A suggestion: Make the optimal choice. (0/1)
* Route 1 ― Chapter 1: Help Yourself, and the Gods Will Help You (1)
* Route 2 ― Death
'No way….'
…A quest?
The shock didn't last.
Waking up in this world was the real gut-punch. Anything else was manageable compared to being stuffed into someone else's skin.
If anything, this weird window gave me something to focus on. A distraction from the panic.
'Two routes.'
Move to the 'next chapter'… or die.
Conveniently, I had exactly two choices myself.
Avoid the poison, or drink it. One of those paths led straight to a grave.
A single choice deciding life or death. My breath hitched, fingers going numb with tension.
'…No.'
Calm down.
I flexed my stiff knuckles and looked at the bottle in his hand.
The poison shimmered inside, leaving blue trails against the glass. One sip and I'd be seeing the afterlife.
I stared at the dark liquid, then spoke flatly.
"…I drank it yesterday."
"Is that so? I believe you, of course. I always trust you to tell the truth. But mistakes happen. Things get lost in translation. Perhaps the servant who brought your tea yesterday… mixed something in by accident."
"...."
"It doesn't matter if it's all true. I just want to be sure your symptoms are properly treated. It would be a shame if you made a mistake in front of your friends… You'd be so upset, Luca."
What a piece of work.
He was always like this. In the novel, in Luca's memories—always playing the perfect, caring older brother.
No one could see the mix of inferiority and smug superiority hiding behind that warm smile and gentle tone.
I exhaled and bowed my head low.
With my life on the line, I needed a moment. Whatever I chose.
'It said 'optimal choice'.'
I took a deep breath.
Then I snatched the bottle from his hand and poured the poison down my throat.
It burned. A searing line from tongue to stomach. The cold of the stone floor seeped into my left cheek. The poison I'd just swallowed surged back up, flooding my mouth. A muffled, wet noise—probably from me—echoed dimly in my ears.
Strange experience.
"Ah, so you really did drink it yesterday."
My brother's amused voice drifted into a corner of my fading consciousness.
Funny, right? The pathetic younger brother, forced to play along even when he knows it's a farce. I get it. So…
'Laugh it up now.'
*Ding!*
Congratulations!
'Suggestion: Make the optimal choice.' Success!
'Chapter 0: All Beginnings Are Hard' complete!
'Route 1 ― Chapter 1: Help Yourself, and the Gods Will Help You (1)' confirmed.
'…Yeah. That's more like it.'
Earlier, he'd said, 'I'm glad you'll be able to go to school.'
In the novel, Luca dies after graduation. So the timing's not right yet.
Of course, there's no guarantee the novel's plot will hold for me. It was a bit of a gamble…
'But it worked.'
My consciousness felt floaty, detached, but my body weighed a ton. Even as my mind drifted away from my flesh, the corner of my mouth twitched up.
'Route 1 — Chapter 1' begins.
**Chapter 1: Help Yourself, and the Gods Will Help You (1)**
The pain didn't matter. My pride wasn't hurt.
I'll be the one laughing in the end. I can't die here, in a world like this, wronged by someone like *him*.
So, I'll just have to be the one to finish him off instead of the protagonist.
* * *
I don't know how much time passed. Pale sunlight filtered through the curtains hiding the window.
No pain from my scorched stomach or esophagus. My body felt light—healing magic must have worked.
'Hm.'
I slowly lifted a hand.
A pale, bony hand moved at my command.
Alive.
And still in someone else's body.
'That thing before… what was it?'
A real quest window?
The moment I thought it, something appeared.
〈 Chapter 1: Help Yourself, and the Gods Will Help You (1) 〉
Suggestion: Life is what you make it! Find something to do. (0/3) (71h 52m 09s)
* Route 1 ― Chapter 2: Help Yourself, and the Gods Will Help You (2)
* Route 2 ― Chapter 2: Even a Blind Chicken Finds Grain Sometimes
That was definitely Chapter 0 before.
The number increased. Don't know the mechanics, but it's interesting.
'If this pops up… then a status window probably exists too.'
This isn't a game. Could it be?
But it's not a game, and it's giving me a 'suggestion'—which is just a quest by another name.
Then, white text materialized in the air.
Lucas Rene Ascanien
Title: The Empire's #1 Fool
Stamina: -5
Mental Strength: -10
Magic Power: ?
Skills: 0
Appearance: -10
Luck: -10
Trait: Dawn777
"…Oh."
There it is. But…
'Why is everything in the negatives?'
Wait.
Skills are zero. That's no comfort at all.
'And what's with that title?'
I let out a dry laugh and scanned down.
Lucas Rene Ascanien.
Right, it's Lucas.
'Luca' is just a nickname my brother uses. Not my real name.
In the novel, everyone except the protagonist and my brother called me Lucas.
Appearance is probably my image score. Trait…
'Trait.'
Can I click this?
On a whim, I moved my finger toward the name that reminded me of a hangover cure.
Dawn777
― Time until final outcome 'Chapter X: Death': 777 days 1 hour 6 minutes 37 seconds ―
Probability of Change: 0.2%
"...."
I dismissed the window and looked away.
I didn't fully understand what I'd seen, but I knew I didn't want to face it.
Still… ignoring it won't make it go away.
"…Damn it…"
I gritted my teeth and pulled up the status window again. I found Dawn777 and clicked. The same info appeared.
'777 days until death.'
A little over two years and a month.
'And a 0.2% chance of change.'
Why 0.2% and not flat zero? Probably because I succeeded with the 'Suggestion' in Chapter 0.
If I keep succeeding, I can raise that percentage.
'Not bad.'
Even without this guide, my survival would depend on my choices. At least now I can see it.
Let's get the best results with the best choices from now on.
*Knock knock*
"Young Master."
