Chapter 2

＊＊Since the story takes place in a different world, the units of time and length are naturally different. However, since Hikaru is an Earthling, for things that are not particularly necessary, he basically uses Earth units for notation.＊＊

"――huff"

He took a breath.

Hikaru was surprised by the vivid physical sensations, as if his previous feelings were a lie.

His abdomen felt sore.

It was wet—wet with blood.

(Can you understand? It's me. Roland.)

A voice came from inside.

Hikaru nodded.

When he touched the clothes, he recognized them as the ones Roland had been wearing earlier.

The room was—dark.

Though dark, it was clear that it was a well-furnished room.

He had seen it on TV before; it looked like the interior of a high-end European hotel.

(The physical discomfort should have been removed by the soul transfer. Your body will gradually get used to it. It would be good to look in the mirror.)

Mirror...

He reflected himself in the large mirror hanging on the wall—and there was Roland's face from earlier.

Only, the hair color seemed darker.

(I want you to fulfill my wish.)

"Wish..."

(You should understand now, right? You share my memories.)

Roland was right.

Hikaru's mind was a mess now.

The memories of Hikaru, who was Japanese, and the memories of Roland, who had lived in this world—now he understood, a world where magic and dragons exist.

"...Revenge on the Count Morgstadt, right?"

Roland, born into a viscount's family, had his parents framed and sentenced to death by the Count Morgstadt.

Their land and property were seized, and Roland was to be exiled to a remote area, as "the parents are guilty, but the child is innocent."

However, Roland was a genius in magic.

To put it another way, the Count Morgstadt tried to destroy the Roland family out of fear of Roland's talent.

Although the danger to his life had passed, Roland had sworn to take revenge on the Count Morgstadt—.

(All you have to do is kill the Count Morgstadt.)

"...Hmm"

(Your thievery was impressive. You must have a talent for it.)

It was not a compliment he was happy to receive.

(I can stay here for... about another hour. Kill him before then.)

"One hour?"

(If you can't, I'll kill you.)

"!"

(I will be summoned to the heavens. I will either go to heaven or be reincarnated. But you will be completely erased, soul and all.)

Because of Roland's memories, Hikaru understood.

Being completely erased meant there would be no salvation afterward.

Of course, he had never believed in or thought there was any salvation after death.

But now that he knew it "existed," being told it would be "taken away" was a different matter.

"You tricked me. I don't like it."

(I'm sorry for threatening you. But it's the only way for me.)

Hikaru, inheriting Roland's memories, understood his vengeful heart.

His parents, who were upright and fair, loved by everyone, had been taken from him unjustly.

His parents were sentenced to death and left to rot in the capital, crucified as "criminals."

He had little aversion to killing.

Perhaps because he shared Roland's memories.

The Count Morgstadt was a man who deserved to be killed—so Roland firmly believed.

"Even if I were to kill... I have no preparation at all, right?"

(But you have a Gift, don't you?)

"...Gift?"

(It could also be called the favor of the gods. Didn't you steal something that glowed?)

That's it—.

(If you look at my memories, you'll understand—it's a talent that can be used when the soul reincarnates. In this world, it should manifest as a unique magic, skill, or ability.)

Roland's voice grew fainter.

(...I can't talk any more... only the remaining time...)

The voice disappeared.

Magic... skills... abilities.

Does he really have such things—

"!"

He felt a vague sensation deep in his chest.

He focused his consciousness there—

A glowing, thin green stone tablet, about A4 size, appeared before his eyes.

[Soul Board] Hikaru

Age 15 Rank

15

○

(55 minutes left—)

Hikaru understood that Roland was serious.

This "Soul Board" and the engraved items must be some kind of skill.

The "○" is just a large circle engraved on the stone tablet.

The surface is smooth, almost like a tablet PC.

"What is this..."

He touched it—and a mechanical voice echoed in his mind.

[Unlock the Soul Board? Consumption 1]

Unlock? Consumption?

He didn't understand—but it was meaningless not to try.

"Unlock"

Words appeared on the surface of the stone tablet.

[Vitality]

[Natural Regeneration] 0

[Stamina] 0

[Immunity]

[Keen Perception]

The word [Vitality] was in the center, with branches extending from it.

"Is this a skill tree?"

It was a system he had seen in single-player RPGs and MMORPGs before.

When he had too much free time due to his academic excellence, he tried out various games.

He had a play style known as "efficiency cooking," which sought the "shortest path to maximum efficiency."

The skill tree is unlocked by consuming skill points, and its effects are obtained.

In fact, the number "15" displayed above had decreased to "14."

"...So, I had 15 points because I'm 15 years old? One point per year? That's stingy."

Hikaru thought.

What should he do.

What he had to do—more importantly, the preparatory stage before the murder.

Approaching a noble.

Can he do it?

The other side must be on high alert.

Which points should he allocate?

...No, before that, can he even kill someone?

"That's not something to think about now."

If he doesn't act, he will die.

He had come this far and was not about to die without doing anything.

Hikaru was a sore loser.

(50 minutes)

Roland's voice sounded weak.

Should he allocate points to [Natural Regeneration]? No way. He wasn't planning to engage in a prolonged battle. In that case, [Stamina] and [Immunity] were out of the question.

