The Freak Show Foreman

It hurts.

Damn... it hurts like hell!

The pain, like fire, has been coursing through my entire body since the bullet pierced me.

I wanted to scream and cry right there.

Back in the orphanage days, I’ve been beaten with a stick by the caregivers.

It hurt just as much as that.

It was astonishing that such a tiny bullet could deliver such a shock.

"Heh heh."

But all that can come out of my mouth is laughter.

I always strive to maintain composure, not allowing for reflexive cursing or screams.

To curse, I had to line up words neatly in my mind as if having a conversation.

Of course, such curses didn’t help with the pain and frustration.

People from the mansion barged into my room.

They dragged me and Ella out and separated us.

I ended up in the underground prison, while Ella was somewhere upstairs.

There were no first aid measures for the wounded.

In the eyes of those mansion people, I was a villain trying to attack the owner.

They left me lying there on the cold stone floor to die.

There was no room for excuses.

I unfastened her own clothes right in front of them and touched her own body.

The reason they didn’t hang me immediately was that taking care of their owner was more urgent.

The floor was sticky with my spilled blood.

Lost in a sea of blood, I teetered on the edge of life and death.

How did I ever think I could take a bullet for someone else?

It was a reckless move beyond comparison.

In games, even if you have only little HP left, you can win as long as you clear the quest.

You can return to a safe place or talk to a healing character, and your health will be fully restored.

But reality was different.

Having low HP left meant you were on the brink of death.

In the corner of the mansion’s prison, I had to fight against impending death.

I had to cling to fading consciousness and endure.

I’ve seen this in movies before.

If you fall asleep at a time like this, you just die.

When you sleep, your bodily functions slow down, and your life support shuts off.

I had to endure, even if it was tough, even if it hurt.

"You idiot."

I cursed myself.

I was already aware that this was reality.

Yet I acted so carelessly, as if it were just a game.

The mansion from the prologue of TT3. It’s a familiar place.

Anais Vergsong, is it? I know who she is.

I even know what’s going to happen tonight.

All you have to do is save her, right? It’s that easy.

If I had really wanted sponsorship from the aristocrats, I should have approached the situation more cautiously, with a humble attitude.

If I truly believed that my life was at stake, as soon as I opened the door, I should have unleashed an attack and mutilated Pierre’s arms and legs.

But I didn’t do that.

I underestimated the one I needed to convince, and I looked down on the one who posed a threat.

I knew why my guard had dropped so low.

It wasn’t just because of the arrogance of being a 1 million subscriber YouTuber.

"The laughing man."

This damn characteristic of mine.

The laughing man always maintained composure no matter the situation.

Even when my body had six holes in it, I could think about healing my character thanks to this trait.

But the laughing man had it’s flaws too.

When I laughed, my guard dropped. I gained reckless confidence.

In other words, I lacked tension.

Didn’t they say that laughing releases dopamine?

If you thought about it that way, the laughing man was a terrifying trait.

Dopamine was called the ultimate addictive painkiller.

I was constantly in a state of being high on it.

Immersed in the role of Wonderstein,

I spoke dreamily and acted on instinct.

Looking back now, all the actions I had taken over the past ten days were somewhat strange.

The events at the campsite and what had happened when I came to the mansion had both taken place in a semi-distracted state.

I had fallen into an entirely different world, and shouldn’t I have been shocked and terrified enough, almost to the point of death?

No matter how unconventional my life had been, I was still just an ordinary modern person.

But I had accepted this situation too nonchalantly.

A life-and-death game in a game world.

It was madness.

I only realized it when I stood on the brink of death.

The laughing man.

This bastard trait had disrupted my normal thinking.

Always maintaining composure, huh?

Forcing laughter and enjoyment in situations where I should have been tense and cautious was nothing short of a curse.

Not losing composure even in the midst of flames was fine.

But considering jumping into the flames without a care, that was a problem.

The laughing man was a double-edged sword.

If I got too absorbed in my role as I had in the past few days, the situation would flow out of control.

As if watching a variety show on TV.

I would be charging toward death while foolishly laughing.

If I couldn’t pull myself together, I could really die next time.

Heh heh, next... will there be a "next" for me?

Thanks to the laughing man, I hardly felt any pain, but it didn’t heal the wounds.

My body was rapidly deteriorating.

Trait: Rapid Stiffening

Applied Area: Blood Vessels

Effect: When bleeding occurs, the tissue around the blood vessels stiffens, delaying bleeding.

Cost: [Debulroots x2]

It was a makeshift ability, and it barely kept me alive for now, but all the other specs were just ordinary humans. Without proper treatment, there was no guarantee of survival.

No, even if I miraculously survived,

What if Anais died?

Then everything would be over.

It wasn’t a matter of quests.

