Suddenly seeing Angie’s real name appear, Aslan first wondered if it was his own confusion or insanity.
After 12 years of wandering and suffering, he thought, perhaps he had finally gone mad.
Once the thought arose, what followed was verification.
Aslan’s fingers swept through the air, pressing firmly on the black space where the word “mana” should have been.
[Remaining Points: 3]
The points did not decrease.
If it had risen normally, there should have been a reaction from Angie, but she was only staring at Aslan, who was gazing at her and caressing the air, with a puzzled look.
Next was strength. Among the floating stats, it was the one that would be most noticeably felt.
Without even needing to press the system window firmly, as his fingers brushed past it, Angie’s reaction became strange.
“…Huh?”
The remaining points decreased to 2, and Angie suddenly raised her arm, staring at it intently.
The slender girl’s white forearm contracted each time she clenched and unclenched her fist.
Seeing this, the phenomenon before Aslan’s eyes could not be a sign of insanity.
Aslan hesitated for a moment.
‘There’s no reason to hesitate. If it’s given, just use it.’
The hesitation was brief, and Aslan closed his eyes firmly before opening them again, pressing health and agility once each.
“Huh, huh?”
Each press elicited a reaction from Angie, but Aslan ignored it and pressed his own name.
[Aslan]
[■] [■■] [■■]
[Mana] [Willpower] [Luck]
[Remaining Points: 2]
The points were divided between Aslan and Angie, so Aslan pushed the remaining two points into willpower and luck.
Simultaneously, he felt a slight surge of vitality in his body.
As Aslan sighed and closed the system window, Angie, who had been wiping cold sweat from her forehead, met his gaze.
“What did you do to me…?”
“What kind of dream did you have?”
The girl, who had guessed that the changes in her body were prompted by Aslan’s actions, closed her mouth as her words trailed off.
“…A dream where strange things were staring at me.”
There was something he could guess. Aslan hoped that his guess was wrong, but he lamented the undeniable evidence.
A crack formed on his indifferent expression, and Angie, seeing this, spoke.
“What’s with that face?”
“How many of those strange things were there?”
Instead of answering, he only asked. The girl seemed momentarily displeased, but she obediently counted on her fingers under the strange aura flowing through Aslan.
She spread one hand fully, then moved to the other. Each time a finger unfolded, Aslan’s expression flickered with unease.
The fingers unfolded one by one, stopping just before the last one.
“Nine.”
At that, Aslan quietly closed his eyes and sighed.
In the game, Eternal Dominion, there was a scene that players would see not long after starting.
The scene that appeared after the first camp following a level-up was the protagonist’s nightmare.
A nightmare where the deities watched the protagonist, who had gained new power and elevated their existence.
But it couldn’t be dismissed as just a dream.
A dream where seven deities watched and focused on you couldn’t be just a simple nightmare.
Moreover, the fact that nine had watched was undeniable evidence.
Unlike the Eternal Dominion Aslan had played, Geladridion had two additional deities that didn’t exist in the game.
What it meant was one thing.
In the same context as the name that appeared in the system window.
In the same meaning as the main quest that appeared after 12 years.
‘The protagonist is not me.’
Aslan opened his tightly closed eyes and realized that Angie had approached and was crouching in front of him, staring intently.
Her expression no longer held the earlier displeasure.
Instead, the girl tilted her head, asking with concern. Her expression was somewhat enigmatic.
“Are you okay?”
Hearing the question, Aslan asked himself if he was okay.
As he asked himself, his consciousness sank again.
Strength, health, and agility belonged not to Aslan, but to the girl before him.
Only mana, willpower, and luck remained Aslan’s possessions.
The result was clear, but many questions remained.
Why was the girl the protagonist?
Why were the stats split and shared between them?
Why did this phenomenon occur only now, after 12 years?
There were many unknowns. But Aslan didn’t want to dwell on them.
No matter how much he pondered, he couldn’t find an answer. Even if he came up with an answer, he couldn’t be sure it was correct.
He didn’t want to pour all his energy into something that would gradually become clear. So, Aslan focused on what he could understand immediately.
Aslan had leveled up.
He had leveled up and gained mana, willpower, and luck.
Compared to the past when he had nothing, it was a much better condition.
It was better than only gaining strength, agility, or health.
Even if willpower was debatable, mana and luck had many uses.
No matter how much strength, agility, and health he gained, it didn’t make him an absolute powerhouse who could kill anything.
Strength was a means, and only those who strategized could wield it.
Thinking that way, living that way, and fighting that way, Aslan believed mana and luck were excellent tools.
‘Mana, if used well, can replace strength and agility.’
