[If your partner discovers your secret, the transmigrator will be disqualified and immediately returned to their original world.]
[Disclosing this information to a character other than your partner for malicious purposes will also result in immediate disqualification.]
This was the game’s sole rule for disqualification.
We could do whatever it takes to win here. There wasn't even a rule saying we couldn't kill our competitors' characters. However, there was just one condition: we must never reveal our true identities. We couldn't let ourselves be discovered, either.
So, the other transmigrators were probably feeding their partners some plausible lies right about now. Claiming to be a distant relative, or acting like some mysterious benefactor. Something along those lines.
However, this rule was extremely disadvantageous for me. Didn't my partner possess the ability to read minds?
But it seems the system wasn't entirely heartless... I had a special exception.
[Special Exception: Information related to transmigration cannot be read via mind-reading abilities.]
I could tell just by looking at Belsus's calm expression right now. I was being protected by my special exception.
'No matter how much I scream 'transmigrator, transmigrator, transmigrator' in my head, I'm safe.'
Just like the other transmigrators, I simply needed to come up with an alibi to cover up my transmigration.
So, my choice was...
"I can't tell you how I know you. I'll explain it later, so could you just drop it for now?"
I opted to cover it up for the time being and push it off until later.
It wasn't that I was avoiding the issue because I couldn't think of anything else. I genuinely judged this to be the best approach.
There was a high probability that Belsus would never betray me, no matter what happened in the future. This wasn't some blind faith; it was based on statistical data. Judging from all the choices in Belsus's victory route from the game, as well as his inner monologues and personality traits shown there:
>"I'm sorry. Things must be tough for you, which is why you reported me to the knights... Since I ran away, you won't be getting your reward."
Belsus had encountered far too many liars in his life. The countless villagers who would feed him a single meal, only to secretly collude with the knights and try to sell him out.
From the perspective of a transmigrator who knew all of this...
'There's no need to lie.'
Even if I don't lie, Belsus won't betray me.
Therefore, rather than spinning a web of lies to cover things up, I figured it was better to just brush it off by saying I'd tell him later. Lying just felt wrong.
With reality already diverging significantly from the game's scenario, there was no telling what might happen in the future. I had to eliminate risk factors as much as possible.
"..."
For a moment, Belsus didn't move an inch, making me slightly tense. After staring at me blankly for a while, his eyelashes completely still, he finally spoke.
He changed the subject.
"Just how much do you know about me?"
I knew a lot.
For instance, the secret of his birth, the one thing Belsus would take to his grave, no matter how much of a pushover he was.
He might be wandering around as a lowly mercenary, but Belsus was actually the last descendant of a fallen royal dynasty.
The nation occupying the territory right in the center of the continent, where the tower stood tall, was Demihaad. Twenty years ago, Demihaad went by a different name.
Demihaad the 1st, who had usurped the throne and ousted the old dynasty, had been sending out knights to hunt Belsus down for the past two decades. As a result, Belsus had been wandering the continent for twenty years, never once experiencing a decent life.
I only knew this because I was a transmigrator who had played the game... but I had a skill that meant I didn't have to feign ignorance about this, either.
"Well... about as much as can be gathered through a Reading ability."
"..."
Silence fell over Belsus.
He wasn't an idiot. But then again, he was the type of guy who acted like a pushover even when he knew better. Belsus maintained a calm expression throughout. He remained composed, even after seemingly resigning himself to the fact that I practically knew everything about him.
"Will you permit me a name to call you by?"
After a long pause, Belsus asked for my name. I thought about it for a moment.
What was my name?
'No, obviously I know my own three-syllable name, but is it okay to use a Korean name here?'
My game nickname immediately sprang to mind as an alternative, but it was some half-hearted, unpronounceable gibberish like 'scrteww' or something, so I couldn't use it.
I decided to just use my Korean name.
"Heean."
My name was Kim Heean. Come to think of it, 'Heean' could probably pass decently well as an English-style name, too.
Belsus's eyebrows twitched slightly. The corners of his mouth curved up ever so slightly.
"Hian. Thank you for giving me food and a place to stay."
It sounded like he was mispronouncing it... but it was close enough, so it didn't matter. Who cares what he calls me? Names weren't the important issue right now, anyway.
