Chapter 2
Translator: True Detective
Chapter 2
Start (1) - Modified
God must hate me.
Emphasizing it once again, God hates me.
I finally managed to possess a body, but it’s not a Romance Fantasy world; it’s a Dark Fantasy world where the world could collapse at any moment.
A worldview where fertile lands are eroded by demonic energy and demons appear like mountains, threatening places everywhere.
Since it’s a worldview I don’t know at all, I don't know about commonly mentioned bugs, secret techniques, or cheat items.
In this situation, my stats are trash, and I possess no talent either.
The only thing I have is the title of the eldest son of a Margrave.
But even that is useless because the original owner of the body before possession was a guy who habitually acted like a scoundrel, so his reputation is also the worst.
It was a place where it wouldn't be strange for even royalty to scream and die anytime, anywhere.
Here, titles were utterly useless.
It’s a place where, if illegitimate children have outstanding talent, a legitimate son like me is pushed aside and they are confidently designated as the successor.
Of course, when I opened my eyes, God didn't send me down in a state worse than naked like this without anything.
There was one thing given as a so-called memory perk.
What is this saying?
Is it really a perk? It seems to activate when faced with some situation.
Looking at what is written as [?ability], it doesn't seem like stats are increasing either.
Then what on earth does this mean? I tried every method to figure it out, but in the end, I couldn't.
The Academy, where only those over twenty who pass the criteria can enter.
I clung to the person called father, even grabbing his pant leg, asking if I really had to go.
Because the current Academy has completely transformed from a place of learning academics to a place that cultivates only things helpful for combat, like magic and swordsmanship.
In that sense, it was better for someone like me, who would only be a burden, not to go.
Even if I went, there would be no one to welcome me, who entered on family connections anyway.
But the person called father spoke firmly.
He told me not to think about disgracing him, but to go to the spot he barely secured and graduate.
I even came out hearing the threat that if I couldn't, I would be expelled from the family.
"This is driving me crazy. How am I supposed to graduate with my skills?"
Leaving aside the headache-inducing political issues, how on earth am I supposed to graduate with my skills?
With a desolate feeling, I gazed at the slowly appearing Academy.
"Let's stay quiet like a person who doesn't exist, and then leave."
Just like I did before possession, pledging to live as quietly as a dead mouse, I entered the Academy.
However, there was one part I didn't remember.
"How about sparring with me?"
That God is not on my side.
"G-Grand Duchess?"
"Because I want to see your skills."
As if she had been waiting, a 1-on-1 request came in from Grand Duchess Aniel Windelof, who is considered a Hero candidate.
The origin of the incident was this.
Before starting the entrance ceremony, we had to pair up and start sparring to test our skills.
"What's the point of doing it with a guy who got in on family connections?"
"He's probably a half-wit with absolutely zero skill."
"I don't want to waste time."
Rumors about me must have already spread, as everyone was distancing themselves as if they didn't even want to associate with me.
Originally, someone would have passed by skill and entered in my place.
Since a trash character like me pushed aside such a person and entered, there's no way they would view me favorably.
I am hopeless at fighting. And I hate getting hurt. So I looked around with the thought of fighting whoever was left appropriately and surrendering immediately.
Wondering if there was anyone left behind like me.
Then, there was someone whose eyes met mine.
Unlike himself who is from a Noble Faction family, a person who is the complete opposite, belonging to the Imperial Palace Faction to the bone.
A woman with beautiful platinum blonde hair and voluptuous eyes whose thoughts were difficult to fathom.
It was a brief encounter where we ran into each other once at an Imperial Palace banquet, but she was a person I absolutely couldn't forget.
The apple of the Windelof Grand Duchy's eye, Aniel Windelof.
"They said she went around catching monsters since she was 6 years old."
"She cleared a dungeon at the youngest age of 10."
"Above all, the most amazing thing is when she was 12. At that time, she single-handedly reclaimed all the cursed territory of the Grand Duchy."