Health couldn’t be replaced, but regretting what he didn’t have was just a waste of energy.
Thinking that far, Aslan finally answered.
“I’m okay.”
Angie’s expression showed she didn’t think he looked okay, but as Aslan said nothing more, she closed her mouth and lay back down on the mat.
And soon, she fell asleep, breathing evenly.
Aslan stared at Angie for a moment, then sighed as he opened the system window.
Realizing he had to accept the new protagonist.
*
It didn’t take long for the campsite to wake up.
Without a clock, he couldn’t tell the time, but Aslan checked the time through the system window and woke the party to set off.
After leaving the campsite, the number of trolls that appeared wasn’t large. Aslan could handle them alone, with the others assisting.
Carlson, finding it strange, spoke.
“Somehow… the monsters are starting to appear less.”
“It must mean we’re getting closer to the exit.”
Carlson muttered to himself, and a large-bodied dragonkin answered while looking around.
Dragonkin had poor eyesight, but their tactile senses were excellent, so their detection abilities weren’t bad.
And even with the dragonkin’s detection abilities, the number of trolls had significantly decreased.
As the number of trolls decreased, the environment began to change.
The narrow passage gradually widened, and moss-covered rocks started to appear.
Life was slowly becoming more abundant.
The rock holes melted by acid, where trolls made their nests, also began to disappear.
It meant the path to escape was getting closer.
“Definitely, as the commander said, it feels like it’s getting brighter…”
“It is getting brighter. Put out the torch.”
Even Angie, Carlson, and Ecul, who weren’t very experienced, could recognize the signs.
As the bald man subtly mentioned the signs, Aslan gave a simple order and stowed the extinguished torch in his backpack. It wasn’t dark, so the party’s speed gradually increased.
The group, holding their weapons, stopped briefly when they found the escape route.
A passage where light seeped in and vines stretched down from it.
It was clearly a passage leading outside.
Beyond the passage, rain was falling.
The falling rain seeped into the passage, tapping on the rocks, creating a refreshing sound.
Under the vines where faint sunlight filtered through, flowers were in full bloom.
“Outside, outside! It’s outside!”
Seeing the clear signs of life, the sound of rain, and the filtering sunlight, the bald Carlson almost screamed with excitement.
“I’ll never come back to this damn cave again!”
The bald Carlson shouted and ran towards the passage.
“That guy, really…”
Harold, who had been warning his subordinates to be cautious, laughed as his tension eased.
Ecul, seemingly exhausted, was pounding his knees with his fists, and Angie was frowning as she looked beyond the rain-soaked vines.
While the entire party relaxed and felt the joy of regained freedom.
Only Aslan remained tense, gripping his mace.
Only Aslan, who knew what would appear, was ready to fight.
With the escape route so close, it was impossible for nothing to appear.
It was just a matter of when and where.
His taut nerves rolled his eyes as he scanned the surroundings. Several signs bothered him.
Mud trolls could live even in places without poison.
But mud trolls didn’t come this far. Even if they made nests, they preferred places with abundant vegetation, yet they nested in places filled with poison.
Aslan didn’t think it was because mud trolls liked poison.
Rather, it seemed like they were retreating out of fear of something.
For example, a named monster.
And Aslan’s pupils quickly moved and stopped.
A puddle where the falling rain slightly pooled.
Something entered the puddle, and the water splashed up.
A splashing sound echoed.
At the sound, Harold flinched, and Aslan rushed forward first.
“Get down!”
At his words, the bald Carlson turned to look at Aslan, and something appeared behind his shiny head.
Something that suddenly appeared in mid-air resembled a mud troll.
But it only resembled one; it wasn’t a mud troll.
Amid the rain seeping into the passage, the monster’s white fur shimmered transparently.
The transparent monster raised its large front paw.
The bald man, who belatedly sensed the monster behind him, turned pale. His face and head turned white.
Seeing Carlson frozen in fear, Aslan threw his mace.
Thud!
Crunch!
The thrown mace hit the monster’s descending paw and bounced off.
The white-furred monster staggered back, and Aslan reached Carlson in the gap.
Aslan, who caught the bouncing mace mid-air, drew a longsword with his left hand and spoke to Carlson.
“Stay back.”
“Ah, yes, yessir!”
The bald man hastily retreated, and the suddenly appearing human.
The monster growled lowly as it watched the two.
Aslan knew this monster.
White-haired Chrom.
A mud troll that gained invisibility and regained regeneration.
The so-called first mid-boss.
As the white troll retreated, lowering its stance and growling, Aslan drew on his mana.
Thinking the fight would be easy with the mana he had gained.
