Penelope Eckhart wakes up inside a brutally difficult reverse harem game as the adopted daughter of the ducal Eckhart family, a character destined for execution in every single route. The game system overlays her vision with dialogue choices, each carrying a hidden affection penalty or bonus, and a single wrong selection triggers an immediate bad ending. With a survival rate officially logged at zero percent, she cannot rely on standard heroine tactics; she must calculate every breath, every word, and every alliance like a high-stakes chess match where the pieces are the very men sworn to destroy her.

The central conflict escalates beyond simple survival as Penelope realizes the capture targets — her cold adoptive brother Derrick, the dangerously obsessive Reynold, the crown prince Callisto, and the enslaved knight Eclise — are not just flags to be managed but individuals with their own traumas and suspicions. Her knowledge of the original script becomes a liability when the narrative diverges, forcing her to choose between playing the villainess perfectly to lower suspicion or breaking character to forge genuine connections that the system never accounted for. The tension lies in the gap between the game's rigid logic and the messy, unpredictable reality of human emotion she is desperately trying to cultivate.

Penelope Eckhart drives the story with a pragmatic ruthlessness born of countless regressions in the source material; she masks her terror behind sharp wit and calculated compliance, making her internal monologue a darkly comic contrast to her outward performance. Derrick Eckhart embodies the "tsundere" archetype weaponized for tragedy, his inability to express care manifesting as cruel indifference that slowly fractures as Penelope defies his expectations. Reynold Eckhart provides the foil — where Derrick withholds, Reynold overwhelms, offering a possessive devotion that terrifies Penelope precisely because it is the only affection that feels unconditional, forcing her to navigate the thin line between a lifeline and a cage.

Is the Villainess With a 0 Survival Rate webtoon finished?
The webtoon adaptation is currently ongoing with regular weekly updates, though the original Korean webnovel by Gwon Gyeoeul has been completed for several years, offering a full roadmap for the manhwa's eventual conclusion.

Who does Penelope end up with in the ending?
Without spoiling the specific final choice, the story resolves Penelope's romantic arc decisively in the completed novel, selecting one male lead after a grueling process of elimination where the "correct" partner is defined by who accepts her agency rather than her compliance.

Does the manhwa follow the novel faithfully?
The adaptation by Mangjakga is widely praised for high fidelity to the source material, preserving the critical choice mechanics and internal monologues, though the visual medium amplifies the emotional weight of the affection meters and the distinct art styles for each capture target's perspective.