The lonesome Eastern swordsman, Sing.
Only silence and stillness accompany the path he walks.
Scrape!
As the birds chirp, his sword flashes, and the bodies of beaks and wings plummet.
Cha-ching!
A cicada that awoke too soon from the strange weather is silenced by a dagger shot straight into its head.
Drip, drip…
Everywhere he goes, the small animals and insects pile up in corpses, creating nothing but silence and stillness.
His classmates, watching the madman’s steps, quickly shut their mouths or turned away at just the sight of Sing, fearing their chatter might stir his temper.
After all, he had already slain other participants in the entrance exam!
‘There he is?’
I, who everyone fears, seek out Sing all on my own.
Finding Sing isn’t that hard.
Whenever there’s a group of students either fleeing in terror or buttoning their lips in fear, there he is!
“Everyone run! The third-year seniors’ research lab door has been opened! If you don’t hurry, you might become a test subject!!!”
“Ahhh! I don’t want to be a guinea pig!”
“If we get caught, we’ll become clinical test subjects! Everyone escape!!”
Not a good place to go.
“Y-you there, first-year. You shouldn’t be here right now.”
“Why not?”
“A student, mad at a rude professor during the curse practice lecture time, cast a spell to make the professor kind, and now he’s hiring students for the lab!”
Not here either.
“Run!!! A crazy swordsman is rampaging!!”
“Be careful in the garden. A suspicious swordsman is cutting down any living beings that dare to disturb him, be they flora or fauna!”
“We just came out for a picnic… but a beetle with its wings cut off fell into our lunch… Waaaah!”
There he is!
In the garden, where dreadful rumors had spread, the ground was littered with insects that had their wings chopped off.
Talk about a natural disaster!
‘No wonder he doesn’t have friends; he does this every day!’
While feeling sorry for him, I also understood.
I knew the backstory of Sing’s character.
By raising favorability, one gets the chance to learn the past of each character, and naturally, I already knew most of the main characters’ favorability stories.
I understood why Sing was haunted by ghosts, why he despised noisy sounds, and why he chose solitude.
Empathy and understanding.
If I handle these two well, maybe I could communicate peacefully with Sing.
“Hi, Sing!”
“It’s noisy. Go away, brat.”
“……”
I had already expected he wouldn’t respond to my greeting.
He may be strong, but he’s a character with significant flaws.
Sing is a prime representative of this type of character.
[Oknodie, your friend isn’t completely lost to the ghost yet; at least he hasn’t killed you right away with his sword.]
The Destroyer professor’s voice came through the close-range magic communicator in my ear.
But the professor was gravely mistaken.
‘Sing’s habit of slashing indiscriminately isn’t precisely because he’s possessed by a ghost!’
Sing was already good at slicing things before being haunted by a ghost.
Still, there was a reason behind it.
He wasn’t acting this way because, as a pleasure-killing maniac, he would go berserk if he didn’t slice something; it wasn’t as simple as that.
“Sing, do you know this person?”
“!!”
“Your younger sister, right?”
“You know Lin?”
“She’s an important person to Sing, isn’t she?”
Sing’s younger sister, Lin.
By the starting point of the game, she had already passed away.
Lin was unable to speak.
In the family, she was persecuted for being mute.
Outside, there were dirty hands offering to trade some benefits for marrying off the flawed daughter.
Sing didn’t want Lin to hear those filthy voices.
Yet, she was family.
They belonged to the same clan.
As a genius swordsman, he committed himself to the responsibilities and duties bestowed upon him, without realizing it was a ploy to separate him from his sister.
In the end, after enduring and holding on, he reached a bad ending.
His sister died, and he was left alone.
The man who once wielded the sword to fulfill enforced obligations now took up the sword to bear responsibilities chosen by his own will.
He slashes anything that disrupts the stillness and quiet.
He cuts down anything that hinders reflection and silence.
For his sister who never screamed even once.
To etch her pain into others.
The avenger in need of strength sought the highest educational institution in the Western world for revenge.
[Understanding of the character [Sing] increases.]
━━━
Sing’s understanding
Lonesome Man (Understanding 20) – He cherishes silence as his companion, enjoying solitude within quietness.
Born Swordsman (Understanding 40) – His innate talent made him an exceptional swordsman, even if he never desired it.
