Chapter 2

That night, after the Crest Bestowal ceremony, I was at the Silphied family manor, reorganizing the information I had gathered.

"Seems like this is definitely a world a thousand years after the era when we played 'Crest Online.' And it looks like I'm the second son of the Marquess family that governs the Silphied territory."

I had never heard of the Silphied family name in the game. Well, it has been a thousand years. It's only natural that the situation has changed. Considering that, it wouldn't be surprising if even the country had changed, but—

"The Kingdom of Alexia... It seems the country itself remains the same."

There's more to be surprised about. After comparing Zelos's memories and various documents, it seems that even the rough maps and dungeons haven't changed much. The knowledge I gained from the game seems to be directly applicable here. Perhaps this is a situation that could arise in a world where species that can live for over a thousand years are commonplace.

"Alright, I've got a grasp of the general situation. Next, I need to figure out why the Crest of Nothing is considered useless in this world."

I quickly understood the reason. The Succession Shrine circuit—meaning the acquisition of Succession Skills—was a system used only by players in Creon. Sometimes, players would bring NPCs along, but that was an exception to the rule. In this world, where players no longer exist, no one knows about this system.

That's why the value of crests is now judged without considering Succession Skills. The Crest of Nothing, which can only acquire Succession Skills, is considered useless, while the Crest of All is highly praised. It's only natural.

"As proof, Father immediately returned from the church after seeing my crest..."

—Duke Silphied. The head of the Silphied Marquess family and my father, who possesses the Crest of Magic. After seeing my crest, he left the church with a blank expression, saying, "There is nothing to tell you."

Duke is a man who values strength above all else. He was probably disappointed that I wasn't chosen for one of the crests that are considered excellent.

"Well, at least I wasn't immediately exiled like in a web novel... That's a significant improvement."

For now, I haven't been ordered to leave the manor. Maybe he'll say something later, but there's no point in worrying about something I can't control. What I need to do now is plan for the future.

As I mentioned earlier, it seems that the existence of Succession Shrines is not widely known in this world. In other words, I'm the only one who can use that system in this world.

"There's no reason not to take advantage of this situation. For that, I need to..."

After muttering this, I silently cast "Status" in my mind. Immediately, a familiar window from the game appeared before my eyes.

――――――――――――――――――――

Zelos Silphied

Gender: Male

Age: 15

Crest: [Crest of Nothing]

Level: 1

HP: 10/10 MP: 5/5

Strength: 1

Endurance: 1

Speed: 1

Intelligence: 1

Luck: 1

Status Points: 0

Skills: None

――――――――――――――――――――

"Yep, it seems I can check my status here too. The Crest of Nothing is indeed listed in the crest section."

I once again realize the fortunate circumstances I've been given. The crest of the character I ranked first in the world was the [Crest of the Sword], but with my other sub-accounts, I enjoyed a variety of playstyles with the [Crest of Magic], [Crest of the Bow], [Crest of Healing], and more.

With the [Crest of Nothing], I should be able to utilize all of that experience. It's as if someone has prepared this situation for me.

...No, it might really be that the game developers who sent me a message are involved.

In any case, I now have the [Crest of Nothing] and over ten thousand hours of gameplay experience and knowledge from the original work. Even if this is a world a thousand years later, there should be countless opportunities to put it to use.

"Decided. As a gamer, I can't help but get excited in this situation... I will become the strongest in this world once again!"

And so, I resolved to aim for the strongest in this world.

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