"It's quiet, so it's comfortable, but... doesn't this make you feel anxious?"
Recently, the atmosphere around the Yukline mansion had quieted down. Silence was rather unusual in this magnificent mansion that's considered the best in this world.
"Hey, don't say that. Don't worry about it. Just stay still, stay still"
The unusual calmness was awkward for the maids and servants of the mansion, but after a week, they were able to adjust to it.
"Oh, do you perhaps think that it's because things are going well with Miss Freyden?"
At the young maid's question, the other maid shook her head.
"Ei. Do you really think so? I think it's the opposite."
"Really? I'm confused because I've only been here in this house for a week and they don't even check the cleaning."
"Enjoy it. Since we don't know how long it'll last..."
The servants were chatting about the strange changes in the mansion's owner.
"Has this ever happened before?"
"Well. It's been 10 years since Lord Deculein has been in office...."
Their owner was so famous and sensitive, so there were many anecdotes that came to their minds that the flow of the conversation completely changed.
It was at that moment.
Creaaak
The front door was opened wide and the sound of shoes echoed through the hall.
Clack, clack
A cool and sinister echo.
The maids rushed to line up quickly in front of the unexpected visitor.
"...Where is that man?"
The VIP who posed this sharp question was a beauty with short-cut, black hair.
"Yes, right now, the master is...."
Yeriel, their master's sister, was equally well-known for being as sensitive as him. Her presence made the maids bow.
"Guide me"
The servants guided her without daring to make eye contact.
Together, they climbed the central stairs of the mansion and ended up standing in front of the gates of the highest floor which was completely used as a single room.
Knock, knock
Yeriel lightly knocked on the door that everyone in this house feared.
Knock, knock.
There was no response.
Knock, knock! Knock, knock!
Yeriel tried it a few more times but couldn't take it anymore and burst open the door.
"...Hey!"
In the neat room a handsome man with a disheveled face lay there.
His hair shone subtly like a dark crystal and his fine, white skin and straight, intelligent features were darkened today.
This was enough to shake any woman's heart, but Yeriel just fired away without caring about anything else.
"What the hell are you doing?!"
Yeriel's insolent way of speaking shook the servants.
However the owner of this grand mansion only murmured in a low voice.
"...I thought I'd wake up if I just went back to sleep a bunch of times. Guess I'm still dreaming."
At the end of his words, the maids gave him a strange look.
Just how badly did things with Miss Freyden go?!
"And...."
Yeriel frowned as if she understood his words in a similar way.
Right now, everyone but Deculein had the name, "Julie von Deya-Freyden", floating in their minds.
The second daughter of the northern Freyden family. The current fiancée of "Deculein von Grahan-Yukline".
Externally, the two were promised to each other, but their feelings towards each other were insanely different.
Deculein seemed to love Julie with all his heart, but her feelings for him bordered on disgust.
This wasn't just simple speculation, this fact was actually pretty well-known.
"Can't you stop thinking about her? What are you doing, even canceling all your lectures?!"
"...Lectures?"
"Yes!"
Yeriel took some documents out of a luxurious clutch bag. Then she threw the bunch of papers on the bed.
"You said you'd do it yourself. And if you just stay here like an idiot, you'll bring shame to our family. Are you fine with this?"
"....."
"There's an event at the university, so make sure to attend! At least if you don't want to lose your professorship you're so proud of!"
"You're... very bold."
Deculein smirked. At that moment, Yeriel became angry. Blood vessels were throbbing at her white temple.
"I'm not being bold, you're just being stupid! Idiot!"
Very harsh swear words. The maids trembled, but the master didn't react even a little.
If it was his usual self, he would have punished me. How could he have become so lethargic?
I wish he'd return back to normal.
"...Alright, go out."
"Hmpf."
Yeriel snorted and went out the door.
She didn't want to see that idiot who turned out like this just because he was dumped by some woman either.
