episode_0002

Even though I slammed the back of the head with a sharp stone, I lacked strength.

Blood was flowing, but it didn’t look like a big wound at a glance.

I resented Rie, who abruptly pressed the attack option.

The hand holding the stone trembled.

What do I do now? If I prostrate myself and ask for forgiveness now, will he accept? I didn’t do it because I wanted to, did I? My body just moved on its own without my will, didn’t it?

If I confess honestly as it is and bow my head, maybe he’ll let me off?

My legs trembled.

As I stepped back, the guy, rippling his lump of flesh, extending his steps greatly one by one, rushed towards me.

There wasn’t enough time to grasp what was suddenly happening and make a judgment.

“I’ll cut off your limbs and sell you to a cheap brothel!”

The pig let out a repulsive yell and reached out to grab me.

It seemed like even if I begged that I was wrong, he wouldn’t let me off.

But to fight, it seemed I could never win.

If that was the case, there was only one thing I could do now.

I immediately turned around and ran away.

No matter how weak this body was, everything was relative, so if I decided to run, he wouldn’t be able to chase after me with that kind of lump of fat.

[…I attacked first, so why are you running away?]

Asking why I’m running away.

Because the root cause of all this was saying such things, something felt like it was about to surge up from the depths of my chest, but I endured it with difficulty.

As my emotions fluctuated, my breathing became quick for a moment, and as my breathing became disordered, my lungs hurt as if they were being squeezed.

“Haa… Haugh……”

Clutching my chest, I tried to run as far away as possible.

Everyone saw me and made faces as if avoiding something dirty, moving out of the way, so I was able to escape more easily than expected.

[Is it because of the trait I gave?]

Trait… he says.

Something flashed in my mind for a moment.

Entering a dingy alley and hiding my body, I recalled something that might be possible.

‘Status Window’

Traits: Autonomy B, Silent Steps C, Gloomy Aura E

Skills: –

“…Huh.”

I wondered if this would work, but it does.

I calmly began to examine the things I possessed.

[Silent Steps C]

You are a dirty orphan from the slums, and no one welcomes you revealing your presence and walking around proudly. You learned how to walk without a sound because you didn’t want to be hated and suffer from the gaze of such people.

Silent Steps had such a setting.

Apart from the pitiful explanation, being able to walk without a sound seemed quite useful, more than I expected.

Next to look at is….

[Gloomy Aura E]

You have come to exude a gloomy aura due to frequent abuse and bullying.

This aura, which you cannot control, will be sufficient reason for people to avoid and dislike you.

It was a completely useless trait.

Could it be because of this that people were all avoiding me when I was running away?

For now, let’s move on and look at the next one.

B grade.

This seemed to be the perk included in the Ultimate Eternal Package that Rie mentioned.

[Autonomy B]

If the character has extreme aversion to the player’s command, they will not properly carry out the command.

“…What?”

The explanation of the trait, which had been referring to me as ‘you’ all along, suddenly mentioned ‘character’ and ‘player’ and wrote a direct explanation.

I bit my lip and fell into thought for a moment.

Something was definitely strange.

[I told you to fight, but suddenly you went to a corner and are crouching… Is it a bug? Should I delete it and make it again?]

At Rie’s voice, I raised my body.

It might have been something Rie said without much thought, but it sounded eerie to me.

I didn’t know what effect the act of deleting the character and making it again would have on me.

If deleting the character would send me back to reality, I would gladly be deleted.

Seeing how things were going, a baseless fear that I would also die if the character was deleted began to consume my body.

First, I decided to move because I knew that if I just sat there like this, it was the kind of personality that would really delete and start over.

Since I had hit the arrogant pig guy here with a stone, it seemed I would only be safe if I at least got out of this shantytown.

The problem here was that even if I got out of here, I didn’t know where to go.

I didn’t even know why I had to go through this.

I felt wronged and angry, but I still clearly understood what needed to be done.

Move.

No matter where it was, I had to move first to induce Rie’s interest.

[Ohh… it’s moving… But, where is it going? You don’t know either?]

