〈 Chapter 0. Every Beginning Is Difficult 〉
Objective: Make the optimal choice. (0/1)
Route 1 — 〈 Chapter 1. Heaven Helps Those Who Help Themselves (1) 〉
Route 2 — 〈 Death 〉
‘Th-This… no way….’
……
A quest?
But the shock didn’t last long.
Waking up in this world had already been far more overwhelming—whatever this was, it was still better than ending up inside someone else’s body.
If anything, the appearance of this strange window gave me just enough distance to rein in my fear.
‘There are two routes.’
Move on to the next chapter… or die.
Coincidentally, I only had two choices as well.
Avoid the poison—or drink it.
One of those choices was tied to my death.
A single decision was about to determine whether I lived or died. My breath caught in my throat, and a tingling numbness spread through my fingertips.
‘…No.’
Calm down.
I loosened my stiff fingers and stared at the vial in his hand.
The poison glimmered inside, leaving faint blue traces as it shifted. It looked like something that would send me straight to the grave the moment I drank it.
Fixing my gaze on the dark liquid, I spoke shortly.
“…I already drank it yesterday.”
“I see. Of course, I trust that you always tell the truth. But mistakes can happen when things pass through several hands. For instance, the one who brought you your tea may have forgotten to mix the medicine into it…”
“……”
“Even if everything you said is true, it doesn’t matter. I simply want to ensure your condition is properly managed—for your sake. If you were to make a mistake in front of your peers… it would upset you greatly, wouldn’t it, Luca?”
There was no demon worse than this.
He had always been like this—both in the novel and in Luca’s memories—forever playing the role of the kind elder brother.
No one would ever guess what kind of inferiority and superiority lay hidden behind that gentle smile and those warm words.
I let out a breath and lowered my head.
No matter which choice I made, my life was on the line. I needed to prepare myself.
‘It said the optimal choice.’
I took a deep breath.
Then, in one swift motion, I snatched the vial from his hand and poured the poison down my throat.
From my tongue to my stomach, every place the liquid touched burned as if it were on fire. The chill of the stone floor seeped into the left side of my face, and the poison I had just swallowed surged back up, spilling from my mouth. The sound I made echoed faintly in my ears, distorted.
It was a bizarre sensation.
“Hm. So you really did drink it yesterday.”
His amused voice drifted faintly into a corner of my fading consciousness.
It must be funny, seeing a younger brother forced to obey even while knowing the truth.
I get it.
So—
‘Laugh while you still can.’
Ding—!
Congratulations!
‘Objective: Make the optimal choice.’ — Success!
‘Chapter 0. Every Beginning Is Difficult’ — Complete!
‘Route 1 — 〈 Chapter 1. Heaven Helps Those Who Help Themselves (1) 〉’ has been selected.
‘…Right. That’s more like it.’
Earlier, he had said it was a relief I could still return to the academy.
In the novel, Luca doesn’t die until after he graduates. So this wasn’t the time yet.
Of course, there was no guarantee the story would unfold exactly the same way for me—so it had been a bit of a gamble…
‘But it worked.’
While my consciousness drifted further and further away, my body felt unbearably heavy.
Even as my mind slipped from my flesh, the corners of my lips curled upward faintly.
Route 1 — 〈 Chapter 1 〉 begins.
「 Chapter 1. Heaven Helps Those Who Help Themselves (1) 」
The pain didn’t matter. Neither did my pride.
In the end, I would be the one left standing, the one laughing last.
There was no way I was going to die unfairly in a world like this—least of all at the hands of someone like him.
So instead of the protagonist…
I would be the one to bring about my brother’s end.
How much time had passed?
White sunlight filtered through the curtains covering the window.
There was no pain left in my stomach or esophagus, which had felt like they were burning away from the poison. Perhaps healing magic had been used—my body felt light.
‘Mm.’
I slowly raised my hand.
A pale, bony hand moved at my will.
I was alive.
And still in someone else’s body.
‘That thing earlier… what was it?’
A quest window?
The moment I thought it, something appeared before my eyes.
〈 Chapter 1. Heaven Helps Those Who Help Themselves (1) 〉
Objective: Life is up to you! Find what needs to be done. (0/3)
(71:52:09 remaining)
Route 1 — 〈 Chapter 2. Heaven Helps Those Who Help Themselves (2) 〉
Route 2 — 〈 Chapter 2. Even a Blind Chicken Finds Grain Sometimes 〉
It had definitely been Chapter 0 before.
