I don't know that I can sleep so much but maybe it's because this body is still recovering. Yesterday, I slept before lunch and went back to sleep after eating lunch. At night, I went to bed exactly half an hour after dinner and that might be why I'm feeling exceptionally refreshed right now.
"Young master, you should drink the potion now and your breakfast is being prepared at the moment," Ron said while shoving the potion in front of my mouth.
"Hmm wait..." I said with a weak voice. I had already woken up an hour early before Ron came to this room thus I realized that I could talk but the voice was clearly not mine since it sounded like a boy who is in the middle of his puberty phase.
"What is it, young master?"
"Let me wash my face," I said this in the hope I can see my face.
"Oh, I forgot young master. Here you can clean your face with this wet towel" Ron said while giving me a white, warm wet towel.
'Tskk how can I see my face like this. There's also no mirror at all in this room or bathroom either'
"Wow you can already move your hands young master," Ron said while looking like a proud parent as if I have done something impressive.
"Yeah..."I replied dryly.
"You've woken up" suddenly a woman's voice came from the room's door. There's a woman with red hair and wearing golden-rimmed spectacles standing at the opened door.
I look at her confusedly and seeing my expression she move closer to my bed before sitting on a chair on the opposite side of Ron.
She smiled slightly at me before saying, "What? Are you that shocked seeing me? Do you want to see your grandfather instead?"
"Hmm, who are you, Ma'am?" I asked hesitantly.
She was startled hearing my question before sighing heavily as if something terrible had happened. Ron also suddenly seem worried and pushed the button on my bedside. That must be the button to call the doctor.
"I'm your grandmother. You don't remember?" she said calmly.
I was shocked hearing that since she doesn't look that old at all. I estimated that she might be at most in her late 40s. Seeing my expression, she smile and said, "Why? You don't believe me? You can ask the doctor to do a blood test later"
"No how can you be my grandmother. You look too young. I might believe if you said you're my mom" I said straightforwardly since I don't think there's a need to do something troublesome and time-consuming like a maternity test.
"Pffttt what? I look what?" she suddenly chuckled and her smile become wider.
"Look young, you looked around mid-40s or might be younger than that" I answered honestly since she doesn't seem to have any bad intention towards me and I already kind of realize that I might have a different identity now.
"Oh my goodness. Ares, I'm your grandmother and I'm older than your guess" she said grinning at me.
"Ares?" I asked.
"Yeah, that's your name. Ares Zanuki is your full name"
"Err how old I'm right now," I asked since I feel a bad premonition.
"Hmm you're 14 years old right now and today's date is 1st February 2036"
"Your name?" I asked while my brain try to connect every single cell that it has while I try to process and piece together every information that I've known until now.
"Anith Zanuki. That's my name. I'm the Matriarch of our clan while your grandfather is one of this country's council members and his name is Zen Zanuki. This country is called Hargan Empire" she explained carefully while observing me.
"Do I have a sister?"
"Ohhh so you remember your sister? Yes, your sister's name is Zerisa. So anything else do you want to know?"
"No, I think that's enough for now"
"....." none of us talking and my grandmother kept on staring at me while putting her chin on her hands.
'Have I transmigrated into a novel? This dog blood, munchkin novel that also adapted into a game where players can change the fate of each character either the cannon fodders or the extras but only one character that always has the same ending, and that character name is.....'
"Ares Zanuki" suddenly someone called my name.
"Yes?" I responded while looking back at my grandmother.
"You don't have to worry. Nothing will happen if you don't remember" she said reassuringly.
"Yes grandmother"
"Just called me Amma. You have a great grandmother that will come visit you tomorrow and just call her Grand"
"What about my grandfather?"
"Your grandpa? He might come with your Grand but I'm not sure since he's always busy" she said while shrugging her shoulder.
Knock knock
"Greetings to the matriarch and young master Ares. We also bring your breakfast with us" suddenly yesterday's doctor come into the room while a healer followed behind him pushing the food trolley.
Ron quickly took over the trolley and carefully prepared my breakfast on a small foldable table before putting it on the bed in front of me.
"I think my grandson might have amnesia so I need you to do psychological check-ups on him," said Amma to the doctor.
"Oh my. We can't detect anything regarding this yesterday since it's hard to communicate properly using only gestures so how much do you think you remember young master?" The doctor asked.
"I don't remember anything including my name," I said honestly.
"I think this is retrograde amnesia. This kind of amnesia might heal over time or it might not heal at all. Nothing can be done to treat this kind of amnesia. We can use hypnosis if it was another type of amnesia but not retrograde amnesia" the doctor explain carefully while the healer jotted down on his digital notebook.
'I don't think I will remember anything even if they try to hypnosis me since I didn't inherit this body's memory'
"Then no need further treatment regarding that. It's fine whether he remembers or not. He can just create new memory" Amma said calmly.
'Damn this grandmother is so easygoing. I thought she might want to try the hypnosis treatment'
"What do you say, Ares. Are you ok with my decision?" she suddenly asked me.
"Yeah, I'm fine with anything," I said while Ron busily urged me to eat my breakfast.
"Young master. The massage treatment is in the afternoon and the rehabilitation plan will start tomorrow. I will give the copy of the schedule to your butler" the doctor said to me.
"When will he get discharged?" Amma asked.
"The earliest is in two weeks and the latest is in three weeks or a month since we have to make sure there will be no negative after-effects on young master Ares"
"If you are done with everything then you can go out now. Send me the latest test result on Ares"
"Yes, we take our leave first matriarch"
By the time Amma and the doctor finish their conversation, I also finish my breakfast which consists of plain porridge and a glass of milk. I hope they can give me a heavier meal but knowing that this body has been unconscious for three years, I have to be patient.
