[Welcome Player 'Xian']
[Integrating the player to the System]
[Welcome to Rozenfall, Romance and Ruin]
[Xian Level 14 Trainee]
Montagne Specialized Butler, Conqueror, Dedicated One, (Transmigrator), (Regressor), Shackled One(Sealed Traits Locked: ??? Lvl 18, ??? Lvl 28, ??? Lvl 38)
HP 330/330
MP 108/108
AP 193/193
Strength - 23
Agility - 24
Stamina - 22
Endurance - 22
Mana - 18
Luck - 0
Passive Traits
[Strong Blood: Traits pass on more easily on kin or descendants]
[Conqueror's Eyes: Allows affection level tracking]
Magic - Circle 4 Potential.
Bonus Points: 42
'It's finally here!'
A sinister grin slowly crept up Xian's face, and his eyes curled into crescents.
To anyone watching, he might have looked insane, grinning down a bloody corpse. But he only felt triumph. Such is the result of a plan made easy by regression.
In the game, the character stat sheet only became available when the player leveled up the first time. That included other functions, unlocked one by one through player experience.
The level up function and character sheet was unlocked with completing 'basic assessment and training' event and 'first mob kill'.
In his case, the training and assessment was played by the head butler's role, and the trigger for level up was obviously this dead man before him.
Player's started at level '1' by default, while NPC's were already anywhere between Level 20 to 40 by the time the story kicked off. But players had the advantage of growth rates, freedom of stat allocation, and pre-assigned titles.
'Fourteen levels in for an extremely strong character like this? Heh, still the same.'
He knelt beside the fallen assassin, analyzing his level. This man had to be around Level 50, a monster by early-game standards. Morisson, the head butler, sat somewhere in the 90s.
And in this world, those level gaps weren't just numbers, they were leagues apart.
Still, he hadn't done most of the damage. The XP gain from a strong opponent was reduced abysmally to avoid exploits being too overpowered, so maybe he got about ten percent of the total he was supposed to get if the system was being generous.
The rest either vanished into the void or was claimed by Morisson. A waste, but a loss he can accept.
Xian's eyes hovered over his character sheet. His stat points were waiting to be distributed just like a player, but that could wait. Something else caught his attention.
Beneath those lines read a message.
[The System was made to retain most core functions. However, Save & Load has been disabled due to its nature as a burdensome power to the world. This interface exists only to guide your path, O Dedicated One. We will be watching.]
'Still watching huh?' Xian's grin faded in displeasure, but he didn't care. What would those potentially omnipotent being want with him? He will move as he wished as long as they didn't tell him to stop.
"My, our little butler seems to be really enjoying himself." Carmillia's sweet voice flowed like honey laced with venom. At some point, she had strode silently to his side with a syrupy smile, her eyes curling upward as if delighted.
Still as mesmerizing as ever.
But Xian had long since burned every one of her game sprite's expressions into memory. And the smile she wore now was not one that promised anything good.
'I've caught her interest. But for completely wrong reasons'. A new butler like him somehow discovered a threat amidst their rank even Moris couldn't easily detect. Most lords would reward him, but Carmillia will do so with suspicion. That's the kind of lady she is.
"Apologies." He said smoothly, slightly bowing. "I simply pleased to fulfill my duty in protecting my lady."
"This servant asks your forgiveness." He gestured a slight bow towards the villainess. "For the disturbance I've caused."
Carmillia continued to approach him, until her unblemished boots were an inch away of the pooling blood. She leaned in, her perfume brushing against his senses like soft silk wrapped around a blade. Her hair grazed his shoulder with a tingling sensation upon contact.
"I don't mind. If you truly know whom you serve, then surely you know I've seen pools, if not fountains of mess I caused myself."
"I'll be waiting for you at my garden tonight." she whispered, breath tickling his ear. "After the butler is done with you."
Xian's kept his stern expression. Carmillia's antics were fueled by the reactions she sees, so he took special care to always hide his feelings from now on.
In the first place he didn't like being suspected this way, but since he's weak, gritting his teeth is all he can do. If it was any other butler, he would probably smile from ear to ear, proud of his accomplishments. But not Xian who knew how Carmillia's mind worked..
As she straightened, so did he. Her gaze lingered on his face and she had to look up.
Xian found Carmillia staring up at him, her chin slightly raised as a faint crease formed between her brows. Now that they stood so close, she seemed to notice his height. He was at least a head and a half taller than her, nearly as tall as some of the barbarian's she had seen. Unlike those muscle-bound giants, however, Xian's build was lean yet solid.
Inevitably, Xian had to look down on her from his view, an innocent mistake on his part.
Something about the combination of his face and sharp gaze, irritated Carmillia. At that moment, she developed a faint dislike over tall men.
She turned without a word and walked off, her two swordmaidens trailing behind.
Xian watched as the villainess left with the two swordmaiden. He caught the katana-wielder's gaze linger on him for a moment before she turned to follow. She's not the one who beheaded him, it was the other longsword user.
He knew them both from the game as Carmillia's living shields.
Early in the game, they served as powerful mini bosses, strong enough to crush his team and the protagonist with their combination.
The katana user often went down quicker as a classic glass cannon. Meanwhile the longsword user was worse, she countered and killed your team through a crushingly one sided battle of attrition.
