Nearly Dead Before the Prologue (1)
Mana Disorder — This character was born with a congenital mana disorder. Cannot use mana.
Weakling — This character is a natural weakling. Cannot increase Strength stat.
Slowpoke — This character was born slow as hell. Cannot increase Agility stat.
Chosen One (Communion) — Locked
"Holy shit. I'm so fucked."
Spirit Savior was a game beloved by countless people around the world. The NPCs and companions whose AI was nearly indistinguishable from real humans. The story that got your blood pumping. It was a flawless masterpiece.
Yeah, getting sucked into a god-tier game like this should've been awesome. If only the character I possessed wasn't such a complete piece of shit.
"This is seriously fucked."
If I'd known this would happen, I never would've joined the test. The moment I saw the recruitment for Spirit Savior's new version testers, I lost my mind and applied. That was my first mistake. I should've paid more attention to the acceptance email that said, "We will give you an unforgettable experience."
An unforgettable experience, my ass. They literally threw me into the game world. When I woke up and realized I'd been possessed by some nobody NPC named Cain, the chills that ran down my spine were unreal.
It didn't take long after the possession for me to realize every attempt to escape had failed. During those countless tries, I discovered the status window. I was staring at it when I heard a cautious knock on the door. I turned my head.
A moment later, the person who had knocked slowly opened the door and peeked in at me.
“Cain, the carriage will be here soon. Are you all packed, dear?”
“Ah… Yes, Mother.”
The setting of this game revolved around an academy. Destin Academy. The main stage of Spirit Savior and the gathering place for this world's elite. You could enroll starting at age seventeen, and the academy's prestige was so high that simply getting in was considered a major achievement.
My mother in this world, Alice, must have pulled some serious strings to get the application submitted. I'd figured this frail body wouldn't amount to anything, but somehow I actually got accepted. I never imagined I'd be stuck with such garbage passive skills.
Wait, did this character even exist in the game? Was it just some throwaway NPC they slapped together?
I couldn't hide my panic. Cold sweat trickled down my back.
“Oh, Cain. Did something unpleasant come to mind?”
“N-no, it's nothing. Haha…”
At my mother's gentle smile, I forced up one corner of my mouth and laughed like everything was fine.
“Hurry and finish packing, dear.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
There wasn't much to pack anyway—just a few clothes and some pictures. Our house never had that many belongings to begin with. I glanced at the dirty mirror, checking my black hair and sharp red eyes a few times, then stepped outside.
I acted like nothing was wrong, but inside I couldn't shake the anxiety. Being in a familiar world was nice, sure. A fantasy world. Blood and guts everywhere… I didn't know how it'd feel in real life, but whatever. I could deal with that.
But this trash character was way too much. I couldn't raise mana, couldn't raise strength, couldn't raise agility. The only thing left was intelligence, and in this game intelligence was basically a dump stat they gave you because they had slots to fill.
On top of that, the Destin Academy in my memories was a ruthless meritocracy. Status didn't matter. They divided classes and graded purely on skill. In a way it was fair, but it was also brutally cold. If you weren't talented, you'd never escape the bottom rung of society.
That's right. With my current body, I was basically guaranteed to be stuck at the very bottom. If I entered the academy like this, I'd spend the rest of my life at the absolute lowest rank, doing everyone else's dirty work. One hundred percent.
Fuck! This is so unfair!
If they were going to let me enjoy this life, they should've given me a proper playable character instead of some worthless NPC. What a shitty world!
This is too unfair. I can't accept it.
“The pain feels real, the hunger feels real, even breathing and shitting feel real. Is there any way to get out of this game?”
I was too pissed off to just go with the flow. I climbed into the carriage, gave my mother a calm farewell, then let out a deep sigh inside the rattling cabin.
Destin Academy taught a wide range of subjects, but they were largely split into two departments: the Combat Department and the Magic Department. The Combat Department was exactly what it sounded like—swordsmanship, archery, that sort of thing. The Magic Department handled magic. You know, 1st Circle, 9th Circle Archmage, all that.
There were also various “sub” subjects like alchemy and medicine. The problem was that you needed a certain level of talent to make any of it work.
Surviving came first. That was my number one goal. If I wanted to live even an ordinary life at the academy, this broken body made it impossible. But the carriage had already started moving, and enrollment was right around the corner.
Shit. Isn't there anything I can do right now?
