'I read it in a novel, but it was huge.'
I stared silently at the medieval building from the upper floor of the dormitory through the window, then put on black casual clothes covered by a cloak and turned around.
There was nothing to see here, most of the students had returned to their respective family homes, so the dormitory was too quiet.
Although only a few students choose to live here.
Most of those who live in the dormitories are students who have no social status.
Since they are commoners, they know that they are always short of money, and the only way for them to continue studying at the academy is to get scholarships or find sponsors.
There is no need to waste time on a relaxing vacation, for them this vacation is an opportunity to develop skills to become excellent students.
They know that they can't rely on their ordinary parents for money, so the only solution is to work hard with their talents.
Without paying attention to my surroundings, I arrived at the reception desk and saw the dormitory guard greeting me.
"Good morning, Young Master O'Connor."
"Good morning."
I waved awkwardly, returning the guard's greeting.
Maybe it wasn't that long ago that I had this body. So I haven't been able to adapt to my surroundings.
I think what I need is time.
By the way....
She is the dormitory-keeper of the 4th building in the east of the academy, her name is Feronica Smith, a single woman who works to manage the dormitory for first-year boys only.
She has the appearance of brownish blonde hair tied in a ponytail, with blue eyes and beautiful curves that are at least above average for a woman. Her plump breasts and buttocks make men of all ages horny just by looking at her body covered in a typical hotel receptionist uniform.
The most important thing is that he is a graduate of this academy.
If you ask, how do you know that? It's because I read O'Connor's original notebook that he had written before I took his body.
Some of the notebooks contained his daily life at the Academy.
By chance, an idea came to me.
'Let's investigate this woman to see if she is related to the original owner of this body.'
Seeing the possibility that the real Ms. Feronica and O'Connor had interacted before, I was subconsciously curious.
Then Ms. Feronica's voice pierced my ears.
"Are you all right, young master? Yesterday morning you screamed. That surprised me."
Ah. Perhaps she was talking about yesterday's events, which was only natural considering that it was the first time I had opened my eyes to this world.
"Ahaha...don't worry, I'm fine. It's probably because I had a bad dream yesterday."
I replied with an awkward smile. Seeing my improved condition, Mrs. Feronica let out a sigh of relief.
"Phew~ thank you if everything is alright. If there's anything you want to help me with, please let me know."
"Alright, dorm mother."
'It is embarrassing to be worried by someone younger than me. Even though I look young, my soul is still a 38-year-old man.'
I don't know why my pride as an older person was hurt.
'So... let's run away.'
"Then you'll have to excuse me, dorm mother."
"Ah, well... Be careful on the road."
After a while, I resumed my steps where I stopped.
*Step. Step. Step.
As I walked, I thought about the conversation I had just had.
'When I talked to the dorm mother, she didn't feel anything strange about me. If that's the case... ...then, as I thought, I and the original owner of this body have the same personality and character, considering the SS-rank ability that was born as a result of two similar traits being combined into one.'
I remember the words written on the screen when I checked the status window earlier.
I instinctively realized one thing, that this boy named O'Connor was me in another world, with a similar personality, character, habits, and hobbies.
From the way he spoke, to the pitch of his voice, to the way he walked, it was very similar to me in my previous life.
But why does the Eye of Gluttony skill contain blood magic? Did the owner of this original body eat wrong as a child?
The more I guessed, the more my curiosity increased.
—|—
After leaving the dorm, I went straight to the city center to look around.
The morning breeze soothed me, and the atmosphere was perfect for relieving the stress I'd been experiencing for years.
Just by going to another world, my regrets and burdens seemed to slowly diminish.
Somehow I think of the money I wasted just to go to a psychologist, and in the end it didn't work.
Thinking back to that time, I could feel a bitter taste in my mouth.
But that feeling is fleeting.
Because the scene in front of me had my full attention.
I muttered as I looked around.
"Really, the difference between the description in the novel and seeing it in person is very noticeable."
There are so many amazing things here, so I looked around with interest.
Medieval buildings rise up. Meanwhile, the mansions of the nobility are completely separated from the living areas of the commoners.
I checked out the rough terrain and moved somewhere. Although I was a little lost, I tried to remember the place from the novel.
"Two bronze coins for potatoes!!!"
"Roast meat...roast meat!!!"
