Chapter 44

Released:

[Status Window]

Name: Theo (Kim Min-seong)

Age: 20

Job: [Hidden] Villager

…?

“What the hell is this?”

Honestly, I’d be lying if I said I’d never thought it might be less annoying to just stick with plain “Villager” at this point.

Sure, I’ve had those thoughts before, but still, how does it make any sense to suddenly go back to being just a villager like this?

At the very least, I was expecting something like “[Hidden] Absolutely Amazing Villager” or something. What, now they’re too lazy to even do that?

Job: [Hidden] Villager

No matter how much I rubbed my eyes and checked again, all it said was “Villager” with “Hidden” slapped in front.

So… what, am I supposed to start building myself up from “Villager” all over again?

“Forget it… why was I even expecting anything from a job?”

I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up in the first place, but when they started throwing around talk about giving me a hidden job, I couldn’t help but get a little excited and let my expectations rise.

“…Might as well check the stat window.”

I remembered they mentioned the stat window would be revealed after the job advancement, so I called it up, hoping it wouldn’t be quite as disappointing.

[Stat Window]

Strength: 10 (+2582) Agility: 10 (+502)

Magical Power: 10 (+2054) Luck: 10 (+3781)

Huh…? Wait, what is this?

At first glance, the base stats all being stuck at a measly 10 seemed ridiculously lame.

But what were all these plus numbers attached to them?

Except for agility, every single one of them had numbers that were far higher than 1,000.

This wasn’t something I could just ignore.

In the dating simulation game “Simulation Ruin”, there were status and stat windows where you could see the characters’ growth stats to some extent. The protagonist’s stats, when maxed out, had only reached around 3,000.

No matter how much effort went into maximizing them, it had seemed impossible to raise them any higher without using illegal programs like editors, so I had always thought, “That’s good enough,” and left it at that.

“But… Luck at 3,791 stat points?”

Having a Luck stat usually triggered more interesting events or ones that led to happy endings, so I had always tried to raise it as much as possible. But I never imagined that my own Luck stat would far exceed those levels.

Of course not; how could it?

I had figured I might barely reach 100 at most.

And yet, here I was, not even the protagonist, just a villager, with these ridiculous stat values.

Unless… had there been some adjustments made compared to the game?

At the moment, I could only view my own stat and status windows. I couldn’t access the windows of the protagonists, Iris or Estelle.

If I could see theirs, I might at least be able to compare, but now that I was here, it seemed that option was off the table, which left me feeling a bit frustrated.

…Still, realistically speaking, no matter what adjustments had been made, stats raised this high couldn’t possibly be weak, could they?

“Where are all these pluses even coming from…?”

The only things I had were a few achievements I’d earned by avoiding bad endings. That was it, right?

[Achievements]

Can’t Do Anything on Your Own?

ㄴ All Stats +5

I’ll Take Him With Me!

ㄴ All Stats +5

Your Country Sucks

ㄴ All Stats +15

Let’s Do Our Best Together

ㄴ All Stats +5

When I added up all the bonus stats from achievements, they barely amounted to just over 30.

So, where on earth was the “+2542” in strength even coming from?

“Ugh, seriously, this is so user-unfriendly. Shouldn’t I at least know where these bonuses are coming from so I can focus on improving in the right area?”

Considering how the bonuses were explicitly listed like this, it made me think that other bonuses might also appear in this same format whenever they applied.

But no matter how much I searched, I couldn’t find any other information about it.

“Ah, forget it. Maybe if I earn some titles or advance my job, I’ll figure it out eventually.”

For now, there was no way to know where these numbers came from, and there was no point in obsessing over it.

Things like this usually became clearer over time anyway.

All I knew for sure was that, for some reason, I had insanely high stats, and with that, I could probably worry a little less moving forward.

In other words, even if someone picked a fight with me, I’d likely be able to deal with them easily. And in case Iris or Estelle went on a rampage, I now had some numerical confirmation that I could hold them back for the time being.

Of course, I wasn’t entirely sure how strong Iris or Estelle really were.

Maybe they were just letting me win every time we sparred, or maybe I was genuinely strong enough that they couldn’t beat me.

“But still, isn’t this way too strong for just a random villager?”

If the average villager really had this level of ability… well, wouldn’t that make them more like military-grade weapons than regular townsfolk?

“Ah, who cares. I’ll just go to sleep.”

Apparently, I was one of those ridiculously overpowered villagers.

Saying it like that sounded kind of lame, but wasn’t my job title just as unimpressive until recently?

Now that I think about it, every time I advanced my job, it really did seem like my health increased, and my strength got significantly stronger.

I wasn’t completely sure, but yeah, it seemed likely that job advancements came with a lot of bonus stats.

