Screeching... screeching...

Screeching...

Screeching...

In a vast area among numerous bamboo trees, shrouded in semi-darkness, the sound of metal scraping against metal echoed. Sparks appeared and disappeared, momentarily illuminating two silhouettes standing opposite each other.

One of them was a person dressed entirely in black, resembling an assassin. His posture was slightly bent forward, with two bright red daggers in both hands. His eyes, beneath the hood, were focused intently on the opponent before him.

In contrast, his adversary was dressed in what appeared to be luxurious attire - a blue aristocratic costume, though it bore several cuts. The youth, seemingly no more than 16 years old, stood straight, his blue eyes fixed on the assassin before him. There was no trace of anxiety in his gaze; rather, it held a profound calmness. His red-black hair swayed in the gentle breeze that surrounded this area.

Strangely, the lower half of the youth's face was covered by a dense material. It was a black mask, contrasting with his aristocratic outfit, concealing his mouth and nose. Judging by the visible part of his face, one could assume he had attractive features.

Unlike the assassin who was poised to attack, the youth held only a thin sword. The sword had no special features; it appeared to be an ordinary light blade.

As he observed the assassin, a flicker of emotion passed deep within his eyes.

He muttered under his breath, "So, the time has finally come... Can the predetermined be changed?"

Focusing intently on the assassin before him, he concentrated.

.....................

One month earlier.

On a sunny day, from the sky, one could see an enormous city full of towering buildings, among which flew objects very similar to cars. However, these buildings were not ordinary; if one looked closely, there were clear differences from the buildings on Earth.

Not far from the huge city, on a mountainside, stood a large mansion that resembled a medieval European castle. Among this vast estate was a small window in the farthest corner of the castle.

At this time, a youth stood before the window, with red-black hair and blue eyes. The lower part of his face was covered by a mask, giving him an air of mystery.

In the youth's blue eyes, there was only amazement as he gazed at the huge city in the distance, near which various objects vaguely reminiscent of flying machines from an advanced civilization flew.

However, he clearly knew that all of this was a product of magic, not science. Besides, the scene before him was oddly familiar; the realism of the image was too high.

The youth's eyes gradually began to focus, and for some reason, he felt a sense of unease.

"How did I get here..."

"It's too real to be a dream..."

The first thing that came to his mind after waking up in this room was that he must be dreaming. However, the subsequent memories that flooded into his head made him realize that he had indeed entered the world of a game very familiar to him.

A game on which he had spent effort over the last few years, escaping from reality.

And now, somehow, he had ended up in this world.

A world where insane things happen, which is natural since almost all people here are far stronger than those on Earth. They could be called superhumans. But what gave even more possibilities was the energy called mana.

It was, as in other novels, very magical.

With mana, some could literally erase everything before them, calling themselves mages. Others enhanced their bodies so much that they became walking catastrophes.

The most frightening thing was that besides humans, there were various races and beings from other dimensions. This world was so insane by the end of the game that almost everything was destroyed.

It could only be prevented by leveling up the main characters to the maximum. And even then, in the process, there were a large number of sacrifices and betrayals.

"What nonsense... this is a joke, right?"

Even though he realized he had entered the game world, the memories that arose in his head weighed on him more.

With slightly frozen steps, he turned and headed towards a full-length mirror adorned with exquisite shapes.

Before his eyes appeared the image that was in his head.

Looking at the mask on his face, he reached out with trembling hands and removed it. Instead of a handsome face, skin full of burns appeared, immediately reducing his attractiveness.

"Niro Frostveil, a third-rate character who dies even before the game begins."

Memories he had even from the previous world surfaced. A game character that could be discovered when investigating the past of one of the heroines.

This character was killed, and there was even a substitution of the heroine's hand. The reason was that the heroine and Niro were engaged, due to political considerations. When the heroine reached 12 years of age, she finally discovered her talent, which sharply raised her status in the family. But Niro had no talent; he had always been clumsy. Although this wasn't a reason for the heroine's dislike.

However, a sudden situation exacerbated when Niro received a magical burn that clearly spoiled his appearance. This also put an end to the heroine's intentions, who didn't want to marry Niro. Although her talent was great, the relationships between the two families were also very important. And so, finally, a contract killing was planned.

In the game, when the player learns these details, from the heroine's words, Niro was described as a bad person, with a poor character and evil actions.

However, now one could learn about the heroine's deception, as in his new memories from Niro, he didn't see any such actions.

Stolen novel; please report.

Reaching out, he carefully touched the burns on his face, thinking it would be painful, but there was no such sensation. He tried to remember how he got these burns, but the memories of that time were blocked, shrouded in fog. He clearly remembered black as pitch fire before his eyes, which caused extreme fear inside him.

Pulling back his hand, he took a deep breath, trying to calm down.

"...How can I avoid this situation? Run away?"

"No... that's impossible, considering that I'm being watched all the time, even leaving the mansion would be extremely difficult... even if I could escape, they would quickly catch me before I could hide. Staying here is equivalent to being used as a bargaining chip, or I'll simply die from a conspiracy."

"Even if I know some secrets and the main plot, it won't give me the opportunity to hide since I have little strength."

"What should I do...?"

"The only option is to go to the academy where the plot takes place. Due to the academy's prestige, no one dares to act recklessly in it. Well, except for the villains in the game, of course, there are other people, but minimal protection will still be provided, which can't be said about the Frostveil family. There, I can also become stronger, because even if I have extremely low talent, I can still find at least something to protect myself.

