Ray was prepared for the world of Earth and its dramas after almost two decades of living.
His trauma was gone and he was ready to interact with people.
The problem though… was that he wasn't ready for the world he woke up in.
This damned world, one from a novel he read, was doomed.
Considering it is real now, it made sense why the novel was dark and merciless.
"Damn, damn, damn!"
Looking at the small rectangular mirror, Ray saw a face with a neck-length, off-white colored hair and dull golden eyes.
This unfamiliar face was his.
He had become a minor side character named Lain Solmere, the Heir of the strongest clan from the novel, The World That Died Twice.
Ray, or rather Lain, started complaining as he panted around his moderate-sized room.
"If you wanted to take me anywhere, why is it this world that's heading in towards its doom? I read a lot of other novels too!"
Ruffling his hair, he muttered bitterly, expressing his discontent.
"Worse thing is that not only was I transmigrated into a poor character, it's on the same day the character might die?!"
Ray didn't know how the original Lain survived in the novel since he was a side character that appeared mid-story.
And now, if he didn't follow a similar or better path than the original, he was likely to die.
He recalled a psychiatrist's advice given to him during his treatments for the trauma he had and calmed down.
Bottling up emotions can tear you down from within, release them once in a while.
Halting in place, he held all his comments in and let it out in a simple statement.
"What the freak?!"
Lain started panting as if at a loss of breath, his head still ringing slightly from the induced memory of the original's past.
"Ah..."
Lain fell flat on his bed, facing towards the ceiling.
He didn't have much regret about his past life so he immediately considered what to do to escape the suicide mission some stingy wretch within the clan had crafted for him, the Incompetent Heir.
Just when Lain was finding the situation stressful, he heard a knock, and the voice that followed sent shivers down his spine.
"Darling, are you alright?"
His teeth chattered as his mind went blank, struggling to reply to his new mother.
Looking at the door with dead eyes, Lain subconsciously stood up and took a step back, eager to run away.
As the voice awaited a response, sweat welled up on Lain's forehead.
"Are you okay?" his mother asked, her voice laden with worry. "The maids heard noises from your room and I was concerned."
Lain took another step back. "M-mother…" he said, his voice barely audible.
At 19 years old, Lain didn't expect to still react to the term 'mother' like this.
After years of mental care, he could have sworn he had overcome his trauma, even his doctors diagnosed him as stable.
He actually did recover… but the original Lain's memories and trauma had sparked a bit of it once more.
The good thing was that this new mother of his was very different from that bastard abuser he originally had as a mother.
And remembering who he was dealing with now, Lain tried to collect himself.
His trauma was still different from the original Lain's, and he was already trained for situations like this.
He closed his eyes and imagined all the things that soothed him…
But he was interrupted by the voice again.
"Are you worried about today's mission? If you don't want to go… I could beg the council to postpone your mission."
"That won't work," Opening his eyes, Lain replied instinctively. "You know it."
Positioning himself closer to the door, he tried to say calmly:
"I… will go. I've already made it through two days of missions already and today is the last, so I'll just finish what I started."
'Aside from that, it's easier to try and escape your death when you know when it's coming.'
Lain's mother muttered, "If I try hard enough–"
"It's okay, really …and I am alright. Sorry for making you worry."
Lain's mother hesitated behind the door as she heard her son's voice.
She wanted to support him…but he always avoided her support.
A mother who couldn't support her child failed at her primary responsibilities.
Biting her lip slightly, she said, "Alright, darling. I brought some things for today. Do you mind if I come in?"
"I mind!" Lain yelled unconsciously. "I'm not in a suitable position for you to come in. I apologize…"
A dejected look masked her face as she stood in the corridor.
"No problem. Did the potions from the last mission run out? I have a few more here. Oh, and I managed to commission a good sword for you."
Lain smiled as he heard her. "I'm grateful, ma–mother."
"Ah- Alright. I'll leave the briefcase here then."
Lain heard a small thud at the other side of the door, then his new mother said, "May Nalmere be with you. Have a great day, my love."
Hearing her walk away, Lain muttered solemnly:
"That damned Lain should have at least treated her well. Truly, people don't appreciate what they have until they know what it's like to go without."
The idea of having a caring and nice mother was foreign yet alluring to Lain, but he had to focus on his survival at the moment.
Even if it meant losing one of the scenarios he always dreamed of.
After a bit, he opened his door to see a brown briefcase and brought it into his room.
As he placed it on his bed and was about to go through it, he heard a beep sound.
[System Loading Completed.]
- - -
[Status]
Name: Lain Solmere
Mana Core: Light Orange [25%]
Affinity: Water [Low-grade]
[Quests - 1]
- - -
[Successful System Integration Reward]
Pick one of the three system features below.
~ Stats Allocation Feature
~ Inventory
~ Title Boosts
- - -
Lain was taken aback, seeing the system similar to the one of the novel's protagonist.
'Did I shed my bad luck after transmigrating? I actually got a system,' He quipped as he went through the content.
"Ah... wait, I'm just less unlucky," he said self-deprecatingly before exclaiming.
"I can't believe I have to choose a feature when the protagonist has all of them! The protagonist system even had a weird guardian angel living within it!"
Lain hissed at the selfish force that failed to grant him the full package and comforted himself.
"At least using skills in this world will be easier for me. Thanks, damned mysterious being."
Lain identified his core stage based on the status.
He was currently at the first sub-stage of the third mana core stage: Dark Orange.
The mana core stages were Black, Red, Orange, Yellow, Platinum, Silver and White with the middle five being the only ones with three sub-stages.
It was decent for someone who'd avoided combat until two years ago.
'After curling up in his room all day, this progress is understandable. His core size is still poor for an heir, but it's still sufficient.'
The main problem was his lean body and the strength lagged behind others at his level.
Lain sighed, pushing the negative side of things away.
He moved on to the quest section.
'The trade of not having other features is this! A quest feature that the protagonist doesn't have!
'Well, he has the task to feed the being in his system in exchange for knowledge, but it doesn't offer direct reward like this!'
- - -
[Quest: Survive your mission.]
You have been assigned to a mission designed for your death; survive it.
Rewards: Location of the Artifact, "Warforged" and the Archangel of War's Heart.
Failure: Death.
- - -
'These rewards... A sword... and a Divine being's heritage?'
An archangel, a being barely far off from gods.
A smile crept onto his face as his mind raced with possibilities.