I woke up before sunrise to the most bizarre and revealing message.

> Wyxnos, god of Logic, offers to change "[REDACTED]" to "Loki" in your entry:

>

> Divine Siphon (unique): divine energy that targets you or enters in contact with you is drained and the power is sent to [REDACTED].

>

> Do you accept? [YES] - [NO]

Bastard.

Wyxnos WAS hearing Olive's prayer, but the asshole decided to ignore us to... do whatever he was doing. The Core did send some energy to [REDACTED], didn't it? I've been where you are now, Wyxnos. Tracking hackers. Running iptraces. Bouncing through VPN and SSH tunnels. Which are basically the same thing. Maybe I could try something.

"System. A suggestion. Delete entry {Dumpstat X} from my Status. The entry's effect is long gone and not useful anymore under any circumstances."

> ACKNOWLEDGED. Entry Dumpstat X (ultra-rare) removed. Thank you for your cooperation.

I let the other prompt hanging. "Administrator, if you want me to interact with your prompt, please spare me a minute or two."

The guy showed up in his impeccable business suit.

"You rang?" He said.

I raised an eyebrow but didn't stand up from the bed. "You, making jokes? The world is doomed."

"What do you need?"

"You heard my sister's prayers, didn't you?"

"Girl, a deity hears all prayers. I heard even yours. That doesn't mean we have the will, the power, or necessity to answer any of them."

"Fair enough," I smirked.

"State your case," Wyxnos stared.

"How many hidden Attributes exist?"

"I cannot share this information. If you know, you know. If you don't, it is not for you."

"Okay. Your prompt regarding [REDACTED]. Should I accept?"

"I cannot nudge you one way or another."

"Did I help by offering that entry for removal?"

"Yes. Your Status is becoming hard to manage. Status records were never designed to hold so many entries."

"I'm overflowing the indexes?"

"A good analogy. Is there anything else?"

"Actually yes. One last thing. Is [REDACTED] aware of me here? Can [REDACTED] see me here in this world?"

Wyxnos made an evil chuckle, "Loki wouldn't dare. Although I hope he liked the little morsel you sent him and come for a visit."

He vanished. I hit "YES" on the prompt. Deciding I would take a day off in bed, I went back to sleep.

----------------------------------------

I woke up with someone rummaging through my meager possessions. The bed hadn't shifted so my secret stash under the floorboards was safe. I looked around and found [Lady] Anjou doing her best "where's the bleeping crystal slipper" impression. Yeah, I felt like the girl that cleaned chimneys for her stepfamily. Because if I couldn't have some privacy in my damned bedroom in my damned house, that's what it was.

"Anjou, what are you doing with my clothes?"

She turned around. Her cheeks were red but not from embarrassment. "Where is the core?" Her chest rose and fell at an impressive speed. She was beyond flustered.

"I ate it. Now, can I go back to sleep?"

She started to gesticulate, "You what? No. Apricot, that's not the time for jokes! I need the core. Now please be a good girl and give me the core!"

I wonder when the girl that played in the dirt with me became this spoiled bitch. "I can't give it to you now. Maybe tomorrow after I use the chamber pot." My reply only irritated her further.

"Give me the gods-damned CORE!" Her voice reached crystal-shattering levels of a soprano. Too bad lead glass wasn't yet invented.

"Anjou, pay attention to my voice. There's no more core. I ate it."

And for fifty-nine Attribute points, I would eat another one if I had it.

"You are impossible! Why do you have to torment me so, Apricot? It is one easy request, why can't my retarded aunt understand? {Lady's Request} - Give me the core!"

> Charisma check automatically succeeded. Request impossible.

"No. And stop using Skills on me. Did you see the "request impossible" message? There's no more core!"

The face of horror she was making was worth an award. "Why do you make things so hard to me?" She sniffled. "The Baron is here, to discuss our engagement. He wants the core and I promised him a core!"

Apricot really loved Anjou but the girl was pushing it. "Consider that a practical lesson on not promising a third party someone else's belongings. And you're not marrying the Baron's fourth son anyway."

She grabbed my arm and shook me. "Why do you hate me this much? I only treated you with love and kindness! Even when the kids would make fun at your expense I defended you! And that's how you repay me? Don't envy me because I am pretty and have a lot of suitors."

Yeah, because that's all you are worth. A pretty face and the ticket for social climbers to get closer to Lord Ackerton's fame. And since both of us were adopted, I was the economy ticket. Which meant I was competition. Putting in that dolt bimbo's head that I had zero interest in men was as impossible as getting back to Earth.

"Okay," I dragged the word out. "I won't. Now, let me sleep."

I flipped and pulled the blankets over me. She pulled the blanket off.

"NO! Where is the core! I bet you hid it under your bed!"

