Arthas April 04, 2024 No comments
Don't forget to rate and review the novel on Novelupdates
An oddly familiar ceiling.
Within, a room steeped in an atmosphere of grandeur that left one gaping. Half-lidded, I blinked reflexively, rising from my seat.
"Damn it."
A week had passed.
It was time to admit it. The place I had been lying in until a moment ago was not a dream but the stark reality before me.
"................"
How had I ended up trapped in this cursed world again? For a week straight, I had pondered endlessly, wrestling with the question.
The conclusion was always the same.
I had failed to clear the main quest and therefore, I've been given a second chance.
It was not something that required much thought, really.
"......Damn."
I shifted my gaze to the mirror before me and inside was the somewhat languid face of some man.
Disheveled jet-black hair.
Fierce eyes and a sharply chiseled nose.
A face all too familiar, to the point of being sickening.
Kyle Winfred.
The second son of the Winfred Ducal Family, one of the three guardians of the Northern Continent. And a bastard.
There were no heart-wrenching tales, memorable twists, or inevitable destinies.
Kyle Winfred was simply an archetypal villain, crafted solely to serve as an ordeal for the protagonist to overcome.
"Hmm."
As I lightly clenched and then unclenched my fist, the man in the mirror mirrored the same motion. Seeing the youthful Kyle Winfred again stirred up some sentiment.
But now was not the time for sentimentality.
As villains inevitably do, Kyle Winfred too was destined to meet a wretched end.
His status as a Duke heir might prolong his lifespan to some degree, but the crucial point was that Kyle Winfred was not the legitimate heir, but a bastard son.
Since he had virtually no standing within the family, the moment he overstepped, he would be executed immediately. Above all...
―「Main Quest」―
✦ Absolute Evil
: Just as there is darkness, so too does light exist. For the salvation of the world, your death is inevitable. Embrace a death befitting a villain.
✦ Reward
: Return to the original world
✦ Scenario Progress
: 0%
Right, this was the problem.
Thanks to this absurd quest, Kyle Winfred cannot meet his end haphazardly. He must fill the progress to 100%, then meet an end as plausible as possible.
In other words, I need to involve Kyle Winfred in the central narrative and elevate him to one of the major characters.
"Bullshit," I glared at the system with narrowed eyes. "You think you can fool me twice?"
I clearly remember that notification of '100% Progress' that appeared in my blurring vision at that hair-trigger moment when I was at death's door, poisoned by Isabel's toxin.
I had clearly met all the stated conditions.
Yet I failed - for some nonsensical reason of 'Insufficient Synchronization Rate'.
✦ Synchronization Rate
: ??
The Synchronization Rate.
A new metric that appeared in the system window upon my regression.
I have no idea how this 'Synchronization Rate' operates in principle. All I can infer is that it's another key condition for clearing the main quest. And that the system straight-up cheated me.
That's all there is to it.
"Screw it."
With my life on the line, I can no longer blindly trust this system.
Who's to say it won't nitpick some makeshift condition to invalidate the clear during this run as well?
But there's one issue...
✦ Penalty
: ☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐
....these ominously blinking penalty panels before my eyes may just be that.
But it's fine.
I'll figure out the penalties step-by-step from now.
I glared at my reflection - no, at Kyle Winfred.
Though I've lived years in this world, and this body... this world still feels so alien to me.
However, my goal still remains unchanged —
— to escape this world and return to my original one.
And.
"Lee Seung-jun."
To return to my real body, Lee Seung-jun, in South Korea.
"First, I need to secure the Sacred Artifact."
The Sacred Artifact - an artifact imbued with divine power, according to the lore.
Something mysterious that only got the occasional mention even in the official sourcebooks.
I've never seen the actual artifacts myself but I've only heard rumors that obtaining them can open dimensional gateways.
The system?
Or the Sacred Artifact?
In my last run, I unhesitatingly chose the system's path. But now, I need to modify my plan.
Obtain the Sacred Artifact.
Then use my own power to open the dimensional gateway and return to my original world.
As I finished organizing my thoughts, a couple of knocks resounded through the air —
Knock! Knock!
"Young master."
— and the door opened to reveal an elderly butler with graying hair.
Standing outside, he stated the reason for his visit.
"You have a visitor."
I frowned, "A visitor? Who?"
"Lady Isabel Yustia."
"Ah, was that today?"
Isabel Yustia.
The reason my fiancée has come was as clear as day — to push forward the imminent engagement ceremony by any means necessary.
For she utterly despised Kyle Winfred.