Unlike me, she was granted natural talent from birth.
Strength, intelligence, speed, luck; all her stats are cheat-like from the start.
But the real cheat is that as the years pass, those stats jump by double.
Just being around her made my hands and feet tremble from the intimidation.
A person who is the complete opposite of me in everything.
I thought I would never be involved with her here at the Academy.
"How about sparring with me?"
"G-Grand Duchess?"
I was just about to turn my head and look for someone else, but suddenly Aniel approached me.
My heart sank because I hadn't even been conscious of her. No, more importantly, what?
I must have heard wrong. Why would she deal with someone like me?
I tried to ask back calmly, but the opponent spoke with a cold expression.
"Because I want to see your skills."
She is curious about my skills. I swallowed dry saliva.
As expected, I didn't hear wrong.
I tried to refuse while laughing awkwardly.
"Would someone like me dare to be an opponent for the Grand Duchess? It would be better to find someone else...."
I have to pull out. If I face that person, I have to be prepared not for an 8-week recovery, but for death.
So I tried to avoid it as much as possible.
"To me, everyone is all the same."
However, our Grand Duchess didn't seem to want me to back down.
She was insisting on doing it with me until the end.
I felt attention focusing this way, probably because an eye-catching person was with me.
"Do you have no pride? It seems all the men in the Wiesent family are dead."
Does pride feed you? If so, I should have already starved to death. I wanted to say that and run away, but thinking about it again, it might not be bad.
It's a gap that even my father, who keeps having impossible greed, would acknowledge saying, "Ah, this is acceptable."
I bit my lip and nodded.
"Fine. Let's do it."
Who knows, maybe my perk is optimized for these strongest individuals.
Optimization my foot.
"Kugh."
The result is, naturally, a defeat.
She is someone who has been called a monster ever since she was young.
"As expected, he's not even an opponent."
"Think about the difference in levels. The opponent is that famous Grand Duchess."
I had a vain delusion that maybe I could properly exchange just one blow, just one, but as expected, it was a delusion.
Right, it was a sparring match that ended in an instant, but I could feel that Aniel went easy on me.
In reality, if she had fought even slightly seriously, there’s no way I would still be breathing and alive in this world like now.
People around were continuing to talk about the spar between me and Aniel, but I didn't bother listening.
The sparring is over too. Since there is nothing more to do, I intended to go to the infirmary and slack off.
Even while doing so, I looked towards Aniel who was leaving, intending to show courtesy.
As soon as the sparring ended, she tried to turn around and leave as if she had no particular interest.
Perhaps because of the overwhelming gap in power I just experienced, my body still wouldn't listen to me.
But I greeted her even while lying down.
"Thank you for agreeing to spar."
I don't know if the opponent heard, but I didn't particularly care.
Since facing her would be the last time anyway.
Aniel, who came out of the sparring grounds, let out a sigh.
Aniel felt tired of receiving people's attention.
If it weren't for Princess Lucia's request, she wouldn't have bothered to approach Allen Wiesent and request a spar.
Although a situation arose where skill was valued more than status as demons appeared exponentially in the human world, the central political world was still in the midst of political strife.
With the Imperial Palace Faction supporting the Imperial Family, and the Noble Faction keeping that Imperial Palace Faction in check.
Lucia seemed to want to firmly break the spirits of the Noble Faction through Allen Wiesent.
That's why a spar like today's happened.
"If they have time to care about things like power, I wish they would catch just one more demon."
Aniel wore a sneer. She hated things that were tiresome.
The only things she was interested in were annihilating demons and becoming strong.
Anything other than that had no meaning to Aniel and wouldn't even remain in her memory.
It was definitely supposed to be like that.
"His skill is terrible, but still, he is polite."
But for some reason, one name remained in her memory.
The name Allen Wiesent.
The number above Aniel's head had changed from 0 to 1.