Chapter 1
Chapter 1
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Possessed into a Mongrel Trash Character
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There was a game called [Great Men Maker].
A role-playing game set in a fantasy world teeming with various races.
The gameplay was simple.
Choose a race and raise a hero.
Then have children.
Those children become your next playable characters.
"Yes! Pure-blooded succubus lineage intact for 17 generations!"
The core of this game was keeping the blood of your heroic ancestors untainted.
In other words, maintaining pure blood.
After all, the previous characters were overwhelming heroes meticulously crafted by the player.
It was only natural that the purer the inherited blood, the stronger the next character would be.
And the moment I achieved the [Eternal Pureblood] trophy across all races...
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Secret character unlocked!] [You can now select the 'Mongrel' race for a new start!] "Ugh... finally unlocked the hard mode character..."
I was what you'd call a veteran player of [Great Men Maker], having earned trophies with every race.
I loved the game, but lately, the gameplay had started feeling stale.
I was the kind of player starving for fresh content.
So, the new option of 'Mongrel' was more than enough to get my heart racing.
"Let's see... haha, it has the bloodline of every race's first-generation play character? Talk about a total mutt."
In this game, a hero's blood was everything.
Your power and influence depended on how potent the blood of your supreme ancestral heroes was.
In that sense, this 'Mongrel' character was a true hard mode pick.
It had the blood of every race's first-gen heroes mixed together—but diluted across the board.
Still, even a hard mode character had its perks.
⚔ PERK ⚔ Feast of the Stars
— Your ancestors watch over you.
The greater your achievements, the more interest your ancestors take in you.
— Communicate with your ancestors.
You can converse with them, and favorable ancestors may grant you gifts.
A character that let me interact bidirectionally with all my first-gen characters from previous playthroughs... This was the DLC, the hidden content!
It felt like a reward for every playthrough I'd ever done.
I couldn't contain my excitement at the perk.
I wanted to dive in right away.
That's why I'd even taken a day off work.
[Character Name: (Mongrels cannot possess names. Achieve feats to unlock one.)]
Not even allowed a name—a character stripped of freedom.
I picked a suitable appearance for the character and hit start without hesitation.
"Mongrels gotta have black hair, right!"
With my heart pounding in anticipation, the moment I launched the game...
...I possessed into it.
ㅇ ㅇ ㅇ
"Get up! Number 17!!"
Splash!
"Gahack!!"
"Hmph! You filthy mutt...! You think it's time to sleep? Tomorrow's when you start earning your keep!! Train freely—at least try to be useful to the master!"
"......"
Drip, drip, drip.
I stared blankly at the water droplets trailing down my hair.
'This isn't a dream...'
A few hours ago.
I'd possessed into Number 17, a mongrel gladiator slave.
That's right—the very character I'd eagerly started with.
"What? You rebelling or something?!"
"N-no, sir!! I'll train!"
"Hmph! Filthy blood can't be hidden. Move it!!"
"Yes, sir!"
The guard who'd doused me was a big-chested woman.
Judging by the ears on her head and her bristling tail, she was a beastkin werewolf.
I hurriedly dropped and started push-ups as she ordered.
While pumping away, I frantically assessed my situation.
'This is the gladiators' city... Parion. And if I'm in this prison...'
As expected of a cursed mongrel character.
Starting at the absolute bottom of the bottom caste.
A gladiator slave.
To survive, I'd have to risk my life in the arena.
Far worse than regular slaves scraping by on odd jobs.
"Huff... 58, huff, 59..."
I breezed through the push-ups, my mongrel body surprisingly well-trained for a gladiator slave.
Straight posture, covered in scars, lean muscles everywhere.
First match tomorrow—what the hell happened before I got thrown in here?
'No, forget that—tomorrow's the real problem...!'
"Huff, huff...!"
I grimaced mid-push-up.
Tomorrow was my first gladiator match as this slave.
Possessed this morning, and now facing death tomorrow.
...Would I return to my original body if I died?
Honestly, I didn't want to gamble on that.
'Run away...?'
I glanced around subtly.
Seven other nameless gladiator slaves.
Bars on the windows, and at the cell entrance, the busty werewolf guard glaring fiercely.
I wasn't strong enough to smash the bars and take her down for an escape.
Flight was impossible.
"Hoo, 199, hoo, 200...!"
As I racked my brain for a way to survive, pushing hard...
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Ancestor 'Eternal Teacher of the Fairies' takes an interest in you!] "Hoo, 203... huh?"
A holographic window popped up before my eyes with an incomprehensible message.
'Eternal Teacher of the Fairies...?'
It showed a nickname-like title instead of a name, saying this being was taking an interest in me.
And I immediately remembered.
The perk of this mongrel character I'd possessed into.
'Right...! Feast of the Stars!'
The perk allowing bidirectional communication with every first-gen character I'd played.
Feast of the Stars.
Which meant this interested ancestor was one of my past play characters.
'Eternal Teacher of the Fairies... has to be that one...!'
