Chapter 2: Preparing to Run Away from Home (1)
Chapter 2: Preparing to Run Away from Home (1)
― You are the first user in the God Game. Save Auzria Continent from its imminent destruction.
― Beta Tester’s Special Privilege: You have synchronized with the eight-year-old Jaiden Leonhardt’s body.
― Thanks to your innate ability, you have incompletely expressed Leonhardt’s Bloodline.
― The Main Quest: ‘Become the master of the family’ will be given to you. Breaking the main quest will bring you one step closer to the collapse of the continent.
Bombarded by the notifications, Lee Junghoo couldn’t help but panic for a while after waking up once again in Jaiden’s body. All he could do was stare blankly at the ceiling for two straight days. The fact that everything that he had done so far was just a beta test for this God-made game was quite shocking.
The maid that took care of him all his childhood brought him his meal with concern in her eyes. However, Jaiden couldn’t care less about her. But thanks to the meal that she had brought him, he could barely calm down and pull himself together.
This ducal family was one of the Empire’s strongest families. However, they would eventually collapse under the onslaught of monsters which would then lead to the destruction of the North. With that in mind, it was safe to say that the Empire’s destruction was only a matter of time.
Compared to the beta test, there might be plenty of other people who would come to this place. However, regardless of their number they would still not be able to stop the destruction of the continent.
There was only one thought that flashed in Jaiden’s head when his thoughts had gone towards this direction.
I need to endure and survive until I’m 35 years old.
Rather than preventing the destruction of the continent, he believed that the only choice that he could take was to come up with strategies to survive.
“Let’s throw away the main quest.”
He tried to break the main quest during the beta test but he was smashed and ground to powder so he was sure that this was not his way back home.
After deciding to throw away the main quest, the gears in his head turned as he immediately thought of ways on how he could survive.
A ball of light had approached him when he was just about to die from a car accident in the real world. So perhaps, all the other beta testers had their own stories too. But even though those people were also desperate for the promised rewards, they were still swept away by the horrendous flow of the battle and failed to stop the destruction of the continent.
“I was 31 years old when I died…”
He had to last four years longer than the beta test. But if it went the same way as the beta test, then he would still die in the Empire’s capital within two years even if he held his breath and pushed forward to fight.
He also couldn’t ensure his safety and survival if he went and moved to another continent early on in the game. Just like in the North, a Void Gate might also open in that continent too.
“I can’t hold out like that.”
Jaiden sighed deeply as he abandoned the idea of hiding in a safe place.
When he became the head of the family, he tried all the means that he could get a hold of just to stop the crazy flow of monsters. However, he was only able to last two years in that arduous fight. He was already fortunate enough to block the monsters from entering the Empire’s capital for 1~2 years even though they were swarming like crazy.
He had heard before that the rest of the continent would be able to last a bit longer. But he was sure that the difference would only be slight. But regardless of that fact, surviving a bit longer meant living longer.
“Then, that means that I should evacuate to the south of the Empire…”
In order for him to do that, Auzria Continent needed to be able to endure the monster flow to a certain extent. Only in that way, would he be able to survive in the South until he was 35 years old.
For that to happen, a prerequisite was needed. This meant that the Empire’s frontlines, the North as well as the land of the barbarians needed to have the capacity and the ability to endure against the beings that came out of the Void Gate.
‘You can’t be swept away all at once just like you did back then.’
After thinking so far, Jaiden also looked back and took into consideration this family that was hailed as the strongest in the North.
This family was created by the ancient divine beast, the White Lion. This was a family that strictly believed and held lions as their deity. They even moved on their instincts and followed the path of the lion. This barbaric family worshipped and believed only in brute force and strength. They even had fraudulent skills and abilities that matched their crazy mentalities.
And Jaiden, the eldest born son of this family, only had an ordinary talent and an incomplete bloodline. It was hard for him to survive in this family since his abilities were only normal even in the outside world.