Ignoring the voice, I kept walking in one direction to get out of the shantytown.

I thought that no matter which direction it was, if I kept walking in one direction, an end would come, and that was correct.

In the direction I could leave the shantytown, there was a gate, and two guards were blocking the gate holding spears.

As I approached carefully, the guard looked down at me and held his nose.

“…What.”

“Excuse me, may I pass?”

“You, do you have a transit permit?”

“……Uh.”

Is there such a thing?

I fumbled through the pockets of my tattered clothes, but all that came out was a small insect corpse.

I had nothing.

Even my clothes consisted only of a top with no bottoms.

I had no shoes, so I walked around stepping on things like filth.

I didn’t know how long it had been since I last washed, I thought the repulsive stench was coming from the filth scattered on the streets, but when I got near the gate where the street was relatively clean, I realized it was the smell coming from my body.

“If you don’t have a transit permit, you can’t pass. Just seeing you slum dwellers makes the citizens anxious and uncomfortable, you see. You can only pass if you have a transit permit that proves you won’t cause trouble on the streets, at the very least.”

“…How do I get a transit permit?”

“Even the slums must have an administration office, right? You can buy one there.”

“……Haa.”

My mood became depressed.

It means I have to buy a transit permit to cross.

If I had money, I wouldn’t be sleeping on the street with filth scattered on it.

Besides, tribute money and all that.

No matter how I earned money, it seemed like it was all taken away by that pig, so I couldn’t possibly have any money.

I didn’t know the situation well, but I could at least make a deduction.

I was a beggar.

Not just a beggar, but an orphan beggar.

Suddenly, time stopped again.

Cold sweat flowed at the sensation I had already experienced once.

What absurd options would be laid out again this time, and what crazy option would Rie choose again?

1. Talk.

2. Go back.

3. Attack.

[I want to try attacking this too… but because of the Autonomy trait, it seems to not listen if I do something too weird… So let’s just try talking normally.]

1. Talk. <

Fortunately, truly fortunately, he pressed the best option.

My mouth moved regardless of my will, and a frail voice that I couldn't believe I had uttered flowed out.

"I don't have any money, so… By any chance, were you thinking of… giving me work?"

"Work…?"

The guard stared at me for a long time, then tutted with his tongue and pointed to the ground with a nod.

"How about cleaning? We clean this area every day, but the slums get dirty quickly because people lack hygiene consciousness, so it's a pain."

He seemed bothered, but it seemed he was dealing with me seriously in his own way.

"I'll do it!"

"I'll tell you in advance, but I can't give you much money."

"I'll still do it!"

[The guard is kind, isn't he? Giving work to a kid?]

That's right.

For the first time, I agreed with Rie.

If a grimy girl exuding a gloomy aura came and asked for some work, in a world like this, ignoring or kicking her out would be the norm, but he listened to my troubles and even gave me work.

As I replied cheerfully with a bright smile, one of the guards went inside the gate, brought cleaning tools, and handed them to me.

Accepting them, I bowed my head to express gratitude.

"Know that if you don't clean it properly, I can't give you money."

"Yes!"

If the pig guy is working near the gate too, he won't be able to do anything to me.

I earned money, protected my safety, and things went better than expected, but… recalling my situation, I rapidly became depressed.

The very fact that something like this happened to me in the first place was a very unpleasant thing.

Holding the broom, I swept away things like filth.

Plop-! Filth fell onto the spot I had just swept.

When I raised my head and directed my gaze upwards, I saw a second-floor window was open, and it seemed someone had thrown filth outside through the window.

"Seriously, damn it."

Even with a quick look, it was clear it was medieval-style.

It seemed that hygiene and cleanliness concepts were not properly established.

Tears slightly welled up because the situation was so unfair.

Wiping the corner of my eyes with my sleeve, I moved the broom.

Thus, when the task I had repeated until blisters burst on my hands and my legs trembled was finished, the money I received after returning the cleaning tools to the guard was 2 copper coins.

Although I didn't know the exact value of the money I received, I could tell by intuition that it was a considerably small amount.