People are eager to make money. They advertise their goods by shouting.
From my perspective, they are forced to do this to meet their economic needs, both for themselves and their families.
People tend to do whatever it takes to survive, including me.
"It's too noisy here."
I hurried through the market area, quickening my pace.
2 minutes...
3 minutes...
5 minutes...
Step by step, the noise of the crowd faded.
Soon I turned into a narrow alley that was said to be quite dirty.
I could feel it, the atmosphere around me was quite gloomy just by looking at it for a few seconds.
Whether it is Earth or the novel world, all the sights of the underworld are the same.
I covered my nose and squinted my eyes as I looked around.
"P-please... ugh..."
"A one bronze, please, sir. Hiks...hiks..."
"Zzzzz..."
So many homeless people were scattered around, begging for help and crawling towards me.
They are people who surrender to fate without working hard to survive.
People who do not work have no right to eat.
So I ignored them because it was not my current position to do good. Besides, this world is not the earth, but a world of novels.
They are just insignificant characters like me who want to live in this cruel world.
They don't have plot armor like my current situation, no matter what path I take.
When I am the main character, it's a different story.
Besides, I didn't have enough money to help them because the financial situation of the Carpe family was in trouble. I also needed financial resources to cope with the upcoming scenario.
Moments later, my footsteps stopped.
There's a building made of a row of shabby wood that could collapse at any moment. It is complemented by a circular banner with the shop's logo.
'I guess I wasn't wrong, was I?'
What I was looking for was an item, more specifically, something I needed for my plan.
Midway through the episode, the main character stumbles upon this shop while walking around looking for directions.
And there he found something that helped his become strong.
'I'm worried that my actions will cause a butterfly effect...ah!'
He shook his head to clear his mind of useless thoughts.
This is the time to be decisive. I have knowledge of this world, so I need to gather my strength first.
There are three months left before the main scenario takes place. This is the time to gather strength, any misstep will result in death.
"I am no longer Vale Milan, I am now O'Connor de Carpe."
Taking a deep breath.
I stared at her for a moment, then carefully opened the door.
Crack-!
"Excuse me."
—|—
After opening the shop door, O'Connor opened the greeting.
What he saw first were items that looked worn and antique, at first glance one could conclude that all the equipment here was useless.
The walls of the shop were made of brittle wood, the wooden floor made a creaking sound. Whoever entered first would feel suspicious.
Moreover, this shop is located in a suburban area where scavengers and other community trash live.
He looks around as he walks slowly. After a while, his gaze shifted straight ahead.
A small smile formed on O'Connor's lips.
'Nice to meet you.' O'Connor said to himself.
What caught O'Connor's attention even more was the figure of a tall man with broad shoulders and a solid back, sitting at the counter with a crystal monocle hanging over his left eye, while writing something with a quill in his hand.
O'Connor looked him up and down.
The first impression is that he looks like a determined and calculating person.
O'Connor is not stupid, the big man can only fool people on the outside, not with him.
With the experience he had in his previous life, his observation techniques were much more sophisticated, he could instantly deduce that the man in front of him was no ordinary person.
Suddenly, the man stopped writing and turned to face his.
"..."
"..."
There was a moment of silence.
But O'Connor knew.
Watching his reaction, he seemed to hear his greeting as he opened the door.
O'Connor said.
"Sir, may I ask if this store sells anything? I was just passing by, looking for something interesting."
Instead of answering O'Connor's question, the tall man opened his mouth.
"What does a kid like you want in this dingy shop?"
O'Connor could sense the irritated tone of the man before him.
It was only natural, considering that people do not like to be interrupted when they are concentrating on their work.
It is rather strange for a merchant to show no respect to his customer and instead blatantly try to walk away as if he were a nuisance. After all, in the world of commerce, the buyer is king and must be served.
O'Connor knew that such trivial principles did not apply to the man in front of his.
'What a relief if his personality was the same as the one described in the novel,.... my nails...what should I do with this cute guy? Maybe...tease him?'
All sorts of evil plans swirled in O'Connor's head. A moment later, O'Connor's eyes formed a crescent moon.
He removed the black hood and straightened his back, placing his hands on his chest.
This behavior made the appearance of his black hair and blue eyes visible to the naked eye.
But he didn't care, as if it was intentional.