"Ye, ye, Yeriel-nim. Would you like to have a meal?"
"I'm going"
"But you've come such a long way. Hold, hold on!"
"I'm going!"
Many of the servants followed her in a hurry.
The master seemed to be in a bad mood today, so it was best to stay out of his sight...
* * *
"...Lectures, huh."
I looked at the documents given to me by Deculein's sister, Yeriel.
The title of the lecture was: "Imperial Senior Professor Deculein: A Fundamental Understanding of Magic and Attitude toward Mana".
Furthermore, the table of contents was as follows.
Magical distinction between attributes and types.
A rough Outline of circles of each magic branch, such as Destruction, Support, Summoning and Spirit.
Proper usage of Mana....
"What kind of magic system is so diverse?"
Where did science go in a world where magic is so diverse?... I remember it was said that science when developed sufficiently wasn't much different from magic though.
I lay on my bed thinking nonsense.
"...Haah."
A week had passed.
Before I knew it, a whole week had passed in the blink of an eye.
I couldn't find out why I'm stuck here even after all that time.
I thought it was a regular dream, but it wasn't. Then I thought it was a lucid dream, but it wasn't. After that I thought it was a VR game, but it wasn't.
The most convincing reason was that I got struck by lightning, that what I'm experiencing is the after life.
Anyway, I've become that fricking game's character I was modeled after "Deculein von Grahan-Yukline ".
For reference, Deculein was a link that connected the whole game, an arch-rival to many Named Characters or otherwise known as the mid-boss to players, a Named Villain.
The enemy of his parents, the enemy of his lover, the enemy of his hometown, the enemy of his peers and so on.
In addition to this, I'm sure that there were many more people who bore a grudge against him, a villian only woven to die and experience hardship.
Of course, Lane said that there was a little twist to this character, but did he mean the fact that I'd possess this guy.....?
"He's going to die on almost every Route."
This villain would die almost inevitably, like a villain should.
Whether the player killed him themselves, he got killed by a Named Character who bore a grudge, randomly got into a fight and died, got assassinated or died some other way.
Like that purple haired guy from that famous hero movie. (TN: I have no idea who that is)
"Rather than that, this is...."
I sorted the papers that Yeriel threw.
I took them in one hand and glanced at them, the lecture was scheduled today.
"...I have to go"
It was my first time giving a lecture, but I couldn't just sit idle. I couldn't be lazy anymore.
I had to somehow gather information, I had to find some things out regardless of whether I could go back or not..
[Top Survival Goal: Be a necessary part of the game.]
[Side Quest: University Lecture]
Store currency +0.5
These strange sentences flickered in my field of vision.
I was resuming my activities part because of Yeriel and part because of this. Not only was Yeriel among my "Death Flags", but that "Store Currency" was quite important as well.
Fortunately, the knowledge, attitude and experience to give the lecture didn't pose a problem.
[Understanding]
Rating
: Unique
Explanation
: The ability to comprehend things. It's activated by consuming Mana.
Before being trapped in this world I added [Understanding] mistaking it for something similar to [Sympathy].
I believed in this skill's performance.
No, that's not it, it's just because it was a unique ranked skill. It was the unique rank that only appeared in the latter half of the game and the character I was playing before didn't even get it.
"Let's wash up..."
I got out of bed and went into the bathroom. I took off my clothes and turned on the shower.
A clean environment, hot water and a shower with good water pressure. These were all things I liked.
After taking a shower, I opened the door to the dressing room. This room that was bigger than my apartment was filled with all kinds of valuables and suits.
I chose clothes by trusting my instinct.
A white shirt and an aristocratic navy suit. A blue tie and intelligent looking glasses. Then I put a coat over it, sprayed my whole body with perfume and put up my hair neatly, not leaving a single strand unattended.
After that, I looked in the mirror.
"...."
Honestly this style looked nauseating, but it seemed rather elegant. That overflowing ego felt quite arrogant, but a graceful dignity certainly seemed to mingle with it.
