Bab 1: Awakening 1

[Ethereal Slash!]

"Phwa!"

The demon king felt the air leave his lungs, a burning sensation gripped his heart.

He looked down, only to see a dagger poking through him.

[Chain Lethality!]

And before he could turn around to take a look at his assailant, his body was slashed thousands of times.

As his subordinates began to realize what had just happened to him, the slashes spread to them, eviscerating them in a storm of cuts.

And before long, the throne room entered a state of silence.

I took a breather, laying back in my chair, happy with yet another victory.

It was the summer after my graduation. Free of my responsibilities, I moved out of my parent's house and became a shut-in NEET. I performed well in high school, but had no motivation to go further, my only desire being to play games.

Naturally, I played many games, but there was only one I revisited endlessly.

Etherium Academy RPG

A fantasy-academy-RPG in which the player could obtain hundreds of different classes, fight thousands of enemies, defeat endless bosses and romance the heroines of the academy.

Despite its absurd scale, many wrote it off as an irritating game with convoluted mechanics.

I too at times agreed with such a statement, but the world of the game had consumed me.

I mastered the game, playing it dozens of times over. I went through almost every route, romancing every heroine, playing as the Academy's villain, and much more.

The thing that truly made me love the game was the sense of freedom it had. If I wanted to, I could ditch the main academy altogether and join the Demon King's army, or become a Royal Guard, or any other sort of weird route I could think of.

At a certain point, that same game had become my lifeline.

On this day. I was on my 99th character, wielding the class known as the [Faceless One].

The [Faceless One] was the apex of the assassin skill tree, only being acquired by me after significant grinding.

I assassinated the Demon King in only 2 moves.

It was probably a record for me in terms of how fast I had killed him.

But something strange happened.

He dropped an item I had never seen before.

[Heart of the Joker - Mythical

Only usable on a new slot.

Grants the player the mythical class 'Joker'

Note: Stores across all slots]

'Mythical!?' I wondered to myself.

'But to my knowledge... there are only 5 rarities. Common, uncommon, rare, epic and finally legendary... I've never seen a mythical item, nor have I heard of any other player receiving one.'

Upon observation of the item sprite on my monitor, it appeared as a simple card, after some research, I learnt said card was known as the tarot card representing 'the fool'.

So after not much thought,, I had made a decision.

With a rush of excitement, I created a new slot.

'Let's make this an interesting character. After all, isn't this also my 100th one?'

'I suppose it would be poetic to name my 100th slot after my 1st slot.'

I nostalgically typed in the name of my oldest character.

Name: Ares

'As for my background... I suppose it's been a while since I picked the Noble background. Being the son of a Duke was one of the more interesting playthroughs'

Family Name: Von Castellan

Family Bonus: The blood of the ancient Archwizard Castellan runs through your veins. You are born with high mana sensitivity and capacity. You may inherit the Castellan's hereditary 'Shatter Magic'.

Side Effect: You may be targeted as the son of the 'Duke of Castellan'

'Now for the interesting part... Perks and Negative Perks.' I eagerly clicked the next button and brought up the perk allocation window.

In the game, you were awarded with 3 perk points, allowing you to create the kind of character you wanted. But after your first successful playthrough, the perk screen was extended, now including a negative perk section. Taking on negative perks was a dangerous choice, but it gave you extra perk points.

'I did want this to be interesting... So let's choose as many as I can'

Negative Perks

Bad Reputation - Start out with a negative reputation to the main cast. + 1 Perk Point

Terrible Reputation - Only available if [Bad Reputation] has been chosen. Start out with a terrible reputation to the main cast. Characters may actively move against your best interests. + 1 Perk Point

Enemy of Nature - Spirits are disgusted by your existence. You are unable to form contracts with spirits and in certain occasions you may be attacked by them. + 1 Perk Point

Too Obvious - The Demon King's army are more sensitive towards your movements, and will begin to act against you earlier in the story. + 2 Perk Points

Cursed Affliction - You suffer from an unknown curse. You have a weak body and cough up blood regularly. If untreated, you will die before being able to complete the story. + 3 Perk Points. Hint: Curable through certain items gained in the First Year

Secret Enemy - An unknown being seeks to destroy you. + 3 Perk Points

Total Perk Points : 3 + 11 (From Negative Perks)

I looked at the monitor with a satisfied expression. Throughout my countless runs, I had learnt how to deal with all of the negative perks. The only troublesome one was [Secret Enemy] as it was randomized throughout each playthrough. All I knew is that it couldn't affect the main cast.

But that was what made it so fun. In some runs, the secret enemy could literally be a random street bandit who just strangely hated you, being defeated easily.

But in other runs... Take for example my 83rd run, the secret enemy was the Black Dragon of the East, Erebus. Or my 28th run, in which it was the King of Elves, Galadrian.

In both of those runs, I was brutally massacred.

'Now.. It's time for my perks'

With 14 perk points, I had the ability to chose several strong perks for my character.

Perks

Sly - "You sweet talk your way out of trouble, gaining less bad reputation from committing crimes." -1 Perk Point

Free Spirit - "Doing things alone yields greater experience" - 2 Perk Points

Gains, Gains, Gains! - "The stat increases you gain from any and all activities are slightly increased." -4 Perk Points

Then, at the bottom of the perk menu, I noticed something odd.

'Huh, there was never something like this before? And what's with the crazy cost!?' I exclaimed.

Lucky 7 - "Sometimes, the world seems to move in your favor" -7 Perk Points

Flabbergasted, I thought to myself,

'What kind of bullshit description is this? Isn't this basically just plot armor?'

After a brief consideration, I made a decision.

'Well, I suppose it's either all in or going home, right?'

Hopefully I wasn't making a mistake, consuming 7 perk points was a huge deal.

I chose it and came to the final selection screen.

Hell Difficulty has been chosen, are you sure?

Yes/No

'Heh, I'm a veteran, this isn't my first time clearing it. And with a mythical class, it should be a breeze, right?'

I selected yes without hesitation.

As soon as the game started, I spawned in a luxurious carriage, signifying my lineage as the son of a Duke.

I skipped the beginning cutscene and used the [Heart of the Joker].

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And on that day, I left my life behind.

I began my life as the Joker of the Academy.