episode_0003

After finishing the cleaning and receiving the daily wage, I leaned against the city wall near the gate and tried to sleep.

A distance close enough for the guards to hear if I screamed.

In a place like this, even if that pig guy found me, he wouldn’t be able to rashly touch me.

Rustle- Shivering slightly in the chilly weather, I looked up at the city wall.

As if having no intention of letting the slum residents inside, the city wall, about 6 meters high, cut across and divided the slum and the residential area as is.

If it were a suitable height, I would at least try to climb over the wall.

The city wall was too high.

In the end, to get out of here meant I needed a pass.

“…Since the daily wage is 2 copper coins, to buy a pass.”

The price of a pass is 1 silver coin.

1 silver coin is 100 copper coins.

“…That means I have to work for 50 more days.”

Raising my gaze from the city wall a little higher, I looked at the sky.

The night sky embroidered with starlight was beautiful, but because it was too far to reach, it was only beautiful, and since I couldn’t reach it, I only felt lonely.

“Whether they’ll just watch me quietly work for 50 days is the problem.”

For me, this situation is not a game, but for the streamer Lie, this situation was a game.

No one would find it fun to watch the character she was playing cleaning up filth for 50 days.

“Today somehow passed, but I have to accumulate money as quickly as possible.”

I decided that.

Working for 50 days at 2 copper coins each truly wasn’t an option.

Leaving aside the possibility that Lie might get bored and delete the character, that pig guy was the problem.

Since I had slammed his head with a stone, it was obvious he would try to find me and harm me.

Even if I said it wasn’t my will, it would only sound like an excuse.

…I should have truly killed him then.

I mumbled that, but it was too late, and I couldn’t have done that anyway.

Even if you ordered a modern person to kill someone, if they were a normal person, there was no way they could follow that order.

I had many thoughts, but no answer came out, so I felt frustrated.

Letting out a sigh, I closed my eyes.

Let’s think after sleeping and waking up, and if all of this was a dream when I woke up, that would be even better.

That’s how the day dawned.

Unfortunately, ‘it was a dream’ – it didn’t lead to such an easy story.

When I woke up, it hurt as if my whole body had been beaten.

Perhaps because I cleaned for over 6 hours, my muscles felt torn and seemed to be screaming.

“…Ugh, I have to get up.”

Getting up by pushing off the ground, I stumbled and walked towards the gate like a cat whose whiskers had been pulled out.

However, as I approached the gate, for some reason, the atmosphere looked grim.

Not just the 2 guards guarding the gate, but several people in uniform with swords at their waists were discussing something together.

Feeling it would be troublesome to get involved, I took a small step back, and then the guard who had given me work yesterday spotted me and gestured for me to come closer.

Unable to guess what the situation was at all, I hesitated and approached, and then the guard held out the paper he was holding to me.

“By any chance, do you know this guy?”

“Uh…”

What the guard handed to me was a drawing.

A drawing of a person’s face.

Although the detailed depiction was lacking, the features were crudely but well-implemented, making it a drawing where you could recognize who it was at once.

“…Pig?”

It was the guy I had slammed down with a stone yesterday.

But, why would he show this to me?

Unable to know his intention, as I just blinked my eyes, the guard, seeming to have a headache, pressing his temples, began to speak.

“Seeing you say ‘pig,’ you roughly know who it is, right? This guy, he suddenly died yesterday, which is a headache.”

“…Huh?”

Died?

Who?

The pig guy?

“Why are you saying such things to a child, you…?”

“What’s it matter? This bastard went around swaggering in the slum and committed all sorts of wickedness, so there’s no one who will mourn even if he’s dead. Rather, there are plenty of people who’ll be happy. This kid will be too.”

Although I didn’t understand the situation at all, in a situation like this, without needing to ask back, nodding my head was enough.

Anyway, he wasn’t asking for my intention, but like muttering to himself, it was a meaningless remark thrown out.

“But… why did he suddenly die?”

“I don’t know either, it looks like something hit his head, and whether it was a fatal injury, the bleeding didn’t stop, and he just collapsed in the alley and died a miserable death screaming.”

……That alley yesterday?

Hit on the head with something?

…If so, that, it seems I killed him, but it didn’t feel real.

The fact that I killed someone, and that the guy died from a stone slammed down by just a child, that too.

“Even if he was a guy whose death helped society, since it’s a murder case anyway, an investigation is necessary… you know, right? Slum residents throw out filth indiscriminately, so the scene isn’t preserved.”