It's probably the work of [Intimidating Grace], [Aesthetic Sense] and [Noble Etiquette].
In fact I can't say or do anything against etiquette. No matter how hungry, one shouldn't just eat one's food at will, one shouldn't blabber and one has to act elegant and cultured at all times.
As such it also became natural for me to do that. As if my personality completely changed, it felt as comfortable to use these inefficient manners as breathing.
Even just witnessing crude and unsophisticated behavior, I'd feel scorn and contempt rising up.
"...I won't let myself get swallowed by this guy."
This character had a lot of characteristics, especially under the "Personality" category.
What was written in the system log at the moment were: "Noble Etiquette", "Elitist", "Mysophobe", "Authoritative", "OCD" and so on.
Those personality traits were most certainly transmitted to me.
That's why even this "obligation" to hold that lecture felt so natural to me. I'm an outstanding and noble aristocrat... what bullshit.
"Woojin."
I looked back at the handsome man in the mirror.
"Kim Woojin."
I won't lose myself.
I won't get swallowed up by this stupid character.
"That's your name."
Woo from "House" and Jin from "True" (TN: spelling out name, jip u and chamjin)
A healthy South Korean man, tall and handsome, objectively speaking, but using someone else's words, a loser.
"A pathetic and lazy jerk"
That's me.
Slap!
I slapped my face and then went out of the door.
* * *
Tok, tok.
The clear and regular sound of footsteps. Long, smoothly moving legs.
Indeed, an elegant and orderly gait.
I stood in front of a car parked in the yard admiring its vintage style.
"Good day, master."
A vehicle with an antique design that could have been found in the modern Ford era. This was a symbol of wealth in this world.
"I'm going out."
"Understood!"
As I climbed onto the backseat of the car after the attendant opened the door for me, I saw some small fellow sitting on the seat next to mine.
"...?"
Under the pulled up robe hood I could see a cute but rigid face.
"Pro, professor! Good day! He, here you go!"
He spoke in a very tense voice and handed something to me. It was a bunch of documents.
"...Are you, a magician?"
"Pardon? Ah, yes. Yes sir...I, uh, I've been working under the professor for three years now though....."
"I was merely joking."
I laughed elegantly and looked over the documents.
I thought it was about the lecture, but it was actually a script. It was a script containing every subject from the start to finish of the lecture.
Actually, how did Deculein prepare himself for lectures?
In fact, he only appeared talented on the outside.
The trait I had right now wasn't genius or prodigious but "Mediocre Magic Talent" so I really wanted this script.
"Good job."
"...Pardon?"
However, when I mentioned that he did a good job, the magician became embarrassed.
To be honest, this compliment also made my stomach twist into knots. It was an obvious "Personality" contagion, but I had to overcome this.
I closed my eyes and added a few more words.
"You did a great job. Rest until we get there."
"Ye, yes! Yes! Understood, sir!"
The magician with his head down went as silent as a corpse. The mouth that was exposed from under his hood seemed to have pulled into a small smile though, seemingly pleased with the compliment.
"...."
I read the script in my hands. But the paper got on my nerves. I thought it was dirty. Next time, I'll put on my gloves... No, not that.
Now let us proceed.
I knew the settings of the game to some extent, but thanks to a more solid [Understanding] I could quickly grasp the script itself.
About 30 minutes have passed since I started preparing for the lecture.
"...?"
An interesting scenery appeared outside the car window.
I naturally looked over to it.
Following that, even I unknowingly smiled.
—The outside was filled with the shimmering waves of light emitted by the sun at noon.
A road surrounded by vibrant flowers and trees led to the entrance where the statue of the first emperor stood tall.
There were many buildings filling the vast land and soft beams of light gently fell upon them from the sky.
As a whole it was called the "Imperial University"
This body's, Deculein's workplace.
Everything that got reflected in my eyes, which was now more real than 3D...was the result of my design.