Chapter 9: Clean your first dungeon, Part 1

Amadeus, a game that had generated a moderate amount of buzz.

Its title, reminiscent of a certain composer, sometimes led to it being mistaken for a music or classical game.

Its story, however, was well-received. The first part of the story wasn’t so much a narrative as an elaborate tutorial explaining the game’s mechanics.

So, Lucia, following the story, should have been going through the academy entrance process, familiarizing herself with the game’s systems. However,

“N-No, I don’t want to…”

“I’m even writing you a recommendation! How can you refuse?!”

“Yes! Why are you refusing?! I want to go to the academy with Lucia!”

“Th-There are too many people…!”

Lucia vehemently refused the king’s offer, despite him even writing her a recommendation.

While her personality was more timid than in the original game, the biggest reason was the status window constantly flashing before her eyes.

[Part 1 Begins: Enroll in the Academy!

The King of Solarite wishes to send you to the academy for the glory of the nation!

To repay his kindness, you must enroll in the academy-]

Lucia closed the window without finishing the sentence.

Kindness? She wasn’t so sure.

Her wounds had already been healed by the potion she bought from the suspicious peddler girl. The royals hadn’t helped her there.

They had taken her in when she had nowhere to go?

Well, they saw her as the Child of Prophecy, a tool to solidify their power.

Still, they had treated her well, far better than she’d ever been treated in her short life.

But she couldn’t accept the words in the status window, the text-based memories implanted in her mind. Memories should have sensory components, but these were just words.

[Lucia was a girl from a small village.]

It read like someone else’s life story, not her own. But these words evoked emotions in her, emotions she couldn’t trust. It felt like someone had installed circuits in her brain, triggering sadness whenever these memories surfaced.

Perhaps this status window was manipulating her, guiding her actions and the actions of those around her. She couldn’t bring herself to follow its instructions.

She couldn’t accept their kindness at face value.

“…It’s fine. The academy’s entrance ceremony has been postponed anyway.”

“Is… that so?”

Every time she deviated from the main story, the academy entrance ceremony was delayed, fueling her suspicions.

In the game, the story would halt if the player didn’t follow the main questline. But this wasn’t a game. This was her reality.

Lucia’s suspicions were correct, but she had no way of knowing. She remained confused.

“Th-Then… I’ll be going…”

“W-Wait, Lucia…!”

Lucia hurried out of the office, leaving the Second Princess’s outstretched hand grasping at air.

“What should we do…”

“What can we do…”

Their sighs filled the office.

“What… am I…?”

What should she do? How could she understand and use this status window? She admitted it had been helpful. Without it, she, who had never held a sword, wouldn’t have possessed skills that impressed even the royal sword master. And she wouldn’t have known that exactly five Laagands had attacked her.

The peddler girl who appeared before her must have been connected to the status window, so it was indeed helpful. But what if even the danger was manufactured by the status window?

Walking towards her lavishly appointed room, Lucia continued to ponder.

“Ah, Lucia?”

“…Sword master.”

A voice stopped her in the hallway. The black-haired man, Carlos, was the royal sword master. One of the few people she felt comfortable around. Unlike the king, princess, and other knights, who triggered quest windows whenever she interacted with them, the sword master didn’t. He was also a commoner from a rural village, like her, and one of the few who apologized for the knights’ forceful retrieval of the “prophesied girl.” Most were fanatics, excited to have found her.

Perhaps his kindness was genuine.

“You seem troubled. Want to continue your sword training?”

“…Yes.”

Swinging a sword brought a sense of calm.

Carlos led her to the Royal Knights’ training grounds, a large open space with several training dummies.

Lucia struck, slashed, and stabbed the dummies with her sword. No matter how much she damaged them, they regenerated. And she would strike again.

The repetitive action helped clear her mind.

In the game, this area was for testing character damage. As such, numbers appeared whenever Lucia hit a dummy.

300, 270, 200.

The numbers varied depending on where she struck. A player would have recognized the game mechanics at play. But Lucia, a resident of this world, only felt a vague sense of unease, nothing more.

Perhaps she was deliberately ignoring it, hoping it wasn’t part of the system.

“Your form has improved considerably. I even saw a 300 occasionally.”

“Is… that so…”

Unlike the status window, these numbers were visible to other knights and instructors, further dispelling her suspicion. Lucia decided to believe they were simply indicators of her swordsmanship.

“So, about the sword style you used before-”

“…I won’t use it.”

“I’m sorry. Did I say something wrong?”

“No… it’s fine… I just… don’t want to use it…”

Every time she trained, the status window announced an increase in her ‘Swordsmanship’ level. But it wasn’t the kingdom’s sword style she was currently learning.

It was a different style, more unorthodox and aggressive, perfectly suited to her, yet a style she had never learned.

Even Carlos, after observing her technique, commented that it suited her, but he’d never seen it before.

It felt comfortable, but every time she used it, her body moved on its own. Even if she swung incorrectly, her movements would be automatically corrected, as if predetermined.

At level 1, this didn’t happen; she simply gained the knowledge of how to wield a sword. But as her level increased, reaching level 5, her body began executing the techniques flawlessly, even without her understanding.

It felt like her body wasn’t her own.

So she refused to use it. She continued practicing the kingdom’s sword style, even though it was weaker and more tiring. At least then, her body felt like her own, momentarily dispelling the fear that her world was being manipulated.

She finished a sequence of movements and raised her sword again when a thought struck her.

“Swordmaster…”

“Yes?”

“Where is the assistant instructor?”

Estelle, the stern, black-haired woman who, like Carlos, had apologized to her upon their first meeting, was nowhere to be seen.

She was always present during training… had something happened?

“Ah, Estelle…”

Ding!

A clear, ringing sound. Lucia knew this sound.

A sound she dreaded, a sound she hoped she wouldn’t hear, especially when she was with Carlos.

Lucia’s face, fear creeping into her expression, slowly turned towards the source of the sound.

“She was sent to investigate a dungeon on the king’s orders-”

[Event Story: Find Estelle!

The assistant swordmaster, Estelle, was sent to investigate a dungeon on the king’s orders.

But she has not returned after a week-]

“But she hasn’t returned after several days. Perhaps something went wrong…”

The status window, the quest, appeared again.

She felt a profound sense of betrayal and despair. Were Carlos and Estelle also connected to the status window?

She didn’t want to follow it, to proceed with the quest.

But… someone she had grown close to, one of the few she could rely on.

[Her fate is unknown!

If you do not go, she and her companions may perish!

Accept?

Y/N]

The thought of someone dying because of a quest was unbearable.

She didn’t want to, but she had to.

Torn by conflicting emotions, Lucia bit her lip, drawing blood.