episode_0014

[You have been warped into another novel. Magic usage is restricted for 24 hours. Physical strength decreases. Movement is severely limited. Physical defense and durability decrease by 99% for 24 hours.]

Damn it.

Upon hearing the message from the flickering system as soon as he possessed, he spat out a curse. He urgently tried to use magic, but his mana was completely blocked. It’s okay. I can just use my sword.

Thinking so, he swiftly swung his body, but something was off. His body felt heavy, as if a ton of rock had been placed on him. His arms wouldn’t even rise, and running was impossible. Once a grand archmage and the sole disciple of Sword Saint in the original world, now reduced to nothing more than a toddler in this world for a limited 24 hours.

“Choi Ye-bin, be careful… It seems like our abilities are greatly restricted.”

After grasping the situation, he conveyed the precautions to Choi Ye-bin, who had warped with him. Since I received this level of penalty, I thought Choi Ye-bin’s abilities would be similarly restricted.

However, when he looked around, there was no Choi Ye-bin, only a strange man walking slowly towards him, then shouting,

“What’s this guy saying? What’s supposed to be restricted is restricted. I don’t know where this guy came from, but this is our territory, so get lost.”

Judging by his demeanor, he seemed like a ruffian or a beggar.

I desperately tried to stand up. Engaging with someone in this state was definitely not the right thing to do.

But my body was too heavy. It felt like being submerged in the deep sea. I hurriedly moved outside. The man’s attitude did not seem friendly at all.

“Hey. Wait there for a moment.”

Sure enough, the man started poking my shoulder with narrowed eyes.

“I told you to get lost, yet you’re leisurely strolling? Have I ever seen such an insolent punk?”

It’s not intentional. How could I explain that my body wasn’t moving properly? I politely replied,

“It was uncomfortable to run due to physical inconvenience. I apologize. I’ll leave quickly.”

“Ha? Is it difficult to run because your body feels uncomfortable? But what can you do? I’m starting to feel uncomfortable now.”

The man began to mercilessly beat me with the club that was at his waist.

“Oof!”

I literally screamed as I fell to the ground. Even though my body had been completely unaffected when hit with a wooden stick, it was collapsing from just a mere club. It seemed that the penalty applied for 24 hours was affecting the durability of my body.

As I collapsed to the ground, the ruthless beating continued.

“You bastard, feeling uncomfortable? Uncomfortable? Are you still uncomfortable?”

I huddled my body like a cockroach. It was a strange emotion I hadn’t felt in a long time. Being beaten to death by a novice magician who could separate limbs with a basic spell, and feeling such intense flesh pain from someone, was beyond words.

“Enough… stop… or I’ll kill you…”

“Try to kill me. Go ahead, try to kill me, you son of a b****.”

The man’s beating continued. Blood started to burst from my body. I reached out to grab his neck, but an unknown force restrained me once again.

I tried to use mana, but only the system message appeared again.

[Magic usage will be available in 23 hours, 50 minutes, 10 seconds.]

At that moment, when my mind was becoming faint.

“Stop it!”

A girl, clearly dressed in elegant attire, shouted.

At first glance, I almost shouted when I saw her. Because above her head was written “love peace.”

Love Peace. She was a girl.

When I looked behind the girl, Choi Ye-bin was approaching me with a dagger of unknown origin. But I raised my hand to stop Choi Ye-bin. She looked at me with a puzzled expression, then lowered the dagger and stepped back to assess the situation.

“Stop it! He might die if you keep going!”

Despite Love Peace’s admonition, the thug seemed unfazed.

“Then you should die instead, you b****.”

He immediately rushed towards the girl, but her reaction was quicker.

“Aqua!”

In an instant, a water spell was shot at the man. He crashed to the ground.

“Are you okay?”

Lovepiece asked, and I shook my head.

“It feels like my bone is broken.”

“Uh… What should I do… Should I take you to the hospital?”

“I don’t have any money.”

After contemplating for a moment, Lovepiece looked at me, drenched in blood, with a determined expression and said,

“Let’s go to my house. I’ll take care of your treatment.”

I didn’t refuse her kindness. Her attire seemed quite affluent, and her magical abilities were not bad either.

‘After all, I came here to see her.’

As I followed Lovepiece, Yebin, who was behind me, gestured to me. Her finger was pointing towards the thug who had assaulted me earlier.