Just as I was about to look around the room, a servant cautiously opened the door and entered.
"You're awake. You've been unconscious for nearly a day. The injuries you sustained were treated with magic yesterday by the Young Lord."
Treated?
My 'brother's' good-guy act is truly something. As I stifled a scoff, the servant spoke again.
"You were exposed to a great deal of light suddenly, so your eyes are quite strained. Avoid direct light until today ends. Your stomach hasn't fully recovered either, so don't overdo it with meals. Your luggage has all been sent to the dormitory, so please rest here comfortably until tomorrow morning before departing."
The servant rattled off the instructions quickly, then bowed with a tense face and began to retreat.
"I'll bring a meal for you shortly."
"Hey."
The servant's eyes went wide.
He looked shocked, his mouth opening and closing before he finally managed a small question.
"…Yes?"
I was surprised too.
'Hey'? Really drove home that this isn't my world.
Of course, he wasn't shocked by my rudeness. He was shocked I spoke to him at all.
'Makes sense.'
Luca became extremely introverted because of his brother. He barely spoke to the servants he saw every day.
The servant's head swiveled as he looked around the room, his face still disbelieving.
"…Are you speaking to me?"
"Who else is here?"
I bit my lip hard at the continued stream of rude remarks coming from my own mouth.
Is this the local etiquette?
Thinking back, Luca, as a member of the family, didn't use honorifics with servants.
Of course, his tone was timid and lacking confidence. My current tone was more like my brother's. Seems my own personality was showing through.
'Well, it's fine.'
To drag my brother down and rise above him, a weak personality won't cut it.
Of course, if I keep this up, everyone will notice the change. Can't take back what's already said, but I need to start acting more like the original Luca soon.
I subtly relaxed my throat, unseen by the servant.
Meanwhile, the servant snapped to attention and straightened his posture.
"My apologies. Please, go on."
"…Ahem. Where is my brother now?"
"He left for the Imperial Palace the day after arriving here."
"The Imperial Palace?"
"Yes."
The palace.
Obviously, where he is physically will affect the difficulty.
My brother is a mage attached to the royal family. In the novel, he was often sent overseas on diplomatic missions.
Given that I die in two years, and he's seven years older than Luca, that puts him in his mid-twenties. About the right age to start going abroad.
"Do you know when he'll return to the estate?"
"The matter he's handling… will likely take at least another year to conclude. Even after returning to the Empire, it's unclear if he'll stay at the estate."
He's gone overseas.
That's a relief.
I have a year to move more freely.
"Young Master, is there anything else?"
"No, you can go—"
Wait.
On a hunch, I stared at the servant and summoned the status window.
Anton Clausen
Favorability: –5
Title: —
Stamina: +2
Mental Strength: +2
Magic Power: +0.5
Skills: 0
Appearance: +3
Luck: +1
Trait: —
"…*Cough*…!"
"Y-Young Master?"
I choked seeing the entry under his name.
Favorability… that's probably a score related to his opinion of me.
Did I really need to see my rock-bottom image quantified so starkly?
'…At least it's -5 and not -10 since he's my servant…?'
I took the handkerchief he offered and cleared my throat.
Well, whatever the score, the important thing is I can see other people's info now.
'This could be useful.'
As I silently stared at the window, the servant cautiously asked, studying my face.
"Young Master?"
"Right. You can go."
"Yes. I'll bring your meal shortly."
The servant left and soon returned with a tray.
Being a patient, my meal was basically water—an aperitif—and a pudding made from ground grains.
I finished quickly and looked around the room.
'Find something to do, it said.'
I was going to do that anyway.
I pulled up the Suggestion window again.
〈 Chapter 1: Help Yourself, and the Gods Will Help You (1) 〉
Suggestion: Life is what you make it! Find something to do. (0/3) (70h 53m 01s)
* Route 1 ― Chapter 2: Help Yourself, and the Gods Will Help You (2)
* Route 2 ― Chapter 2: Even a Blind Chicken Finds Grain Sometimes
The wording of Route 2 is annoyingly condescending.
It means the story continues even if I fail this suggestion… but no need to take the negative route.
Let's try them one by one.
I picked up the notebook on the bedside table. Time to plan my moves and jot down what I remember from the novel.
My memory's decent, but I can't rely on it completely. I put pen to paper.
'First, the overall plot.'
In one line: it's the story of a wastrel born into a collateral branch of the current emperor's family who experiences various events over ten years and finally becomes emperor.
On his path to the throne, the protagonist eliminates Luca's brother, who was essentially the previous emperor's right hand.
In the process, Luca's death comes to light, and his brother's true nature is exposed to all.
Luca's story is just one of many incidents the protagonist resolves.
I skipped the next meal brought to me and frantically wrote down information as it bubbled up, then caught my breath.
I also outlined the general character relationships.
'Now it's time to decide how I should move.'
Not a difficult problem.
Until I build my strength and secure allies behind the scenes, I just shouldn't do anything blatant—like using magic openly—that would make my brother come to kill me.
So there's a more important issue.
Even if I can't act freely, I need to make at least one ally. Someone to be my hands and feet.
'I remember the protagonist attends the same school as Luca.'
That's a fantastic connection.
He's just a problem student now, but in ten years, he'll be emperor.
So then… should I befriend the novel's protagonist?
'No.'
Maybe later, but right now I need to choose and focus.
I moved my gaze away from the protagonist's name.
And underlined a different name next to it.
*Ding!*
Applause for your discernment!
'Suggestion: Life is what you make it! Find something to do' 1/3 Achieved!
Achieving this goal in subsequent stages will increase survival probability by 3% or more.
'Hm.'
Seems I picked well.
I won't go for the emperor. I'll bring the kingmaker—the one who made the protagonist emperor—to my side.
—-----------
T/N:
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