LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 3: Chapter 3: First Simulation, Start!
[Please draw your starting talents...]
[Choose 3 talents from the following list for this simulation...]
A series of glowing orbs appeared before Linde, each one swirling with different colors—
[Talent selection complete.]
[White: Dirt Poor]
You were born into an impoverished family, and to make matters worse, your parents are extremely fertile. You're the youngest of many siblings, and you swear that one day, you'll drag all the so-called "heavenly nobles" off their pedestals.
[Green: Araki's Line]
You naturally possess perfect musculature. When you work out, at least nine out of ten men will want to lick the sweat off your body. Your art style will become bizarrely unique, and your appeal to men will increase significantly.
[Green: The Chosen Worker]
The moment you were born, the entire construction site called your name. When your physical stamina reaches a certain threshold, all other attributes will receive a slight boost. The will of the chosen worker will never allow you to simply "restart" from the beginning.
[0 years old. You were born.]
The cold wind howled, and snowflakes fluttered down from the sky.
Beneath the pale blue heavens, an endless expanse of white snow stretched across the land.
The low wooden houses creaked under the weight of the snow, while the festive red bean porridge in the pot had long since grown cold—just like the frozen purgatory that had become their world.
You were born, but at the worst possible time.
Your father, wrapped in thin, tattered robes, stared at you—a newborn, wailing in hunger.
His gaze was devoid of emotion, carrying only the coldness of a predator staring at prey.
The land is in turmoil. Famine sweeps the country.
And so, as everyone silently accepted the inevitable...
Your father made his decision.
[Eat the child. Boil the bones.]
[You have died.]
[Simulation ended.]
[Simulation Results] Score: 0 Points.
Summary: You didn't even survive long enough for the tutorial to begin.
Evaluation: "I've never seen someone die this quickly before."
Advice: Players should carefully select their starting talents and consider the historical setting before finalizing their choices.
Reminder: Failure is a common occurrence in war. Pull yourself together and try again.
Linde stared blankly at the screen.
"What the hell?!"
He had finally gotten a cheat system—only to die before the game even started?!
So this was the infamous Warring States period?!
Was this the "Dirt Poor" talent?
It was somehow even worse than the black-tier talent, "Fated Death"?!
At least with "Fated Death," he had until twenty years old before he had to worry about dying!
But this time, he didn't even make it past birth!
"Eat the child?!"
"Boil the bones?!"
What kind of cannibalistic era is this?!
Originally, Linde had thought, "Well, I have one free simulation, so I might as well go with a normal start and see what happens."
And now look what happened.
He didn't even make it out of the newbie village.
Linde gritted his teeth.
"Alright, I need to rethink this."
He opened his inventory and re-examined his available talents.
The "Pro Player Gift Pack" granted him one Rainbow-tier talent, but at the cost of one Black-tier talent.
The Rainbow-tier talent was—
[Heaven's Jealousy (SSR)]"When the heavens bestow great responsibilities upon a man, they must first temper his mind, fatigue his body, starve his flesh, impoverish his life, and disrupt his plans. Only then will he grow resilient, sharpen his will, and develop abilities he never knew he had."You will be born with a permanent congenital defect, but in exchange, you will receive two random Gold-tier talents.
And the Black-tier talent was—
[Fated Death (Black)]"A falling star. A predetermined fate. Death stands waiting for you in the darkness beyond the mist. The threads of destiny have already woven your inevitable end.""Survive until the age of twenty, and you will be considered victorious. It is recommended that players prepare a will and clear their browser history in advance."
Linde froze.
Wait a minute...
The system forced these two talents to be locked together.
Which meant—
They weren't just talents.
They were part of a hidden questline.
Most simulations were completely open-ended.
But if he used these two locked talents, then his storyline would be predetermined in some way.
"In other words..."
"This must mean my simulated character has a pre-written fate."
"A hidden plotline that's connected to these two talents..."
Linde pressed the system for more details, but—
[Insufficient Permissions.][Further exploration is required.]
It seemed the system wasn't going to give him any more hints.
But it was enough for him to understand one thing—
If he chose to start with these talents, then he was playing as a pre-set character, rather than creating one from scratch.
Linde sighed.
"Alright, fine. Let's roll with it."
Honestly, with his garbage luck, he'd be lucky to even pull a Blue-tier talent on his own.
And given the horrors of Warring States Japan, he'd rather take the guaranteed challenge than gamble on another "Eat the child" ending.
Linde locked in his Rainbow and Black talents—
Then, for his third talent slot, he hesitated.
"Maybe I should pick [Araki's Line]..."
It would give him the perfect physique, but...
It also had a strange side effect.
If he trained too much, his charm would start attracting men instead of women.
"What the hell kind of side effect is that?!"
In the end, he chose—
[Green: The Chosen Worker]"When your stamina drops too low, all your other attributes will slightly increase. The will of the worker prevents unnecessary retries."
"Alright, let's do this!"
[Simulation—Start!!!]
[0 years old. You were born.]
The cold wind howled, and snow fell like an endless curtain.
Yet—
You do not feel cold.
Because you are wrapped in your mother's warm blood, just as the amniotic fluid once cradled you in her womb.
"My lady!! My lady!!!"
A voice cries out in despair.
Your father's face is pale, his muscles twitching, as if he is trying desperately to suppress his fury.
A midwife, trembling in fear, keeps insisting that this was not her fault.
Your mother is still bleeding.
Her blood soaks the entire bedsheet.
Her face turns deathly pale.
Her life force is slipping away.
[Rainbow Talent: Heaven's Jealousy—Activated.]
You are born with a permanent congenital defect.You have gained the Gold-tier talent: "Ethereal Beauty."