The Speedmaster Appears

The shout rang out like a thunderclap.

"It's an assassin!"

"Protect Her Highness the Princess!!"

The escort knights hurled themselves forward in a blur of motion. The moment the aggro had perfectly clumped in front of the princess—

-Thud!

'Hook, line, and sinker, right?'

Lucian had no chance of actually attacking the princess with his pathetic Strength stat of 1. It had all been a feint to create an opening in the knights' defense. He executed a sharp curve right in front of her nose and slipped into the suddenly empty space beside her.

"Huh?"

While the knights flailed uselessly at empty air, Lucian had already blown past everything. He exploded forward with blistering speed toward the upper floor where the treasury waited.

The timer was still ticking.

"What is this vulgar...!"

The princess, who had been wallowing in emotion while anticipating a tragic monologue, trembled with rage, her facial muscles twitching in shock.

"You dare deceive a member of the imperial family? Seize that impudent wench at once!"

At her command, the knights gave chase. The moment they burst into the upper corridor, they were greeted by yet another hellscape of stale, overused tropes.

-Clang! Boom!

"Hey, watch your blade! You're overlapping lines of fire!"

"Right side! It's at the end of the right corridor!"

Swords rained down like a net from every direction, but Lucian slipped through the gaps. Instead, the knights were only hindering each other with their own tightly packed blades.

'As expected, the Knight Commander is tied up in a RoFan event.'

Lucian thought while maintaining his acceleration.

'If the Knight Commander—the head of the imperial guard and a member of the World's Strongest Line—had stayed behind...'

'Agility 52 wouldn't have been enough. My head would've been split open and I'd be staring down a death flag by now.'

But where was that terrifying man right now?

'He's probably standing under our terrace right now, watching the engagement commotion firsthand.'

All major characters were affected by events. To stage the grandeur of a romance narrative, the empire's strongest forces had been ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠deployed to the bottom of a noble family's balcony.

'Even the World's Strongest Line gets the Skip!'

The unique plausibility of RoFan worlds was just another exploitable build for a speedrunner. There were no powerhouses capable of reaching this place within the hour.

"Everyone step aside! I will handle this matter personally!"

And just as expected, instead of a powerhouse, the princess herself came flying after him, her luxurious dress fluttering and her face twisted with venom.

'Oh. This pattern too?'

It was the attention-whore pattern that had been mentioned so often in the original work. The young princess's eyes sparkled with ambition. If she personally and spectacularly executed the intruder, she would earn tremendous praise and favor from her father.

"The knight order will stand back and witness my majesty!"

The knights, unable to disobey her, hurriedly parted and halted their attacks.

'Jackpot.'

The encirclement had been lifted in a single instant. In its place, blue magic circles began spinning furiously at the tips of the princess's fingers.

"This is the price for deceiving the imperial family!"

Blue, blade-like winds howled through the air.

'Considering it's indoors, she chose wind magic instead of explosive magic...'

She had provided the perfect environmental element.

'Timing's spot on.'

Lucian's eyes gleamed within the gale. Did he dodge the vacuum blades with perfect precision? Of course not. He let them graze him just enough to draw blood without straining his stamina. At the same time, he reached the massive door and wove his path through the ornate candelabras, deliberately luring the wind's trajectory toward the candles.

-Kwaaaaaang!

The wind the princess had unleashed sliced through the candelabras. The sparks, riding the fierce gusts, instantly spread to the corridor's luxurious silk curtains and carpets, erupting into roaring flames.

"Uh... huh?"

The still-young princess panicked. The knights reacted quickly.

"Put out the fire with magic!"

The court mages who had finally arrived hurriedly cast water spells, pouring them over the blaze.

-Hissssss!!

The moment water and fire collided head-on, the entire corridor filled with thick steam that made it impossible to see even an inch ahead. A perfect natural smoke bomb had been completed.

"Kuhk..."

Now came the smoke inhalation—the most crucial part of the build.

-Splat, splat!

Without hesitation, Lucian smeared the blood he had deliberately shed all over the place. Then, like a doomed extra, he collapsed onto the corridor floor.

"E-Ella... my lady...."

Using the genuine pain from deliberately taking the blades, he squeezed out his voice through the thick steam.

"I... kept... my promise.... Cough!"

It was the classic line spoken by tragic extras who had been manipulated by the mastermind before making their exit. Lucian tore a strip from the hem of his maid uniform and spread it on the floor.

'Since the story hasn't even started yet, they definitely won't suspect anything. It has to work.'

With that thought, he dipped his finger in blood and wrote on the torn fabric.

A short while later, the flames were extinguished and the white steam slowly began to dissipate. When the mist cleared, a blood-soaked girl lay motionless in the middle of the corridor, dead.

The princess and knights held their breath.

'Did it work?'

They didn't doubt his death act for even a single percent. Instead, they began speculating among themselves.

"It seems she was threatened by someone and forced to infiltrate the palace."

"Didn't she just say 'Ella'? Could the family from the neighboring country be behind this?!"

Lying on the floor like a corpse with his eyes closed and breath held, Lucian listened to their seriously misguided, over-the-top conversation and let out a silent sneer.

'Yep~ No one ever does a confirmation kill on a body, do they?'

Having secured his safety by exploiting the cliché, Lucian watched as the knights approached. Their footsteps paused when they discovered the piece of cloth on the floor.