Back then, in order to survive in this place, he dragged his connections and made use of the palace to become the master of this place. And in the end, he was given the title.
“I messed up right away but…”
Jaiden smiled bitterly as he recalled the past.
After the death of his father, he was able to grab the seat as the head of the family with the help of the Imperial Palace. However, even though he became the head of the family, he was only able to survive and hold on for two years. In the end, the long lineage of his family ended with his generation.
He thought that something would be different if he completed each of the main quests but no miracle happened. He did not receive any rewards and his mediocre and unchanging talent eventually led to the demise and collapse of his family.
They might have called it God Game but there were no status windows nor skills. It was just another reality in another person’s body. The innate ability was a power that could only be obtained from one’s own bloodline so the only way that they could borrow the power of the game was to obtain a title. However, it was something that was extremely hard to obtain. In other words, there were no other game elements except for the title.
In order to survive in this kind of place, the only thing that he could do was to work hard and build up his strength.
“My talent is at the bottom so I have no choice but to borrow and make use of my brothers’ hands…”
In order for the Leonhardt Family to work out properly and survive, one of his younger brothers needed to take control and become the head of the family. But if any of his bastard brothers became the head of the family, then they would definitely kill him, a person who was worse than a pest.
However, he was determined. He would definitely not become the head of the family again.
First of all, the family needs to return to normal so they can take their stand longer in the future.
“Maybe the answer is running away from home?”
It was best for him to run away from home at his young age so he could avoid his younger brothers. However, there was no way for him to escape from his family’s eyes.
Then, he suddenly remembered a special place in the North. It was a place where murder weapons were raised to join the special troops that would prevent countless monsters. And if one had the talent for swordsmanship, magic or tactics, they would be able to develop and nurture them.
Northern Military Training Camp.
At the age of nine, most people would go to academies to learn basic numbers and letters. But in this place, instead of teaching basic materials, they would be taught how to wield a sword and kill their enemies. This was also a place where they only recognized talent, not one’s identity. It was a place where commoners and noble families that were on the brink of extinction were given an opportunity to revive themselves. The same was true for those who failed to become the head of the family of ordinary noble families.
Nevertheless, their applicant numbers remained low. It was because their requirements for application and volunteering were quite difficult. First of all, one needed to serve at least 20 years once they volunteered. Second, one needed to serve in the northern frontlines.
Just these two things were enough to drive one crazy but they even had to discard their names and use aliases.
Once a person volunteered, they would be assigned a number by the military and would only be called by that number regardless of their family background. And once the person was deployed in the military after their training period, they would need to serve in the frontlines under the name that the military had given them. In other words, their identities would be erased from this world until they were discharged from the military.
Is there anyone who would be delighted at becoming a murder weapon without receiving the honor that they deserve?
“I have no other choice.”
He had to take some risk just so he could avoid the bad end from his shitty talent. He felt bad about the 20 years of service period but there was nothing he could do.
However, this much was not enough. He needed to have at least one family member that favored him to ensure his safety.
The twins that were two years younger than him were complete and utter scoundrels so he needed to find someone that could keep them in check. These punks that were two years younger than him had already awakened their mana and had proceeded to beat their servants. To keep such crazy bastards in check, the person had to be both talented and kind-hearted.
The only problem was that this was the lion’s family. Everyone had tremendous talent but the biggest problem was that they had a few loose screws somewhere in their heads.
“Haa… I’m going crazy.”
The Leonhardts regarded the white lion as their deity and because of this, they tried to resemble the white lion’s characteristics. One of them was to have many children in a short period of time. And to do that, they needed to have plenty of wives. It was also their custom to leave the family in the hands of the most superior among the children. This was what had been going on so far.
Just like the epitome of the lion family, his father had seven wives. He also had several children of the same age. He was only eight years old but there were already kids born after him. There was one who was seven years old, two six year olds and another one was four years old. The only reason this happened was because the head of the family made a pledge that he would only sire one child per wife. Otherwise, there would have been more than 30 children already just like what the other heads of the family did before.
