Chapter 4: I Want to Live (3)

‘Should I just run away to some quiet place?’

The sudden thought was quite appealing, but the possibility of it happening was close to zero.

With the empire splitting and demon followers rampant, the entire continent has become an invisible battlefield.

It’s not uncommon for even a well-established city, not just a remote village, to be completely wiped out.

It’s better to build my strength than to rely on luck to hide.

Now that I’m in the hands of the duke, there’s no way to run away. Maybe after I grow, but not right now.

It’s a problem with no immediate solution. I lack information, and not just a little.

I need to know when this is happening to even have a rough plan.

‘Damn... How did it come to this?’

My thoughts inevitably led to the root cause of this situation.

The message that appeared when I quit the game comes to mind. It clearly said the tutorial was over.

The only significant change before entering the game was that.

At the time, I interpreted it differently.

‘It means the main story is fully unlocked.’

Originally, Balhol was impossible to complete the main story.

No matter how I played, I would die at some point, inexplicably.

Since it was an obscure early access game, I even searched the internet using a translator.

No one had ever seen the end of the story.

The most plausible guess was that the story was blocked because the game was incomplete.

I agreed to some extent and played it because it was still fun even with the story blocked.

So I thought the end of the tutorial might mean the main story was unlocked.

But I never imagined it would mean being brought into the game.

“Sigh.”

A deep sigh escaped me.

I knew the main story up to the part the developers had opened. But I don’t know what happens after that.

More importantly, I need to figure out how to survive in this body.

The game and reality are clearly different.

Even if I face the same crisis, my judgment as a gamer and as the person in the situation will be different.

While playing, I often felt frustrated when my character made bad decisions due to low mental stats.

But now, it’s different. In reality, anyone would be confused in such a situation.

Especially since I don’t even know when this is happening, it’s all the more daunting.

‘I don’t even have the basic information the game provides.’

Worse, I chose a manipulation value system I wasn’t good at.

Ah, I should have just stuck with what I was doing.

‘No, I shouldn’t have taken the end of the tutorial lightly.’

I know regretting it is meaningless, but it’s a human instinct to have lingering thoughts.

The game has become reality.

I don’t think I can retry if I die here, which is why I regret it even more.

Manipulation is too risky.

Even a minor manipulation, like creating a minor scandal for a hostile noble, can have unimaginable consequences. You could be ostracized from society.

For more impactful manipulations, like assassination, the consequences and risks are unimaginably severe.

‘No, such worries are meaningless.’

It’s a done deal. Regretting and worrying won’t change anything.

I need to focus on how to navigate the given situation.

I didn’t enter a game where doing nothing or even trying hard leads to death.

I don’t want to die here. To survive, I need to clear the game that has become reality.

‘Ah.’

Come to think of it, I had a plan before starting the game.

A plan to prevent the empire’s split by centering on the princess.

In the game, the princess leaves the empire to live in seclusion, making her a hard character to meet.

But her mother is a princess of the Haisen Kingdom.

And I’m under the Duke of Haisen.

Can’t I somehow use this to connect with the princess?

It seems like a good idea.

If I gain the Duke’s trust, it will be easier to use the information I have.

‘Wait. The information I have?’

Suddenly, the status window came to mind. I had forgotten the most important thing.

After entering the game, the sudden chain of events made me forget it for a moment.

I need to check the penalty traits I received. Anxiety started to creep in again.

My chest felt tight, as if I were having a panic attack.

‘Please.’

Praying in my heart, I brought up the semi-transparent system message.

Passing over the name and age, I slowly lowered my gaze.

Sigh... So that’s why.

With a short sigh, everything made sense.

The unpleasant feeling of wanting to die and the weak body were due to OCD and the worst condition.

Of course, being an underfed orphan contributed to it as well.

The first impression wasn’t bad. I didn’t have the worst traits I had imagined, like cannibalism.

I knew about the OCD and eccentricity, but the worst condition was a new trait.

-Your condition is usually the worst. You can only use 50% of your abilities.

-However, on rare days when your condition is the best, you gain a 300% advantage.

-Occasionally, you are seized by a desire to do incomprehensible and bizarre actions.

Damn, only 50% of my abilities in normal times?

The penalty was worse than I thought. Even with the occasional 300% boost, it seemed too harsh.

Eccentricity is an ambiguous trait. It can lead to complications, but it can also be beneficial.

Maybe the pickpocketing earlier was due to eccentricity.

‘Still, without the worst condition, I did pretty well, right?’