‘Normally I would push through with the engagement ceremony but…’
The engagement to Isabel was an advantageous option in many ways.
I could fully exploit my status as her fiancé to obstruct her path at every turn. More crucially, it allowed me to intervene in the main story episodes to come.
An engagement with Isabel would be an unparalleled opportunity to forge an adversarial connection with her.
However, it would also entangle me within the family affairs.
Which would undoubtedly hinder my objective of securing the Sacred Artifact.
Then my decision is clear.
"Bring me to her right away."
First, I must break off the engagement.
* * * * *
"This way, please."
I followed the butler and made my way to the central staircase of the mansion.
As the reception room was located on the first floor, it was the obvious choice.
".........."
The noon hour in the mansion was rather bustling.
A number of servants were systematically maintaining order as they went about the hallways of each floor.
Perhaps it was because it had been a while since I stepped outside my room.
As I passed, quite a few people stole furtive glances in my direction.
Disdain. Contempt. Loathing.
Familiar gazes, as if I had returned home.
Clack! Clack!
After a long walk, I eventually arrived before a door decorated lavishly with ornate patterns - the entrance to the mansion's reception room.
As I entered the reception room, a heavy aroma of black tea wafted into my nose.
Making my way past the neatly arranged furnishings, my gaze met Isabel's as she sat in a chair.
"It's been a while."
She dipped her head first.
A beauty, as ever.
No wonder the beauty-struck Kyle Winfred had been so obsessed with marrying her.
But what could I do?
Over 90% of Kyle Winfred's recorded deaths were related to Isabel in some way.
I stood there wordlessly, expressionless as I looked at her.
Her stiff expression and the lines she would undoubtedly deliver to me were already replaying in my mind.
It was like this in the first run too.
Isabel would greet me first, and I would thoroughly ignore that greeting.
After that momentary silence, she would sigh deeply with a face of feigned surprise, then angrily demand we call off the engagement...
"Kyle?"
...Huh?
Why is she acting like this?
"Kyle, do I have something on my face?"
What the hell?
Did she just call me 'Kyle'?
Where are the usual addresses like 'Lord Kyle' or 'Kyle Winfred'?
Isabel's behavior was abnormal.
Did she injure her head on the way here or something?
Struggling to maintain my composure, I parted my lips, "......Long time no see."
At my curt reply, an innocent smile spread across Isabel's lips.
As if those few words alone were enough for her.
'Did she go mad from the penalties?'
Not once, whether it was during my playthroughs before reincarnating or while living in this game world, had Isabel ever smiled at Kyle.
She had cursed him to hell plenty, but never smiled.
"Please, have a seat. The tea tastes wonderful."
I hesitated before sitting down.
And remained silent.
To gauge just how far gone her madness was.
"I should apologize first for visiting unannounced. My maid got the date confused."
"................"
"I came to discuss some matters regarding our upcoming engagement ceremony. Could you spare me a moment?"
She didn't seem completely insane, at least.
Judging by how she still tried to bring up calling off the engagement despite her addlement.
"Well, that works out then. I had something to say as well."
"Something to say? To me?"
"Yes."
I apologize, but I'll take the lead on this.
By making it seem like I'm reluctantly agreeing to call it off, I could still preserve some face with Isabel later.
Of course, just declaring "Let's call off the wedding!" won't automatically undo the promised marriage alliance between our families. Too many vested interests were tangled up in this single marriage like a knotted thread.
However, I couldn't care less.
If the involved parties would rather die than go through with it, so be it.
"Let's nullify our engagement."
Isabel's eyes widened in shock.
As the annulment she had desired so much, the shock must have been quite significant.
I waited patiently for her response.
"............"
She lowered her head; her trembling hands then clenched tightly.
Tick! Tock! Tick! Tock!
The ticking of the clock rhythmically filled the solemn silence.
"Haah."
And a hollow laugh escaped her lips.
Yet she maintained her poise admirably, even amidst this.
After a moment, Isabel asked me while dabbing at her eyes, "Are you serious?"
Of course.
I've never been more serious than now.
"You whispered those words of love to me not long ago. And now an annulment? Is this truly your heart's desire?"
"I did love you. But not anymore."
"Not...anymore...?" Isabel stumbled over the words, as if struck by a blow.
Soon after, a glint of resentment flickered in her eyes; her expression turned so vicious, her face quite literally contorted with rage, as the crass saying goes.
She let out a chilling laugh.
And then, she uttered a response I hadn't anticipated at all.
"I refuse."