O'Connor said politely.
"My name is O'Connor de Carpe, the only son of the Marquis Carpe family. I'm is currently a first year student at the Nova Academy. Nice to meet you, Sir shopkeeper."
"Ugh...stop being so formal, I can't stand it....and I didn't ask your name, boy."
After answering frankly, he suddenly frowned as if he remembered something.
"Wait... if the Marquis Carpe, who was rumored to have died a year ago... is that true?"
'Look at that guy.'
O'Connor laughed inwardly at the sudden behavior of the man before him.
In response to his question.
He pretended to tilt her head and make a deliberately confused expression.
"Oh my, the sir shopkeeper also heard the news of my father's death, my family is just a rural noble. I didn't know that the rumor had already spread here. Ah, is the sir shopkeeper a noble as well?"
The tall man furrowed his brow at O'Connor's incomprehensible behavior.
It was only natural, considering that Marquis Carpe's family was not famous and only a few high nobles knew about it, not to mention how strange it was that commoners from neighboring lands knew about it.
Objectively speaking, the news only reached the ears of the nobles. After all, every noble in this world surely has an intelligence or espionage unit to dig up information, steal data, spy, conduct propaganda, and perform special operations for the benefit of the nobles they serve.
No matter what kind of information, rumors, news, or even small and insignificant rumors are valuable to such troops.
But...
The man in front of his unknowingly leaked it.
It raised suspicion and question marks in the eyes of the big man for the innocent boy.
'Actually, I only asked his on purpose.'
O'Connor took advantage of the big man's carelessness, even if it was just for fun.
Meanwhile, the big man had a complicated mind and stared at the boy in front of him.
He was confused, so to not arouse suspicion about his identity, he answered with a sigh.
"Haah...no, I am not a noble, I am just a shopkeeper and collector. My name is Celdric, just a commoner who has lived here for a long time."
"Is that true?"
"Yes, and I am sorry for the death of your father."
Hearing this half-hearted answer, O'Connor didn't hesitate to use his skill.
[You activated the 'Eye of Gluttony']
[verifying the word 'target'...]
[25% / 100%]
[50% / 100%]
[75% / 100%]
[100% / 100%]
Soon, the results came out with the appearance of a hologram board in the air.
[Target's words 'Celdric' are lies]
The corners of O'Connor's mouth turned up at the message that appeared.
The motive behind O'Connor's question was simply to test the SS Rank skill he received yesterday.
To satisfy his curiosity, he deliberately introduced himself, and as expected, Celdric automatically asked subconsciously, "What's the message?
From the beginning, O'Connor knew Celdric's identity as a nobleman, but he deliberately pretended not to know.
This is done so as not to arouse suspicion. For the interlocutor is not to be underestimated.
O'Connor commanded the system.
"Target status window."
Without waiting, a status hologram board appeared before his.
__________________
[Target Status]
-Name: Celdric Von Fabious
-Race: Human
-Age: 39 years old
-Gender: Male
-Profession: Count/Collector
-Title: Family Head Count of Fabious
[Statistics]
[Strength: 15] [Agility: 9] [Vitality: 10] [Mana: 20] [Intelligence: 59]
[Traits and abilities]
-Unique Ability: [Understand at a Glance(A+)]
-Skills: [mana control(E+)] [magic shield(F)]
- Traits: [Angry] [firm] [sensitive]
_________________
Comparing his status to the big bastard in front of him, O'Connor was stunned.
'Hahaha... I was enjoying testing my skills, but my mood dropped just by seeing that asshole's status. How unfair, damn it!'
O'Connor's head was filled with all sorts of curses and expletives he dared not utter.
He kept his composure outside to preserve his image in front of Celdric.
"Hah..."
Lately he had the feeling he was gasping for air.
It would be nice to smoke even one cigarette, but the luxury of cigarettes will not be allowed in this limited life.
O'Connor thought about putting alcohol in his mouth, but he was afraid of getting caught, since minors are not allowed to drink.
"Why is a boy like you sighing so much, what are you thinking about?"
'You're such a shitty person, don't you know how much trouble I have with this garbage body?'
O'Connor shook his head as if it didn't matter.
Dan looked at Celdric like he saw something sad.
This is because...
He is a minor character who always has a bad fate in every episode of the novel.