Chapter 1: Let me sleep.
My eyes open to an unfamiliar ceiling, it greets me morning. The smell of rotten wood invades my nostrils, and the damp air stung my eyes.
Ah…It wasn't a dream after all
It had happened three days ago.
The last thing I remembered, I choked on my own saliva and blacked out. When I woke up, gone was my moldy mattress and cramped apartment.
Glancing at the alien space briefly I noticed, everything was coated with unfamiliarity.
Wooden walls, and floors so old they looked ready to collapse. Curved daggers hung on the wall, alongside leather gear and an old crossbow.
Other than that, the place was so empty and dilapidated I thought I'd been dumped in some cartel kill-house.
That was when a shallow yet gentle moan of pain nudged me back from my perplexity. It came from a different room, far into the quiet space of this house. Moments later, I arrived at the door where the noise was coming from.
The knob turned and revealed to me a sight most unexpected.
In the cold, dark room, a single ray of light slipped through half-closed curtains, illuminating a beauty out of this world.
Her skin was pearly white yet lifeless, faintly sparkling as the light passed over it.
She lay on a bed, her complexion pale. Yet her eyes were lively as they met mine, and she smiled as if seeing something precious.
My cheeks heated up, hastily avoiding eye contact, I gazed lightly at the mysterious resplendent woman.
She had features that were anything but ordinary, small scales the size of a thumbnail growing on her collarbone and parts of her wrist.
As if sensing my gaze, she shyly covered the scales and dove back into her blanket.
Moments later, a weak voice came from within.
The woman slowly pulls back the blanket, revealing glimpses of her gentle eyes and silver hair, blushing lightly.
"Roland…why are you staring at me like that? You've seen them so many times already…"
"Also, did you drink again ?! It's not good for your health, you know ? Alright here, let me cook you some hangover sou-"
Just as she was about to get out of bed, something changed in her complexion, blood drained from her face and she got even paler, and was about to collapse like a dry leaf.
As if natural, my body moved on its own and swooped the fragile maiden, I caught her instinctively, her body frighteningly light in my arms.
On a closer look, doesn't she resemble someone ?
Her appearance is identical to that of... Angeline's mother, a character from the game I've played a year ago.
Isn't this…Yenica Morgan ? The tragic mother whom fate was sealed before chapter 2 even starts ?
That was when I understood, I transmigrated in that game I played a year ago, the same game based on the novel that I read 2 years previously.
But who am I right now ? I hope I'm that guy who everyone keeps calling a bug character !
After setting Yenica down peacefully on her bed. I quickly rush to find a mirror
With haste, I rush into the bathroom. It's such a weird thing that this medieval themed house has a bathroom equipped with a working modern toilet and plumbing system.
"...Who the fuck is this ?"
Reflected on the mirror, was a rough middle aged guy - blond - unshaved with a firm build and eyes, reminiscent that of rabid dogs and beasts.
Previously, Yenica called me Roland. Don't tell me…I'm THAT Roland !? No fucking way.
In the game, there's a section where you can view a character's connections with others, there you can also find the family trees of those characters to find quests and lore related to them.
Angeline's family tree includes her mother, Yenica Morgan and her father, Roland. Who, unlike her flesh out mother, doesn't even have a character icon !!
"FUCKKKKKK!!!!"
I rolled a nat 1 with this isekai, really brings me back to the old days. What can I even do in this old bum's corpse ?!
There were descriptions of him being a hunter, but the game doesn't elaborate further than that.
The last few lines were about him being a deadbeat and how he died from chronic alcoholism. Basically, a total bum.
In my despair, there is one thing I must try. I took a deep breath and at the top of my lungs
SYSTEM !
Awkward silence fills the room as my scream of desperation fades
"..."
SYSTEMMMM!!
Once again, no floating screen super assistant popped up, there were some complaints from the neighbors, though.
They quieted down after I apologized and gave them a bit of meat from the fridge…I can't get used to how this place blends between modern and dark ages themes.
I attempted to get my ultimate cheat one last time, but as I prepared my lungs, a sharp pain shocked me, and everything went dark.
When I woke up, my chin was bleeding and bruised up, in front of my eyes, A black transparent screen with white cursive letters written on it, floating at palm's length away from my face.
" What in the fuck of Damned Earth do you want you sonavabitch ?"
I can only laugh breathlessly, there is still a way to survive after all !
And that's all for the flashback. After that fateful first meeting with my "wife", I've been nursing Yenica these past three days. Her condition doesn't seem to improve, though.
She looks like she's suffering, groaning as if in unbearable pain with each breath she took, I can only wipe her body lightly with a warm towel.