The mansion people wouldn’t leave me alone.

Original Quest - Sponsor

Conditions for Completion:

Obtain sponsorship from Lady Vergsong.

Reward for Success:

[Debulrootsx5]

No penalty for failure.

Since the quest hasn’t shown as failed yet, it seemed that: Vergsong was still alive. However, judging by the grim atmosphere of the soldiers, she might not have regained consciousness yet. No, perhaps she would never regain consciousness. It might have been too late for treatment. If Lady Vergsong was to die, how would I prove my intention to heal her illness as I had stated?

"Hurry, hurry!"

I heard people shouting from upstairs. What could have happened? The sounds were getting closer. A group of people was coming down to the underground prison. I grasped onto the bed and forced myself to get up. I couldn’t just let things happen, even if I was close to death.

I would struggle in any way I could. However, my body didn’t move as I wanted it to. My hand slipped off the wall, and I collapsed onto the bloody floor. At that moment, the underground prison door opened with a loud bang.

"Hehehe..."

I lost consciousness in front of the people surrounding me.

In my dream, I saw the ending of Lord Vergsong’s mansion in the prologue stage of TT3.

"Why did I try to kill my niece? It’s because... I received an offer I couldn’t refuse."

"What kind of offer was that?"

Instead of answering, Pierre opened his pendant. Inside was a picture of a girl. She had brown hair like Pierre and similar eyes.

"They said they could bring my deceased daughter back to life."

"Mopasan... sir..."

The knight let out a mournful sigh. The rogue looked at him with a pitiful expression. When he looked back on the path he had taken, he realized that such offers had never led to a happy ending.

Pierre’s self-deprecating smile confirmed their expectations.

"Because of that, I embezzled funds from the council to support them. A shrine to revive the dead. I helped them build it."

"What happened next...?"

"I couldn’t kill Anais, so I went to see them. I told them that things might get exposed if we continued like this, that we needed to take some measures. But when they heard my story, they told me not to worry. They said that Wonderstein and they were very well acquainted. If Wonderstein got his hands on Lord Vergsong, there would be no hindrance. And that was the truth."

Pierre sighed.

His breath was filled with regret for the years gone by.

"I resigned from the council after that. There was no reproach or investigation. My niece’s body and mind were already under the control of Wonderstein. Or perhaps she became even more dependent on that black mage due to her betrayal of me... My niece, how... is she?"

"They kept their promise. After about a year, they sent my daughter back to me. But that girl... she had the appearance of my daughter, but she wasn’t my daughter... Every night, the village’s livestock died, and people suffered mysterious attacks... Ah, I was a fool.

I pretended not to know until the end... Even though I knew in my head... I couldn’t deny that my daughter had come back to life..."

Pierre wiped away tears.

The knight trembled with anger at the cruelty of those wicked people, and the tender-hearted rogue shed tears at the sad story. The stoic wizard only slightly furrowed his brow.

Pierre took a deep breath and spoke calmly.

"Lately, people who received ’help’ from Wonderstein all around the world, including my niece, have been turning into monsters."

"Yes. We heard the news and have been taking action accordingly."

"Why is that?"

"I don’t know yet, but..."

"The friends of Wonderstein I mentioned. The shrine that revives the dead... I received information that the island where they reside is becoming active again."

"Reviving the dead... Could it be?"

"Yes. Perhaps... the black mage is back or on his way."

The rogue clenched his teeth at his words.

"That damn bastard!"

"Go to Flolande. You can hear more detailed rumors there."

"Thank you for the information, Mr. Mopasan."

"However..."

Pierre hesitated for a moment, then spoke with determination.

"One request, please."

"A request?"

"I have a villa to the northwest of Flolande. In the basement there, there is a... monster that looks like my daughter. Please... kill her."

He uttered the last sentence in a voice that was almost scratching the bottom of the barrel.

The heroes couldn’t imagine the father’s feelings as he asked for his daughter’s death, even if she had turned into a monster that looked like her.

"Understood..."

["Sub Quest - Resurrected Daughter" has been activated]

"Then go."

"Mr. Mopasan, we can’t consider the mansion completely safe yet. Why don’t you come with us..."

Click.

Pierre took a revolver from his pocket.

"I always carry a gun for self-defense. Don’t worry and go."

The heroes couldn’t persuade him any further and left the mansion.

They had only come to exterminate the monsters, but they heard a more important story than they had expected.

The shrine that revives the dead.

And Wonderstein’s resurrection.

"We must go to Flolande."

"If Wonderstein has truly been resurrected..."

"We’ll have to deal with him."

The heroes left the mansion.

After they had completely left.

Gunshots were heard from the direction of the mansion.

Bang.

Just one shot.

And the mansion fell silent again.