‘Thank goodness-‘ I thought to myself without realizing it.

Feeling thankful while seeing them face difficulties in the investigation after I had killed someone.

A momentary feeling of self-loathing surged, but more than that, a sense of relief came much more strongly.

“And I don’t even know if he died because of the bleeding in the first place.”

“…Huh?”

“It’s true that he bled and collapsed, but it also seems like he died because the wound got infected, seeing as the scene was so dirty.”

At the guard’s lamentation, the one among the people in uniform standing next to him who seemed the oldest patted the guard’s shoulder.

“Stop, don’t say any more strange things to the child.”

“Yes, well… Did you come to work today too?”

The moment the guard uttered those words, time stopped.

No matter how many times I experienced it, it was an unfamiliar, alien sensation that I couldn’t get used to.

-Achievement! First Murder

You have committed your first murder.

You have committed something you should not have done as a human.

It’s alright to console yourself by saying it was unavoidable, but even so, what you have done will not become something that didn’t happen.

-Gloomy Aura E ▶ Gloomy Aura D

[Gloomy Aura D]

Due to frequent abuse and harassment, you have come to exude a gloomy aura.

The gloomy aura has swallowed your experiences and grown.

This aura that you cannot control will be a sufficient reason for people to loathe you.

“…Sorry, I felt it yesterday too, but to entrust you with work, I really don’t feel trust.”

“…Su- Suddenly?”

“Sorry, but I just feel uneasy about it.”

The guard, even while about to give me the same work as yesterday, frowned and shook his head.

While taken aback by the attitude that changed in an instant, I could guess why his attitude suddenly changed, so I bit my lip.

“If you have nothing to do, go now. Don’t sleep leaning against the city wall like yesterday, if you do that again, I’ll scold you.”

At the guard’s cold words, I turned my back and entered the slum.

If the pig guy wasn’t there, there would be no immediate problem, but the trait that had grown on its own was ruining everything.

[I achieved an achievement, but is a debuff trait upgrade all I get?]

I don’t know since when it was there, but Lie was chattering noisily.

Anger surged momentarily and I wanted to curse, but because the gazes of the people around me were stinging, I could only swallow it back inside.

-Murder of ‘Vicious Bedrill’!

You have obtained some of his belongings!

As if in response to Lie’s words, to the suddenly ringing mechanical voice, I frantically rummaged through my pocket, but nothing came out.

Thinking perhaps it was a joke, I wrinkled my face as much as possible, and then the answer to that popped out of Lie’s mouth.

[3 silver coins and a chipped dagger… Can I buy a pass with this?]

…This thing called inventory, which is only visible to the player, not me, seemed to be something.

Hoping those words weren’t a joke, I bit my lip, and then simultaneously with the words [Let’s just give 1 silver coin for now], I felt my empty pocket become slightly heavier.

Right now, because of people’s gazes, I instinctively realized I shouldn’t carelessly show the silver coin, and acting as natural as possible.

I walked towards the management office.

[But, this kid is really boring… Should I just delete him? Huh? You can create a new character without deleting him?]

I stopped my steps.

I couldn’t understand what Lie was saying right now.

[Ah, anyway, the inventory is account shared… so what this kid earned can be transferred to the new kid I make, right?]

“What the…”

[Then let’s just make a new one. This one’s starting point is too bad right now. Let’s make it upper class instead of an orphan, a bit rich.]

With those words, Lie’s voice cut off.

As she had said, it seemed she had left to create a new character.

What in the world is this supposed to mean?

My head was throbbing, and irritation and anger were mixed, becoming a feeling I didn’t know how to put into words, and it seeped out.

“No… Anyway, if Lie had been here, she would have just pressed strange options indiscriminately and I would have been in agony… So it’s fine.”

Consoling myself that way, I swallowed my resentment.

For now.

Yes, for now, let’s do what I have to do first, and continue thinking after that.

Entering the management office, being wary and looking around, I took out the silver coin from my pocket and held it out.

My hand, which was already dark and dirty, had even gotten blisters that burst, and fluid was oozing out.

My hand holding the silver coin stung, and it was sticky.

The person at the management office, as if the smell was terrible, while covering their nose, took the silver coin, and then issued the pass.

The pass had my name and physical characteristics written on it, so even if someone other than me stole it, there was no use for it.

That day, leaving the slum, I moved to the residential area.

Of course, even so, my sleeping place didn’t change.

Because I had merely come to the residential area without a plan.

The same as when I was in the slum, I was a homeless person.

Still, I didn’t see filth anymore.