Meanwhile I had completed the guide book on Damned Earth, well as much as I can remember anyways, it's been too long since I last even looked at the game.
And I must say, this game really is a mixed bag of everything, having both JRPG and narrative-driven elements, sprinkled with a bit of souls-like combat and RNG fuckery.
At launch it gained traction pretty easily, but because of the unforgiving nature of the game, where one wrong move branches out to an unwanted end, not many have the patience to continue playing after getting their first ending.
Currently, I'm staying at the first area of the game, The kingdom of Magian, land of freedom or as players called it, nest of corrupted officials.
Where crimes are a daily hustle and rule of the fittest is ingrained in the mind of the mind of its citizens.
Truly a fumble, maybe if I hold my saliva and die a bit slower, I could get reincarnated as a slime instead.
It's too late crying over spilled milk, I need more explanations, more answers. Looking at the air, I called for it calmly.
"System ?"
"..."
Still nothing huh, This bastard has been shutting his typers for three days now, not even a spliced coma, maybe it's just introverted ?
I'm still glad the system exists, it doesn't resemble any of the game's displays, which is strange ?
I never saw any screens that had a black background with white cursive letters before, the way the texts appeared feels like a magic 8 ball.
Anyhow, I should find a way to wake it up soon, and...find that Item.
As I was contemplating whether to call up the system for the twenty-ninth time today, sounds of commotion echoed outside. A ringing sound, from a bell. It clings and clangs as if taking a leisure stroll.
Children crying out in anguish followed the rings of the bell, curses blasted back and forth, then silenced by what sounded like roars of a jet engine, it went on for a moment until everything went quiet.
"..."
"....."
*cling clang cling*
A ring of a bell breaks the cooled air
This sinister sound… it scratches an old memory - no, a trauma. This sound ingrained fear among many players, even veterans can't hold on to their wits after hearing it.
It goes by many names, The calm before the storm, the spark of inevitable inferno,...The clanging of the Loan Lords' bell.
They are quite the bizarre group, seen all around the first part of the game. Offering players who were just starting out massive loans, with little to no interest.
They strike right into the greed of the poor and poor asses, like moths to flame, slurp their offers up like gravy. Not knowing they stepped straight to a pressure cooker.
To simplify it, they're cooked if they take the bait and take out some loans. The Loan Lords will slowly increase the interest every week, and before you know it, you have to sell three livers and a heart to pay for that teeny tiny loan last month.
At that point, you've officially become their full time slave, forced to work day and night without rest in a dungeon, a cold mine, or for the less unfortunate. A brothel.
…*Cling clang cling
SHIT, those bastards are getting closer, I must find a way out of thi-
A long creaking sound of the opening door instantly halted my train of thoughts.
Outside, three men dressed in formal attires, black suits with fox-fur scarfs tightly coiling around their necks, on each of the men's waist dangle a lighter on a chain, the lighter has the insignia of the Loan Lords, a red fox sleeping on a pile of gold bars.
The air instantly shifted, one of the men lowered his hat, gesturing the others to follow suit.
" May I inquire whether you are Roland the hunter ? We have received information which entails your lack of punctuality in paying the recent loan you've borrowed three weeks ago"
The man looked at me straight in the eye, his lips curve up in a crescent
"We have given you enough time to pay back, Roland. Our patience is running out with each hour of late payment and soon we may have to resort to different, more "proactive" means to retrieve what was owed"
This bossy guy sounds so polite and punchable at the same time,...
" Sir please, give us one more week, I swear I'll pay it in full. My wife has been gravely ill recently so we're short on hands. Just give me one more week and it will be paid !"
The boss put his hat back on, and started fiddling with the lighter on his waist, the other men also held on to theirs, staring straight at me.
"A week ? Roland, you said the exact same plead 2 weeks ago. We're tired, and we're getting hungry Roland, what if this "one more week" excuse of yours turns into two, or three, might as well be a month. Roland, we shall give you three days."
As if he had finished marinating a sweet steak, the man signaled the others and they all left, continuing their feast in the neighborhood as if it were a culinary district.
"...Fuck, how the hell can I even earn that much money in three days. The amount Roland's family owed was up to six figures worth of gold coins, that is not counting the interests, and the penalty fees set by those fox bastards for paying late."
A black window facing me
[[1ST DILEMMA: DEBTS OF BROKEN HEARTS.]]
[IF SUCCEED: 1.GAINED A MORE STABLE FINANCIAL STATUS.
2.MAY REVEAL A CLUE TO YOUR WIFE'S ILLNESS. ]
[ IF FAILS: CHARRED.]
You know…It would have been better if you left that failed outcomes blank…