Three months had passed since Ren was reincarnated into Elijah's body. During that time, he had adapted to the villa and grown familiar with all the servants, which earned him thirty extra points, because the servants were loyal only to him. In his memories, Ren saw that Elijah himself had gathered the courage to select his own servants, choosing those who treated him well.
But the only problem was that Elijah couldn't go outside while the sun was up. It burned his skin and blinded him for a few minutes. Three months ago, Lilou had explained that he needed to collect at least 1,000 points in order to be cured.
There were many ways to earn points: either by suffering or by overcoming difficulties. In both cases, he could earn between one and ten points, no more. However, there was one difference when it came to suffering—Elijah wouldn't get any points if he hurt himself on purpose, and even if he tried, he might only get one point at most.
And now, out of a thousand points, he only had forty. He still needed nine hundred and sixty more. That was a lot, wasn't it? But for Elijah, it was a matter of life or death.
Elijah was born premature, and with his different appearance compared to his parents and his brother, his family didn't like him at all—or at least that was what his memories showed. But Ren couldn't understand why they disliked Elijah so much. To him, Elijah was truly beautiful for a beta.
But there was nothing he could do about it.
Elijah was lying down as usual when the system suddenly appeared with a poof.
Lilou: "Good morning, Elijah!"
Elijah: "….."
Lilou: "Uh… are you okay, Elijah?"
Suddenly, Elijah burst into tears. Lilou didn't understand what was happening, so he tried to comfort him, but without success. He kept asking what was wrong and why he was crying. He was in total panic when Elijah finally decided to speak:
Elijah: "Waaa… hic hic… I don't want to be Elijah! I want to be Ren! I don't want to be called Elijah, I want to be called Ren! Hic hic… waaa… sniff!"
Lilou: "That's why you're crying? But we can fix that very easily!"
Elijah: "Sniff… really?!"
Lilou: "Yes. To be honest, Elijah is just the name I gave to your host. His parents never gave him one. Haven't you noticed the servants only call you 'young master'?"
Elijah stopped crying.
Elijah: "So I can choose to be called Ren again?"
Lilou: "Of course."
Lilou: "You didn't need to cry for something like that, you know. I'm here to help you."
Ren: *Phew… I was afraid of losing my identity.*
A big smile appeared on Ren's pale face. He could finally keep his old identity.
Ren: "Still, it's sad for Elijah. His parents didn't even bother to give him a name."
Lilou: "Don't worry about him. He's not here anymore anyway."
Ren: "You don't need to be so harsh with your words. Don't you have feelings, even if you're artificial?"
Lilou: "But—!"
Ren didn't listen. He turned around abruptly and fell asleep immediately. As for Lilou, he disappeared with a poof.
Days of fatigue and hardship awaited Ren, who had to gather points to avoid dying. And for now, he was still far from succeeding.
The next morning, Ren decided to go out for a walk in the forest. The sun didn't reach the side of the villa before noon, so he still had time.
Then he snuck out with Lilou's help, who transported him to the middle of the forest. It was a little dark, humid, and terrifying—like in horror movies. It felt as if a monster could jump out at any moment.
Ren was a little scared, but he was tired of being locked up all the time. He gathered his courage and began to walk. He was on a long path winding through the forest.
To his left and right, he heard small noises in the bushes, but he reassured himself by thinking that Lilou would protect him if any wild animals attacked.
Ren: "Wow, this vegetation is really different from the one in my world."
Ren couldn't stop admiring how beautiful the forest was, even without the rays of the sun.