When I arrive at the academy, I'll stay in temporary dorms for a few days. During that time they'll measure the students' basic mana and physical abilities, and the results will determine class placement.
Since I have zero strength, maybe the Magic Department would be better… But what the hell is Chosen One (Communion)?
I was looking through the status window when I noticed the text at the very bottom beneath all the despair-inducing passives. I tilted my head.
Chosen One (Communion) — Locked
If being born with a body this pathetic counted as being “chosen,” then yeah, I was definitely chosen. And it was locked, too.
To anyone else it would look like I was some lunatic pointing at empty air, but I instinctively tapped the Chosen One (Communion) entry in the status window.
Condition must be met to unlock.
Condition must be met to unlock.
What the hell is this nonsense?
I let out a dry laugh, completely dumbfounded. If your luck is this bad, it must be fate. Like I thought earlier, even if it's unfair, I'll claw my way through this world and find a way back to the real one. First I have to survive the academy.
I was steeling my resolve again when—
“Whoa…! W-what's wrong with this thing!”
The carriage I was riding suddenly began rocking violently from side to side. I quickly looked toward the driver's seat, but the driver had already vanished, leaving behind a single scream.
What the hell is happening?
The horse that had lost its rider must have sensed something. It kept screaming as it ran. No, fuck. I'm not about to die before I even reach the prologue, right?
There's an old saying that even rolling in dog shit is better than dying. I frantically looked around for a way to survive before the carriage flipped. The shaking made it hard to see anything, but while being thrown around inside the carriage I spotted a grassy area that looked like it would cushion the impact. I jumped out without hesitation.
There was a loud crash as the world spun upside down. My whole body rattled and pain flooded in. The world kept spinning. Even as every inch of me screamed in agony, I somehow managed to open my eyes and assess the situation.
The driverless horse and carriage had flipped right in front of me. The carriage was smashed to pieces and the horse was barely breathing.
“Ha, fuck. What the hell is going on?”
At that moment, an incredibly powerful wind blew in front of me. As if it had a will of its own, it literally tore the horse and carriage apart.
Have you ever seen a living creature get ripped apart while still alive? It's incredibly disgusting and shocking. The horse's painful screams lasted a few seconds. I covered my mouth with both hands to hold back the urge to vomit and watched, trembling.
Was it magic? A monster? An attack from a race that hated humans? I had no idea. What I did know was that I could die here.
The wind that had torn everything apart gradually calmed, then began swirling in place. As if searching for something, the vortex moved to the broken carriage and started ripping it apart piece by piece.
What is it looking for?
If it notices me, will I end up like that horse?
The driver who had already disappeared must have met the same fate. Far away, in a spot that should have been green grass, something of a different color was spread out. A reddish hue. I didn't need to get closer to know what was on top of it. The things piled there were still twitching.
If it catches me, I'm dead.
I stopped breathing entirely, covered my nose and mouth with both hands, and slowly backed away. The wind finally finished shredding the last piece of the carriage and seemed to realize it hadn't found what it was looking for. The gale that wanted to tear apart everything began expanding its range.
It widened its area, then suddenly froze.
That thing… did it just make eye contact with me?
Yes. Our eyes met, and whatever the wind was, it had paused for a moment when it saw me.
Right then, a message window appeared before me.
Chosen One (Communion) has been activated.
It activated? What the hell is this?
Due to the activation of Chosen One (Communion), you can now see what was previously invisible.
I thought I was going to die before even enrolling in the academy. My eyes widened at the unbelievable thing that appeared before me.
A small being with white hair tied in a round bun, two pairs of tiny fairy wings, and a green glow. A being you could never meet in Spirit Savior. I was so shocked I couldn't help but gasp.
<Lower Wind Spirit Silph> has sensed your presence.
Silph? A spirit? There weren't any spirits in this game…?
The patch notes for this version hadn't mentioned spirits at all.
<Lower Wind Spirit Silph> wishes to speak with you.
The tiny green fairy, small enough to fit in my palm, approached me with an unreadable expression. It stared at me quietly, then opened its mouth and muttered something.
“I… shouldn’t… be able to see…”
Huh? I didn't understand. Why was a spirit that shouldn't exist in this world appearing in front of me? What was this suddenly activated skill, Chosen One (Communion)? Did this so-called spirit hold the answers?
I swallowed hard and carefully opened my mouth.
“U-um…”
“Human. With me. Contract. Now.”
After grinding a person into paste like a blender, it comes to me and says what? A contract? What the fuck is this now?