"Right. But you know there's no such thing as a free lunch in this world, don't you?"
Only then did Belsus show signs of distress. He looked like he didn't know what to do. Obviously.
I grinned.
"Pay for your meal."
The moment I said that, a window of exactly three seconds opened up. The time remaining before Belsus would drop to his knees and beg, confessing he had no money...
"But, pay me back in a month."
I quickly added that condition before a scene I had watched multiple times in game videos could play out in front of me.
Belsus, who had been about to stand up with a devastated look on his face, froze awkwardly. Now, he looked bewildered in a completely different way.
"Do you know what a boarding house is?"
While I proposed that he board at my farm and waited for the dumbfounded Belsus to process if this was actually reality... Belsus's original storyline briefly flashed through my mind.
'What happens to Belsus if I hadn't picked him up.'
Belsus, whose life is threatened by the Royal Knight Calain, receives the "protagonist buff" if chosen by a player and ends up killing Calain instead.
Belsus's spirit breaks at the thought that he murdered a righteous knight.
...Yet, he loots valuables from Calain's corpse. And he runs away.
Even with money, Belsus fails to settle down and continues wandering. Despite leaving no evidence that he was the killer, the royal court pins the knight's death on him and issues a public wanted poster.
Belsus gets chased by even more knights. His future only becomes more miserable. There isn't a single place where a sketch of his face isn't pinned to a noticeboard. Even bounty hunters, blinded by a reward that has snowballed in size, join the hunt.
Bounty hunters are different from royal knights. They are as vicious as bandits and are often the worst of criminals themselves. They kill innocent people without a second thought.
Belsus continuously drags death with him wherever he goes. One hunter even massacres every civilian in an area Belsus has passed through, purely to threaten Belsus into showing himself.
The owner of an inn where Belsus stayed is killed. The cook at a diner where Belsus bought bread is murdered.
A child hands an old blanket to Belsus, who is sleeping on the street. Half-asleep, Belsus lets the child go, only to regret it later and chase after them. Then, he discovers the child's parents weeping as they cradle their child's corpse.
"Why am I even alive?"
Had it not been for his final sense of duty as the last descendant of royalty, he might have given up on life long ago. A character who remains destitute even when he has money, who has nowhere to lay his head even when his pockets are full, and who must desperately crawl through dungeons to painstakingly build up his strength.
I was curious.
While it was true that I chose Belsus as my partner because he was the poorest and easiest to manage, I also had another reason. I wanted to see just how far Belsus could go if he was actually allowed to enjoy everything he was supposed to have.
Struggling even in his victory route, being persecuted, beaten, and treated like a beggar by punks way younger than him... Living a life where, if a single coin dropped in front of him, he would nervously look around before hastily snatching it up.
"You're saying... I can stay here for a while."
Belsus repeated my words a long while later. His voice was trembling.
Hiding my slightly smug feelings, I nodded as if it were no big deal.
"You can see for yourself, right? This is my space, so absolutely no one can enter unless I allow it. If I grant you spare key access, you can come and go as you please."
"I can stay here."
Muttering hesitantly, it sounded less like Belsus was asking me and more like he was talking to himself.
I quietly observed Belsus for a moment without answering. Belsus kept muttering.
"If I go out and knights chase me, I can retreat here. I don't have to hastily swallow stale bread in fear of someone seeing me. I won't get stoned by children just for trying to briefly use a well. I can keep eating warm meals like the one you just gave me. I can close my eyes and sleep in a sunlit spot. I won't have to wake up in the middle of the night because I sensed someone's presence. And I can enjoy all of this not just for a single night, but tomorrow, and the day after that."
"..."
His voice was dry and devoid of emotion, yet listening to him made a deep breath catch in my lungs, forcing out a sigh. My breathing naturally grew heavy.
A boarding house is similar to an inn, but instead of a commercial facility, you live under someone's roof, eat from the same pot, and share in their joys and sorrows. Inns have long-term guests, too, but they never call the inn their 'home.'
Boarding, however, is different. Even if money changes hands, even if the relationship is bound by transactions, it can feel much more like 'my home.'
What Belsus needed wasn't just food and a place to sleep; he needed a sanctuary that provided psychological stability.
"...I decline."
Huh?
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