Before unlocking the hidden job class, my stats had only been in the hundreds, but after the hidden class change, they might have jumped into the thousands.

Right, right. Sure, I might just be a regular villager, but I’m no ordinary villager—I’m a hidden villager!

Hidden villagers were rare to begin with, weren’t they? Of course, of course.

“…….”

I had the faint feeling that I was making excuses for my own convenience, but… life was like that.

Without a little self-justification, how could anyone get by? That’s just how life worked, after all.

***

While Theo was rationalizing all this to himself and drifting off to sleep, a woman was sitting on the rooftop, staring up at the sky.

“I want to go to Sir Theo.”

It was Estelle, dressed in casual clothing instead of her academy uniform.

Her casual clothes were mostly the kind of outfits she had worn in the Holy Empire to embody the image of a Saintess, which meant they were pure white and had an elaborate, ceremonial vibe.

“…The uniform is way more comfortable.”

Normally, casual clothes would be more comfortable than a uniform, but that wasn’t the case for her.

“Ah, I want to quit being a saintess.”

Though Estelle was fundamentally a student at the academy, she was also the saintess, which meant she had to make time now and then to visit the Holy Empire.

Of course, for Estelle, who could use teleportation magic over vast distances, traveling itself wasn’t much of a problem.

“…I’ll have to see that insufferable person again.”

The Holy Emperor who always greeted people with a bright smile and was introduced as a paragon of kindness but whose heart was steeped in darkness.

That was the biggest reason Estelle hated going to the Holy Empire.

She hated the sight of him smiling in front of others, and it annoyed her even more that he only revealed his dark inner self when they were alone, all because she was the Saintess.

From a young age, Estelle had done everything she could to be removed from her position as Saintess.

One of the most important incidents that jeopardized her position was when she ran away and had adventures with Duncan, but since no one else had divine power as strong as hers, they eventually found her and forced her back into the role.

If Theo had divine power, they probably would’ve tried to take him too.

As Estelle recalled Theo’s exceptional abilities, she couldn’t help but feel relieved.

If he had possessed more divine power than her, he might have been abducted and forced into a life as the so-called Holy Child from a young age.

“How horrifying.”

When she considered the idea of Theo enduring what she went through, she felt grateful that she was the one with an abundance of divine power.

“Is it tomorrow?”

After spending such an enjoyable weekend with Theo and Iris, the thought of going back made her even more reluctant.

Although Estelle had been planning to show her face at the Holy Empire only during breaks, it seemed the Empire had other ideas. Without informing her directly, they contacted the academy and arranged for a weekday holiday to accommodate her visit.

It would’ve been nice if you had let me know about this kind of thing in advance, Saintess. Haha.

The headmistress who had received a direct message from the Holy Emperor looked utterly flustered as she summoned Estelle and even asked her to inform her personally next time.

How could I say anything when I didn’t even know myself?

Of course, even if she had known, she wouldn’t have said anything, and the Holy Emperor likely orchestrated the situation precisely because he knew that.

“What are you doing here?”

Just as Estelle was sinking into a wave of lethargy and was feeling a strong urge to do absolutely nothing, a familiar voice reached her ears.

“What about you, Iris? What brings you here?”

The voice was so familiar that she didn’t even need to turn around to respond.

“I just came here to catch my breath for a moment. I didn’t expect to find you here. But what’s with that… Saintess-like outfit?”

Since entering the academy, or rather, even from her time at Theo’s house, Estelle had never worn the so-called “Saintess-like” clothes Iris was referring to.

She always borrowed Theo’s clothes, sometimes borrowed Iris’s, or bought her own. It was only natural.

“Oh, well. I have to go to the Holy Empire.”

Iris stepped closer to Estelle who had answered reluctantly.

“You’re going to the Holy Empire? When?”

“Tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow? That’s so sudden.”

“Exactly. I only found out about it today out of nowhere. I’m already furious, so could you not poke at me right now?”

Estelle, who would usually brush such things off as no big deal, was unusually sensitive.

“Hmm, you don’t want to go, huh? I know exactly how that feels.”

“Thanks for understanding.”

“In that case, how about this, Estelle?”

“What?”

As Estelle grumbled, Iris shrugged and spoke casually.

“We could go together. You, me, and Sir Theo to the Holy Empire.”

“…Wait, what? With Sir Theo….?”

“I said I’m coming too, didn’t I?”

Estelle’s eyes, which had been filled with irritation and displeasure, suddenly lit up with excitement.

One response to “Chapter 44”

  1. RKADE 14 Avatar
    RKADE 14

    It’s going to be the Estelle ____ and Theo going to the holy kingdom.

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