A short while later, Licht walked down the hallway with steady, measured steps.
His mind, however, was far from calm.
The earlier notification still echoed in his thoughts, the implications weighing heavily on him.
A mission panel… failure leading to world collapse? he scoffed inwardly.
"Just who's pulling the strings here?"
No matter how he turned it over in his mind, he kept arriving at the same conclusion.
This world—this reality—wasn't entirely like the game he was familiar with that allowed him to navigate freely. The presence of enlightenment points that never existed in the game...
Someone—or something—was watching, or at the very least trying to influence him.
This wasn't just a game anymore. And he wasn't sure if he was the player… or the piece.
His expression darkened slightly.
'Could it be those guys? No, they wouldn't give a damn about world collapse, much less threaten me with it.'
'Whoever is behind this, I need to figure out what their goal is… and fast."
But just as he turned a corner, those thoughts were ripped away—replaced by something completely unexpected.
Licht stopped.
Only a few steps ahead stood a woman—no, a vision—that froze him in place.
She was beautiful.
Breathtakingly so.
Her face looked sculpted by divine hands, a masterful balance of soft, elegant curves and bold, commanding angles that held an effortless, regal charm.
Long, chestnut-brown hair flowed like silk down her back, catching the light as it moved with her.
Her eyes—those brilliant, emerald green eyes—shone with a quiet, piercing intensity that seemed to look straight through him.
For the first time since arriving in this world, Licht's thoughts were blank.
But before Licht even got a chance to speak, he saw her face collapse and contort into one of utter disgust.
Her once enchanting eyes had now turned deathly cold, leaving Licht completely taken aback.
It was only after quickly scanning the memories of this body that he realized who this woman was and why she looked at him with such obvious hatred.
Melinda Belgrave.
The beautiful woman in front of him had really suffered under Licht's hand.
The reason for this was obvious.
This unfortunate young lady was cursed with the fate of being the engaged fiancée to the human trash known as Licht D. Valtier.
The poor girl, thought Licht.
He pitied her, but he couldn't help feeling a little unnerved by the coldness in her gaze. After all, though her hatred was warranted, it ignored one crucial fact — he was no longer the same person she hated!
Sighing inwardly, he pushed past the icy glare that pricked his skin like needles and tried to walk on.
But the moment Licht stepped forward, his body suddenly stiffened as a strange notification echoed in his mind.
Ding!
The Trait [A Valtier's Pride (S)] is activated.
"Huh? What the—"
Before he could even finish his thought, Licht's body slipped into autopilot.
Without warning, he found himself standing before Melinda, looking down at her with deep purple eyes glowing so coldly that they outshone even the icy glare she had first shown him.
He tried to push down the swirling emotions inside, but his body—and his twisted pride—had other plans.
The more he fought it, the sharper the pain grew, until faint red droplets trickled down his lips.
Wiping his mouth, Licht was stunned.
'Wait… blood?'
Holy hell, it was actually blood!
He couldn't believe his own eyes.
What kind of nonsense was this?!
Pride—a simple, useless emotion—had somehow become a metaphysical shackle.
That damn useless trait!
Just trying to do something contradictory that could go against the trait [A Valtier's Pride (S)] had actually caused him physical damage!
Traits listed by the system might seem like skills or techniques, but Licht knew from playing the game that traits were manifestations of a person's true nature.
In other words, this trait was simply the embodiment of the pride and ego the original Licht had carried!
Damn it!
How could someone with an ego that massive even exist?!
His pride was so overwhelming that simply resisting it caused real, physical pain.
Licht D. Valtier didn't act crazy in the game because he was just some mindless villain—no, this man was truly clinically insane.
He belonged in an institution!
As Licht was having his bizarre little moment, Melinda was watching the entire time.
She noticed Licht's strange movements, the subtle struggle against his own body. Even the blood at the corner of his lips didn't escape her attention. But why would she care? Why should she show any concern?
If anything, Melinda only prayed that Licht's strange injury would be life-threatening—or at the very least terminal—so Licht would suffer a slow and painful death before leaving this world.
Silently praying for Licht's downfall, Melinda gave Licht one last cold glance as she stepped forward to carry on walking by. But the second she did so, Licht moved.
His tall physique moved as fast as it possibly could and stood in front of the slightly shorter Melinda, meeting her cold eyes with a stare that was even colder.
Pursing his lips, Licht felt a foreign sense of anger flow up through his chest.
"Is this the way you treat your fiancé in public? You should be ashamed to consider yourself a noble, much less a member of the Valtier Family."
"Pardon?"
Melinda's body trembled.
She almost couldn't believe her ears.
She paused for a second and looked at the handsome silver-haired man in front of her, wondering if he was really being serious.
But when she looked at his cold, emotionless eyes she realized nothing had changed and he was still as crazy as before.
This bastard had used the power of his family and basically forced her to be his fiancée—and yet he still expected her to follow some ancient bullshit noble etiquette?!
Melinda gnashed her teeth. A wave of murderous intent swarmed over Licht. Under normal circumstances, a normal civilian from Earth would tremble helplessly under such a gaze. But thanks to the trait [A Valtier's Pride (S)], Licht didn't even flinch.
This body had a level of pride and arrogance so twisted that trying to go against it caused physical damage. He would not be fazed by something as trivial as murderous intent!
Therefore, even if Licht's mind flinched, his body remained stalwart and unfazed.
Licht looked at Melinda and could see her body shaking—but this was not out of fear, but out of overwhelming anger.
"Licht, I try ignoring you yet you still bother me!
Don't dare call me your fiancé with that filthy mouth of yours.Do you really think I want to be with you? If it wasn't for you using the power of your clan, this engagement never would have happened in the first place.No matter what the world says, I'd rather slit my own throat than marry a disgusting fraud like you—"
"Melinda."
Licht's cold voice interrupted her outburst as his purple eyes narrowed, flashing in an ominous light.
"I do not have the time nor energy to argue with you over such trivial matters, but as it stands, you are engaged to the next head of the Valtier Family. I hope you can conduct yourself as someone befitting such a title. I can overlook such actions in private, but the Valtier name must not be sullied in public."
Melinda, who heard Licht's obvious disregard for her, finally couldn't take it anymore and reached for her sword.
But just before she drew her blade, she paused.
'No, I can't lash out now.'
She looked towards Licht's purple eyes that seemed to glow like the entrance to the abyss—and seemed to see the shadow of a much more terrifying entity standing behind him.
No matter how much of a bastard he is, he still had the Valtier Family behind him, and that Family…
Melinda shivered.
The overwhelming power of the Valtier name allowed for rationality to come back and completely suppress her rage.
Licht was a failure in many regards, but the one thing he didn't fail to deliver on was his utter ruthlessness.She knew better than anyone—that man was nothing less than a monster!
It was because she knew this fact that she didn't dare provoke the maniac too far.
In a way, his obsession with her was a blessing.
It would make him act like an annoying pest, but at the same time it would completely restrain Licht from using his family to do anything too shameful. After all, she was his fiancée—and by proxy, a Valtier.
Such actions would only go against his twisted sense of pride.
Gritting her teeth, Melinda sent one last glare at Licht before walking into the room.
Licht saw Melinda walking away and spoke.
Licht looked at Melinda walking inside and had the signature cold and emotionless look plastered onto his face, but deep inside he was wearing an extremely wronged expression.
Those words I said just now… they weren't even mine!