Chapter 53

Chapter 53[A new letter has arrived in your mailbox].

[Do you want to check it?]

Dudeun. Dudeun.

I could feel my heart beating fast over and over again.

A new letter, the system tone announced.

It could mean only one thing.

“A letter left for me by the one who imprisoned me in this game.

I was certain.

A second letter had arrived from the mysterious entity.

‘Well, I figured it was about time.’

I hadn’t heard from the letter’s sender since the time of my first possession.

The speaker had merely told me to enter Eldain.

It didn’t divulge any information.

I would have thought that by now they would have contacted me in some way.......

As expected, a message arrived.

‘Checking messages.’

I mentally chanted the confirmation without even turning it off.

Then I remembered the jet-black letters on the worn parchment letter.

[Hi. Nox. It’s been a while. Now, if this letter has arrived, it means you’ve been successfully admitted to Eldain.

It’s you, after all. I knew you’d make it to Eldain.

I’m so glad].

The letter began with the same strange tone of knowing me.

A bit of relief, and an inexplicable faith in me.

Why?

Why does the letter’s sender always seem to believe in me?

It’s hard to answer all those questions in just a few lines.

I quickly rolled my eyes and kept my gaze downward.

[But the trial is just beginning.

It’s been hard enough so far... but what lies ahead of you will be even harder, and it will hurt.

But it’s also something no one else can do for you.

Because without you, no one will ever see the end of this story.

It’s irresponsible to say... but I will help you as much as I can. Please accept what is enclosed in this letter, however small it may be].

That was the end of the letter.

“I wonder if there’s anything big in this one.......”

I muttered to myself. The letter was already gone.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed, but I quickly calmed down.

I can’t help it. It’s only the beginning of the scenario.

Besides, I can’t really tell, but the sender of the letter is at least a GM.

‘Given that they’re freely interfering with the system, and that they have the power to send me something, that’s the most likely explanation.’

Therefore, I should focus on the main storyline as much as possible, if only to clear up any doubts.

As the second letter says, to see the end of the story and regain my memory.

To do that, I’ll have to work harder than I am now.

I’ve only just finished the prologue.

I will continue to run as I have been running, only faster.

Nothing changes.

“More than that... what is this gift you sent me?”

I muttered in a nonchalant tone, and touched something enclosed in the mailbox, which soon exploded with a loud popping sound.

[The ‘Character Viewing’ system has been added].

“A character viewing system?”

I muttered, scratching my head, and the system immediately popped up a window.

[Displaying a list of registered characters].

[Theo von Reinhafer / Allen von Reinhafer / Hartz von Reinhafer / Talia von Steiner / Zitri / Rona de Nero / Carl.......]

The roster popped up, and every unit listed was one that I had a record of encountering as Nox.

Being the gamer that I am, I immediately realized what the system meant.

‘I can see the current stats and skill proficiencies of all the characters I’ve encountered so far. Without the constraints of space and time.’

I felt my heart pounding loudly once again.

Such a feature didn’t exist in the original Inner Lunatic.

You could only access their information by facing them directly and using the [Insight] talent.

This was quite cumbersome.

It was very annoying to see how far my other units had progressed, and whether I was nurturing them correctly.

Handy.{1}

What if you could see the status of your units more clearly in this way?

‘Of course, it would make the game easier.’

As calmly as I could, I pressed a few buttons and checked each character’s status. As expected, the system displayed the stats and skills of the current units.The origin of this chapter's debut can be traced to N0v3l--B1n.

Compared to the beginning, everyone’s stats and skills had changed slightly.

Some stats had gone up, albeit slightly, while others had gotten better swordsmanship than before.

Talia, in particular, had grown quite a bit.

It seems that the story of her training to become a knight was not a lie.

‘Moreover, she also has the [Gifted] talent, so she must have grown terrifyingly as she trained.’

A sword that will pierce my heart.

Of course, the spider story is still not without its doubts....

Anyway, I continued to peruse the statuses of the registered characters.

Paracelsus, Penelope, Talia, Lana, Leone.......

Every single one of them is an immensely talented genius.

The incoming cadets are as good as they come, so the next three will be tested. I don’t know how I’m going to face the four sages.

In the game, they were your allies.

But to the villainous Knox, they are all enemies....

‘I can’t face them all by myself, even if I increase my power. I need to build my own force.

This is why he joined Lunatic.

Lunatic would protect Nox properly.

If that happens, I’ll have a better chance of surviving by playing the villain.

However.

‘...... it also hides a lot of the skills and traits of the top tier units.’

Unfortunately, 4 Sages, 3 Swordsmen, etc.

I didn’t get to see all of their stats yet.

There’s information, skills, and stats that are only unlocked later in the game.

Furthermore, even with the deceased characters of Inner Lunatic, there are thousands of skills and combinations in the game. There are also all sorts of talents.

People with traits I don’t recognize seem to have tons of them. Regardless, I still have to keep my nerves in check.

“Okay, I’ve got that out of the way, now all that’s left is....”

My fucking relationships with the various units.

The messes I’ve made.

And.......

