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〖Chapter 1: A Familiar Yet Foreign World〗
Vincent Hales woke up with a sharp gasp, his head pounding as sunlight streamed through the window, blinding him. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to fight off the pressure building in his temples. Slowly, he sat up, rubbing his face, trying to clear the fog from his brain. This wasn't his apartment.
The bed was soft, the room too neat. The walls were bare, the desk empty except for a few papers scattered across the surface. There was a wardrobe in the corner and a faint breeze flowing through the partially open window.
"This… isn't right," Vincent muttered, slowly swinging his legs off the bed. His feet touched the cool wooden floor, grounding him for a moment, but the unfamiliarity of the place still gnawed at him.
What the hell was going on?
His last memory was walking home from work, exhausted after a long shift. Then… a flash of light, maybe? Everything before and after that was a blur.
Before he could process it further, a glowing blue screen appeared in front of him, floating midair.
『Welcome to Chronicles of Valor』
「You have been selected as a 『Guest』. Survive, grow stronger, and forge your path.」
Vincent froze. Chronicles of Valor?
That was the game he'd used to play. The one with brutal mechanics, a world where only the strong survived, and every decision could lead to death. He remembered the grind, the quests, the fear of being overwhelmed by monsters.
"No… no way. This can't be real," Vincent murmured. He pinched his arm hard, hoping to wake up. But no, the pain was real.
Another notification popped up in front of him, its words cold and mechanical.
『System』
「Shop Unlocked
Profile Unlocked」
Vincent stared at the screen, trying to wrap his mind around the absurdity of it all. But despite his disbelief, he tapped the Profile option, curiosity dragging him forward.
The screen flickered, revealing a profile sheet with his name.
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『Status』
「Name:」 Jayce Vanhestia
「Rank:」 E-
「Strength:」 E-
「Agility:」 E
「Stamina:」 E-
「Intelligence:」 E+
「Mana:」 E
「Luck:」 C
「Blessing:」 Null
「Gift:」 ???
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Vincent—or rather, Jayce—stared at the screen, unable to believe what he was seeing.
"Jayce Vanhestia..." he muttered under his breath. The name was familiar, too familiar.
It didn't take long for him to realize the grim truth. Jayce wasn't the protagonist, or even a side character. He was a nobody. Just an extra in Chronicles of Valor. One of the countless academy students whose only purpose was to be there as background noise. The real action was elsewhere, with the true main characters.
"Of course," Vincent said, the realization sinking in. "I'm an extra. Just some useless background character in the game."
He scanned his stats again. The numbers were depressing. E- for strength and stamina. E for mana. Even his intelligence was only E+. Luck was his best stat, but it was still nothing special. And then there was the Blessing—Null.
"No blessing," he muttered, his voice thick with disbelief.
In the game, everyone had a blessing. Some got gifts that made them nearly invincible. Others were granted abilities that set them apart. But him? He got nothing.
His mind wandered back to the main character, the original hero of the story. Vincent remembered how the protagonist had received his Blessing at the start of the game—a powerful one that set him on a path to greatness. And then there were the other gifts: magical abilities, combat prowess, and weapons. Everything the main character had been given was designed to help him overcome the impossible.
But Jayce had nothing. Nothing but a blank slate.
"Great. This is going to be fun," Vincent muttered sarcastically, feeling the weight of the situation settle in. There was no clear way forward, no special powers to rely on, just a whole lot of nothing.
What was he supposed to do now?