In the Frostveil family, the first thing that is valued is talent and strength. In a world where there is such a thing as mana, some things will be harsher than on Earth. When creating your character, besides using standard ones, you had to add some talent to the hero; without it, it would be impossible to reach the end. The best option is to leave the family, but even for this, you need to be strong."

"How can I understand if this body has talent."

Continuing to observe the youth in the mirror, he tried to remember ways to check for talent.

"Of course, for a player, this is clearly easier as he could simply use the status, but I can't..."

While he was muttering, a status very familiar to him as a player appeared before his eyes.

"Name: [Hero's Name] Level: 1 Experience: 0/100 Health: 70/70 Mana: 120/120

Basic characteristics:

* Strength: 8

* Agility: 10

* Endurance: 7

* Intelligence: 12

* Wisdom: 11

* Charisma: 6 Skills: Mana Condensation (Level 0:) [0/1000] 

* Sword Mastery (Level 1:) [0/1000] 

* Talent: ?????? - sealed"

"Oh... It seems I can open the status as in the game."

Observing the status of the new body, he also had a slight feeling of excitement and anticipation. His gaze naturally fell on the talents tab. Since there, during the game, you could see various talents of heroes to know in which direction it's best to develop the hero.

"What are these strange symbols? Moreover, why is it sealed? Does this mean Niro has already awakened, but his talent is sealed?"

The excitement quickly subsided, replaced by slight depression. He tried to press on the status before him, trying to unseal the talent. But as expected, he couldn't influence the status in any way except for closing and opening it.

"Phew... I need to calm down. Although the talent is sealed, there are other ways to become stronger... although it's more difficult."

His gaze focused on other tabs.

"Basic characteristics are below average. Judging by the memories, he's not that good at physical training. Now only skills are left... two skills that are at level 0."

Looking back and forth at the two skills, he tried to call up skill information as in the game. To his surprise, it worked.

[Skill "Mana Condensation": Level 0: Perception absent] "This is a skill that everyone masters to feel the surrounding mana. However, even after so much time, Niro couldn't feel the mana surrounding him in the air, skill level 0. From his memories, it's clear that one needs to remain motionless for mana to naturally enter the body, thus feeling it."

[Skill "Sword Mastery":

Level 1 [0/100]

* Initial mastery

* Basic stances and simple strikes

* Low accuracy and speed

* Weak control.]

"As for the second skill, although it's level 1, based again on memories, Niro's sword mastery is extremely low. On one hand, he has a weak body, on the other, he has been in a depressive state since the incident 3 years ago. The situation is aggravated by the fact that everyone around him either ignored him or mocked him."

The more he thought, the more his already abnormal mood became more chaotic. Because of this, it seemed his extremely small strength left him. As a result, he lay down on the simple bed in the middle of the room. His eyes naturally looked at the ceiling, remembering his last moments before he entered this world.

Despair and the same depression as Niro's, with no one around to support him. The few people who were with them also distanced themselves from him. It always seemed to him that the world had abandoned him.

"It seems... so similar to the past... even after I killed... myself..."

His eyes, already dull, became even duller.

"Maybe I should just repeat... or wait until they simply remove me anyway I can't change anything..."

As in his past life, he had no motivation to do anything. As seen from practice, if the mind is tired, the body naturally begins a self-destruction program.

"Even talent, the only chance is the academy, but for this, you need to get there first, ha-ha-ha-ha"

Muttering a few words, he laughed without knowing why. The situation was as bad as it could be. No, worse than this is only death.

"Ha-ha-ha, I'm no longer afraid..."

His gaze moved to the sword neatly lying near the open balcony. His eyes flickered for a moment.

"If this world is a game, there are gods in games..."

"If there are gods, then there's fate, right?"

His thoughts spun faster and faster. And his eyes, without any sparkle, momentarily reflected madness.

"If so? What if I leave a gift? They're going to kill me anyway, right?"

It seemed that from his thoughts, his body gave him strength. He got up from his place, step by step approached the sword on the ground.

"What if one of the Frostveil family's offspring dies. And several people find a message with a prediction about the fate of this world... ha-ha, that would be funny..." "Then how much colder would the situation be after I leave this world? Ha-ha-ha."

Without realizing it, he subconsciously chuckled several times, reaching out and taking the sword from the floor.

It wasn't heavy; it seemed to be specially made for him. Taking it in one hand, he looked carefully at the sword. It was the most ordinary sword with a thin blade, reminding him of a katana, although it wasn't slightly curved.

He raised the sword and swung it twice in front of him as in his memories. In his dull eyes with a trace of madness, he carefully observed the sword.

After a few short swings, his gaze shifted to other places, dull blue eyes trying to find paper and a pen to leave a prediction. However, in the next second, the trace of madness in his eyes quickly disappeared.

And the abnormal thoughts were suppressed because a small notification appeared before his eyes.

[Sword Mastery +1]

This was the notification that made him come out of the state of madness.

"It seems I forgot something..."

With these words, he quickly called up the player status and focused on one point.

[Skill "Sword Mastery":

Level 1 [1/100]

* Initial mastery

* Basic stances and simple strikes

* Low accuracy and speed

* Weak control.]

His gaze quickly found the difference from the earlier status. The value 0 had turned into 1.

"Hmmm?"

Looking suspiciously at the status, he raised the sword with his hand and swung it again.

[Sword Mastery +1] "?"