Dave looked at himself in the bronze mirror. A boy in his late teens stared back with his sunken brown eyes. His hair was kept unkempt and perfectly impersonated a bird’s nest. He even noticed a few spiderwebs stuck to them. A thin mustache sat firmly over his dry lips. Dirt and stains covered all over his clothes and body.
The boy in the mirror looked awful. He was once the third prince of the Holy Lion Empire. But now, he was only a runaway vagabond and living his days as a beggar to hide from assassins. From a prince to a beggar- it was the biggest twist of fate Dave had ever seen.
He had been staring at his reflection on the broken bronze mirror for an hour already. Dim rays of the setting sun peeked through the small window of the patchwork the boy called home. The sky was gradually darkening outside, and night will neigh.
Dave looked at the ceramic bowel next to the mirror. The three bronze coins in it were all the third prince’s total earning of the day— before he took over. He remembered walking back from a late-night party organized by his friends. It was the eve of the new year and a festive atmosphere had dominated the whole world. Due to meeting them after so long, Dave had a few more glasses than usual.
I remember nothing after stepping out of the club, thought the transmigrant. He had bits and pieces of memories until everyone bid their farewells. After that, his memories drew blank. When he woke up, his head was already full of jumbled-up memories belonging to him and a prince. Thanks to his strong self-awareness, he didn’t fall into a quagmire of existence denial.
From the moment of his awakening, he was standing before this bronze mirror and looking at himself as he went through various phases of emotions. In the short span of an hour, Anger, grief, denial, and acceptance— he went through them all.
The grief phase lasted a bit longer than the rest. And there was a good reason for that. In Mordred, anyone can become stronger as long they have a bit of talent and are willing to put in some effort. As a result, a brutal world where the strong ruled the weak was born.
Born as the third prince of one of the moderately powerful kingdoms, Davian De’Lore, would have been a winner in life. But, as fate would have it, he was born with a dreadful curse. He had a rare situation where he couldn’t level up— thus forever losing his path to strength. In a world where those with bigger fists have more sway, this was akin to cutting off his civil rights.
His mother died when he was little, and his father, the king, didn’t care a bit about his wellbeing. He had more than one wife and a dozen of sons— how can he care about a crippled one?
During the race to the throne, he joined the wrong side and became a capital fugitive. He was made into a scapegoat by one of his half-sisters and on the run since then. Now, he was living life as a beggar to hide from assassins. Dave would have shed a few tears if it didn’t involve him directly. In fact, he was in despair.
A magical world, strength-based society, tear-jerker past, and a crippled body— these were all the raw materials to a classic novel protagonist. Yet, the said protagonist really didn’t have any way to grow. He wasn’t a genius strategist nor did he have some transmigration bonus, even the system in his possession wasn’t anything special. Everyone in this world has it. He might be the worst transmigrator in history.
Tch~
Dave clicked his tongue in annoyance. He was only a government worker who loved to play video games. He wasn’t anything special in it either. He loved to play RPG games and spend time upgrading his character. He could spend hours on end repeating a map again and again till he maxed his character level. In here, it was of no use.
“Stats!” Dave called out in a whisper.
Name: Davian De’Lore
Occupation: Runaway prince, Vagabond, Beggar
Titles: Sealed Vessel; Betrayer of Kingdom
Level: 0 (Permanently Locked)
EXP: 14,078/0
[HP: 100/100][Mana: 20/20]
STR: 12 INT: 5
AGI:9 WIS: 4
DEF:5 LUCK: 2
PHY:10 STA: 10
Skills:-
[Sephirot Lv 1]
Nothing had changed since he was seven. However, Dave wasn’t looking at the abomination the prince called stat. His attention was on the only skill on the list, Sephirot. He had been avoiding messing with it. The name of the skill was associated with too many things, and it made the transmigrator hesitate. Hell, even the last game he played was called Saga of Sephirot.
At the end of the day, curiosity got the better of him.
“Well, what’s the worst can happen, anyway? I will die. Big deal! It's not like I’ll live for long anyway!” Dave placated himself. Given that it was a skill awakened after transmigration, he hoped it wouldn’t harm him. After all, Davian, the prince, didn’t have a single skill to call his own.
“Alright, here goes nothing-”
The process to use the skill was already there in Dave’s head in the form of memory. He repeated the steps.
Suddenly, darkness descended on him out of nowhere, stripping away all his vision.
“The fuck!” Dave cursed out in reflex. His heartbeat quickened and goosebumps filled his body. He couldn’t see anything in the inky darkness. He could still touch his body and hear his own voice. Dave exhaled a breath he didn’t know he was holding.
If there was one thing Dave was proud of, it was his ability to adapt to a changing situation faster than anyone else. Hardly ever anything could make him panic. The darkness had separated him from the world. Even though he can touch himself, the mirror was nowhere to be seen. It was only an arm’s distance away from him.
