chapter 1
1 – Misplaced Possession
“No way! You’re that scoundrel Xiaon?!”
“W-Wait, are you lying now…? Then what I’ve been suspecting all this time is…”
“Huh? Does everyone not know? I thought you all knew already…”
“Listen here, Xiaon. How on earth did you attain the state of reincarnation? I really want to know too! Please tell me!”
The four women glared at me with fire in their eyes as they approached, interrogating me.
From the front, head alchemist Lucy, princess Rozaria, saint Elise, swordsman maniac Aria.
Each expressed the emotion of having been betrayed, awkwardly raising their faces.
…It seems I’ve somehow ended up at the center of a terrible misunderstanding.
Swordsmanship class is about to start soon… I can’t miss this opportunity to get stronger. For now, I should slip away.
“Ah! Xiaon-!”
“Where are you going! Stay right there!”
“Xiaon! It’s shameful for a swordsman to show his back!”
Evading the pursuing women in a chase, I thought.
Everyone, don’t tease newbies too much.
Or I’ll end up like this.
***
The phenomenal game “Ariel” has been released.
With the adoption of highly advanced artificial intelligence AI and chat GPT systems, you can see the lively, realistic reactions of various heroines.
And as expected of a fantasy game made by developers who poured in a fortune with determination, the background and storylines are quite intricately composed.
I devoted my life to this game.
Total playtime: 10,000 hours.
Ariel was the only refuge that allowed me to escape reality, tired of social life where I wear the same clothes and repeat the same work every day.
“Roar!”
“Haah!”
The monitor character slashes their sword towards the Great Wyvern, mouth agape.
To be precise, it’s a basic attack.
But because my character’s single sword stats are far superior to normal users’, just swinging the sword a little creates a sword aura of mana that detonates.
-Swish!
-Slice!
“Roar!”
Truly one stroke, two cuts.
The Great Wyvern’s bisected corpse crashes lifelessly to the ground after taking the sword aura head on.
‘That makes 300 now…’
This level of mid-boss is a piece of cake now.
Before I realized, repeating the routine of work-home-Ariel gave my character stats far surpassing even veteran high-level users.
I manipulated my character to cut off the wyvern’s tail and put it in my inventory.
Then I immediately returned to the “Royal Ariel Academy.”
After returning, I spoke to Lucy of the Alchemy Department, who I had requested the quest from, and handed over 300 wyvern tails.
“Wow! You really hunted 300 wyvern? I knew Cain was amazing! With this I’ll have no problem getting ingredients for the final graduation exam in alchemy!”
Lucy on the monitor exclaimed excitedly.
The quest reward is affinity and a small amount of enchantment scrolls…
Actually, I don’t need the affinity.
I have no interest in this game’s features like heroine romance systems.
I just want to wander the expansive fantasy world, encounter even stronger monsters, and pursue strength.
I only reluctantly accepted the heroine’s quest this time because it offered enchantment scrolls, which are hard to obtain, as a reward.
Heroine quests have high rewards but affinity is the main reward.
“Cain! We’re hosting a social gathering at our barony soon, can you come?!”
[Baroness ‘Lucy Amelia’ has invited you. Accept the invitation?]
[Accepting will increase affinity +1]
Are you kidding me?
Obviously refuse.
We already exchanged wyvern tails and enchantment scrolls, now you want to waste more of my time?
In the first place, Great Wyverns barely give me any EXP at my level, do you even realize I lost time to level up because of you?
Without hesitating for even 1 second, I immediately pressed refuse.
“Ah… Cain is always so busy as expected… Sorry for asking.”
That’s right.
I moved my character to the next hunting ground.
.
.
.
“It’s already 1 AM.”
Eager to level up because time was wasted on the heroine’s quest, I overdid hunting past midnight.
Looking out the window, the night sky was already pitch black.
…I have to go to work tomorrow too. Any more gaming will disrupt my work.
I turned off the computer and immediately slipped under the blanket on my narrow studio apartment bed.
And lying comfortably in that blanket, I fiddled with my phone.
“..Should I check the Ariel community before bed.”
The Ariel community I accessed.
One post caught my eye.
[Veteran Users Please Help This Ariel Newbie]
My heart started racing.
A newbie. A complete newbie is asking for help.
I wonder what hardship is plaguing our cute newbie to plead for help from veteran users in a post like this.