Should I tell her she was not marrying the Baron's fourth son because I murdered him? And his other murderous suitor, not to mention the diabolist one? I think I should get off the bed and go murder some more. Because if I ever feel like murdering something, it was at that moment.

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

"Give me the bloody Co-aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!"

Anjou screamed and fell down, clutching her crotch over her petticoats. I sat up and looked at the crying whimpering woman. She seemed genuinely hurt.

"What happened?" I mumbled.

"You witch!" She stood up and stormed off.

I wish I could tell the fairy "good job". I couldn't. I just whistled.

"Daaaaamn."

Now I couldn't go back to sleep.

I was finishing my morning ritual when they returned. Let me tell you, playing dress-up was fun. Maybe because the female brain is attracted to these detailed and colorful things we collectively call "cute". But I digress. They returned. Anjou came with her mother in tow.

Long story short, they didn't believe I'd eaten the core. Because that was too absurd. And I had to agree with them. Someone without my "Carefully Curated" selection of perks wouldn't be able to pull it off. They either wouldn't eat crystal or would succumb to demonic corruption.

Then they demanded me to show my hidden stash. I had Nenandil freeze it in place so they couldn't pry open the floorboards and I could deny it even existed. Finally, they dragged me before the Baron. He was in the sitting room and stood up to greet me.

"Ah, miss Apricot, well met!" Baron Hendra nodded with his head. Instead of a full curtsy, I imitated his gesture.

"Baron. To what I owe the visit?"

I ignored the two fuming and glaring women behind me.

"Miss Apricot, if I may ask, is it true that you were the one Bundeus chose to slay the Demon Lord? The {Hero} chosen by our God?"

"I completed a System quest, but I wasn't chosen," I said, carefully skirting my thoughts around the notion of Gods because I didn't want to trigger the curses. "I just saw a monster in front of me and killed it."

"Oh," The Baron smiled. "Such modesty. Such humbleness. So fitting of a true {Hero}. Now, miss Apricot," The Baron assumed a very condescending tone. "You are in possession of a most dangerous artifact. One that could put you and your family in trouble--"

I cut off the Baron. By the time he said "ble" he already had a contract and I was an inch from his face. "You don't dare threaten my family!"

Behind him, the [Assassin] posing as a [Maid] as security was frozen with widened eyes. In my defense, I did refrain from shifting and biting his head off. The Baron must have some perk or Skill that warned him of danger because he backed off immediately.

"Of course not, miss Apricot. I apologize for any misunderstanding. Our families will become one very soon! Once my son returns from his hunting retreat, he and [Lady] Anjou are getting married!"

I grinned. "What kind of game is your son hunting? Something tasty?"

I didn't get off of his face. Forced to take a step back, the Baron was obviously disturbed. I took a moment to {Appraise} him. Level forty-seven. Not bad.

"Oh, only small, ha-harmless game," He stuttered. Guilty as fuck. He probably bought those people so his son could kill and level up. He droned on with his lie, his eyes swimming in falsehood. "Rabbits, a doe, at most a fox. This kind of game."

I nodded, trying my disgust. "Yes. It would be too bad if the hunter became the hunted." I failed miserably as the Baron looked at me with suspicion.

I couldn't keep my emotions in check. The Baron looked distressed now, smelling something wrong in the air. Maybe he was connecting the dots and noticing no report came from his son's retreat in two weeks.

"Maybe I should summon him earlier."

"Maybe it doesn't matter," I kept our staredown contest going. To put him off, I changed the subject. "Did you know I got a {Hero} title? I heard it is something very important but not why. I beg the Baron for this small boon. Would you explain to me why it is so important?"

He took another step back. His shin touched the couch and he sat. More like fell with his butt on the couch. I maneuvered around the coffee table - not that we had coffee - and sat on the armchair across to his seat, leaning my body to stay further away from him.

"A {Hero} is chosen by the gods to go on important missions for the sake of everyone. She fights dangerous enemies, monsters, villains, and becomes the stuff of legends. A {Hero} lives forever in the imagination of [Bards] and [Poets]. Maidens swoon when they glance upon a {Hero}," He continued as he got carried away.

Across the coffee table, Anjou was fuming. The idea that I could have more attention and status than she was unbearable.

"Interesting. Not the maidens swooning part, obviously," I joked.

"Oh, don't worry. [Knights] all across the land will joust for your favor, I'm sure about it!" he could've stabbed Anjou and it would've wounded her less.

"Not interested in [Knights] either. Say, Baron. I have some treasure I acquired in my journeys. I think I owe the crown taxes on them. Would you exchange them for more portable coin and collect the taxes for me?"

"Of course. It would be a pleasure!"

"Then, excuse me. I am sure you have a lot to talk with your future daughter-in-law."

I went upstairs and retrieved my treasure stash. I took one item - Pavel's gold signet ring with the Baron's crest - and set it apart. The baron knew his son was hunting people. I might not have the opportunity to assassinate him without implicating my family but I would drag his House through the mud. Maybe even get him beheaded. On second thought, I took out all the signet rings I had. Especially the one from the half-minotaur prince. I wasn't shy about looting my victims.