"Do you want to ask me anything else?" Amma asked and she didn't seem to be leaving anytime soon.
"Hmm do I have other siblings?"
"Nope but you have a few cousins that are around your age. Your sister and cousins cannot visit you since they are still in the academy. You will meet them during their summer break or winter break later"
"Ok"
Then Amma continues chattering about our clan, family members, the city we live in, basic info of the empire, and so on. After almost two hours, she stopped when I had already fallen asleep.
*************************************
After being asleep for almost the whole day, I woke up at around two o'clock in the morning without any hint of sleepiness at all.
'It seems my sleep quota is already full' I thought to myself.
Since its rare for me to have personal time alone like this, I decided to think through about everything that I have been experiencing for the past few days.
'This body's name is Ares Zanuki, have a butler name, Ron Moran.'
From that piece of information and from what Amma have told me yesterday, only one thing can fit that piece of information. The novel called 'The Journey of A Hero' which also adapted into an Otome-like game where I was one of the main designers.
I have read all 5 volumes of the novel multiple times to come out with the most accurate designs since this novel has a huge fan base. It is also my first time designing this kind of game since usually, I always deal with a more heavy, fighting, apocalypse style game setting.
Otome game is a story-based video game usually targeted towards women and the goal is to develop the romance between characters. However, 'The Journey of A Hero' doesn't focus on the romance that much thus the goal of the game is to change the fate of every known character either the cannon fodders, the villains, or the extras, and kill the demon king at the end of the game.
This game is basically a fate-changing game for those readers who feel unsatisfied with the outcome of certain characters. However, the author of this novel doesn't want this game to overshadow his work thus, he managed to convince the game developer to maintain the fate of one character.
And that particular character that will always have bad outcomes is Ares. He either will be killed, betrayed, or misunderstood. The tragic villainous extra who just showed up once in a while.
"To be honest, seeing how his grandma treats him and also the quality of servant that he has, it seems almost impossible for him to fall into despair and became evil right. Oh wait, didn't it was mention somewhere in the forum that Ron died early into the plot?" I mumbled to myself.
The plot only started when some of the main characters and the protagonist meet each other in Hargan Guardian Academy (HGA). Ares will also enroll in HGA along with them but he will drop out later on.
From the forum that I've read, since there are many unanswered questions about certain characters, the readers come up with their possible scenarios or facts. Like Ares, not many details about him are known thus through some diggings, many believe Ares might be Zerisa's half brother since how can the fate of a pair of siblings from the same parents be so different.
Second, Ron's death might be one of the causes that make Ares turn away from humanity. The other reason might also be related to his power but since the author never spend any effort in showcasing Ares's power, not much can be said.
"Wasn't there an accident where he went berserk or something before he enroll into HGA?"
I suddenly remembered one of the plots from one of Zerisa's flashbacks but as always the exact reason that caused him to go berserk was not mentioned. Unfortunately, all the information about him is limited due to him only being mentioned in other characters' flashbacks.
"My author-nim why? How could you make this kind of time bomb, full of plot hole character?"
Then I started thinking that since the story plot still doesn't start yet, then it might be possible for me to change 'Ares' outcome. Having been reading quite a lot of isekai and world-hopping novels, I can easily accept the fact that I have become someone else even though I'm not sure where the original Ares went to.
"The story will start when the protagonist meets with some of the main characters at HGA and Ares never communicate with the protagonist at all despite being in the same class all year round"
'I don't want to get close to the main characters since my only goal is to stay alive. He's the protagonist so there are always annoying things happening around him so why should I be near him when I can live an idle life and train to become stronger' I decided on my life path after contemplating for a while.
"By the way, I wanted to see this face since, in the game, Ares is always wearing a mask and his description only said that he has red hair with chromatic eyes" I complained while looking around the silent room. However, to no avail, not even one mirror or anything that I can use as a reflection is in the room. Even the window has no glass at all and just has metal bars covering it like a prison window.
"Even the nurses avoid me when I asked for a mirror" seeing that I have no way to get a mirror, I just decided to go with the flow and just quietly assimilate with my new life.
The things that I should do are:
1. Change Ares- oops I'm Ares now so change my fate and live longer.
2. Be a good guy? to live longer
3. Travel the world after protagonist killed the demon king
For now these would be my bucket list and first and foremost priority.
I've died because of the poisons my brothers send through the neighbor that I believed was harmless old lady. Little did I know that old lady have long been bribed to observe me and also made me believe her and consume anything she gave me.
I was careless. Did I really believe those lunatic brothers of mine would left me living my life? Hell no. As someone that always showcase himself as being a neutral faction and never interested in the heir position, my support was crucial for those who want to be our family heir.
The shareholders would support the one that I chose to support as they know I was capable thus who I supported must be someone I recognized and more capable than me. I also have 5% of shares in my hand and in the final battle among my brothers, that 5% are more worth than tonnes of gold.
When I died, they could try to grab that shares among themselves and the most capable (vicious) would win. They didn't want me to interrupt their brotherly (bloody) battle. They also didn't want me to choose any of them so its better for me to just die.
'Dying once is enough and I don't want to feel it again. Please let me die of old age this time around' I silently pray in my heart to whatever God exists in this world.
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Author's Thought:
Happy Chinese New Year guys!!!
I try to update at least one chapter per day and most of the characters are still the same. It's just the plot is a bit different and I hope you guys can drop some comments so I will know what you guys think about it.
Happy reading and please pray I won't stop updating like before