Jowoon watched as she left, his heart still feeling uneasy by this unfamiliar scene.
The seller clicked his tongue in contempt, and said,
"Why waste an entire gold coin on street rats?"
Jowoon turned to look at him, but said nothing.
Yes, this kind of contempt was very novel-like. Very scripted.
Jowoon didn't know why he'd gone this far for a beggar. If he truly wanted to understand his situation, he could've just asked around—but the stares, the suspicion, the way people would look at him like he didn't belong may put him in trouble.
This was easier.
If this world were real—if this wasn't some elaborate prank—then children in rags, starving and desperate, would appear just like they always did in stories—
His thoughts didn't even get a conclusion when the girl came running back, and behind her were kids who faltered in their steps, panting weakly with dried faces and sunken cheeks.
They were unsure whether to believe the girl, but had no reason not to check it out either.
"There. I told you. There's a kind mister over there. He's going to give us bread." She said, her hoarse voice filled with excitement.
As soon as they saw Jowoon, they felt a bit convinced.
Jowoon covered his face, the disbelief striking him even harder now.
This... Was real.
"Mister, I... I brought my friends." She said and Jowoon nodded.
He took the bread from the seller and handed it to the kids one at a time, three to each of them, and when other beggars began to flock around, seeing he was giving out free bread, he began to feel even more overwhelmed.
He ended up using three more gold coins and bought off all the bread in the stall, giving it to the beggars who could finally put something in their mouths.
He watched them gnaw at the bread as if someone would take it from them if they wasted even a second.
The sight was displeasing and aching.
He turned his head, still trying to digest what was in front of him when the beggar girl thugged at his coat and said,
"Thank you, mister."
Her eyes held a little more light but Jowoon could not accept the appreciation since he didn't do all that because he was a good guy.
He just wanted to confirm if all of this was real, and in between felt pity for them.
With what he had seen, there was no other way to think about it.
This... He had entered another world.
Then, the memory of him trying to break up the fight with the students resurfaced, how he hit the back of his head on the desk and.... He died.
He covered his mouth in disbelief.
'I... I died?'
To think his life came to an end in such a pathetic manner.
Then, was this something similar to reincarnation? Transmigration? He wondered. No way. He couldn't accept this.
His mental state was breaking, confusion, anger, regret... All of these negative emotions piled up until he heard a ring in his head.
*Ding*
He looked up and then saw a translucent purple system window open up in front of him.
>[SYSTEM SUCCESSFULLY BOUND TO HOST!]
>[HOST: Kim Jowoon]
>[POSSESSED BODY: Julian Von Astrea, the fourth son of Marquis Astrea]
>[BODY CONDITION: Slightly drunk on alcohol]
>[MENTAL CONDITION: Extremely unstable]
Julian looked at the window in front of him, cold sweat breaking out from the corner of his face and then he looked up. Could anyone else see this?
But when he looked up, he noticed everything had come to a stop. It was as if the world was frozen, allowing him to process the information the window was providing without interruptions.
Even the beggar girl smiling in front of him was frozen mid-smile.
He shoved his fingers through his hair, confusion rippling even more in his thoughts.
"What does this mean?" He asked.
And then another notification popped up, a big bold welcome from the system.
>[WELCOME TO THE WORLD Of 'THE' Novel, HOST]
A novel?
Then this world was a novel? What novel?
"Which novel is it?" He asked, but the system did not respond, hovering over him like a quiet taunt and this agitated him.
This setting, the world of a novel, if he wasn't wrong then there was a plot. But then how will he know which novel it is, and how the plot goes?
It had been a while since he read novels, not to mention medieval fantasy, so how was he supposed to pinpoint which one it was?
His head could blow a gasket at any moment given his level of confusion. And then he froze as a certain thought crossed his mind.
'What if I'm meant to die in this novel?'
It was a novel world he did not remember, even the name Julian Von Astrea was so new to him that he felt he was just a side character who could be easily disposed of.
This reality made his spine shiver.
"No, I don't want to die." He mumbled, as if he had not just woken up from the jaws of death. He barked at the system window. "Hey, you brought me here, right? Send me back! Hurry and send me back!"
The panic spread across his face as he viciously demanded to be sent back, but no matter how many times he asked and how hard he yelled at the window, it never gave him a response and only displayed what it was programmed to display, making him even more agitated.
Then, the system rang a new notification displaying in front of him.
*Ding!*
>[INSTALLATION OF SYSTEM FUNCTIONS COMPLETE]
Jowoon didn't even know what the system functions were. No, if he could find a way to survive through this system, then maybe he doesn't need to worry too much.
"What... What are the system functions?" He asked, gulping as he wondered if the system would respond and it did.
It was as if it could only respond to certain commands and anything else was voided.
The system pinged, and the window expanded, flickering with a series of sleek, holographic tabs.
[SYSTEM FUNCTIONS: ACTIVE]
>Quest Narrative (Survival Pathing)
Description: Generates mandatory and optional tasks based on the Host's current environment.
Reward: Completion grants 'Survival Points' which can be used in the 'system shop'
Penalty: Failure to complete Mandatory Quests may or may not result in 'Plot Correction' (Character Death).