Chapter 1
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Episode 1 - Sister [1]
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Clanck!
The door was kicked with great force, the air shook slightly, and a crack appeared in the doorframe.
A tall woman with long black hair and eyes as dark as ink had a face wrinkled with anger, a faint red color frowning and shouting.
"Brother, I said come down for breakfast and I've been waiting for a damn hour!"
Still confused by what was happening to me, I muttered without realizing it.
"Why don't you shut up and get lost, bitch."
I had died just two or three minutes ago, and my emotions and thoughts were in complete chaos, causing me to unconsciously let words slip out.
"..."
Rubbing my head, there was a silence of about ten seconds as I regained my senses.
"W-what did you say...?"
Just then, an agitated voice, hesitant but also angry, whispered softly.
"I said shut up... Keugh."
Suddenly, my chest felt pressured as if all the air was escaping from my lungs, and a red line appeared on my nose. Feeling intense pain in my head, drops of blood fell onto my palm.
When I saw myself in the mirror at the back, I noticed that my complexion was pale and blood was dripping from my nose.
'W-what's happening to me...?'
Quickly wiping the blood from under my nose and hiding my hand, letters suddenly reappeared.
〖Penalty applied〗
〖Life expectancy reduced to one week〗
〖You have two more attempts to complete the sub-mission〗
I froze for a second as I looked at a large shadow right in front of me.
"Say that again."
"...W-what?"
Confused and disoriented, I looked at my brother, filled with rage.
"I said... Say it again!"
"..."
〖You have two more attempts to complete the sub-mission〗
Reading it for the second time, I forced a smile and looked at my sister.
"I said... G-good morning, sis."
"..."
There was a long silence that seemed to last an hour.
My sister's eyes widened in surprise at my sudden words, which she never expected to hear.
"W-what did you say?"
I tried not to frown in annoyance and forced a smile once again.
"I said... Good morning, sis."
I lowered my head, realizing that I was clutching the bed sheet tightly.
"I'll forgive you this time, but come down now or I'll get angry again."
"...?"
Turning around, Kadia left the room, leaving the door open.
Just as I was thinking about the current situation...
〖Submission: First Step of Reconciliation〗
〖Completed〗
〖Reward: Myst +50〗
A very familiar sensation ran through my entire body, exuding an energy that entered me without me doing anything.
Surprised, I looked at the mirror.
My previously pale complexion had disappeared; moreover, the bleeding from my nose had stopped.
'Well, well... I don't know how to explain it, but this... What is actually happening to me?'
***
Myst.
It is the power or energy of humans and all living beings in the world of 〖Dream Fantasy〗 that my ancestor explained in the grimoire.
The grimoire was a book inherited from my ancestor that explained everything about this world and some things related to it, such as that he was from another world and that this world was a game.
Myst is simply a name given, according to my ancestor's words, to differentiate it from the widely used word 〖Mana〗 and other common names.
The source of power and what makes up the rules of this shitty game is the energy of Myst, the only power with which humans have survived until now.
"Why did I receive Myst out of nowhere?"
Receiving rewards for doing good deeds.
Reducing my life expectancy for doing bad deeds.
Curse of rehabilitation.
A curse of unknown origin that very few people have had throughout time.
It is said that this curse follows the user even after death, haunting them even in their second life after reincarnation.
The curse forces you to do good deeds, but it is unknown when it will be lifted.
Because it is an impossible curse to remove, as the curse itself is lifted once it considers rehabilitation to be truly complete.
'But I was supposed to be reincarnated, not return to the past; that was the logic of this curse.'
Reincarnation into a second life was only possible for those cursed with this curse.
It carried with it the memories of their past life; otherwise, the curse would be useless and would not rehabilitate the cursed one.
However, there was one thing he was sure of.
"The curse never gave anything like rewards or missions."
The curse worked as follows:
First, if you commit a bad deed, there are two penalties.
First, your life expectancy is reduced.
Second, you either die immediately.
'Besides, what is this screen? It's similar to the system but at the same time very different.'
"If it's not a system, then what is it?"
As I was thinking, the screen appeared in front of me once again.
〖Submission: Second step of reconciliation〗
〖Have a pleasant family dinner〗
Reading it, I could only remain silent and sigh, tired.
"Well, what can I do? This thing will really kill me if I don't do what it tells me to do..."
I remained silent for a moment, thinking, and after a while, I gave up and muttered.
'System.'
〖Ivanth V. Ashford〗
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
↳ Race - [Human]
↳ Alignment - [Void]
↳ Lineage Trait - [Law of the Void]
↳ Traits - [Photographic Memory] - [Interest] - [Myst Manipulation] - [Shadow] - [Intimidation] - [Spiritual Manipulation] - [Immersion] - [Void Body] - [Telekinesis]
↳ Myst Power - [110] - [Apprentice]
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
'This is the moment when I just started training.'
When I tried to be a 'good' person for years, I realized that nothing was working.
There seemed to be some kind of conspiracy that erased and replaced the memories of all the people I did good deeds for.
The good deeds I did were remembered as bad deeds.
When I understood this, it was the moment I began to assume my role as the strongest villain in 〖Dream Fantasy〗.
'I didn't know how to start, so I just trained physically for five years, and after five years, I just started cultivating Myst.'
Looking at the 110 Myst I have minus the 50 I just received, it means I've been cultivating Myst for a year.
'It's been six years since I started committing truly evil deeds.'
With everything understood, I got out of bed, changed my clothes, and left the room.
***
The duchy that has even more power and influence than the imperial family itself.
The Ashford duchy, as descendants of the legendary hero, had already accumulated so much power and influence over a thousand years.