The third race I'd chosen.
Started as a talentless mage, achieved feats no elf could surpass.
Fairy King Elisis.
Only she could have that moniker.
'But why now, of all times? Why's she interested...?'
In [Great Men Maker], a character's personality was shaped by the player's choices.
Decisions and actions during playthroughs defined their traits.
And for the elf archmage Elisis...
'...She seduced musclebound macho elves and married the strongest one.'
Elisis was a mage.
But to make the next-gen character stronger, melee stats mattered more than magic.
So I hunted down the highest-strength characters I could find.
"No way..."
I paused my push-ups, breathing raggedly, staring at the message.
Then, muttering as if the absent ancestor could hear...
"Haa... haa... you're in the way..."
I stripped off my sweat-soaked top and tossed it aside.
Revealing my scarred, lean-muscled torso in full.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Ancestor 'Eternal Teacher of the Fairies' stares intently at you!] "......"
As expected, the message appeared.
"Hoo, twenty-two...!"
Grinning at it, I switched to sit-ups for abs.
My muscles pumped harder with every rep.
And then.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Ancestor 'Eternal Teacher of the Fairies' smiles at you!] [Ancestor 'Eternal Teacher of the Fairies' nods approvingly at your form!] "......"
Seems my playstyle of seducing buff characters had turned Elisis into a muscle-obsessed perv.
She was getting more and more into my sweat-glistened bare body.
And at some point during the strength training...
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Condition met!] [Ancestor 'Eternal Teacher of the Fairies' attunes to your voice!] 'Yes!'
Finally, I qualified to ask Elisis for help.
I knelt right there, clasped my hands, and assumed a prayer pose.
"Great ancestor of mine."
This should look like humble supplication to an ancestor.
But contrary to my expectations, a snort came from outside.
"Ha...! A mutt calling someone 'ancestor'... hilarious."
"......"
It was the werewolf guard beyond the bars.
She glared at me with utter disgust and muttered it.
...Well, in a world where pure blood mattered.
Where ancestors' greatness was your own glory, a mongrel invoking one must seem laughable.
But still.
Right now.
I had to call on my ancestor.
"Can you hear my voice...?"
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Your voice echoes through the Feast of the Stars...] [Ancestors responding: 1] Squinting at the message, I continued praying.
"Great fairy who seized divine power without divine blessing... please answer this descendant who bears a drop of your blood..."
I prayed with utter sincerity and desperation.
And my ancestor responded.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Ancestor 'Eternal Teacher of the Fairies' answers your call!] [Ancestor 'Eternal Teacher of the Fairies' wonders why you've summoned her!] 'Perfect!'
From what I knew, the 'Feast of the Stars' perk wasn't just for chatting with first-gen characters.
You could also receive gifts of their power.
Of course, earning their favor was key.
"Tomorrow, I face a life-or-death trial... just like that moment you entered the World Tree's roots with only your staff..."
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Ancestor 'Eternal Teacher of the Fairies' is surprised by your words!] [Ancestor 'Eternal Teacher of the Fairies' is delighted!] 'She'd have to be thrilled...'
[Great Men Maker] was about raising first-gen heroes and using their feats to empower descendants.
This world treated ancestral glories as family pride worth dying for.
But.
—Elisis's coming-of-age rite.
Entering that perilous rite without a shred of magic talent wasn't a glorious feat to her descendants.
No one had ever mentioned it.
It lingered in no one's memory.
Invoking her greatest challenge would naturally surprise and delight her.
"—Please."
I pleaded desperately to Elisis, who watched me with keen interest, putting on my most fragile expression.
"Grant this lowly descendant the strength to overcome this trial...! Just as your master handed you that willow branch...!"
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Ancestor 'Eternal Teacher of the Fairies' is deeply moved by your prayer!] [Ancestor 'Eternal Teacher of the Fairies' bestows a gift upon you!] ⚡ TRAIT ACQUIRED ⚡ Quartet of the Wind [...You feel the wind spirits enveloping you.]
Whoooosh—!
'Got it—!!'
A gentle breeze swirled from the floor up over my head.
—Quartet of the Wind.
The ability Elisis relied on until her final battle, now mine.
"With this..."
Pushed to the edge of a cliff.
I'd grasped a sliver of hope.
As I reveled in my new power, pondering tomorrow's fight...
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ "...Huh?" A message appeared.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Ancestor 'Eternal Teacher of the Fairies' attaches a condition to the gift!] [Gift Quest started!] 📜 NEW QUEST 📜 Grateful Bodyweight Workout
ㅁ Push-ups: 100 reps
ㅁ Sit-ups: 100 reps
ㅁ Squats: 100 reps
[Warning: Failing the daily quest may result in revocation of the gift.] "......"
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Ancestor 'Eternal Teacher of the Fairies' leers at you with a sly smile!] Muscle pervert, through and through.
Moved or not, she still wanted her selfish fix.
...Did I really raise her like that?