I can’t help it.
If I as a veteran user can offer aid to our budding sprout, I should gladly teach them.
Unable to restrain my curiosity about the title, I immediately tapped the post.
The contents:
[Title: Veteran Users Please Help This Ariel Newbie]
→ How do I get rid of that scoundrel loose cultivator Xiaon?
He keeps appearing ever since I first enrolled in the academy to interfere with quests.
Just now he robbed me of my sword saying he was borrowing it so I can’t proceed with the Chapter 1 Talent Awakening quest.
‘Talent Awakening… it’s been so long since I heard that story quest.’
Talent Awakening is the point before the protagonist Cain Barbo discovers his genius swordsmanship talent in the earliest chapters.
When I first enrolled in the academy, many were jealous of the attention Cain received from heroines for his adept swordsmanship despite his age.
Among them, one character openly bullied Cain in the story – the scoundrel mentioned by the newbie, Xian Brace.
He is the greatest villain of the early chapters.
‘Come to think of it, that guy pissed me off too at first.’
I can understand the newbie’s feelings.
Suddenly appearing to snatch quest items for the purpose of “borrowing” them.
Spreading rumors of stealing others’ belongings in the academy then framing the protagonist, triggering random urgent quests.
Among users he was quite infamous for being an asshole.
└No choice but to keep repeating the chapter until you don’t encounter him.
└└True. But he rarely appears after Chapter 1 so it should be manageable. Just endure the beginning, you can do it!
└The faculty office is great. He rarely shows up there. Just avoid walking the hallways when possible.
└It’s your chance when Xiaon is bothering the heroines. Quickly finish all the quests then.
└I almost smashed my monitor because of that Xiaon jerk. Stay strong newbie!
Many users already left replies to the newbie’s post.
‘It feels weird seeing a name so similar to mine…’
My name is Jian. Scoundrel loose cultivator Xiaon.
Xiaon’s facial features somehow resembled me and our names were similar too, so I felt a bit annoyed.
…Now that I think about it, he was nothing special as a villain in the story.
After the timid protagonist character Cain awakened his talent and demonstrated dimensional transcending power, the cultivator’s harassment stopped.
A typical strong-weak-weak-strong character. If he saw my character’s stats now, he’d tremble and wet himself on the spot.
A faint laugh escaped me. Then, as if entranced, I left a comment on the newbie’s post.
└ Lol if I was Cain I’d cuss out that scoundrel loose cultivator from the beginning. The protagonist is too timid, frustrating.
After leaving that comment.
I turned off the screen and left my phone by my pillow.
…And then I didn’t know.
I’d come to regret writing this comment.
As always, late regrets remain as irreversible remorse.
…Why regret it, you ask?
Possession?
No.
If I had simply possessed the protagonist, I’d be like, Yahoo! Genius swordsman life is the best! I wouldn’t regret it. I’d accept the new life as a windfall!
The reason I regretted leaving that comment…
Was because I had possessed the body of that scoundrel loose cultivator I was happily trash talking with users until last night.
***
“F*ck, what is this?!”
A corpulent obese body. Bulging protruding belly fat and a face bloated as if about to burst.
That was my appearance when I woke up.
For some reason, I felt sluggish trying to sit up, and sensing the chill, I looked around to see an unfamiliar ceiling and room.
A dizzying realization flashed by instantly.
Thud thud thud!
I hurriedly stumbled with my heavy body towards what looked like the bathroom.
“Uwaaah!”
The face I saw reflected in the mirror on the wall was shocking, to put it mildly.
The hypothesis I had adamantly denied had become reality, the mirror conveying it in a horrifying way.
…Ariel’s greatest villain of the early chapters, trash scoundrel loose cultivator Xian Brace.
His face… was reflected right in front of me in the mirror.
“Gulp…”
I collapsed, foaming at the mouth.
“What the-! What is this?!”
Hearing my shriek, many figures came running down the hallway, footsteps thudding wildly.
They flung open the room’s door and entered.
3 maidservants in maid outfits, 1 butler,
and Xian’s father, Pablo Brace, with startled expressions at finding me collapsed.
“Waaah!”
“W-What is the meaning of this…!!”
“I will summon a priest!”
They reacted as if on cue, dutiful to their roles, while I was still in denial of reality even as I lost consciousness and collapsed.