Leon. That was the name of the empire's Crown Prince and the sub-male lead of the RoFan story who would soon follow his sister around, suffering from unrequited love.

'It's—completely meaningless message.'

But among them, a few things held significance.

1. That Ella was a real person.

2. That Leon's eternal love was our sister, the RoFan female lead.

"T-This is His Highness the Crown Prince's...!"

3. That the residents of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a RoFan world would never, ever ignore a message that seemed connected to the female lead.

It was psychological bait designed to make them think some tragedy was hidden inside the normally tightly sealed treasury.

"Bring His Highness at once!"

As the situation spiraled out of control, the knights immediately rushed to Crown Prince Leon. Before long, the Crown Prince appeared before the treasury, clad in a splendid uniform and radiating a cold, heavy aura.

In a voice heavy with anguish, the Crown Prince commanded,

"Open the inner door. I will ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠confirm it with my own eyes."

The moment the order was given, people hurriedly activated the vault's release mechanism.

-Vwoooong!

Magic surged violently as dozens of locks and complex security devices disengaged one after another. The supposedly impregnable door that could never be opened was completely disarmed by a few simple words.

'Right now.'

Lucian's eyes snapped open. A perfectly ordinary corpse that hadn't triggered any detection magic thanks to his Mana stat of 1. The optimal timing had finally arrived.

The instant the door cracked open just wide enough for a shota-sized body to slip through—

"Now!!"

He kicked off the floor and shot forward like lightning.

-Shwoooosh!

The small silver-haired corpse in a maid uniform slipped right into the imperial vault. The knights realized what was happening too late.

"Why is the corpse moving...?!"

They began to grasp the situation, but Lucian was already inside, moving toward his next objective.

'Gotta chug the Elixir before I actually die!'

His recovery artifact was reaching its limit.

'Ugh, this trash stamina body is seriously the worst!'

He could hear the healing artifact on his chest creaking from overload. It was from the blood he'd forced himself to shed and the heart that was about to burst from pushing his agility to the max. If he wasted even one more minute, he'd genuinely die on the treasury floor.

'There it is!'

Lucian found the Elixir. He poured the liquid straight down his throat on the spot.

'Kya, so sweet!'

A divine blessing and miraculous elixir—one of only three in existence—that could revive even a dying hero. A holy relic that a lover would shed tears over while using it to save their beloved in a moment of absolute crisis.

'Effect confirmed!'

But during a speedrun, it was nothing more than a one-time potion to restore 2 points of Stamina.

Before the door could fully open, Lucian advanced deeper into the treasury.

-Tap tap tap!

As he ran, kicking up dust, he glanced at the timer on his wrist. The most exciting moment.

'Hurry, hurry...! I have to finish the contract in two minutes!'

He didn't even want to think about the bitter scolding he'd get from the gallery if he went over an hour. The finish line of this time attack was right in front of him.

Finally, deep within the treasury, he saw a sword thrust into a stone pedestal, radiating ominous demonic energy.

'The weapon needed for a sub-10-minute clear. The Magic Sword Ba... what was it again?'

The moment Lucian leaped onto the altar and grabbed the hilt, a vast and majestic will echoed inside his head—

"Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!"

[—do you desire? My—]

"Yes! Yes! No! Yes! Yes!"

The Magic Sword, which should have been launching a mental ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠attack, was instead being mercilessly cut off by the master of dialogue skipping. Before the conversation could even finish, Lucian was already shouting out the expected choices from the mental script like a madman.

[Wait, let me finish at least— mmph?!]

"Skip! Skip! This is consent! This is not! This is consent! I consent!!"

The Magic Sword, watching this lunatic who kept brutally interrupting before questions could even finish, came to a conclusion.

[He's sufficiently insane.]

[You are qualified—]

"Skip!"

He cut it off again and checked the timer on his wrist.

With only 47 seconds left to complete the one-hour run.

"Yeehaw!!"

Lucian let out a loud cheer. The Crown Prince and knights were storming into the vault, but the face of the old-school gamer who had successfully executed his build was filled with composure.

-Riiip! Tear!

He mercilessly ripped off the entire repair maid uniform. As if to prove he was a real man, he revealed his raw body clad only in panties. The little old-school gamer.

Lucian heard the footsteps of the Crown Prince and knights, grabbed a relic helmet that had been rolling nearby, and slammed it onto his head.

"Halt!"

Crown Prince Leon and the princess finally reached the altar. The elite knights raised their weapons in unison—

"Huk?!"

—and froze in an instant. Because a little kid wearing nothing but panties and a bizarre helmet was striking the most stylish pose he could manage.

The princess, who had been expecting a tragic ending for a pitiful maiden, couldn't hide her shock.

"Where did that child in the maid outfit go, and who is this vulgar, impudent brat standing here?!"

Leon, crumpling his uniform, shouted as well.

"What are you?!"

"Were you pretending to be dead?"

"What is the meaning of the message you left on the floor?"

"Speak! What does it all mean?!"

Conspiracy by a shadowy faction. A hidden imperial tragedy. The conflict of fated love. Facing the Crown Prince who was completely lost in every possible RoFan delusion, Lucian arrogantly lifted his chin.

He declared,

"I am the Speedmaster."

"A man who clears things at maximum speed."

Thud. He pointed straight at the Crown Prince.