Chapter 2 : Chapter 2
Volume 1
Chapter 2 : So the Difficulty Has to Increase As Well, Does It?
“System? Are you there?”
“...”
“Old Grandpa?”
“...”
“Divine Lady?”
“...”
“Kyubey?”
“...”
“Pikachu?”
“...”
“Can’t someone at least answer me?”
After trying every kind of cheat-giving support character he knew and getting absolutely no response, Muen covered his face and wailed tearfully:
“Don’t tell me I really don’t have any cheat at all?”
When other people transmigrated, they got cheats, beauties, skills, weapons—everything.
It was as if the heavens wanted the protagonist to gain ninety-nine levels in a single day and reach the peak of life without even trying, marrying countless rich and beautiful women along the way.
But when he transmigrated, not only did he have to face such a despair-inducing catastrophic start, he did not even get a single extra bit of help.
“Oh merciful heavens, I only pulled five five-stars in one ten-draw. Even if I really did spend my lifespan on that pull, things shouldn’t have turned out this bad.”
“Then again, all of those things were meant for the protagonist. I’m just a supporting character.”
Muen’s sense of self-positioning became even clearer.
It seemed the fate of a blond supporting villain was basically set in stone.
But there was absolutely no way he would follow the original plot and drug Selicia. No matter how stupid he was, he could not possibly be stupid enough to light that powder keg himself.
At any rate, there was probably only one strategy he could adopt in this matter:
Lay low.
“I wonder if apologizing to the protagonist in person tomorrow will be enough to let bygones be bygones. At worst, I’ll have to make a few sacrifices. I just hope she doesn’t demand anything too outrageous.”
Muen gritted his teeth and decided that even if the protagonist demanded he lick her feet before forgiving him tomorrow, he would... simply do it.
After all, licking the feet of a beautiful girl was hardly some unbearable ordeal.
He only hoped she would be wearing black stockings when the time came.
“Yes. That settles it!”
Muen clenched his fist and made up his mind.
Now that the decision had been made, all he needed to do next was—
“Ah!”
Just as Muen was swelling with righteous determination, he suddenly let out a miserable cry.
Something had struck the back of his head out of nowhere.
“What the hell?”
Muen muttered a curse under his breath and covered his head with one hand as he turned to look at whatever had hit him.
It was a book.
A black book.
“What is... this?”
Muen frowned.
For some reason, the book gave him a strange sense of familiarity.
As though... it were something incredibly important.
And yet in his memories, he had never seen this black book before.
Besides... when he looked up, he was still inside his room. The doors and windows were tightly shut. So where had this book come from?
“Could it be...”
Muen’s eyes suddenly lit up.
“My cheat has finally arrived?”
The book was completely black, its cover devoid of any pattern or ornament. Yet perhaps because that blackness was too pure, if one stared at it for too long, it felt as though even the soul might be swallowed into it.
“So heaven hasn’t abandoned me after all.”
Muen was so excited he nearly burst into tears.
A cheat was wonderful.
A cheat was marvelous.
With a cheat in hand, even if he was just an ordinary office worker, would he not be able to kick a Soaring Phoenix protagonist and pound the favored child of destiny?
Fate? What was that?
Had it not heard the saying, “My fate is mine, not heaven’s”?
There was only one problem...
How was this thing supposed to be used?
Staring at the blank cover, Muen fell into confusion.
It did not even come with a beginner’s guide.
Could it be that inside was recorded some peerless secret art that would let him become invincible through cultivation?
Muen swallowed nervously, then, full of excitement, slowly opened the book.
Inside...
It was completely blank.
“What is this?”
“A wordless heavenly tome?”
“Or does it need some special method of activation?”
Muen turned the black book over and over in his hands, then even grabbed it by the cover and shook it a few times, but nothing happened.
“Heh. Don’t tell me I have to drip blood on it and make it acknowledge me as its master.”
Just as the thought crossed his mind, Muen suddenly felt a warm trickle slide down his forehead.
A drop of bright red blood flowed down from the spot where the black book had struck him moments ago.
As though everything had been calculated to perfection.
It landed precisely in the very center of the page.
In an instant—
RUSTLE.
Like a beast awakening at the scent of blood, the black book began flipping violently.
A terrifying suction force came from within it.
At once, Muen’s blood gushed from the wound on his head like a fountain, streaming without end into the black book.
“What in the world is happening?!”
Before he could even recover from the horrifying sight before him, Muen’s vision went black, and he lost consciousness.
...
Drip.
Drip.
A dark space.
Flowing liquid.
Air so cold it pierced the bone.
And... a person?
Who was it?
【Ah... you are finally awake. I have been waiting for you for a very long time.】
The voice sounded like two rusted sheets of iron scraping against each other, laced with static, so distorted that he could not even tell whether it belonged to a man or a woman.
【Then let us continue.】
Continue?
Continue what?
A vague shadow stepped out of the darkness.
A light from nowhere shone upon the shadow’s face, but it was as though a mosaic censor had been laid over it. Nothing could be seen clearly.
【This makes four hundred and seventy-two. As expected of you.】
Four hundred and seventy-two?
Four hundred and seventy-two what?
The shadow kept walking toward him. She raised a hand, and cold light glinted within it.
It was a delicate knife as thin as a cicada’s wing.
Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
What was flowing?
It was blood.
A great deal of blood.
It poured ceaselessly from four hundred and seventy-two wounds.
And with it came agony deep enough to seep into the marrow.
【Ah, how my heart aches at this very moment.】
The shadow lowered her head, and shining droplets flowed down her face, mingling with the blood.
【I love you so, so, so, so, so very much, and yet why... why... did you have to...】
【You were never meant to be like this. You are supposed to be wicked, brutal, and selfish. You are supposed to inflict pain upon others, not show mercy. You are supposed to make everyone hate you...】
【Only then could you belong to me alone.】
【But you changed. Your heart changed.】
【A change of heart... will not do.】
The sharp blade roamed across his skin.
Each stroke left behind a vivid scarlet mark that would never fade.
That murmur overflowing with endless love and hatred echoed madly by his ear, like the buzzing of a swarm.
The shadow slowly drew closer, carrying an indistinguishable mingling of blood and floral fragrance.
【So I can only use my love to cleanse you completely.】
【Do not worry. I still have so very much love left to give.】
...
“What... was that?”
Muen suddenly opened his eyes and began gulping down great breaths of air.
His face was pale, and his entire body was soaked in sweat, as though he had only just escaped from the deepest hell.
“A dream?”
He was still in his own room.
There was even less chance that some strange shadow had really appeared and carved him to pieces.
A dream was the only possible explanation.
“But why would I suddenly have a dream like that? Just now, I was...”
Muen looked at the black book in his hands and fell into confusion.
He stroked the black book thoughtfully and murmured,
“And besides... that dream felt far too real.”