Players called those two the "anchors" of Carmillia. Of all the characters in the game, they were the only ones who willingly suffered for her, and never once a target of Carmillia's cruelty or schemes.
Even she had people whom she trusts completely by her side.
Either way, those two never really had a role in the game apart from being the villainess protector. At some point in the late game, those two will completely disappear and Carmillia will be transformed anew fully meeting her potential.
Lack of information about them was also due to the fact that the players just didn't have the option of talking to them.
'Though I'm an exception.' The world of the game was as real as it can get for Xian.
"Xian." The head butler called him with a stern voice.
"Do you have anything to say?" He blatantly probed him, not hiding his suspicions at all.
Morisson acknowledged his contributions, but how he knew of the assailant was unclear. Xian had just come to this estate and only a week has passed. Neither did he show any apparent skill that would warrant him the skill to do it.
"Yes." Xian said simply. Calm and prepared.
Xian didn't blindly scheme just for XP. Of course he had to explain how he knew about the assailant.
Back then, Xian had deliberately guided the head butler's attention to the coachman. To anyone observant, especially those used to the layered affairs of noble society, it was clear why he did it, he already suspected the coachman.
Among people who schemed for a living, subtle cues like that spoke louder than words.
"There's likely still a mole in the estate. They knew about my 'arrival'."
Morisson's eyes narrowed, but there wasn't a hint of hostility.
"… I see. Then you may leave." Then he stepped past Xian with a slow nod.
"The lady wishes to deal with you herself. Do not attempt to flee… I'll be remaining outside tonight for work." First was a warning to not be rash and the second, a subtle favor.
Morisson, while somewhat in league with the antagonistic side of the game, leaned more on morally gray type of characters. He returned favor and grudges accordingly as a principle. He also received consequences to the best of his abilities and do not turn away in his evil acts, should he need to.
And he survived until now because no one was able to kill him despite their grudges.
"I will keep that in mind." Xian replied, watching him walk away.
That left only one matter, talking to Carmillia.
He hadn't needed to justify himself to Morisson. Showing loyalty was better proven through actions than words.
Carmillia, however, would not be as simple.
Xian returned to his quarters, avoiding unnecessary attention, lest they see him staring at empty air. It was time to review the system and a few anomalies that caught his eye.
'This body really does lean on the physical side. Also, what's with my '0' luck?'
"Zero?…" In the game, luck was an extremely vital stat for the player. Fixed amount between low average and excellent, no one has ever appeared with prominent potential of luck.
Because one of its effects were that special. It acted as a multiplier for the total bonus the player gets when levelling up.
In his case, this means he doesn't get any bonus at all! Since the average luck is 5 for a normal person, and 3 for an mob NPC, he would be losing out almost 30% compared to them!
"Fuck."
'Why is it like this? Is this a penalty for being a regressor on top of having a system?'
Well, it didn't matter to him who knew a bunch of stat boosting opportunities in the game.
He also found that his class was set to trainee, as he would only get his class at the end of the 'no longer safe dates' of the tutorial period.
'The protagonist must be having an easy time right now if he even exists…'
There's also the attached titles under his name that could be considered a clue. [Montagne Specialized Butler] hinted heavily at what his role is supposed to be. He took note to investigate his own background and circumstances before transmigration in the future.
'As expected, I should've been a strong character originally.'
Some titles didn't grant stats but have special usage that when equipped, or can be used for reputation related tasks. This title was likely for him to avoid suspicion in the estate, and also 'incur' the attention of those watching in the dark like the coachman.
More things like Regressor, Transmigrator and Conqueror's Eyes that functions as the players affection guide was self explanatory and familiar to him. But the [Shackled One(Sealed Traits Locked)] wasn't.
He willed the description and was pleasantly surprised that it appeared.
[A new inhabitant has occupied the body. For adjustments and prevention of self injury, some traits are locked until the new host has caught up to the original's strength. Unlocked at level 16, 23 and 28. Contains ???, ???, ???]
'Is it self harming traits?' He thought traits should be under the category of Blood Rating but turns out they can be sealed by a title too. He knew a few of self harming traits and debuff that existed in the game.
The yin cold and poison something constitution that was so overused existed too as overpowered traits that when cured, gives the character a huge jump in combat power and potential.
'But, what's with strong blood?'
[Strong Blood] [Makes inheritance of traits more likely to pass on children and descendants]
What is he going to use those for if he is going to regress anyways? Xian couldn't really imagine having a family and a child as someone with the power of regression.
He couldn't even imagine growing old and dying in this world. Xian decided to forgo the existential topic and focused on his specs.
Looking at the rest of his stats, he felt unfortunate that he wasn't a magic oriented build, but at least, he was a great physical build instead.
For now, he didn't use his 42 bonus points from level up, since he can use it as a trump card in dire situations. After that, he passed time for the rest of the day steadying his mind and simulating conversations in advance.
Later that night, the estate fell into its eerie quiet. Xian stood before Carmillia once again, the swordmaidens by her side, and their dark armor gleaming under the moonlight.
"You're here." She had that same smile and pleased expression as before.
A facade she maintains to masks all of her emotions.
[Conversation Event!]
[Answer the Villainess Carefully]
This time, a conversation prompt came from the system.