I returned with the leather bag full of valuable items, the metal clattering its happy wealthy sounds. I set the bag on the coffee table and showed it to the Baron. Karen and Karen Jr... I mean, Mirabelle and Anjou leaned forward to drool on the bling. Apricot still loved them.

There's one parenthesis to be had here. While I, the "Anomaly" as Wyxnos likes to call me, the transmigrator guy from NYC that got hit by a truck and jumped from life to life knew they were Karens, Apricot, the person I have had feelings of her own. I guess they were my feelings too and maybe I was having a mild case of split personalities, but that's how I dealt with my predicament. Sometimes I had to take a step back intellectually speaking and look at my current life and look at it as if it was someone else. I found it was a good exercise to get a perspective on my own troubles.

"Where did you get all that?" Mirabelle asked.

"Working. How did you think I got strong enough to kill a demon that big?" I grinned.

The baron took a deep breath and took the lead I gave him. "What is your Class, miss Apricot? If you don't mind telling me."

I chuckled, "Of course not. I'm a [Silver Slayer]. Got it after my rank up for killing the demon."

The inevitable question followed. "What was your class before?"

"I was a [Monster Hunter] once," I misled without lying.

Our murderer undercover maid gasped. Guess she had lie detection abilities. The Baron paused to think for a while and nodded. I guess he was trying to figure out if a [Monster Hunter] could rank up into a [Silver Slayer]. I think he figured out they could, as I got only a nod.

He pointed at the treasure, "So all of this is from killing monsters?"

"There are all kinds of monsters. Some of them walk on two or even six legs," I winked at the baron.

He wasn't stupid. He knew that came from living breathing people and might even recognize some of that jewelry.

"I also hunted many a bandit in my travels. Some of these come from what they had."

"But your level doesn't show to {Appraise}!" Anjou complained.

"A [Lady] has her secrets, dear niece," I smiled at her. "And so do I."

"That's a perk. One that hides her Status from lower leveled {Appraise}. Not even I can see her Status," The Baron offered. "It means nothing. She only has to show the core to prove her claim. Speaking of which, miss Apricot, where is it?"

"I ate it. Gave me a lot of Exp and Attributes," I answered straight away.

The Baron became white. He slumped on the couch. "You aren't lying."

I shrugged, "Of course not. I told my niece earlier but she didn't believe me."

"The King won't be happy," he spoke to himself, frightened. "We need to... no, impossible."

"The King couldn't pay me the value of that core. He wasn't getting it anyway."

"No! You do not understand, you retarded halfbreed!" The Baron exploded. I took my treasure bag back and secured her on me. "I already promised him! He was going to promote me to a Count! And it is a custom to gift such artifacts to the crown as a sign of fealty! He'll have us killed."

Note to self. Murder the King. Put a contract on him... done.

> Contested Soul test... passed. Your Assassin Contract remains.

Yeah. Keep trying assholes. The message popped up five times before it changed.

> Contested Soul test... failed. Your Assassin Contract was removed.

To which I just put another on the King. Nenandil was correct. My "spiritual energy" - whichever Attribute governed that - was strong. Another two attempts at removing my contract and the one doing it gave up.

The Baron was about to have a stroke. I stood up and walked to the door of the sitting room. Before I left, I said, "Your Lordship, we'll deal with the treasure later. You seem tired." I flagged the maid. "Please see the Baron out."

I was about to climb the stairs when a commotion at the door caught my attention. I heard the distinctive sound of people moving in metal armor. I went to see what was happening. Two guys in ancient Greek segmented bronze plate armor bearing the symbol of Bundeus etched on the chest were trying to enter. Our guards blocked their advance so the stalemate was at the front porch right before the main doors.

"What is going on here? Why do you intrude on my residence?" I shouted.

"By order of the high Hierophant of Bundeus, the {Hero} is to present himself to be recognized and anointed."

I got this close to the temple knights. Staring him in the eye, I said, "Sorry, but you won't find HIM here. There is no male {Hero} in this house."

"What transpires here?" The Baron approached from behind me, his composure restored.

Knight didn't like the haughty tone and inquired, "Who are you, sir?"

"I'm Baron Hendra, lord of these lands!" He quickly asserted.

"Where is the {Hero}? We were told to secure him in this house."

"She's in front of you, you dolt."

I checked the temple knights' levels. Fifty-one and forty-nine. Damn. They also reeked of divine energy.

"That's good," The Baron said, probably happy to dump the problem of the missing core on Bundeus' church. "We are all here, let's go meet His Eminence."

I didn't want to spill blood on my family's front porch, so I agreed to go with them. But I put contracts on the two Knights as the four of us went on our way.