That left [Keen Perception].

"But that's too one-sided... or rather, it's already one-sided with only this. Normally, there should be weapon skills—yes, magic skills."

He examined the stone tablet.

"Since it's like a tablet PC... maybe"

He touched the stone tablet and swiped his finger to the left—

The "○" screen slid to reveal a "◎".

"Of course. So, '○' is the 'Vitality Skill Tree' screen, right?"

He kept swiping.

Next was △, then ◇, then a pentagon, and then a hexagon. The last one was unmarked, and then it returned to ○.

There were seven screens in total.

"...Unlocking costs 1 point, so finding a promising one will cost 7 points..."

(45 minutes)

Time was running out.

Hikaru searched Roland's memories.

He was currently in a high-end hotel in the city of "Pound."

The Count Morgstadt was at his villa. It would take no more than 5 minutes to run there at the shortest distance.

The room was probably on the third floor.

It would take 15... no, 20 minutes to get close.

"I don't have enough information to think. I have to unlock them one by one and find a good skill."

[Unlock the Soul Board? Consumption 1]

"Unlock"

The "◎" screen appeared.

[Magic]

[Magic Power] 0

[Elemental Affinity]

"Magic... but can I even use magic?"

It was a completely new technology.

He had Roland's memories, but not Roland's intellect.

He could remember the magic experiments Roland had conducted in the past, but he didn't understand the circumstances and had no time to verify them.

Moreover, Roland's magic was heavily focused on "crossing worlds."

[Unlock the Soul Board? Consumption 1]

"Unlock"

The "△" screen appeared.

[Strength]

[Strength Power] 0

[Weapon Proficiency]

Weapons. Weapon handling. If he were to focus on "murder," this would be it—but.

"...Do I even have a weapon here?"

He looked around the room.

A short dagger was lying on the floor.

It was plain, but the blade was sharp—meaning it was a disposable knife used to stab Roland.

It was sufficient as a weapon.

"...But the most important thing is whether I can reach the Count... right..."

In this world, nobles typically refused visitors at night.

According to Roland's memories, it was already close to midnight.

The closed windows rattled in the wind.

The cheap window glass let in a faint light from outside, but it had started raining, making it dark.

"Even if I have a strong weapon, it's useless if I can't meet him... or if I have to kill everyone in my way..."

He muttered, "No way."

He had no confidence in being able to massacre everyone without being noticed.

(40 minutes)

Next board.

[Unlock the Soul Board? Consumption 1]

"Unlock"

The "◇" screen appeared.

[Agility]

[Burst Power] 0

[Flexibility] 0

[Balance] 0

[Stealth]

This is it, he thought intuitively.

"Stealth."

This would allow him to approach the Count Morgstadt without being noticed.

[Unlock Stealth? Consumption 1]

"Unlock"

[Stealth]

[Life Concealment] 0

[Magic Concealment] 0

[Perception Concealment] 0

"...So, the items that don't show 0 are the unlockable items, right?"

Unlocking costs 1 point, and it allows him to see the next skill.

Unlocking itself doesn't seem to have any effect.

It felt a bit unfair, but he had no time to complain about the skill tree.

"But what is this 'Life Concealment'—"

As he thought this,

The meaning of the items floated in his mind.

[Life Concealment]... Can block life detection skills. Maximum 5.

[Magic Concealment]... Can block magic detection skills. Maximum 5.

[Perception Concealment]... Can block detection by smell, hearing, and sight. Maximum 5.

There are detection skills.

He had 10 points left.

Should he distribute them evenly or focus on one?

"...Normally, 'Perception' is the most troublesome. There might be guard dogs."

Dogs have a sense of smell that is 1 million to 100 million times stronger, and their hearing is also excellent. He knew there were dogs in this world.

What about other "detection skills"?

Searching Roland's memories, it seemed that not many people had detection skills.

"Let's go with... 'Life Concealment' 1, 'Magic Concealment' 1, 'Perception Concealment' 5."

He entered the values.

[Stealth]

[Life Concealment] 1

[Magic Concealment] 1

[Perception Concealment] 5 (MAX)

[Assassination] 0

"...Assassination"

The coldness of the word made him shiver.

It was a skill tree that appeared when he allocated 5 points to [Perception Concealment].

[Assassination]... When attacking without being noticed, the attack is adjusted to be lethal. Maximum 3.

It was exactly what Hikaru had to do.

And he had 3 points left.

"That's... too convenient"

It felt like everything was set up for him.

It was as if someone was pulling the strings behind the scenes.

(35 minutes... hurry...)

Could he sneak up on the target and kill him?

Even if the target was unguarded, he had never killed before.

He had never stabbed anyone in the heart.

To kill with certainty—to survive in this world with certainty.

He allocated the remaining 3 points to [Assassination].

[Stealth]

[Life Concealment] 1

[Magic Concealment] 1

[Perception Concealment] 5 (MAX)

[Assassination] 3 (MAX)

[Sniping] 0

A skill for killing from a distance, [Sniping], had been added.

He would prefer this over killing at close range.

"...Let's go"

Holding the dagger that had been used to stab Roland, Hikaru, who had taken over Roland's body, went out into the rain.

Although he had left through the main lobby, the night shift employee did not notice anyone passing by.