I was relieved that I didn’t have traits like heresy, cannibalism, or abnormal sexual desires.

Maybe because I was worried about the worst, the psychological impact wasn’t as great.

Right. I can’t change it. I need to think positively.

If my abilities are only 50% in normal times, I can work harder to raise my usual limits.

‘If I use the rare good days well, I might even catch people off guard.’

Despite the inconvenience, I managed to run away well just now.

Since the Ironman only fulfills his role as an adult, it might offset things a bit as I grow.

But how do I get rid of this?

Even though it’s a semi-transparent window, it’s a bit jarring to have it blocking my view.

It didn’t disappear even when I tried to think it away like before.

“Huh?”

While pondering, something caught my eye. I thought there were six traits, but there was another.

It said ‘...’, indicating there was one more trait.

Is there an additional default trait?

As I stared, something I hadn’t seen before started to appear.

-You have the blood of a demon in your veins. Be cautious. If this fact is revealed, you could become a public enemy of the continent.

“Damn it.”

‘Blood’ is an element that can’t be added. This means the demon blood is an inherent penalty trait of the character.

I thought it wasn’t the worst, but maybe it is.

“...Damn.”

I felt so flustered and wronged that my thoughts stopped.

I stared helplessly at the system message floating in front of me.

* * *

Knock knock.

“Duke, I’ve brought the child.”

The reception room I arrived at, guided by Lena, was elegant but seemed a bit dark despite it being daytime.

The Duke was looking at me with one hand on his chin.

I bowed silently without a word.

Before entering, Lena had warned me not to make eye contact, but I ignored her and met the Duke’s gaze.

I could feel Lena’s surprise. I had a reason for not following her advice.

If I were the Duke, I would prefer the talent I brought in not to be cowering with their eyes down.

I have over 1,000 hours of game experience, and this usually works.

Lena hurriedly made me bow my head.

“I’m sorry. I haven’t trained him well...”

The Duke waved his hand.

“It’s fine. He’s an orphan, so he can learn manners gradually. I actually like it. Sit down.”

“Yes.”

It seemed to work well.

As Lena stepped back, I sat opposite the Duke. His eyes scanned me from head to toe.

His observation was so thorough that it brought back the fear of being a pedophile.

“Do you know why I brought you here?”

“I have some idea... sir.”

I changed my tone to a child’s. It wasn’t noticeable.

For a moment, a glint of desire appeared in the Duke’s eyes.

“Tell me what you think.”

“Perhaps you have a use for my talents?”

The Duke burst into a satisfied laugh.

Objectively, it’s a reasonable statement, but for a young orphan, it’s a far-fetched idea.

After all, this is a place where public education doesn’t exist.

“You’re right. When did you start using your mystic ability, and how?”

Mystic refers to the unique trait “Wind.” In the game, unique traits were called mystics.

As a character, I shouldn’t know about traits, so I hesitated. Should I pretend to know?

Unique traits were rare even for me as a player. Would it be appropriate for an orphan of this era to know about them?

But as someone who possesses the Wind mystic, I could probably infer from the context.

“I’m not sure exactly. It’s not very long... maybe about two months ago, when I stole a money pouch and ran away, it suddenly happened.”

I mimicked a child’s tone as much as possible while showing confidence.

“Is your mystic really Wind?”

“Yes.”

“Who knows about it?”

The Duke’s voice was gentle, but it carried a sinister undertone.

I had no way of knowing.

“No one, I think.”

“You think?”

“I haven’t used it in a way that would catch anyone’s attention...”

I spoke positively about what this body had done, which I had no memory of. It shouldn’t be too far off.

The Wind ability was still very weak.

Someone of the Duke’s caliber would have noticed.

The muscular man chasing me didn’t seem to know about the mystic. The Duke nodded.

“Can you demonstrate it?”

“Yes.”

At the Duke’s command, I moved the wind.

Instead of a powerful gust, a weak air current, weaker than a breeze, came with a slight fatigue.

I created a small, gentle space between my hands or slightly reduced air resistance to push forward, as I did earlier.

“Good power.”

“Thank you.”

The Duke’s eyes gleamed with satisfaction. I agreed.

The better the trait, the less explanation it needs. It means it’s more versatile.

It can be helpful in unexpected moments.

I had seen a post about someone surviving thanks to the ‘Steadfast Will’ trait, even though it wasn’t a high-level trait.

“Do you know who I am?”

I shook my head.

The Duke didn’t seem surprised. After all, I’m just a young orphan.

“I am Haisen’s Duke and the head of intelligence, Haban Brusek.”