Chapter 6

It was lunchtime inside the palace, and Ryan was eating in his room, thinking, with a clear frown on his face.

…I haven’t seen that guy since the ranks were revealed. What fuckin' happened to him?

He was, of course, talking about Jae. To be honest, many were gossiping about his sudden disappearance, even though most of the class has never even spoken to him before.

The main reason was, he never got his rank revealed―he was just gone before anyone realised, and now they were all curious as to where he was and what is rank is.

The only people who knew the truth of the situation were the highest-ranking members of the royal palace and a certain squad of knights, as well as the person himself.

Ryan had a thought.

Did he escape? Then why? Caus'a what I said?

He furrowed his brows.

Was it caus'a the execution...? Nah, that's not it. Anyone could've seen it―the look in his eyes at that time screamed of the will to survive. A guy like that wouldn't've ran away causa one teacher's death. There's a possiblity that it's not unrelated, but, the primary reason is definitely somethin' else…

Ryan conjured up many theories and plausabilities, but he had nothing concrete. He only knew for certain, one thing about the situation.

Anyway, he really was tryin’ to hide somethin’, eh..... well, it was way too obvious from his actin'.

Ryan recalled the status he saw on the first day.

〔Status〕

Jae Kang [Cursed]

Level 1

Class : [No available classes]

Health Points (HP) : 317/317

Mana Points (MP) : 100/100

Title :「Cursed by a God」

Strength : 17

Endurance : 17

Race : Human

Dexterity : 17

Agility : 18

Age : 16

Magic : 20*

Wisdom : 0

Trait :「Steadfast Mind」

Luck : —

Distributable Points: 0

Titles :「Cursed by a God」「World Traveller」

Resistance Skills :「Mental Abnormal Status Nullification [Lv.MAX]」

Perception Skills :「Mapping [Lv.1]」

Communication Skills :「Seronian Language Comprehension [Lv.MAX]」

It was absolutely suspicious.

First of all, Jae was the sole person in the entire class with a 'curse' instead of a 'blessing' as well as no Luck stat. Also, everyone else in the class, without exception, had the「Divine Protection of a God」title and started with at least one skill. Those B-rank and higher also usually had both a unique skill and a Trait to start with, though not everyone.

And so, that guy should be at least a B-rank, Ryan thought.

Furthermore, the 'Distributable Points' are extremely peculiar in the fact that is was similar to the Luck stat and the curse—no one else in the class so far has had them in their status.

"....."

Slowly and silently, Ryan got up and walked over to the door of his room.

Well, no use in thinkin’ ‘bout it right now.

Ryan opened the door swiftly and two people fell down to the floor from the other side. It was two of his classmates, Nicolas and Kaitlyn.

If I recall correctly, they're both ranked as B…

“Whaddya want?”, Ryan brutishly asked.

The two stared at him dumbfoundedly for a few seconds before Kaitlyn spoke out, “A-ah, we like, wanted to party with you!”

Followed quickly by Nicolas, “T-t-that’s right! We wanted to ask if we could join your party!?”

“…Whaddaya on about? "Party"? Whazzat?”

They wore perplexed faces for a moment as they got up off the floor, before Kaitlyn realised and answered.

“Oh right, you don’t know because you like, went immediately back to your room, but apparently, from tomorrow we’re going to be starting like, training, or something.”

“Ah, yes! And you’re allowed to be in parties of up to 6 people, so we wanted to party with you, Ryan...!”

Eh?

“...Well, if ya wanted to be my underlings, ya should’ve just said so!”

“W-w-what? Wait, n-no, that’s not what we meant by--“

“Sure. Then, your first job as my new subordinates is to gather info.”

”...Information...?”, Kaitlyn asked while tilting her head. Ryan smiled in response.

“Yeah. Haven’t you heard the sayin', ‘Information is Power’? It's especially so, in a situation like this one.”

That damn princess... It’s easy to see through her performance, even without「Great Sage’s Eyes」, so how come nobody else realises? Smells fishy, huh.

“That Chris… Hah, I knew he was an idiot, but goddamn is he a dumbass…”

Ryan’s smile disappeared.

I want to get them real bad, but… Now' s not the time to do anything, so I’ll have to wait. Unfortunately, the crucial factor for this plan to work is patience…

Ryan glanced towards the two classmates whispering cautiously to each other in front of him.

“…You two, listen up.”

“Yes?”

“Yessir!”

"First of all. Nico, use ya unique skill,「Presence Erasure」, to sneak into different parts'a the palace, an' obtain as much info as possible; even if ya don’t think it’s useful, I want everythin' ya can possibly find. If ya need it, get paper to note it down."

“But how did you know what my skill was--“

“Do it.”

“Yessir!”

“And Kaitlyn.”