Now the number had advanced. I didn’t know the mechanism behind it, but it was… intriguing.
‘If this exists, then… does that mean there’s a status window too?’
It wasn’t a game—but then again, this “objective” system already felt like one.
At that moment, white text appeared in the air.
Lucas René Ascania
Title: The Empire’s Greatest Fool
Health: -5
Mental Strength: -10
Magic Power: ?
Skill: 0
Reputation: -10
Luck: -10
Trait: Dawn777
“…Oh.”
It appeared. But…
‘Why the hell are they all negative?’
No—that wasn’t true.
Skill was zero.
But that did nothing to comfort me.
‘And what is that title supposed to be?’
Letting out a hollow laugh, I scanned the window.
Lucas René Ascania.
Right—Lucas was the real name.
“Luca” was just what his brother called him.
In the novel, aside from the protagonist and his brother, everyone addressed him as Lucas.
Reputation probably referred to how others perceived me. And the trait…
‘Trait…’
Can I press this?
Curious, I reached out and tapped the oddly familiar name.
Dawn777
—Time until final ending ‘Chapter X. Death’: 777 days, 1 hour, 6 minutes, 37 seconds
—Chance of change: 0.2%
“……”
I dismissed the window and turned my head away.
I didn’t know what I had just seen—but it definitely wasn’t something I wanted to face.
Still… no matter how much I wanted to avoid it, I couldn’t just ignore it forever.
“…Damn it…”
Gritting my teeth, I summoned the status window again and selected Dawn777.
The same message appeared.
‘777 days until death.’
Roughly two years… and a little over a month.
‘And a 0.2% chance of change.’
Not zero—but barely above it.
Maybe it had increased because I succeeded in the “objective” back in Chapter 0.
If I kept completing them, that probability might rise.
‘Not bad.’
Even without this system, my survival would depend on my choices.
At least now, I could see it.
From here on out, I’d make the best choices—and force the best possible outcome.
Knock, knock—
“Young master.”
Just as I was about to take a proper look around the room, a servant quietly opened the door and stepped inside.
“You’re awake. It has been nearly a day since you collapsed. Your injuries were treated yesterday by the eldest young master using magic.”
Treated?
That man’s act of playing the benevolent brother really was something else. As I held back a scoff, the servant continued.
“You were exposed to a sudden amount of light, so your eyes have been badly strained. Please avoid direct light until tomorrow. Your stomach has not fully recovered either, so you mustn’t overexert yourself when eating. Your belongings have already been sent to the dormitory, so you may rest here comfortably until tomorrow morning before departing.”
The servant rattled off his words in one breath, then stepped back with a tense expression.
“I will bring your meal shortly. Please rest in the meantime.”
“Hey.”
At my voice, the servant’s eyes widened.
His lips parted in shock before he managed a small response.
“…Pardon?”
Of course, he wasn’t the only one surprised.
‘Hey’?
That alone was enough to remind me this wasn’t the world I used to live in.
Of course, he wasn’t startled because I had spoken rudely—he was simply shocked that I had spoken to him at all.
‘Fair enough.’
Because of his brother, Luca had become extremely withdrawn. He barely spoke even to the servants he saw every day.
The servant glanced around uncertainly before asking again, still unable to believe it.
“…Were you addressing me?”
“Who else would I be addressing?”
As the blunt words continued to slip out, I bit my lip.
Was this the norm here?
Thinking back, Luca, as a member of a noble house, hadn’t used honorific speech with servants either.
Though his tone had always been timid and lacking confidence. Mine, on the other hand, sounded closer to that man’s. Since it was me speaking, not Luca, it seemed my own personality was bleeding through.
‘Well, that works in my favor.’
If I wanted to drag that bastard down from where he stood—and rise even higher myself—I couldn’t afford to remain weak.
Of course, if I kept speaking like this, everyone would notice the change. What was done was done, but from here on, I needed to act more like the original Luca.
Subtly, I relaxed the tension in my voice.
Meanwhile, the servant snapped back to his senses and straightened his posture.
“My apologies. Please, go ahead.”
