"I... I only joined Hendrix's forces because I had no other choice! My family..."
"They're starving in the lower districts."
"I thought this was the only way to provide bread for them!"
"But I don't want to be a part of this... this madness anymore! I value my life above all else, please! Let me go!"
His desperate gaze flickered to Lilia, hoping the princess would intercede, before snapping back to me, praying for a miracle.
I brought the blade down, slicing through his neck without even blinking.
"I don't give a shit about whatever sob story you have for yourself," I muttered coldly, wiping the blade on the uniform of the closest corpse. "Save what you want to say for when you meet God."
I looked around the messy room, my voice dripping with dark disdain. "All of you came here attacking a private home in the dead of night just because this woman ran here."
"If this mansion had belonged to anyone else, an entire innocent family would have already been slaughtered by your hands without a second thought."
"And yet you have the audacity to ask them to spare your life?"
I spat on the floor. "What a joke."
Now that the violent adrenaline had completely faded and silence settled over the room, I finally regained my bearings.
Even though I said all that, deep down, I was actually deeply shocked by how calm I had been while taking human lives.
Back in my original world, I had never even been in a real fistfight, let alone killed someone.
I had been scared as hell when those armed soldiers first breached the door, but a primal instinct had taken over.
I knew with absolute certainty that if I hadn't fought back with everything I had, my own head would be the one rolling across the floor right now.
It felt as though I was watching myself play through a high-stakes scenario on a monitor, controlling a character who absolutely had to execute his commands perfectly to survive.
Have my original views and attitudes completely merged with the soul of the original owner of this body?
I whispered silently to myself, flexing my calloused fingers.
It's like my conscious brain is still completely myself, but my body and muscle memory already know exactly what they must do to survive in this brutal world.
Lilia stood completely frozen against the wall, her slender frame trembling uncontrollably as she watched the last soldier fall.
The young man's desperate pleas for mercy had been cut short by my terrifyingly efficient blade.
The room now echoed with a heavy, dead silence, broken only by the steady, rhythmic dripping of blood onto the wooden floorboards.
She stared blankly at the grisly scene, her bright blue eyes reflecting the cold, unyielding reality of the new world she had been thrust into.
"I... I never wanted this," she whispered, her voice cracking as she clutched her chest. "I never wanted anyone to die because of me like this."
The stark, brutal contrast between the sheltered, arrogant princess she once was and the harsh, bloody reality of the outer world weighed heavily on her shattering psyche.
She slowly looked up at me, her traumatized gaze lingering on the tall, imposing figure who had just saved her life—albeit with a chilling ruthlessness that struck pure terror into her soul.
"I... I don't know anymore," she admitted, her voice quivering violently with raw emotion.
"You've spared me from a fate worse than death at the hands of Hendrix... but at what cost? These men... they were misguided and corrupt, but they were still someone's son, someone's husband..."
Lilia swallowed hard, trying to steady her ragged, shallow breaths. "This is why Hendrix must be stopped."
She looked at me again, but her eyes were full of resolve this time. "I know I have absolutely no right to ask for your mercy or kindness after everything I've done to you in the past, but..."
Before she could finish her sentence, I raised my blood-slicked sword, pointing the sharp tip directly at her slender throat. The cold steel pressed lightly against her skin, instantly cutting off her words.
"As I told you before, I don't give a damn about your conditions, and I care even less about the fate of this pathetic country."
I said, my voice dropping to a dangerous, low octave. "You are the one whose pathetic lies made me realize how foolish and naive I was before."
[Commencing Analysis]
[Analyzing the most viable path for the Master to avoid the storyline leading to his death—as recalled from his memories]
[Analysis Complete]
[Handing Princess Lilia over to the guards—or leaving her behind—will raise the probability of the storyline following the Master's memories to over 50%]
[If Princess Lilia gets captured and becomes a slave like in the original storyline,]
[Master's death chance will be at 70% when the main story begins]
[Analyzing the cause...]
[Analysis Complete]
[If Princess Lilia is captured and enslaved, or handed over to the guards and enslaved, the chances of her meeting the main character—the Hero—are extremely high.]
[This will make Master's chances of winning against the Hero much smaller when Hendrix learns that Master is still alive and places a bounty on Master's head.]
[It is recommended that Master make Princess Lilia a temporary slave or a companion.]
[By making her a slave, Master can use her status as a disguise to cross the border and leave the country safely.]
[If Master chooses to make Princess Lilia a companion, Master will need to break through the gate guards and other soldiers if they discover Princess Lilia is with you.]
'Wha—!? Again!?'
Who is speaking inside my head!? Are you a ghost or something!?
[Answering Master's question:]
[I am C.H.R.O.N.O.S: Combat Hyper-Reaction Operational Neural On-line System.]
[I became active when Master entered your current body.]
[Because Master successfully acquired the Ultra Skill in the game—which was actually me—when Master moved to this world, I moved alongside Master.]
'The hell, have I gone crazy or what? It's hard enough to believe I'm inside the game world I used to play... but now this? Really?'