Arthas April 04, 2024 No comments
Don't forget to rate and review the novel on Novelupdates
An oddly familiar ceiling.
Within, a room steeped in an atmosphere of grandeur that left one gaping. Half-lidded, I blinked reflexively, rising from my seat.
"Damn it."
A week had passed.
It was time to admit it. The place I had been lying in until a moment ago was not a dream but the stark reality before me.
"................"
How had I ended up trapped in this cursed world again? For a week straight, I had pondered endlessly, wrestling with the question.
The conclusion was always the same.
I had failed to clear the main quest and therefore, I've been given a second chance.
It was not something that required much thought, really.
"......Damn."
I shifted my gaze to the mirror before me and inside was the somewhat languid face of some man.
Disheveled jet-black hair.
Fierce eyes and a sharply chiseled nose.
A face all too familiar, to the point of being sickening.
Kyle Winfred.
The second son of the Winfred Ducal Family, one of the three guardians of the Northern Continent. And a bastard.
There were no heart-wrenching tales, memorable twists, or inevitable destinies.
Kyle Winfred was simply an archetypal villain, crafted solely to serve as an ordeal for the protagonist to overcome.
"Hmm."
As I lightly clenched and then unclenched my fist, the man in the mirror mirrored the same motion. Seeing the youthful Kyle Winfred again stirred up some sentiment.
But now was not the time for sentimentality.
As villains inevitably do, Kyle Winfred too was destined to meet a wretched end.
His status as a Duke heir might prolong his lifespan to some degree, but the crucial point was that Kyle Winfred was not the legitimate heir, but a bastard son.
Since he had virtually no standing within the family, the moment he overstepped, he would be executed immediately. Above all...
―「Main Quest」―
✦ Absolute Evil
: Just as there is darkness, so too does light exist. For the salvation of the world, your death is inevitable. Embrace a death befitting a villain.
✦ Reward
: Return to the original world
✦ Scenario Progress
: 0%
Right, this was the problem.
Thanks to this absurd quest, Kyle Winfred cannot meet his end haphazardly. He must fill the progress to 100%, then meet an end as plausible as possible.
In other words, I need to involve Kyle Winfred in the central narrative and elevate him to one of the major characters.
"Bullshit," I glared at the system with narrowed eyes. "You think you can fool me twice?"
I clearly remember that notification of '100% Progress' that appeared in my blurring vision at that hair-trigger moment when I was at death's door, poisoned by Isabel's toxin.
I had clearly met all the stated conditions.
Yet I failed - for some nonsensical reason of 'Insufficient Synchronization Rate'.
✦ Synchronization Rate
: ??
The Synchronization Rate.
A new metric that appeared in the system window upon my regression.
I have no idea how this 'Synchronization Rate' operates in principle. All I can infer is that it's another key condition for clearing the main quest. And that the system straight-up cheated me.
That's all there is to it.
"Screw it."
With my life on the line, I can no longer blindly trust this system.
Who's to say it won't nitpick some makeshift condition to invalidate the clear during this run as well?
But there's one issue...
✦ Penalty
: ☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐
....these ominously blinking penalty panels before my eyes may just be that.
But it's fine.
I'll figure out the penalties step-by-step from now.
I glared at my reflection - no, at Kyle Winfred.
Though I've lived years in this world, and this body... this world still feels so alien to me.
However, my goal still remains unchanged —
— to escape this world and return to my original one.
And.
"Lee Seung-jun."
To return to my real body, Lee Seung-jun, in South Korea.
"First, I need to secure the Sacred Artifact."
The Sacred Artifact - an artifact imbued with divine power, according to the lore.
Something mysterious that only got the occasional mention even in the official sourcebooks.
I've never seen the actual artifacts myself but I've only heard rumors that obtaining them can open dimensional gateways.
The system?
Or the Sacred Artifact?
In my last run, I unhesitatingly chose the system's path. But now, I need to modify my plan.
Obtain the Sacred Artifact.
Then use my own power to open the dimensional gateway and return to my original world.
As I finished organizing my thoughts, a couple of knocks resounded through the air —
Knock! Knock!
"Young master."
— and the door opened to reveal an elderly butler with graying hair.
Standing outside, he stated the reason for his visit.
"You have a visitor."
I frowned, "A visitor? Who?"
"Lady Isabel Yustia."
"Ah, was that today?"
Isabel Yustia.
The reason my fiancée has come was as clear as day — to push forward the imminent engagement ceremony by any means necessary.
For she utterly despised Kyle Winfred.