“…Ahem. Where is my brother right now?”
“He left for the Imperial Palace the day after bringing you here.”
“The Imperial Palace?”
“Yes.”
The Imperial Palace, huh.
Naturally, his physical location would affect the difficulty of everything that followed.
He was a mage affiliated with the imperial court. In the novel, he was often dispatched abroad for diplomatic matters.
Since this was two years before Luca’s death—and with a seven-year age gap—that would place him in his mid-twenties.
Around this time, he would likely begin taking overseas assignments.
“When will he return to the estate?”
“I believe… the task he has taken on this time will require at least a year to complete. Even after returning to the Empire, it is uncertain whether he will stay in the estate.”
So he had gone abroad.
That was, at least, a small piece of good news.
For the next year, I would have more freedom to move.
“Y-Young master… is there anything else you wish to ask?”
“No, you may—”
Wait.
On a whim, I stared at the servant and summoned the status window.
Anton Clausen
Affinity: -5
Title: —
Health: +2
Mental Strength: +2
Magic Power: +0.5
Skill: 0
Reputation: +3
Luck: +1
Trait: —
“…Cough—!”
“Y-Young master?!”
The moment I saw the line beneath his name, I choked.
Affinity… that was almost certainly a measure of how he viewed me.
Did I really have to see my rock-bottom image reduced to a number like that?
‘…Even my own servant only has me at -5 instead of -10…’
I took the handkerchief he offered and coughed lightly.
Well, regardless of the score, what mattered now was that I could view information about others.
‘This could be useful.’
As I stared at the window in silence, the servant cautiously examined my expression.
“Young master?”
“That will be all. You may go.”
“Yes. I will bring your meal shortly.”
He left, only to return soon after with food.
Since I was considered a patient, my meal consisted of little more than a watery broth and a grain-based pudding.
I finished it quickly and began to look around the room.
‘Find what needs to be done, was it?’
I didn’t need to be told twice.
Once again, I summoned the objective window.
〈 Chapter 1. Heaven Helps Those Who Help Themselves (1) 〉
Objective: Life is up to you! Find what needs to be done. (0/3)
(70:53:01 remaining)
Route 1 — 〈 Chapter 2. Heaven Helps Those Who Help Themselves (2) 〉
Route 2 — 〈 Chapter 2. Even a Blind Chicken Finds Grain Sometimes 〉
That second route’s phrasing was oddly irritating.
It probably meant the story would continue even if I failed—but there was no reason to deliberately fall into a worse path.
I’d tackle things one by one.
I picked up a notebook from the bedside table. It was time to organize what I knew—the story, and how I should move from here on.
My memory was decent, but I couldn’t rely on it alone.
I took up a pen and began to write.
‘First, the overall plot.’
In short, it was the story of a reckless noble—born from a collateral branch of the imperial family—who, after ten years of trials, ultimately ascends to the throne.
In the process, he eliminates Luca’s brother, who had been the emperor’s right-hand man.
Only then does Luca’s death come to light, revealing the truth about his brother to the world.
Luca’s story was merely one of many incidents the protagonist dealt with along the way.
Even as another meal arrived, I ignored it, frantically writing down every detail that came to mind before finally pausing to catch my breath.
I had also sketched out the major character relationships.
‘Now it’s time to decide how I move.’
It wasn’t a difficult conclusion.
Until I built up my strength and secured allies in the shadows, I simply needed to avoid drawing attention—no openly using magic, nothing that would prompt my brother to come kill me.
But there was something even more important than that.
Even if I couldn’t act freely, I needed at least one ally—someone who could act in my place.
‘If I remember correctly, the protagonist attends the same academy as Luca.’
That would be an incredibly valuable connection.
Right now, he was nothing more than a troublemaker—but in ten years, he would become emperor.
So then… should I befriend the protagonist?
‘No.’
Maybe later—but right now, I needed focus.
I moved my gaze away from the protagonist’s name.
And underlined another name beside it.
Ding—!
Applause for your discernment!
‘Objective: Life is up to you! Find what needs to be done’ — 1/3 complete!
Achieving this objective in future stages will increase survival probability by at least 3%.
‘Hm.’
Looks like I made the right choice.
I wouldn’t side with the emperor.
Instead, I would bring the kingmaker—the one who made the emperor—over to my side.