“Yes.”

“Your focus is to primarily be on levelling up. Though ya class,「Flash Duellist」, seems weak even as a B-rank, it’ll prolly get better as you level up since it's a B-rank. The unique skill prolly ain't as bad as ya think either.“

“Sure…?”

The preparation has merely started.

The birds were chirping happily, the cicadas, shrilling, and the sun seemed to be shining brightly, although only a couple streaks of light could be seen penetrating through the canopy of trees, like the light of heaven.

“.........”

Unfortunately, the person lying on the dirty, woodland ground, was acting in stark contrast to the surroundings. The boy scowled terribly at the disgusting light piercing through the thick foliage, as it reminded him of that guy, and he only found the incessant noise of chirping and buzzing infuriatingly irritating.

Jae merely glared with heavy resentment towards the sky. He loathed everything.

―His classmates.

―Chris.

―The knights.

―The Princess.

―The Gods.

―The world itself...

And maybe that is why...

Conditions met Title「Apostle of Sin」has activated You have acquired a ‘■■■-grade’ skill Skill「Wrath」has been acquired

What is this sick joke?

“.....I definitely died… right?”

Yes... It’s not a dream...

Not only was the proof right there in front of him, but the excruciating pain he experienced could still be felt as if it was engraved into him. It was all the evidence Jae needed to know that what happened did actually happen. This all made him wonder.

“…How the hell did I survive...? No, wait.”

That's wrong. I didn’t survive.

Jae recalled the last thing he saw before he lost consciousness. The knight clearly swung his sword with the intent to kill. Then, there is his completely unharmed body, as if nothing had ever happened. The scrape on his arm was healed back to normal, and his missing limb had come back….

That can only mean…...

I… healed?

And the more important question:

How is that possible...? Will it be a recurring thing, or was it one time only? I need to know, but how.....

It was too complicated for him to think about right now. He could think about it later… probably. Slowly, Jae got up from the ground. He was covered in dirt and leaves, so after wiping it off, he looked up. What he saw was the precipice he fell from.

“From the glimpse I saw at the top… This forest is immeasurably huge. It would probably take at least a year to get out of here, even if I know the shortest way, and that's if I don't starve or get killed by wild animals...... But then, it’s not like I can go back up, either, is it....”

So there is only one choice―adventuring through the forest until he can find civilisation, like a town.

...First thing’s first, I need the basic necessities: Food, water and shelter....... But how do I get those?

He was in a dilemma. Jae didn’t know how to cook, so he might get an infection if he tries to catch an animal and eat it. Likewise, berries and fruit are a hard guess, because, even if he can find any, Jae wouldn’t know if it was actually safe to eat or not, and that's if there are even any animals or fruit in the first place.

Water could be found in rivers, but whether any were around here was questionable. But, if there was, then animals were likely to be near it, so that could help. And this isn't even mentioning the whole 'shelter' part. Though, depending on the situation at night, it might not even needed.

―In other words, if the climate and season are both perfect, then Jae might be able to survive here.

...Let's just hope it's the case.

Jae decided to check his status for the time being, and noticed some notable changes. First off, the most eye-catching change was that Jae's Race had changed.

From [Human] to [Humanoid].

Was this because of the resurrection?

“Well, of course. I mean, humans don’t just, come back to life like that, right?”

Jae thought that was the most likely case, so he tried not to mind it too much. Anyway, his HP had also increased by 21 points somehow, so now it is 338 max HP. He obviously had no idea why this ocurred, but since it didn't seem like a bad thing he let it go fairly easily.

The final thing that changed was that Jae had acquired a new Title:「Resurrected」, which only confirmed his theory of the whole thing. Of course, the reason behind it is still unknown. Then, Jae stared with mixed feelings at the two Unique Skills,「Envy」and「Wrath」.

Maybe... Just maybe...

A certain, optimistic idea appeared in Jae’s head.

―Maybe these skills can help me?

It was because, well, there were no other available options. He saw the size of the forest from above—it stretched all the way into the distance and merged with a mountain range on the horizon. The only thing he could do was hope there was a way these peculiar skills could save him.

…But how do I use them?

Just thinking wouldn’t get him anywhere, Jae concluded, and thus he just focused on the space in front of him and concentrated on using the first of the two skills,「Envy」. That's when he heard a voice in his head again.

[That's not correct, fool. You need to specify a target first.]

“Oh... Ohhhh??? It does have a use......”

[Of course I am useful you brainless idiot!]

Maybe it would be worth it, after all? He tried using it again after focusing on a bird he saw.

Skill「Envy」has activated

[...Nghh...Unwillingly, I will permit it.]

Usage of the「Soul Discernment」System is authorised

And the result…

"Huh? Isn't it broken?"

Jae was dumfounded.