‘Normally I would push through with the engagement ceremony but…’
The engagement to Isabel was an advantageous option in many ways.
I could fully exploit my status as her fiancé to obstruct her path at every turn. More crucially, it allowed me to intervene in the main story episodes to come.
An engagement with Isabel would be an unparalleled opportunity to forge an adversarial connection with her.
However, it would also entangle me within the family affairs.
Which would undoubtedly hinder my objective of securing the Sacred Artifact.
Then my decision is clear.
"Bring me to her right away."
First, I must break off the engagement.
* * * * *
"This way, please."
I followed the butler and made my way to the central staircase of the mansion.
As the reception room was located on the first floor, it was the obvious choice.
".........."
The noon hour in the mansion was rather bustling.
A number of servants were systematically maintaining order as they went about the hallways of each floor.
Perhaps it was because it had been a while since I stepped outside my room.
As I passed, quite a few people stole furtive glances in my direction.
Disdain. Contempt. Loathing.
Familiar gazes, as if I had returned home.
Clack! Clack!
After a long walk, I eventually arrived before a door decorated lavishly with ornate patterns - the entrance to the mansion's reception room.
As I entered the reception room, a heavy aroma of black tea wafted into my nose.
Making my way past the neatly arranged furnishings, my gaze met Isabel's as she sat in a chair.
"It's been a while."
She dipped her head first.
A beauty, as ever.
No wonder the beauty-struck Kyle Winfred had been so obsessed with marrying her.
But what could I do?
Over 90% of Kyle Winfred's recorded deaths were related to Isabel in some way.
I stood there wordlessly, expressionless as I looked at her.
Her stiff expression and the lines she would undoubtedly deliver to me were already replaying in my mind.
It was like this in the first run too.
Isabel would greet me first, and I would thoroughly ignore that greeting.
After that momentary silence, she would sigh deeply with a face of feigned surprise, then angrily demand we call off the engagement...
"Kyle?"
...Huh?
Why is she acting like this?
"Kyle, do I have something on my face?"
What the hell?
Did she just call me 'Kyle'?
Where are the usual addresses like 'Lord Kyle' or 'Kyle Winfred'?
Isabel's behavior was abnormal.
Did she injure her head on the way here or something?
Struggling to maintain my composure, I parted my lips, "......Long time no see."
At my curt reply, an innocent smile spread across Isabel's lips.
As if those few words alone were enough for her.
'Did she go mad from the penalties?'
Not once, whether it was during my playthroughs before reincarnating or while living in this game world, had Isabel ever smiled at Kyle.
She had cursed him to hell plenty, but never smiled.
"Please, have a seat. The tea tastes wonderful."
I hesitated before sitting down.
And remained silent.
To gauge just how far gone her madness was.
"I should apologize first for visiting unannounced. My maid got the date confused."
"................"
"I came to discuss some matters regarding our upcoming engagement ceremony. Could you spare me a moment?"
She didn't seem completely insane, at least.
Judging by how she still tried to bring up calling off the engagement despite her addlement.
"Well, that works out then. I had something to say as well."
"Something to say? To me?"
"Yes."
I apologize, but I'll take the lead on this.
By making it seem like I'm reluctantly agreeing to call it off, I could still preserve some face with Isabel later.
Of course, just declaring "Let's call off the wedding!" won't automatically undo the promised marriage alliance between our families. Too many vested interests were tangled up in this single marriage like a knotted thread.
However, I couldn't care less.
If the involved parties would rather die than go through with it, so be it.
"Let's nullify our engagement."
Isabel's eyes widened in shock.
As the annulment she had desired so much, the shock must have been quite significant.
I waited patiently for her response.
"............"
She lowered her head; her trembling hands then clenched tightly.
Tick! Tock! Tick! Tock!
The ticking of the clock rhythmically filled the solemn silence.
"Haah."
And a hollow laugh escaped her lips.
Yet she maintained her poise admirably, even amidst this.
After a moment, Isabel asked me while dabbing at her eyes, "Are you serious?"
Of course.
I've never been more serious than now.
"You whispered those words of love to me not long ago. And now an annulment? Is this truly your heart's desire?"
"I did love you. But not anymore."
"Not...anymore...?" Isabel stumbled over the words, as if struck by a blow.
Soon after, a glint of resentment flickered in her eyes; her expression turned so vicious, her face quite literally contorted with rage, as the crass saying goes.
She let out a chilling laugh.
And then, she uttered a response I hadn't anticipated at all.
"I refuse."