By flicking her dagger, it seemed as if she was asking if she could kill him.

‘Kill’

I subtly mouthed to Yebin, who was supporting Lovepiece, and she gently entered the alleyway.

It wasn’t because the guy simply beat me that I ordered his death. He clearly mentioned that he had intruded into “our” territory. Anyway, it meant dealing with a group. If the guy went back alive, he would convey the story of Lovepiece and me, and then they might come after us before the 24-hour penalty period expired.

At least for the next 24 hours, we couldn’t afford to be exposed to them. So killing him was the right thing to do.

After entering the alley, Yebin came out again about 5 seconds later.

No screams were heard, but the blood on her dagger visually indicated that the man’s life had ended.

‘Fortunately, it seems that Yebin has no penalty.’

For some reason, it seemed like the penalty only applied to me. That’s how I formulated the hypothesis.

I don’t know why we were warped to different locations, but that’s not important right now.

‘Sneak up slowly from behind.’

When I mouthed this to Yebin, she skillfully took cover and started following me slowly. The reason for this instruction was simple.

It was because I couldn’t determine whether Lovepiece was a good person or a bad one yet. There are plenty of ruthless people who pretend to be kind on the outside but take lives.

Choi Ye-bin is the best assassin. Even if they were a magician, having an assassin capable of perfect ambushes made them not such a terrifying threat. In short, allowing Choi Ye-bin to secretly follow me was insurance for my lifeline.

“What happened with that person?” I was momentarily taken aback, thinking she was talking about Choi Ye-bin, but I was relieved by Lovepeace’s following words.

“That scoundrel… What grudge does he hold to beat you like that…?”

“I don’t know… He just randomly attacked after taking a wrong turn.”

“He’s truly a bad person. Please bear with it a little; our house is nearby, isn’t it?”

Lovepeace looked at me with a pitiful expression, and suddenly, I had one question.

“Why are you helping me?”

To which Lovepeace smirked and retorted, “Do you need a reason to help someone in distress?”

I chuckled dryly. It had been a long time since I heard such words. Needing a rational reason to help someone in distress. It goes without saying that there should be a rational reason for helping someone. Killing someone doesn’t require a reason, but to save someone, a rational reason is necessary. The former ends with thrusting a knife and tidying up the corpse, while the latter entails enduring various discomforts for the sake of the other.

It applied to Lovepeace as well. If she had ignored me and walked past, she wouldn’t have wasted magic on the scoundrel’s attack, nor would her elegant clothes have bloodstains, nor would she have bothered bringing an unknown man to her home.

“Why are you smiling?”

Lovepeace asked with a puzzled look, and I replied, “You seem like a really good person.”

Upon hearing this, Lovepeace blushed and lightly hit me.

“Don’t say embarrassing things so casually!”

“Ow!”

Lovepeace playfully hit me where I was already injured. She apologized, shouting, “Eek… I’m sorry! Are you okay?”

It seems that Lovepeace didn’t know that I was the administrator. For now, I decided to keep it that way. It seemed like my nickname was the only thing visible above my head. First, I resolved to learn more about her.

“I’ve arrived.”

As we reached the house, a massive door came into view. A mansion boasting immense proportions. Lovepeace infused mana toward the door, and with a creaking sound, it opened.

As I began to enter, servants and others started to greet me, but they eyed me with suspicion. Then, a middle-aged woman adorned with all sorts of splendid jewelry walked over.

“Riena, the academy exam is approaching. Why are you wandering around like this?”

“I’m sorry, mother. I just wanted to clear my head with a short walk…”

“I see. A walk… But what’s that thing hanging by your side?”

The middle-aged woman pointed at me with a tinge of disdain.

“I wanted to treat someone who seemed injured outside.”

“You? Why bother with that person? Do you even know them?”

“…”

“If it’s not someone you know, then get rid of them before coming back. Bringing in such people will only dirty the house.”

After a moment of silence, Riena quietly spoke.

“Yes… They helped me once before.”

That was a lie. Lovepeace had just met me. The middle-aged woman stared through me and continued.

“Just in case, I’ll tell you this: don’t entertain futile thoughts. If you keep babbling nonsense, it won’t end as simply as just dying.”

I nodded, and she swiftly passed by. Lovepeace, with an awkward expression, kept apologizing to me and then continued to support me as we entered the room.

It seems I need to learn more about this household.