Unlike the children, it was not that strange that only two of the head’s women survived. This was because the Leonhardts believed that protecting their young descendants was only natural but protecting their wives who came from the outside was not. His mother had died because of this. And even the two surviving wives were in bad shape after surviving a bout with poison.
‘In other words, this place is a mess.’
The more he thought about it, the more he wanted to get out of this family. He wanted to leave this place as soon as possible since no solution would come to him from staying in this messy place.
“Ha… It seems like the youngest is the most normal…”
He did not remember much about the youngest. It was because he died before he got synchronized in this body. However, he thought that he would definitely be better than the others.
After he got synchronized, he dug deep and found out things about the youngest. From what he had heard, the youngest was weak and left behind. Unfortunately, he had no backing so he died pitifully.
Perhaps one of my brothers killed him.
The second bastard tended to be like a berserker while the third was a psychopath. Even the twins were bastards who were perverted enough to like killing and murder. While the sixth bastard was a treacherous punk.
One of these lunatics must have killed the youngest.
Back then, rumors about the youngest’s tremendous talents were widely spread so it was most likely that someone had killed him out of spite and jealousy.
He actually remembered having goosebumps when he heard the rumors that surrounded the youngest when he just synched up with this body. He couldn’t help but shudder at the thought that this talentless body was still left alive.
The reason why he was kept alive was revealed to him not long after. It was because he had the privilege of being born as the eldest son. No matter how strong the members of the Leonhardt Family shouted at his lowly talents, the eldest son remained and enjoyed considerable authority. In a sense, they were quite similar to other noble families.
That was the only thing that kept him alive. And eventually, he was able to take the head’s seat with the help of the Imperial Palace.
At this point, Jaiden couldn’t help but shed tears as he remembered how hard he rolled around during the beta test.
“Hoo! Let’s see if the rumors about the youngest are true!”
Thanks to his eldest son’s privileges, he was able to learn Leonhardt’s esoteric swordsmanship from a young age. He even memorized everything that he had learned from the past including the swordsmanship that only the head of the family could learn. If the rumors proved to be true, and the youngest’s talent was monstrous enough to wipe the crazy guys out, then he would teach him everything that he knew.
In the meantime, he believed that it would be better for his future if the person who would lead this family was a good man rather than a lunatic.
If he piled this debt on the youngest, then it was highly likely that he would not come after him to kill him in the future. In addition, once he became a master, he would be of great help in the North’s protection in the future.
“Ah!”
Jaiden immediately checked his physical condition before leaving his room. He needed to have some skills first before he could check his brother’s talents.
Jaiden couldn’t help but frown when he checked his physical condition through squats and stretches.
“This body is trash.”
He had felt this ever since he had confirmed in the beta test that this body had no talent. But regardless of this body’s talent, it seemed like the original owner had no motivation at all. Otherwise, it wouldn’t make sense for this body to lack the muscles needed to move and practice swordsmanship.
“If you don’t have talent then you have to work hard. Tch! You lack effort.”
There was nothing wrong with what the elders said.
If you’re not good at it then work hard. If working hard is still not enough, then you have to wooooooooooooork harder.
Of course, it would be impossible to keep up with the geniuses especially with their monstrous talents but after 10 or 20 years of hard work, a trashy talent would still be able to catch up and graze the periphery of the area where the talented people play around.
He had proven it himself during the beta test.
“I haven’t awakened my mana and my body is a mess.”
Even if his body was a mess, he was sure that he still had room for improvement once he had awakened his mana. However, this body was still not at that point yet.
The first time this body had awakened was when he was 13 years old. This body awakened a bit faster than a shitty talent but the fact that he needed the support of an elixir meant that he was a dunce.
“Hoo… I first need to build up my body.”
Jaiden sighed deeply as he started to do some simple warm ups in his room.