs and buying my way out of death each time I died, and now...'
Selene looked at the mirror, seeing the frail girl staring back at her. She seemed smaller than how she was in the boss room. Skinnier and...weaker?
'Now I'm her.'
There was no doubt now. She can't possibly return to her Earth and since her body there was stabbed near the heart. Chances are? She's probably already dead there.
This is her life now. Her new one. And she's going to live quietly as a side character, admiring the characters from afar and avoiding as many events as possible.
She can't spam 'revive' and spend money to revive if she died. And, well...she didn't want to try the theory at all.
And seeing the message the system gave, she could only sigh and accept her new life as a side character in the otome game she used to love playing more than ten years ago.
But there was only one thing that bothered her.
Why was the system with her? Isn't it supposed to be the main character? Selene couldn't remember anyone else that had gained a system or anything similar to it. Does that mean it's a special 'golden finger' created only for her?
Perhaps it was because she had retained memories of her past life, but having a system is a good thing either way.
She silently and excitedly gripped her fist and moved it in an up and down motion, unable to contain the excitement. In that moment of joy, a sharp knock broke her out of her trance.
After the knock, there was a woman's voice.
"Young Lady, please wake up, it's already 7:30 am. Any later and you'll miss the entrance ceremony."
The woman's voice was old and raspy, yet she sounded experienced as if she often said those words. Selene gathered her wits and took a deep breath before replying in the most normal tone she could muster in order to not arouse suspicion.
"Alright, I'll be down in a minute."
Behind the doors, the elderly woman who wore a maid's uniform felt shocked that she received a positive reply instead of the usual silence. The servant smiled and replied with a brief "Alright" before heading off to prepare a packed lunch for her Young Lady.
As Selene hears the retreat of the servant outside, she sighed a breath of relief before standing up. She quickly ran through the memories of her predecessor and through her memories, she quickly realized one thing.
Alina is not a chatty girl. She was quiet, reserved, and most importantly, she is very smart.
Not the academic type of smart.
No, Alina had an innate ability to think as if life is mere chess. People were the pieces, and every move is deliberate and planned. And Alina's weakness? Her father was second on the list, but the first? Alina despised having to speak to others.
The mere thought would spread goosebumps all over her skin, and in worse cases, she would even faint.
Seeing how Selene replied to the servant earlier on, suspicion was definitely inevitable.