Precious Younger Sister (Understanding 60) – At one point, he had a reason to live in this world.
Avenger (Understanding 80) – He has people he must kill.
━━━
[The understanding of the character [Sing] has exceeded 20.]
[You receive the 1st privilege [Sing’s Murderous Instincts Precursor]]
[The speed at which character [Sing]’s favorability increases rises.]
[Warning!]
[This character possesses extremely high hostility towards all people in this world.]
[As favorability increases, hostility decreases.]
[The understanding of the character [Sing] has exceeded 40.]
[You receive the 2nd privilege [Bit of Self-Control]]
[The understanding of the character [Sing] has exceeded 60.]
[You detect the 3rd privilege [Favorability Brake]]
[Character [Sing] does not possess favorability towards anyone in this world.]
[Upon meeting specific conditions, Sing’s favorability may rise to neutral (0) or above.]
[The understanding of the character [Sing] has exceeded 80.]
[You receive the 4th privilege [Companion in Revenge]]
[Should character [Sing] leave the academy to embark on a journey of revenge, he will silently vanish and ask if you would join him in his quest for vengeance.]
This is the reason Sing walks the path of a murderer.
*
“Ugh. Don’t say such harsh things! I’m also a precious daughter to Papa!”
“Must you suffer before learning to back down?”
“Is it because of the pretty older sister next to me?”
It seemed she didn’t hear the command to disappear or perhaps just chose not to listen.
This was the second time I was dragging someone who wouldn’t listen.
Oh no.
His first headache.
I felt a gaze from below, as someone looked up at him.
Just like before, those eyes that couldn’t be read merely gazed at him.
The owner of a gaze heavier than a thousand words.
Once, he had let go of someone due to his own powerlessness.
An encounter he thought would never happen again.
His mother, and his two-year-younger half-sister.
The child who had lived a different life was resurrected by the power of the ghosts.
And now…
The Dark Princess Oknodie, the one said to be the best among first-years with Evil Force, has come seeking him.
‘Any other student would have cut her down without hesitation.’
Realizing the ideals of the sister beside him and reporting this to the professor would mean this entity, resembling the memory of his sister, would be hunted down.
As for the Dark Princess Oknodie?
She might be different.
After all, she herself was notorious enough to be categorized as a common enemy to all.
Though showing a hint of anxiety, that vague expectation prevented him from wielding his sword.
“Sing, do you know who this is?”
“!!”
“Your younger sister, right?”
His inner sword sharpened keenly.
The guardian observation week.
No one could expect that someone younger than him would visit.
This was genuine knowledge.
The identity of Lin.
“Do you know Lin?”
“She’s an important person to Sing, isn’t she?”
“…”
That too was true.
Sing cherished Lin.
Beyond the typical relationship of a brother and sister.
They were each other’s reasons to live, the only ones they could rely on in this world.
There were times he valued her above all else.
Those were happy days.
Happy days for him alone.
He never heard the screams hidden in his sister’s silence.
He heard too many unnecessary noises.
Empty fame.
Futile desires.
Responsibilities he had to bear.
He realized only after losing.
What position his younger sister Lin was in.
“…How do you know that?”
“Uh. H-how did that happen…?”
“Does the Foundation have ears in the Eastern Empire?”
His secret was out.
She had caught on to his purpose.
Normally, he would have cut her down without hesitation.
Given the very high likelihood that she was an underling sent by his ‘enemy’.
Strike before being struck.
Not to be swayed by senseless thoughts.
This had been his principle.
Yet this time, his hand did not move.
This child was different.
He instinctively felt it.
There was no way someone belonging to a greater darkness could just be an underling of the empire’s darkness.
“What do you want?”
“I’ll help you! But in return, please help me later!”
“How will you, how will we, be helped?”
The small giant sneezed cutely and, after wrinkling her nose, answered.
“I’ll make it easier to keep your sister safe!”
“…Safeguard?”
“Like trapping her in a ring?”
…Seal Lin? In a ring?
“Oh, don’t worry! I could also leash her and chain her up to keep her from leaving!”
“…”
For the first time, Sing doubted his instincts.
Was it really the right judgment to hold back from slashing this child?
He had to follow the anxiety that a more formidable enemy might appear instead of the vague hope that this child could aid in his revenge.