He kept quiet and waited for something to happen. He didn’t believe he was that unlucky to obtain a self-harming skill.
What happened next proved him right.
Choose your character:-
- Human
- Elf
- Orc
- Demon
An all too familiar scene appeared before him. On a blue holographic window, the loading screen of a game he recently played appeared. The game was called Saga of Sephirot, an offline mobile RPG.
“Don’t tell me- my ability was to play this game in my dreams?” Dave wanted to cry. His last hope blew up in smoke. What can he do with this ability, anyway? While being distracted, he chose the first option, Human.
Actualizing Interface…
Generating Stats…
“…”
Like the curtain to a stage, the darkness faded into the background. Dave found himself in the middle of a grassland spreading for miles with no end in sight. In front of him was a small mountain with holes everywhere. He remembered this place like the back of his hands.
[Map: Ant Nest]
[Enemy Unit: Mutated worker ant, Mutated soldier ant, Mutated elite ant, Mutated Ant Queen.]
[Average level: 2]
[Boss: Mutated Ant Queen Lv 10]
“It’s like the VRMMO in those novels,” Dave exclaimed in surprise. The experience of seeing everything in person instead of a third-person POV was indeed different. Everything looked real.
The wind caressing his skin, the smell of rotting egg, the feel of grass against his legs— everything was real. Dave bent down and plucked a handful of grass. They felt no different from the real thing.
“Stats!”
Name: Dave
Level: 0
EXP: 0/100
[HP: 100/100][Mana: 20/20]
STR: 12 INT: 5
AGI:9 WIS: 4
DEF:5 LUCK: 2
PHY:10 STA: 10
Skills:-
[N/A]
Items:-
[Rusty Sword]
The interface was different from what he had seen in the game. It looked rather similar to the one he had in the real world. Only the title and occupation were not mentioned. Dave pinched his cheeks- he felt pain. That means he was susceptible to pain.
Dave inspected the rusted black sword in his hands. A broken one-handed sword with dulled blade and chipped edges. Faint traces of a lion’s painting could be seen on the almost blacked handle. The sword was a beginner weapon given to everyone with [Human] as starting race. Although it got a shoddy attack power, its durability was infinite. Dave remembered using this sword to kill the Mutated Queen once. He even got an achievement reward for it.
Before he could think further, a mutated ant approached him. It looked no different from a regular ant but with magnified size. It was as big as a corgi dog. Dave had hunted this ant so many times that he could kill one even in his sleep. He remembered their attack patterns, strength, and weaknesses better than the names of his collages.
Dave gripped the handle of the rusty sword and made a stab aiming at the middle of the ant. The sword was in worse condition than he expected. It bounced off the ant’s back harmlessly. Seemingly enraged, the ant began attacking him with its pincers.
However, Dave was no newbie. He skillfully dodged them and attacked again. He knew the horrors of those pincers. Once caught, he would lose a large chunk of Health. It was a bit different to do the movements on his own instead of controlling it on the screen, but he got used to it pretty quickly.
[Worker Ant]
[Health: 17/20]
“How convenient!” Dave expressed his appreciation with a stab aiming at the same spot on the ant’s back. He began kiting the overgrown ant and attacking whenever he got the chance. The best way to deal with a dangerous opponent with lower intelligence was to kite the hell out of it. It worked perfectly against the ant. After a few minutes, it fell to the ground as its health dropped to zero. The body pixelated out of existence, leaving behind a few things.
You’ve killed Worker Ant x1
+10 EXP
+2 Health Potion; leather gloves x2
“The loot system has also changed,” Dave discovered yet another difference from the game. The corpse of the ant vanished on its own after its death. Dave crouched down to inspect the drops.
[Low-garde beginner Health potion. Heals +20 HP]
[Leather Gloves (Rank E)]
[AGI +1][Penitration: 10]
“Quite good for a beginner monster,” Dave mumbled as he sorted the drops. He wore the gloves manually since he didn’t see an ‘equip’ option. He clenched his fist and smiled at himself. They fit perfectly to his palm. Suddenly, Dave felt a lot lighter. As if, a weight has been lifted from his shoulders.
Sha~~ sha~~
Just then, four more mutated ants appeared. They hissed at him before charging with their pincers ready to tear him to pieces. Dave smirked and gripped the handle of the broken sword tighter. He forgot about his predicament, forgot about the transmigration. There was only one thing in his mind- kill all the monsters and level up.
Half an hour later…
You killed Worker Ant x20; Soldier Ant x5
+250 EXP
Health potion x20; Leather gloves x6; Leather footwear x6; Iron Sword x10
Level +2
All attributes +2
[You’ve completed a small milestone. Do you want to exit Sephirot world?]
[Yes/No]
Thank you for this chapter!