My ancestor, from another world, awoke in the body of the youngest son of the Ashford barony and began the hero's journey and the start of the game's story.
As a result of saving the world a thousand years ago, my ancestor turned the Ashford family into a duchy with power and influence equal to that of the imperial family.
Over the past thousand years, at one point the imperial family became corrupt, with an emperor who brought the empire to the brink of ruin.
The Ashford family, at that time, took action and elevated the power of the duchy.
Since then, there had been no one more powerful in the entire empire and continent.
Even the imperial family had once knelt before the Ashford duchy.
'The current imperial family is corrupt, so my old plans to overthrow the empire were no problem.'
However...
Now it's different.
〖Sub-mission: Second step of reconciliation〗
〖Have a pleasant family dinner〗
Clicking my tongue over and over, I erased the window in front of me.
"I don't like this. I feel like they're controlling me so blatantly, even more than before."
Going down the stairs, I soon arrived at a large room.
A table decorated with plates of food was laid out along the length of the room.
The smell of food filled the enormous table, and the lighting from the chandeliers illuminated the room.
"Welcome, young master, dinner is served."
As I walked with my hands in my pockets, a woman dressed as a butler approached me.
Curiously, she was not wearing women's clothing but men's; well, she was a butler after all.
When I looked at her, she avoided my gaze by lowering her head and looking at the floor.
"Cynthia."
"..."
The butler stammered.
"Y-yes... young master, what do you need?"
I gritted my teeth and forced myself to smile.
"Good job."
If I hadn't said these words, I would have been penalized by the sudden curse window in front of me.
〖Side quest: Say the following words〗
〖Good job〗
〖Completed〗
〖Reward: Relieve the pain of the last penalty〗
The pain in my head suddenly disappeared, and just as I was surprised...
"What?"
Noticing the silence throughout the hall, I spoke rudely.
The maids hurriedly walked away and stopped looking at me.
"T-thank you... young master... I'm just doing my job."
"..."
I sighed and sat down.
There were several seats on both sides of the long table, and at the end of it, on the other side from where I was sitting, Kadia was staring at me.
"What are you up to now, brother?"
"Who, me? Nothing."
I crossed my arms and smiled.
"I need to change my expression and way of speaking, as well as my attitude toward others, now that I have a curse that could kill me at any moment."
Kadia frowned when she saw me and said,
"You're acting strange. Maybe because I knocked you unconscious last time, you're planning something and acting that way."
I opened my eyes slightly when I heard her words.
"She knocked me out?"
When I thought about it, I immediately remembered.
Even though I trained my body for five years and only started cultivating Myst a year ago...
I didn't know how to wield a sword, let alone combat techniques.
However, Kadia is different.
She has only trained her body for two years, but she started cultivating Myst five years ago, and in that time she also learned swordplay and martial arts.
"Well, it makes me angry to admit it, but she's stronger than me right now."
"I think you're wrong, little sister. I just reflected and thought about changing things back to how they were before."
"How they were before?"
Kadia rested her head against her palm, searching for a more concrete answer.
Seeing that, I closed my eyes and clenched my teeth.
'It's been so long since anyone has been afraid of me or even made fun of me.'
But what can I do? Anyway, I need to change my current approach and relax a little.
I forced a smile and said,
"Yes, it's like I said, I want to be like I was as a child."
"..."
Kadia frowned.
"Didn't you say you hated everyone because you claimed you did good things, but in reality it was always the opposite?"
"..."
I rubbed my temples, feeling a sudden headache coming on.
"Is that so? Well, I don't remember saying that..."
"You're supposed to have a photographic memory; it's hard for you to forget things that most people remember very clearly."
I said those words ten years ago, but for me, in my current self, more than thirty years have passed.
Even if I have a photographic memory, there are things more important than my past, and I barely remember anything.
But I can't say that I come from the future that I myself destroyed and that, because of that, my childhood friend implanted the 〖Rehabilitation Curse〗 on me, but that I actually went back to the past and didn't reincarnate.
"Why don't we eat and have a quiet family dinner?"
A smile tugged at Kadia's lips.
"Avoiding the subject, huh, brother? But what's this about having a family dinner when you said you hated it?"
"..."
There was a brief silence.
The servants who were listening and those who were about to eat dinner even stopped breathing.
'I'm not hungry anymore...'
With a sigh, I replied.
"That's why I said I want to change, or did you forget?"
"Well, if that's the case..."
Kadia stopped staring, and I was finally able to concentrate on filling my stomach.
Grabbing the fork and knife, I cut the meat into several pieces.
After eating a piece of meat, I picked up an empty glass.
Cynthia, standing next to me, grabbed a bottle of wine and poured it into the glass I had just taken.
"Thank you."
"...!"
It seemed that Cynthia felt uncomfortable about my behavior when she accidentally spilled some wine on the table.
A few drops fell on my clothes, and I froze, staring at the scene.
"I-I'm sorry, young master, I'll clean it up right away."
Grabbing several napkins, she clumsily wiped the table and then brought her hand right where the wine had spilled on me.
"I-I apologize for my clumsiness..."
I raised my hand.
The servants, watching the scene, bowed their heads nervously.
Kadia, holding her fork and knife at the same time, looked ready to get up, but...
I forced a smile and looked at Cynthia.
"It's... not important, Cynthia. It was just an accident."
Feeling somewhat uneasy about receiving a penalty, I handled everything with the utmost calm I had never had before.
The seconds passed.
"Then, let's continue."
The family dinner continued in an awkward and tense moment.
Normally, I would have hit Cynthia and yelled angrily.
However, seeing that the sub-mission was complete, I sighed wearily and irritably.