“Orientation and class registration tomorrow.”

A small sigh escapes me.

As she pondered this, the figure of Nox spoke up.

-I don’t know what happened. But if Zitri is going to open this, one thing’s for sure: you in front of me, or you.

Knox crossed his arms and sneered.

-You’ll all die. Only your heads will be delivered to the family.

Pow!

(Paang~!)

With a boom, Nox’s form disappeared.

“.......”

Zitri was at a loss for words.

He said he would settle this humanely and peacefully.......

Apparently, Nox was going to use his privilege to solve the problem the old-fashioned way. Zitri sighed in disbelief.

At that moment.

“Hiccup!”

Giselle and the group behind her hiccuped in surprise.

They had been sentenced to death by the Young Master of House Reinhafer himself. A cold chill ran down her spine, raising goosebumps.

“I will... die...!!”

With a bang!

Giselle’s knees and those of the maids and butlers around her fell to the floor at the same time.

She had to live now.

“I... what’s your name...?”

“It’s Zitri.”

“Zitri, we’re still young and have a lot of work to do...? So if you could have mercy on us just this once, we could somehow.......”

Zitri felt her eyes glaze over, but she decided to take advantage of the situation Nox had created. After all, they were the ones who dishonored him.

It wouldn’t hurt to give them a little trouble.

“It is not for me to decide how the Master will treat you.”

“.......”

“Just.”

Zitri smiled brightly.

“I could use a little... persuasion. How about it, would you cooperate?”

The others in front of her nod vigorously. Zitri couldn’t help but smile.

She felt like she might get addicted, so she decided to be as careful as possible.

* * *

Let’s not even get into why Rick came to see me.

Anyway, dealing with what’s at hand right now is the most important thing.

“Eh... we will now begin our orientation to [Joint Martial Arts]. Eh... I am Professor Flitchell. I’d like to welcome everyone.” {3}

A man named Flitchell appeared at the podium and began to speak.

He was an old professor who taught a course called [Joint Martial Arts], and in his prime, he was quite skilled and was the head of the Knights of the Ackheim Empire.

However, he was not a very important professor in the game.

In the first place, Joint Martial Arts was a common subject, and most of the interactions with units in Inner Lunatic were elective.

In other words, I have no idea what [Joint Martial Arts] is all about.

Sh*t.

I’m as excited as I am to see ...... something I’ve never seen in a game before.

I’m stuck in the moment. Anyway, it was interesting.

I was a big fan of Inner Lunatic, after all, and a gamer who can’t get enough of games.

But my fun didn’t last long.

Flitchell pushed up his round, horn-rimmed glasses.

For some reason, he looks a little sorry for himself as he arches his back.

“So... today we’re going to team up and do a little socializing. After all, it’s important to get to know each other in order to organize a party.”

F*ck.

I’m in trouble right from the start.

I’m already the unpopular Nox.

Now I’m a guy who has nothing but what I look like!

In fact, I can feel the people sitting around me slowly shifting away.

“Eh... I’ll let the cadets who like each other form teams of four. Err... you have 30 minutes.”

To make matters worse, Prof. Fletchell tells us to form teams of four. This is out of line. How am I going to get this Asa Knox three friends in 30 minutes...?

“Haa....”

I let out a short sigh.

The cadets had all done pretty well on their entrance exams, and they’d organized themselves into teams, except for me.

Unsurprisingly, no one approached Nox.

Haha.

Of course, there were some who were particularly popular among the cadets, such as Penelope, Paracelsus, and Eleanor.

Loud voices echoed around her, grating on her nerves.

-My Lady, I’ll take care of you!

-Paracelsus, I’ll join you! I’ve seen what you can do.

-Ah. Bother... whatever.

-Eleanor! Please let me accompany you!

-Ah, Eleanor is going to be working with me, isn’t she?

Eleanor was especially popular.

She had definitely rewarded her teammates after the last entrance exam.

‘F*cking capitalism......!’

That’s what I was thinking.

Eleanor descended the stairs of the lecture hall and suddenly said.

“Nox von Reinhafer.”

My head snapped around. My crisis radar went off.

Eleanor is looking at me, smiling broadly.

“You’ll join me, won’t you?”

In that moment, I brace myself for the heated stares I feel around me, forcing myself to face the jealous stares of others.

-That bastard... with Eleanor on a dark alley deal...! {4}

-What?! Did you have a soul after that?

-Godd*mn it! Kill yourself!

‘...... I’d rather do this alone.’

I thought, but didn’t say it out loud.

But I was sure of one thing.

‘Sh*t, this is starting to get ugly.’

Things were starting to go wrong again.

To make matters worse, she added in a whisper.

“I guess you didn’t like my response, huh?”



{1} : He says this in phonetic English

{2} : 엄마! 깜짝이야! – eomma! kkamjjag-iya!; He does in fact literally say Mom here

{3} : gender neutral honorific of lesser nobles

{4} : joined as in coed (both genders) and not joined/mixed martial arts

{5} : “on the subject of darkness”; business relating from their “underground” family background’s

Please for the love of God not another harem novel